CD COLLECTING.COM

revised 4-17-2013

STAR WARS CD SET

INTRODUCTION

CD collecting, for the purposes of this website, has to be distinguished from a CD collection. The difference being that everyone has a collection of CDs, some quite large, but a CD collector is intrerested in not just collecting CDs, but in collecting a particular type or kind of CD based on some common or uncommon characteristics. CD collecting as a hobby has only shown signs of real growth in the last several years, which is reasonable since the cd has only been around for about 30 years. However, this is a great time to be collecting CDs. With the popularity of digital formats, CDs are being redistributed in large numbers through used cd stores, Amazon, Ebay, etc. Now is a good time to get some of these rare and collectable CDs before they are scooped up by other collectors, or completley destroyed. My job is to get you aquainted with the hobby so that you know what to look for and to grow the hobby in general. In order for a hobby to progress it has to have structure and a knowledge base. It is the goal of this site to offer some structure and to pass on some of the knowledge that I have aquired over the years as owner of a small music store and cd collector.

MEATLOAF PICTURE CD

EARLY WEST GERMAN CD

Before we go on a few things should be noted. First, the discussions on this site will primarily deal with CDs made for the american market. Import CDs, as they are called, are another thing
altogether and will only occasionally be mentioned in the context of the american market. Second, I will be giving you the info as I see it or remember it to the best of my ability. I will try to indicate when something is conjecture, you have the responsiblity to do further research if necessary. I could be wrong. (Naw, just kidding)

HISTORY

I'll try to cover the basics here without going into all the details which you can find elsewhere. Laserdiscs for movies were created in the late 70s using a digital format. These were large discs about the size of a record album that, when placed in the compatible player, would play a movie. At some point it was logical to expand the digital format to include a disc that would store and play music. Remembering the video format wars (VHS vs Betamax) which cost everybody money and delayed the acceptance of the videotape format, Philips, an electronics company from the Netherlands, and the Japanese company Sony, got together this time and had several meetings to discuss the details. There was much wailing and knashing of teeth as the two sides tried to find common ground, each company trying to make sure that they would get the advantage or at least not come out the loser. In 1980 they finally settled on what is called the Red Book standard for compact discs.

The first compact disc, Abba's album "The Visitors" was manufactured at a plant in Germany. However, the first compact disc to actually be released to the public was Billy Joel's "52nd Street" in 1982. CD titles were released slowly at first, mostly titles that would appeal to adult males in their 30's and 40's. Middle-aged men are usually the first to try and buy new technology since they have the desire and the disposable income that allows them to pay the high price associated with new technology. CDs were about $20 compared with about half that for a record or casette tape. So if you are looking for these original issue Compact Discs, look at titles in classical, jazz, or other adult artists. More on that later.

ABOUT COMPACT DISCS

The final version of the cd turned out to be 120 mm in diameter (about 4 3/4 inches) and 1.2 mm in thickness. It was designed to hold about 60 minutes of music, which is all the early versions could hold and still be reliably read by early cd players. This was not really a problem since most records of the time only held about 35-45 minutes of music. The time limit was expanded to about 80 minutes as the technology advanced.

A cd is made of a disc of pure polycarbonate plastic. The plastic is molded with the information (music in a digital form) via microscopic pits and a layer of reflective metal is coated onto the surface of the disc so that the laser in the cd player can read the pits. A thin layer of lacquer is applyed to the top surface to protect the information layer. If you would like a more detailed discussion of how a cd is made and its evolution try en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc

For the purposes of cd collecting here's what you need to know. A compact disc is basically a sandwich of, from bottom to top, plastic disc, thin layer of aluminum (or gold), and lacquer coating. It starts playing from the inside near the hole and proceeds to the outside rim, the opposite of a record. Since a cd will hold about 80 minutes of music, most cds will not have any information (music) near the outside rim, and many older titles will only go a little more than halfway out. This is important to know since a cd may be damaged near the outside rim and still play perfectly. Damage to a cd is defined as anthing that affects the playability, and for collectors, the appearance of the cd. Damage can occur in any of three ways. The cd can be cracked or broken. In this case you might as well throw it out. The top layer of aluminum can be scratched or pitted since it is very close to the top. Hold it up to the light and you will be able to see these. This is not repairable but sometimes some or all of the cd may play anyway. These cds are generally not collectable unless extremely rare. Or the bottom of the cd is scratched or damaged. Many times this damage can be repaired. The cd is placed in a special machine which evenly polishes the bottom surface with finer and finer grades of polish until it is like new. Fairly deep scratches can be delt with this way, but not everything can be repaired.

EARLY COMPACT DISCS

Early compact discs were not made in the United States. I know, we like to think of ourselves as the most advanced country in the world as far as technology goes, but we were way behind on this one. As discussed above the technology was created by the europeans and japanese, but the us did not even manufacture any cds for several years. This is where we are going to violate our rule about import cds. We have to talk about import cds because early cds were all imports. Strangely enough, although they were made oversees, almost all early cds featured american artists and were printed in english. The reason is simple. You go where the money is and the american
music market was the largest at the time, as well as the fact that american artist were well know throughout the world.

"Early pressing" cds or "original pressing" cds generally refers to West German or Japanese pressings from the mid eighties. They will state the country of manufacture on the cd and on the paperwork. Sometimes there will be made in the usa on the paperwork which usually indicates a little bit newer cd when the USA started to take over some of the manufacturing responsiblities. It is still possible to find Early Pressings in cd stores and elsewhere because most people don't know how to recognize them. It is merely a matter of carefuly examining the cd and paperwork for a made in West Germany or made in Japan label. The cd will be from the mid-eighties and will have the date printed on the cd or paperwork. Little know fact- if the cd is still in its orginal jewel box the jewel box will have a frosted top and bottom, instead of ridged top like present day cds. "Frosted Top" jewel boxes are an important part of early pressings cds and should be kept unless seriously damaged.

EARLY POLYGRAM CD MADE IN WEST GERMANY

FROSTED TOP JEWEL BOX IN FRONT OF REGULAR JEWEL BOX

EARLY TARGET CD

A subcatagory of early pressings is the "target cd", so called because the graphic printed on the cd resembles crosshairs from a gunsight. These cds were made by WEA (the warner brothers group of labels) and are quite collectable, since they are easy to recognize.

THE LONGBOX

At this point in CD history, we have a problem. Record companys want stores to carry the new compact disc, but they don't fit in the usual record racks. Along comes the longbox. The longbox was basically a cardboard sleeve the width of a cd and about twice as long. The cd was sealed in the bottom of the longbox and the box was shrinkwrapped. Two longboxes would fit along side each other where a record would fit in a regular rack. This allowed the new cds to be stocked alongside records without the store having to buy new racks, and it gave the cd twice the visual presence of a mere jewel box. Problem solved.
New problem. Shoplifters quickly realized that they could take a razor, slit the bottom of the longbox, remove the cd, put it in their pocket, and leave without anybody being the wiser. The longbox left behind made it look like the cd was still there. Cds were being stolen in huge quantites. Solution - the clamshell package.
The clamshell package is the same kind of package that everything comes in these days. Two pieces of clear plastic fused together at the seam. Almost impossible to get into even when you're supposed to. Thieves foiled, problem solved.
New problem. Clamshells irritated customers
and could not be read from the top when they are stacked in the rack. Also environmentaly concerned bands did not like the fact that they were contributing to landfills in such a massive way. If a band sold five million cds, five million pieces of cardboard or plastic went to the landfill. Eventually the store owners became convinced of the future of cds and built special cd racks which just displayed the jewel box.
What you need to know as a collector is that even though hundreds of millions of longboxes were made, 99.99% of them are in the landfills. This makes them quite rare, and you should always keep them if you run into them. If you wish to remove the cd, slit the longbox along the bottom to slide the cd out.