I use the translation - 'recycle bin item'.
An obi strip on a record, also very common on other consumer products, is only useful to the Japanese market and serves 3 purposes: as a price tag (given that prices in Japan are established by the manufacturer), a Japanese translation of the title, artist, tracks and maybe personnel or a promo blurb, and often on the reverse advertising for other records on the label in the same release week/batch.
So basically, it is a glorified price tag. Back in the day, most would do as intended - rip it off, it obscures the cover art.
Not all Japanese collectors did so, though, as some wanted or needed that Japanese translation. So there are quite a few on vintage records still around.
An obi has really no value. Maybe it is a status symbol to some collectors. Maybe some retain it for the same reason they peel off hype stickers to save. Or it might be some weird 'I'm very cool because I have this whole japanese culture thing going' association.
There a very few that are really collectible, such as the Atlantic Rock of Ages obi.
Today, in our Discogs value driven collector age, it is kept primarily because one day, some stupid Gaijin will pay more if it is on the cover.
), and it’s phenomenal (recording, pressing, and music). Wanted to add this reply in case a N&G member is curious about Disques Debs in the future.
