What mainstream CDs have become rare or sought after?

I'm mostly thinking of anything that isn't a promotional item. Most examples I know of are ones released during a time when CD wasn't a dominant format, but still an option, like in the mid-late 80s and were not re-issued. Some new jack swing CDs are like this. Also, to cite a more contemporary example (and I know I'll be laughed at for this), the very very first Jonas Brothers album was released on a mainstream label but discontinued shortly after they switched labels because of rights issues, and eventually, at the peak of their career, came to fetch over $100+ on eBay from raving fan girls.

But can anyone cite any examples, from any genre, of mainstream CDs that demand higher than average prices?

Arent Keel's albums pretty rare now?

Hadley wrote:

Arent Keel's albums pretty rare now?

I've been noticing that alot of hair/glam bands from the 80's are fetching some decent coin on ebay these days. Stuff that I used to see all the time in used bins are now somewhat of a rarity these days I guess. Not the most popular bands (Motley, Ratt, Dokken, etc,) but some of the 2nd and 3rd-tier stuff.

This really seems to be a crap shoot. Some stuff that you wouldn't expect to do so becomes very rare after an initial pressing sells out and some stuff that's billed as "limited edition" seems to stick around for decades after the initial run at lower and lower prices.

If you're looking for mainstream but valuable, usually you have to look in the wings at a popular band - solo projects and the like. Because fans of the core band will seek them out, sometimes even a total flop that was remaindered and cleared out will end up worth stupid money only because you need to be DEDICATED to want it and very few people bothered keeping it, let alone offering it for resale.

I had some Pink Floyd-related albums that got me through some rough financial times by selling for $80-$100 each a couple years back.

What about Ozzy Osbourne's The Ultimate Sin? Went multi-platinum, but it's out of print now.

I don't know if it's inflated in price any for being out of print though...

It does seem to be a crap shoot, with the wild card being hard copy (cd) consumers. We are becoming a rare commodity almost as much as the cds themselves.
An example: last week I tried to play Ten's "Stormwarning" cd, a limited edition that I bought for your standard $15 in 2010 or 2011 new. Unfortunately there was a skip, so I checked into getting a replacement copy on Amazon. Ouch, nothing under $109. Only a damn old fool would pay that rather than download the same thing for under $10.
I have tons of out of print cds from obscure early 70's bands, which I'm sure are in theory worth hundreds of dollars, but who would buy them when almost anything can be downloaded now for a fraction of the collectible price? Maybe original print cds are still worth a lot if they weren't preceeded by LPs, I dunno.

happy ending-I swabbed my flawed Stormwarning cd with a cotton ball soaked in Vodka, and it fixed the skip. Paid for the next $109 worth of Vodka!

Back in 2006 I took a hiatus from the sports card collecting and really focused on improving my music collection. I sat down and created a want list that was bout 1,000 albums strong and then started my search. I was shocked at how much stuff was going for (or more accurately, the asking price as I don't know how much was really sold at those inflated prices) and how much it was going to cost me. I told myself it was no big deal and I had the rest of my life to complete the list. Nearly a decade later, I have about 200 or so left to go, and thankfully the prices have really come down.

I "waited out" the prices on a lot of albums from the resurgence in Metal popularity and picked them up when they became affordable. For example, both Hittman albums, Salty Dog's debut, Armored Saint's Delirious Nomad. For me, affordable is anything under $25. That's my ceiling. My wife has bought a few cd's for me as gifts that were in the top 10 and were definitely higher than my ceiling. This Christmas was Lion "Dangerous Attraction" and for my 40th b-day last year was Lion "Trouble in Angel City" and Keel "The Final Frontier."

Due to less demand and physical collectors, there have been some real gems lately. The other night I bought a beautiful copy of John Norum's "Total Control" for $7. It arrived today and I am spinning it now. (Awesome album, btw). Reissued and remastered versions along with less collectors of cd's has probably contributed to the drop in prices. Or, those sellers could have gotten tired of not selling the items at the inflated price tag and just started dropping prices across the bay.

There could also be the concept that it depends on where you live and in what country you live in. Me and my family and friends live in RI, right near the MA border. My best friend travels to Delaware a lot to visit family and stops at this particular record store and just kills it. He comes home with things like Rose Tattoo and the Rods (stuff you never see at all around her in the used bins) and it's 1/4th the price on Amazon or the Bay. He gave me a copy of the S/T Femme Fatale album for free ( he bought 4 copies at $4 each from this place) an album that still fetches $30-$40 online and I once saw someone pay over $100 for it about five years ago.

Runicen wrote:

This really seems to be a crap shoot.  Some stuff that you wouldn't expect to do so becomes very rare after an initial pressing sells out and some stuff that's billed as "limited edition" seems to stick around for decades after the initial run at lower and lower prices.

Sarsippius' Ark, by Infectious Grooves. It's been a limited edition for 22 years. You can find brand new, still sealed copies everywhere.

You want ridiculous? Go on Amazon and look at the prices for the last two W.A.S.P. albums. Those albums came out fairly recently, why are they so expensive now?

Hadley wrote:

You want ridiculous? Go on Amazon and look at the prices for the last two W.A.S.P. albums. Those albums came out fairly recently, why are they so expensive now?

Wasn't the last one only available via import?

Required Fields wrote:

Hadley wrote:

You want ridiculous? Go on Amazon and look at the prices for the last two W.A.S.P. albums. Those albums came out fairly recently, why are they so expensive now?

Wasn't the last one only available via import?

I did see it at FYE when it first came out (should have bought it then), so "Babylon" was released stateside at least. Its also odd that there's no mp3 download option for them.

Required Fields wrote:

Hadley wrote:

You want ridiculous? Go on Amazon and look at the prices for the last two W.A.S.P. albums. Those albums came out fairly recently, why are they so expensive now?

Wasn't the last one only available via import?

i think that is correct.

That's insane. WASP is a big band. German Amazon also only has filthy expensive options.

Discogs.com might have the largest collection of idiotic, out-of-touch sellers. I have no idea where 95% of those sellers get their prices from.