I would much prefer to hold my treasured records in my hand un-slabbed.

No slabs, thank you! LISTEN to them like the artist wanted you to do!!

Issue with slabbing is it creates a false economy that is prone to abuse, specially when it's just one company doing the grading. Already happened with video games, look at the whole Wata games controversy!

Totally insane to me, it’s all about the music and the reference of that music at a point in history. I have a couple of dupes I’ve bought that are still in storage sealed, but they’re for me when I burn through my original copies. One of them was bought in 2018 and is already worth about $650 and I bought it for $30, but I would never dream of selling it. Just like my collection, I will never sell it, I’ll leave it to my nephews. Money is irrelevant really. The value is the entertainment and how the music affects my emotions and memories.

I thought slabbing comics was a stupid thing to do, but slabbing records is so incredibly stupid it defies logic. Also, as a reseller I feel I have the ability to give my buyers an accurate grade. Would I pay to send a valuable record to strangers for them to grade and then permanently seal it up and make it unplayable? Hell no. An utterly ridiculous concept.

I used to be the beverage director for a small chain of wine bar/restaurants. We would do some events with the owner who was a wine collector, the distributors, and the members of the wine club. There were some deep, deep pockets and pretty incredible portfolios in this bunch. Overwhelmingly the collectors who actually drank their wine were nicer, more generous, and normal than the guys who put auction wines in a vault and forgot about them. Hoarders. We had one guy with deep pockets who'd show up to these events with a few thousand dollars, cost, in bottles just giddy to share them. I kind of view this as similar. Slabbing records outside of the .00002% of the rarest is silly. I don't want to hang with anyone that materialistic. These are items designed to bring joy through music. Simple.

A few months ago I found a 1st pressing of Nico's the marble Index- sealed....sealed. Elektra 1st pressing. I couldn't wait to get home and rip it open and listen to it. It was so worth it. Better than any of the reissues. It was mint in perfect condition- no warping, not bad from an album from the 60s. I only paid 75 for it. Slabbing is not for me

I found Mad Season - Above 1st US pressing sealed and instantly opened it when I got home. It’s maybe top5 record of all time for me and definitely bought it for listening.

When i buy an album, and i do buy them, i buy it for the simple reason that i want to listen to the music. Oh i have 6 spot albums on the Columbia label including Kind of Blue but i wont slab any records. The album covers maybe but records never.

When I wanted to start framing some of my favorite/rarest vinyl, I quickly realized I needed those hang-and-play frames because I couldnt NOT keep myself from playing them. The only vinyl that I could think of slabbing would be a signed cover of an album i can easily get a duplicate of.

I honestly am attracted to record collecting because the common practice is to actually use the products and not just encase them on a shelf. So much of the collecting communities are caught up with grading services and numbering, it feels like missing the forest for the trees. At least with like Pokémon cards, you can still see the card inside the slab. But to not be able to listen to the record…you’re basically just collecting album art at this point…

Records are for listening, I don't mind temp slabbing if it is a quick way to grade a record so you can see the quality of a record in stores. Then it is immediately opened and the customer gets the copy.

I purchased the white label promo, 'Woodstock' soundtrack LP from your shop about a year ago. I had been looking for a decent copy for a while. It still has the "Advisable to screen this record carefully before clearing it for air play' sticker on it. I'd never slab it, I still dig listening to it and checking out the jacket!

I dont think that its ALWAYS just about the money. I have been thinking of slabbing my first copy, as banged up as it is, of Meet The Beatles. I haven't played it in years, because I have several copies that sound better. But it has great sentimental value to me. It wouldn't fetch a high price, but its special to me.

It's great to frame a record so you can enjoy it as a piece of art. I love the cover of crash landing by Hendrix. Have it on display along with family pictures !! You can pick records at charity and antique shops often really cheap. Frame them , then swap them around. Great video once again thanks

I love how open you are even to things that are not up your street (nor are thwy up mine) and you see whats good and what is bad for you about it.

Great video, I immediately recoiled at the idea of grading / incapsulating as done with other Collectibles. I collect other things and grading has drastically changed those hobbies with only a small portion of positive outcomes. I think one type of grading / incapsulating positive for vinyl would be to authentic signed records. I have many street autographs and to get those graded and preserved with authentication would be good and they're on albums I could easily buy again to listen to. After that, what you've already mentioned would be it.

No never.. music and in particular vinyl is a thing of beauty that requires listening to! Cant for the life of me imagine why anyonre would want to do this.. love and collected vinyl for 45+years and the thought of doing this horrifies me! Great post Dillon as always..thanks for putting up great posts from here in the UK 👍

Sensible approach. Good advice. We'll see what plays out as the slabbing creeps into the record world. Really like your channel, Dude. Cheers.

yup Black Slabbeth has arrived.

One issue I ran into was, I purchased the Rush Archive album and when I opened it up, I had 2 Caress of Steele and 1 Fly by Night album in it with no Rush album. Now if I would have had it graded and sealed, the grading would not have been accurate, therefore I would never buy a graded album just because in the back of my mind I would be wondering if the vinyl inside is actually the album if it is a sealed copy

Farm! I was in rural Illinois for a week trying to get an original copy of that album. Scouring small, far apart record stores. Another story from there is that very early in the Beatles US Tour, George Harrison stopped in a guitar store and bought a much beloved ES 335. Or something to that effect.

I'm buying the records that I want to listen to only, if I came across a record that was rare I would be open to having it slabbed or graded. Another great topic!

As I was listening, thinking about the handful of graded comics I have out of the thousands I have, was going over the pros and cons of grading a record having the same qualms about encasing one when you mentioned sealed copies and I thought, yea. I have some sealed copies of records of records i have to listen to. They need to create a different type of grading case for records so you can see the inner sleeve and the record.

my opinion is that its stupid, there's also been conflict in interest with rating agencies and auction houses in the past. records are meant to be played!

I'm in a glass case of emotion

I think I agree with you, Dillon. I have a promo copy of Kind of Blue (not in mint condition, by the way - it's maybe a VG), and it's the only one I can think of that I might have slabbed, especially since I have several other copies of it, including both UHQRs, that I can pull out if I want to actually listen to it. But even with the promo I like to look at it sometimes (including that white label). I am considering putting it in a frame and hanging it on the wall, but in that case at least I can take it back out if I want.

As a collector, I divide my collection into two categories; wants and will buys. The will buys allow me to bring new recordings home while I continue the search for the wants. The wants are what keeps me out there looking. Will buys are bonus finds or simply an acknowledgment of rarity with potential financial gain. When I find a want that happens to be sealed, you bet I’m opening it. 3 months later I’ll find and buy an open copy. Oh the joy of finding a sealed copy after you’ve found the open one.

I just saw this for the first time a couple days ago on ebay, a sealed "rumours" album graded 8.5

Crazy Jimmy chimin in. I agree with you that it would take a special record that is sealed and with no need to open. I also think it’s good for the industry too. Vinyl records should be and can be treated like a comic but it will depend on the actual album so to your point, it would take a certain record to slab. Thanks for shining a light on this

I see your electric ladyland redux to your right. I really enjoy my copy! Cheers!

This is just predatory capitalism at its worst. Try to create a market that nobody needs, wants or really asked for so some business that really has no interest in arts or aesthetics or the purpose of the thing itself can profit, Screw that.

@noblerecords My heart SANK when you mentioned a SEALED Pink Floyd DSOTM. I had one. Original from the 70’s. Didn’t realize the value and gave it to my daughter who was getting into vinyl. It’s been opened and played. I did keep the poster tho. I should’ve kept that record sealed. 😩 P.S. I do still have a sealed Hotel California from the 70’s tho.

100% agree with all your points. Great take on this subject.

Good video; great points !

You explained the reason for the disdain better than I could have. Thank you for this

I've had records where new information has come to light where I've needed to re-examine the label details/matrices to see if I had this newly discovered pressing, I couldn't do that if the record had been slabbed. Also, like the shrink wrap debate, how would I know if the LP doesn't become warped while it's been encapsulated?

I’ve collected the Zeppelin Quiex pressings all bar the first album but I will get it, anyway most of them have never been opened and I have a back and forth with myself if I should open and play them.

The first record that came to my mind is my Dale Crover (of the Melvins) record that's cut into a brass cymbal. You're not going to be spinning that too often; it's more of an art piece than a playable record. That said, though, I certainly did play it one time when I got it...on a used stylus, and burned it to MP3. It didn't sound great, but it did play. While I'll never play it again, if it had been slabbed I never would have had the opportunity.

There are so many records I would like to get and listen to that I cannot spend money on records that I can’t listen to and even touch !! 😊

Do you keep the shrink on new vinyl purchases as well, or just older ones?

I think these companies are going to make a lot of money off people trying to grade their G+ copies of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, et cetera.

Do whatever makes you happy with your collectables

Much agree with you. You made excellent arguments pro and con. As a professional collectible record seller since 1975, I couldn’t agree more with your take on the current Goldmine grading standard. That has been flawed since the introduction of stereo LPs, IMO. The only thing I would add to what you said in the video is that this seems like a way for a handful of respected collector grading companies to make a fortune off record collectors. And it will mostly help flippers who have no interest in the music.

I can relate to this as I once had inherited a huge comic book collection from the 50s and 60s. Spider-Man #1, the whole bit. In that community the grade is everything. There are those that won't slab their comics but they may be losing an opportunity for more value if they ever want to sell it. When the books are slabbed you can't read them - very much like the records. In some ways, it's even worse than the records because records are repressed all the time. Not as much with comics AND they're less available for reading electronically. I look at it like this with the records.... some records are very rare and valuable - think of the 1500 series Blue Notes. But, I can get better sounding pressings of most of those old records now and still enjoy the music even if I do slab the original. So, I get why people would do it... I don't think I ever would. Of course, it's easy for me to say as I don't own anything that is worth slabbing!!

Great info as usual 👍

Records are for listening , touching, smelling and looking at not slabbing!!!! You sell records for people to listen to add to their collection not to put in glass, its not the same and never will be.

I don't like the practice of consuming records. It seems ridiculous and pointless to me not this put me over the edge man. I subscribe to your channel. You've got great stuff. I thank you.

I bought a sealed Japanese first pressing of Born In The U.S.A. and Side A was amazing - Side B was full of crackles on all tracks _(cleaned several times and it stayed the same)_ - No recourse with a sealed, ~40 yr old record. Not the seller's fault. Was a bummer, to say the least. I bought another with a mint disc and a VG sleeve, and swapped it into the mint sleeve :)

My original copy of The MC5'S Kick Out The Jams is warped. I dont know how it happed, its been stored correctly with all my other albums that are not warped. Id live to have someone flatten it.

What warp flattener do you use. If it is expensive, is there a lower priced one you recommend?

Also have to see if it's available digitally. If not and it's rare that's the only way you can hear it. Gotta open and listen.

I think it’s dumb and I won’t participate in it, but to each his own.

The purpose of a records existence is to deliver music. It want’s to be played. It’s a great joy to buy and pay for a sealed record , break the seal in front of the seller and pull out the record to check it. I’ve done it twice the last four years.

How does keep the vinyl from warping..

One thing to mention is you can have it slabbed where both the cover and the vinyl are exposed inside the glass so you can still view the wax and labels. Just a heads up

I wouldn’t mind having a slabbed mint Butcher Cover above the turntable as a player copy of Yesterday and Today played the music that’s the reason for me liking the slabbed album. Wrong?

I have a Misfits “Cough/Cool” and play it. That’s what it was made for. Majority of those 7”s are viewed solely as commodities.

How would you know which pressing it is if it’s sealed?

Years ago, I found a sealed Beatles Naked record in a record store behind the counter in a glass case. I bought it for $300 and when I got home. I opened it and listened to it. My friends went nuts. I told them I didn't buy an expensive stereo system to not listen to records. I do have an autograph Thin Lizzy jaill break album framed behind glass. I have another copy I listen to. It's behind glass simply for the autographs.

Oh wow. I didn’t dream people would slab vinyl records. No. No. No. Insane. The whole point of a record is to listen to it.

Dylan What's the GnR going for these days ? I got mine @Tower Records in Brea years ago....

Off topic, just curious. Does your label put out new music or just reissues?

I totally agree with cards being slabbed. You see the front and back, the condition is transparent. As far as comics and opened records, that is probably dumb. Sealed video games & sealed records could be understandable. I have a couple sealed copies of Duran Duran Rio, one of my fav albums. I could get one graded possibly, however I am happy to have them sealed without grading. Maybe one day I will open one and listen to a brand new copy on a special occasion. It is fun to open aa awesome record and play it for the 1st time. Seems if an album or a comic is sealed long enough, the inside ink might bleed, therefore being encased might damage the print in the long run....also could get warped in the heat after being graded...then wouldn't match the grade and no one is the wiser...

I have a couple of records that were opened but with the shrink left on. 30 years later the shrink had stuck to the varnish on the sleeve and pulled it off if I attempted to remove it. 😓

The area between VG+ and NM i refer to as EX. I have a few slabbed comics but I gotta let my records breathe baby!

I found a sealed og copy of funkadelics standing on the verge of getting it on seal for $22. Didn't notice it was original until afer i opened it

I'm kind of on the fence also. I definitely would consider doing for a rare OG record in which I have a better sounding represe. For instance I have a Ride the Lightning megaforce pressing in whicj the cover is immaculate. I mean even the corners are crisp and sharp. I saw you have a great one too. We will have to compare. I'm the original owner if mine. Thanks for the posts.

I have a sealed first pressing of Dark Side (promo hole, no 'printed in USA' on hype sticker) but there's no way in hell I'd ever slab it. I might buy a safe for it (along with some other ones) but nah. I like holding it my hands. Is it really that hard to find, though? There's one on eBay right now for $300.

for those of you that are not aware, the people who stab comic books are a legit business who have not yet been in court for money laundering, on the other hand basically every company that handles video game slabbing and grading has been found to launder money, conspire to raise artificial value and have zero consistency between grades, some of the people who now run those ventures even went to jail in the 80s and 90s for money laundering and Ponzi schemes during the collectable coin fad of that era. So be aware of that and who the type of person who would be willing and interested in raising the prices of vinyl, before we make grading anything else an on-going thing.

My records are to play! My collection reflects my tastes. I see why people collect, but there is so much out there now, that the scarcity that drives up value is decades away. Collectors, do yourself a favor, look up what makes certain cars so valued and then look at what you have.

Intetesting. I personally wouldn’t do it, but I have nothing against it. You do you, Boo.

I got a sealed 2 live crew as nasty as they wanna be with all the controversy - and a sealed 1st pressing of Doggystyle - Snoop Dogg!!!

It seems like someone should make a case that can still be opened and closed but once the tamper seal has been broke, then it just needs to be professionally graded and sealed again before being resold. Seems like you win a all the way around

Only in the US, it's not about the music stupid it's about the money stupid, to quote Forest Gump "stupid is as stupid does"

I have mixed opinions, maybe on records I’ve bought and had signed by the artist involved (which can never be sealed as they’ve had to write on it) I do feel the same about records as I do video games though whereas it’s a product that’s close to my heart and I love being able to put those cartridges in the consoles or those records onto their turntables due to the personal feeling it gives me

Couldn’t agree more with your points on the subject. To me, slabbing records would destroy the hobby. As much as I love Mike (In groove) videos, his take this subject I think his completely wrong on. Making the comparison to comics and baseball cards being slabbed doesn’t work in this situation. I understand grading comics and cards because they can still be enjoyed for the most part and it preserves them as there much more fragile. But with records. There’s a whole other element and the collector base is much more different. Like what you said, its great there’s a monetary value, but a lot of the value is enjoying the opportunity to play it if you want and to look at the records themselves, especially now with color vinyl. Slabbing records was started by non-record collectors…investors trying to capitalize on what they think is a missing piece in the hobby. I don’t really believe this will take off personally..it just doesn’t make sense to real record collectors, and how would one even have the space for it? Not everything needs to be slabbed and graded to maintain value..just like movie posters as well, that’s a collectable that cant be professionally slabbed with a grade, doesn’t make them any less valuable, I feel like records are the same in that sense.

I love opening NOS

I can agree maybe “some” albums should be slabbed, but that’s it. And I don’t know who decides that. Definitely not the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame! I had a question… I just purchased one of my grails if you will. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “Wildflowers” 1994 release. I noticed you had one a couple months ago I think you were going to auction it off. I just wondered how much it went for? Maybe give me an idea how I did.

Seeing that new vinyl records go for $25 on up & up & up. I can see if it’s very special record otherwise do not see doing it. 4,000 plus in my collection. Peace & Love

I don't even like plastic sleeves on my records.

oh man noooo - please dont let this become a thing

IMO slabbing should be for visual/historical collectibles for which encasing them wouldn't remove a rare great-sounding LP from circulation. IMO the ultimate value of a high-value LP is generally its superior sound and should be available to a listener. That being said, people should within reason be free to do whatever they want in this hobby.

Many old sealed original records can't be considered first pressing unless you break the shrink and examine the label or dead wax. So how would sealed records be given a first press grade when slabbed without the verification?😊

I have a dozen of them in the album frames , but I access them to listen

I would be in total agreement with you, Dillon, on the slabbing of records. Most people want to be able to play their records or at least look at them for their label variety, for example. Like you mentioned, if we were to have a Beatles “Butcher Cover”, then by all means, slab it with an official grade. But why slab an Elvis “Moody Blue” album? You wouldn’t even e able to admire the beautiful blue vinyl through the light! At the end of the day, I would not be in favor of slabbing records. Walter P.

I would guess the grading of albums would run upwards or $25 to $40 per each. I recently investigated pricing for sports card grading and it runs about $12 to $15 and has minimum items graded requirements. Also, the charges increase to old the items are.

Open them and listen!!! It’s about the music!!!

These grading companies will slab anything they can find. I can't see myself ever having a slabbed record, but I'll never say never. Like you, I want to be able to listen to the album. I also collect comics, and I only own a couple that are slabbed, but I have raw copies I can still read and enjoy the interior art. About the only thing I think makes the most sense is trading cards, so there's no content hidden by the encapsulation process.

Question - Can a vinyl record be slabbed separately from the cover? That way you can see it all.

I 99% hate it, but I agree with you in very rare circumstances. Your example of the sealed butcher would be one of the exceptions IMO. Any unsealed record though, keep em open, take care of them, and enjoy them.

Isn't there a way to "slab" something without being 100% permanent - something like a key or such that would allow the rightful owner to open it on occasion?

I’ve got one of those GnR sealed too! 🤔

I think the graded vinyl industry is going to continue to catch on. If you’re a collector or music enthusiast you should probably learn about it as it will help the hobby grow. Comics, magazines…are all being graded and it helps create a more efficient and robust collector’s market. Having a graded copy and a play copy isn’t that far-fetched, comic guys do it all the time. I agree that the market right now only supports grading high-end, rare, and SEALED lps.

As a long time grader of collectibles and a vinyl collector/seller I dislike grading wax other than sealed vintage records. I think it's reasonable for these records and the most sensical use case.

In europe an lp between VG+ and NM is EX for excellent.

Agreed🤘 I love to listen for the same reasons

While I'm not a fan of taking a good copy of a record out of circulation for listening, I get it. Some records are so culturally important that they need to be preserved as artifacts. That said, I think this makes a great case for making meticulously well-done repressings of albums. So, what I'm really trying to say is... GIVE US A LED ZEPPELIN II HOT MIX PRESSING!

No Slabbing for me. I agree I would be very tempted if I ran across the right record though.

Han Solo had much more character & charm outside the carbonite. That said, he did look good hung on the wall.