Most of my rare titles were lucky trades or purchases. I never pay for *any* CD those irrelevant three-numbered ammounts as some people do. I think that's not what it's all about. Once I paid over $40 for one CD, but that was an exception which I am probably not going to do again.
BECAUSE: it's much better not to let all those money escape for a title you may (or may not) find at a cheaper price one day. If you save the money, you can buy 2 or 3 or 4 other titles, which today can be purchased at a low price but may not be available so cheap tomorrow. Indeed paying a high ammount of money may be rather disappointing when you receive "just" a CD with a "good" music.

... with time and patience the leaf of the mulberry becomes satin ...

42zaphod, March 22, 2005; 11:37 PM

Well, I'm not what you can call a real collector. I love film music. I love Goldsmith, I love Morricone etc. but I don't need to have the whole set. And I would not pay a cent for a CD I know I will not listen to. There's no place in my room for, let's say, the "Alien Nation" rejected score. I won't pay for a bootleg anyway, I must have the real thing. The truth is : I love records stores. I never know what I'll find. And when I find something rare (at a reasonable price) I'm happy as a kid. When I go to New York or Paris, it's a real thrill. Here in Montreal, in a garage sale, I found the LP from "The Gates of Hell" for a dollar. To answer your question, I think the only important things are to KEEP COOL, BE PATIENT, AND HAVE FUN.

vodka_kayou, March 23, 2005; 2:16 AM

I do consider myself a real collector, but like Vodka, I'm not a completist; I don't buy music I don't like. Recently I payed a lot of money to get a very rare soundtrack. It's the first time I did this and I don't regret it (yet) because I really like the music. But I don't think I will do this again. Most rare soundtracks in my collection I got by ordering on time (for instance the Varese Club releases), (fair)trading and lucky finds on cd-fairs or even in bargain bins. I must admit that finding the rare ones this way is far more satisfying than paying a lot of money for it on ebay. The search is part of the collecting and makes the collecting much more fun, well at least for me it does. I love seraching in used recordstores and on cd-fairs. I sometimes buy bootlegs, but only if the music hasn't been released by a recordlabel (or as a composers promo). I also prefer the real thing.

erikvantholt, March 24, 2005; 4:29 PM

I have learnt over the years that scores change distributors & then the re-issue comes out & often has extra cues or re-masterd sound. Paying big bucks seems to not pay at all, as the rights change hands & then the cds are re-issued & at a more affordable price. I was lucky to find a copy of Rescuers Down Under for $10 in a local store & yet frequently see it going for much more. I also watched at a movie fair in London UK a buyer parting with 100 UK pounds for the Silva Edition of Extreme Prejudice! Now you can buy it for $15 from the distributors LA LA Land Records or Intrada or Screen Archives, with more music & better sound & the Carolco Logo, what more could a Goldsmith fan ask for? Cobo Blanco has also been re-released recently & at an affordable price.
I have set myself a limit of $40 (USA), I'm from Canada, & have broken my personal rule 3 times & had no regrets, but only by $10 to cover the mail costs in each case.
My thoughts are, just wait & see what happens, having worked in the film/music industry, I have understood, that nothing beats the greed of studios to grab as much money as they can & eventualy it all comes back out, often better & cheaper. I also enjoy the hunt & the chase to locate something I've been after for some time (even years) & then when I get it, it's part of my enjoyment.
Ebay has made the soundtrack market an interesting & amusing place to look, what with the 'promos' & 'private score copies' & then those who buy chunks of limited releases & sell for crazy amounts, I say good luck if the seller gets away with it, if they got the originals from the supplier, the higher sales for them will mean companies such as Film Score Monthly, Intrada, La La La Land Records & Percepto (to name a fewwho I try to visit often) will be able to produce more cds.
But my feelings are set a limit only break it for the 'holy grail' & make it an exception not the rule & enjoy the hobby & when it arrives the music.
I try to trade for scores or buy when the limited editions are released, but I don't buy everything as I only want the scores from movies I know or composers I follow & I admit to being a bit of a Goldsmith completist, but thats my choice & I enjoy it & pass no judgement. I was asked at work on recently about a score & I always say the same thing, buy it because you want it, not to invest in it. Thats what the stock market is for

ajbjmdb, March 26, 2005; 8:29 PM

Hi!.
Im a Morricone completist. I started collecting about 4 years ago and now i must be up at around over 200 soundtracks. In the beginning i was given a lot of copies from experienced collectors, and a well-assorted cd-shop in Sweden helped my collection grow. I have never payed a crazy amount to get anything rare, for me the amount of music i can get for the money is more important than getting something rare. So im no fanatic. If in the future i was only missing one single Morricone score, and the last one was for sale at 100 dollars, i dont think i would buy it unless i was rich!

andy_n_johansen, April 13, 2005; 4:05 AM

I rarely pay more than £50 for anything rare, be it Goldsmith, Barry or old Varese, but if you are desperate for something (either for the music or the collectability of the disc itself) then you have to think how often you have seen something come up for sale... For instance, I was after a mint copy of Angela Morley's Watership Down for almost 18 months, and finally found one on eBay for about £60. That is more than its worth, but I decided I had to have it, simply because they come around so rarely. If you pay top dollar for something that comes around for sale all the time (The 'burbs, or SCSE copy of Krull eg) then thats daft!!

david.dowling, April 18, 2005; 7:34 PM

I agree with all of you guys. I suppose there are two main points in all of this:

1) Never spend more than the limit you think that must be your top for a soundtrack ($40-$50) and always think that if you had to choose the 10 soundtracks in your collection that you have enjoyed most listening to, most of them will be just regular releases.
2) Keep waiting before spending more in a soundtrack of what you think is worth. In fact, all the times I have spend more in a soundtrack than I thought it was worth I always have found it later cheaper, maybe six months later, maybe two years, but always.

Anyway, if after not spending $60 in a soundtrack that you wanted, you end up spending the same amount in 5-6 soundtracks you really didn’t want, or if you end up valuing a soundtrack more because it’s really difficult to get than because of the music or if you get desperate for getting it, even if you may have it on CDR, those are other stories.


jaume_bcn, April 18, 2005; 10:57 PM

I agree, but how many times would you let something go just in case you find it cheaper later, especially if it never seems to be available? And if you reeeeally want it?! It is so difficult! I saw Watership Down offered for sale once in 18 months, and that was with a lot of searching. I suppose you could justify it like buying a brand new disc on day-of-release, knowing that you are paying full whack, when in a few months it will probably be cheap/discounted...? It must just boil down to how much you want it versus how much you are prepared to pay and how long you are prepared to wait!!

david.dowling, April 19, 2005; 4:07 PM