All Wrapped Up
Encapsulated vinyl exposes the absurdity of manufactured rarity
Vinyl is iconic. Full stop.
But there are albums that take that iconic status to another level.
It’s no surprise that the most coveted vinyl records are rare pressings of hugely influential albums.
Thriller. Songs in the Key of Life. The Dark Side of the Moon. Love them or hate them, these are records with weight.
When collectors talk about a rare pressing, we usually mean one of the very first copies, or one with an anomaly or quirk (e.g. a misprint) that makes it stand out.
The more iconic the album, and the scarcer the pressing, the more valuable it becomes.
As you would expect, emblematic albums have been reissued many times since their release, especially in the last decade or so, as new generations of vinyl lovers get to discover the albums that changed the course of music history.
Basic critical thinking dictates that, while an album may be iconic, not all pressings of that album will see the same fate.
So far, so good.
But there’s a catch.
