Who records belong to the most valuable and desirable items among record collectors. Collecting rare records can be exciting, enjoying and a real challenge when you're hunting for the real gem. But it also can be really disappointing when you discover that you've paid too much for an item than it's worth or when you've obtained a fake copy or a cheap reissue or whatever.

But what's a record worth? Bids in online auctions are not a reliable statement because they can be manipulated by fake bidders or the seller himself. The real value of a rarity follows a simple rule, it is not the price the seller wants to achieve but it's the highest price a buyer is seriously willing to pay. Of course this can differ more or less from day to day and comparable to dealing with shares at a stock market also the prices for vinyl records and CD rarities can change in time.

Our Collector's Item site shall be useful for you as a serious Who collector. Request any information about a record, it's genuineness or if you have doubts about the value of an item. It is necessary that you send us most detailed information as possible or better provide pictures of cover and labels. We try to answer each request per e-mail and possibly publicize it here on this site when we think it will be of general interest for the collector's community.
 

 
  Schallplatten von The Who gehören unter Sammlern zu den wertvollsten und gesuchtesten Raritäten. Seltene Schallplatten zu sammeln kann aufregend sein, Spaß machen und bei der Jagd nach der Top Rarität eine richtige Herausforderung darstellen. Aber es kann auch wirklich enttäuschend sein, wenn man feststellt, dass man viel mehr für eine Platte bezahlt hat als sie tatsächlich wert ist oder wenn man eine Fälschung, eine billige Wiederveröffentlichung oder was auch immer für sein Geld bekommen hat.

Aber was ist eine Schallplatte wert? Gebote in Online-Auktionen sind nicht aussagekräftig, da diese von Spaßbietern abgegeben oder vom Verkäufer selbst manipuliert werden können. Der wahre Wert einer Rarität folgt einer simplen Regel: Es ist nicht der Preis, den der Verkäufer gerne erzielen möchte, sondern es ist der höchste Preis, den ein Käufer ernsthaft bereit ist zu bezahlen. Natürlich kann sich dies mehr oder weniger und von Tag zu Tag unterscheiden und vergleichbar mit dem Aktienhandel an der Börse können sich auch bei Vinyl-Schallplatten und CD-Raritäten die Preise mit der Zeit ändern.

Unsere Collector's Item Seite soll Euch als seriösem Who-Sammler dienen. Fragt uns nach Informationen zu einer Schallplatte, nach deren Echtheit oder wenn Ihr Zweifel über den Wert eines Stückes habt. Es ist jedoch notwendig, dass Ihr uns möglichst genaue Informationen oder besser Fotos vom Cover und den Labels zukommen lasst. Wir versuchen jede Anfrage per e-Mail zu beantworten und eventuell hier auf dieser Seite zu veröffentlichen, wenn es für die Gemeinschaft der Sammler vom allgemeinen Interesse ist.
 

  I have found a strange item I hope you might help me identify or may be interested in. It is a set of what look like the single sided acetate masters from "The Kids Are Alright". There are only 3 of the 4 albums. The thing I am confused about is the label. It is from a famous Hollywood mastering studio, The Mastering Lab, but the label has a phone number on it in a format that was phased out in the 60s but I thought The Kids Are Alright came out in 1979. I am looking to sell these. I am in the United States. They are purposefully scratched and one has a damaged label.
Eric Shuss, Los Angeles

The double album The Kids Are Alright was released in connection with Jeff Stein's Who documentary of the same title. Though the songs on the album did not entirely match the songs of the movie the record was published as the official soundtrack. Indeed it was released in June 1979 shortly after the movie premiered in the cinemas. In the USA the album was produced at The Mastering Lab studio in Hollywood as the acetate label confirms. I can't tell for sure why the label has that phone number format but it is definitely a 1979 release.
Unfortunately your copy contains only 3 of 4 album sides and because of the damaged label and the scratched vinyl it is really questionable how much a collector would pay for this item.

  Here is one item of my collection I am looking to sell. Est of it's value? It's been in a safe for about 20 years.
Bob Reese, Chicago

The market for reel to reel tapes is very difficult, due to the lesser availability of tape machines and due to the few reel to reel items which last of the days when reel to reel tapes were really common. Which means that the demand for reel to reel tapes is not comparable to vinyl records but on the other hand a reel to reel tape in a new condition would be rare on its own regardless which artist it includes.
So it's difficult to estimate a reliable value. A similar Tommy item recently sold on eBay for 150 US$. And I would say that might be a real value. Your's should fetch a little higher price due to it's new and unopened condition.

  This is a sealed The High Numbers album. Another in the list of albums I am looking to sell.
Bob Reese, Chicago

This is a Who bootleg which was also known as "Who The Fu*?!". It was issued in the early 80's and contains early Who studio recording material. For a bootleg the sound quality is really good and together with the hard cover this is a really nice item and worth to obtain. In the early 80's this was a very sought after bootleg because there were many then unreleased Who songs and alternate versions included.
Today all the songs are available on CD and most of them even officially released. So the value of this vinyl bootleg decreases clearly and would now be around 20 EUR.

  While not a sealed album, it is in excellent condition. Again in my safe for almost 20 years. This one has the rear Clearasil cover (rare).
Bob Reese, Chicago

The Who Sell Out was released in 1967. The original cover issue shows the 4 band members promoting different products including Keith Moon using a tube of Medac paste. Only the Australian release exchanged the Medac tube with a Clearasil tube. So the Australian release of The Who Sell Out is a rare and really sought cover.
The value of an item in excellent condition is 60 EUR.

  Hello, I've got a copy of Anyhow Anyway Anywhere / Anytime You Want Me on red label I.B.C. sound recording studios stamped Orbit Universal Ltd and looks like sample hand writtern on Anytime side. The record is not scratched but looks like water mark stains on it. Just wondered about value and if it's a rare item. Thank you for any information and help.
Trevor, UK

 
Anyway Anyhow Anywhere was The Who's second single which was released in May 1965. The song itself was recorded at London's IBC Studios during a recording session on 13th and 14th April 1965. However the flip side song Anytime You Want Me was already recorded a bit earlier on 11th March 1965 in the same studio.
It is obviously that you own an acetate copy of this single which was produced only in low quantity just to check the result of the recording session and how the final single would sound like. The material of an acetate disc differs from the common vinyl material and is noticeable heavier. The disadvantage is that the quality of an acetate suffers from every play. Acetates are typically rare and much sought after by collectors especially if the disc contains a song version which was never released on later official editions. Yours does not, it has the final song versions which were released on the single and on a few album compilations.
Nonetheless, due to the fact that this is an acetate copy of the original single, and if it runs through without any skips I would estimate a value in the region of 120-150 EUR. Maybe you could fetch a higher price on an online auction but it depends on different days.

   Hi, I just purchased a copy a of Who's Next album and I have some questions about it. Please find attached photos of it.
It is an Scandinavian copy because the rights society is NCB, but do you know the exact country where it was issued? And the year of release of this copy?
Lastly, the labels are incorrect, the songs are printed on the wrong sides. On side 1 you can see the songs from side 2 and viceversa. Is it any worth? Or just a misprint of this issue?
Matrix numbers are:
Side 1: MG 12888 2408102 A (hand etched)
Side 2: 24 08 102 B P7 1 9 ENGL
Thanks a lot for your help.
Miguel Parra

Hi Miguel, thanks for the precise description and the fotos of your purchased record. It makes the identification much easier.
Who's Next is one of the best Who albums ever recorded and it was originally released in July 1971 as a leftover of Townshend's aborted Lifehouse project. Many reissues and new editions of the album were issued.
As you already mentioned correctly, the NCB (Nordisk Copyright Bureau) imprint confirms that this is a Scandinavian copy. The scandinavian music companies in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark joined an association not only in matters of legal rights but also in coordination of common production, publication and distribution activities. It was quite normal that a record cover was printed in Norway, the vinyl record pressed in England for export, and record and cover packed together, the one and the same product was sold in Denmark, Norway and Sweden likewise. In that case we can't speak rather of a specific Denmark or Sweden release but more applicable of a common Scandinavian release. The "ENGL" part of the matrix number of your record hints that it was pressed in England and exported to the Scandinavian market.
There exist three different scandinavian versions of the first Who's Next issue, the original release whose label is shown in the picture below and two reissues: One with cat.no. "2408.102" and a smaller Polydor logo than the original pressing and song titles listed in separate rows on the label, and the other reissue with cat.no. "2408 102" (without ".") and again with the smaller Polydor logo but song titles listed running one after another and not in separate rows. Your copy is the latest reissue of the original album and I suppose it was sold in the early 80's.

Normally it wouldn't be of much value but what makes your copy so interesting is the label mistake. A typical misprint has correct labels in itselves but printed on the wrong sides of the record.
But in your case the labels itselves are inaccurate. One label indicates side 1 and as far as I can spot it on the vinyl (otherwise please correct me) it was also correctly printed on side 1 but lists the songs of side 2, and viceversa. So here we do not have the typical record mispressing of easy label transposition, but some rarer type of label misprint, always providing that I've spotted it right.
It's difficult to say what's it worth. Some collectors are interested in misprints, others are not. At least it depends on how many of this particular misprint are in circulation which is hardly to gauge. A circumspect value rating for your copy would be in the region of 40-50 EUR.

  Hi, I have a one sided Fontana 10" Acetate of Zoot Suit by The High Numbers. It plays ok but looks a bit rough. Any idea of it's value. Regards
Mark, UK

In June 1964 The Who (formerly known as The High Numbers) went into Phillips Studios recording three songs "Zoot Suit", "I'm The Face" and "Here 'Tis". But those recording sessions at Phillips resulted neither in a disc release nor in a recording contract. The High Numbers succeeded more when a few days later they visited Fontana Studios and recorded again these 3 songs plus "Leaving Here". The choice fell to "Zoot Suit" to be released as a single backed with "I'm The Face" on B-side. Though promoted as the ultimative Mod disc the single flopped awfully. Nearly half of the 1000 pressed copies were sold and led to one of the most sought after records among Who collectors.
So here we have the original onesided 10" Fontana acetate which was made in July 1964. Acetate discs of collectable artists have a high value anyway due to the small number of existing copies. And if the song version on the acetate disc is a variation of the later issued version or if the acetate contains an unreleased song the value could climb into astronomical heights. As far as I know the High Numbers acetate includes the same "Zoot Suit" version as it was issued on the final single release.
At online auctions the regular High Numbers single in very good condition can fetch a price in the region of 1000-1500 EUR. I would estimte the value of the 10" acetate somewhere between 1700 and 2200 EUR, but it's difficult to say because if a die-hard collector is around he would possibly pay a price up to 3000 EUR or maybe more.

  Hello, I bought yesterday in a secondhand shop this album, I did read on internet this album is a very rare album??! Can you tell me if this is right? Best regards Hinke
Hinke Hoekstra, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

Hello Hinke, the album Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy originally was released in October 1971 and contains an excellent collection of the majority of The Who's singles which came out in the sixties.
The motivation for this album release and mainly target audition were all the new fans which got first in touch with The Who through the Tommy album. For those who didn't heard of The Who yet and wanted get to know more about the group's music activities before Tommy, Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy was (and is) a great source of The Who's 60's singles releases.
The original album cover was a photo collage of four young kids lingering in the entrance of some typically old british brick building with the four Who members looking out a window.
Your copy, as you've correctly stated, is a bootleg copy and has a different cover. I would confirm that it is a above-average rare album even among the Who bootleg releases. However it is neither a rare record in respect of the included material (it is a 1:1 copy of the original album) nor does the cover attract much interest and hence this bootleg is not much sought after. Nonetheless it is quiet hard to find and not often offered somewhere.
If you ever come across a copy of this bootleg a price of 20 EUR should be justifiable.