Vinyl Me Please Anthology

uh oh... this is going to sell out guys, better buy quick!!

jk but I do hope a few of you take the plunge with me. I sold a couple records yesterday by sheer chance and this is now fully funded, so I guess I've convinced myself.
 
i think I’m going to buy this! I’m in for it, especially if they are all being shipped at once! 🙌

I just have to pay my personal trainer on Monday and because of the VMP Motown Anthology. I won’t have enough to pay him and I hate borrowing money from my mum and dad 😂
 
For sure, the price sucks, but that’s why you don’t see any audiophile companies doing HUGE titles at a run of 1000. I remember Storf claimed at the old forum that if they made the Fist City exclusive (also a run of 1000) a AAA cut it would have driven the cost up to $45 for them to make a profit. That’s not to far off what we see here. Think the issue is they’re cramming so much into this box (also account for the time they spend designing snd marketing this to a very high standard) and ordering so little of it that the economy of scale doesn’t work in their favor. They have to make a profit off of what is essentially 8 high quality releases while sticking to the super small run that so many people go bananas for, stoking that FOMO.

One other note is that the labels own mono box is a super high price point as well, so who knows how much Motown wants to squeeze this lemon. They’re also entering an audiophile market that’s become increasingly loony, with the ridiculous standards set by the One-Steps and UHQRs pretty much redefining the ceiling of sanity. As much as the audiophile crowd likes to look down our nose at the amount people charge for lame-ass colored pressings these days, I think we like to ignore that we’re really in a golden age for boutique BS. IMO this is a high ticket item, and not a trend I like to see, but still feels more tolerable than paying $125 for one 2X45RPM release.
You may be right, but the fact that VMP has made it clear that, outside of their subscription service, their business model is now based on FOMO and price gouging, I'm not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It is their choice to make it a limited release, so saying that is why the price is high doesn't make it better. I understand why doing a much higher pressing number might not be as good of a business decision for them, but that's just it, they are choosing it for them, not us. I am absolutely not willing to pay a much higher price for something just because it is limited. If that is true for Loretta Lynn then the label was gouging them and they were passing it on to us.

I'll wait on well done non-limited boxes like the Kinks box all day over this extremely over-priced box.
 
If we have 8 (well, 9...) AAA LPs with hi-quality pressing and sleeves, the price point of the box itself (w/ discount) is not so unreasonable I'd say. I recently picked some Tone Poet releases for 35€ each (around 38$ - and FWIW they're among the best sounding record I have) so that's in-line with the box-set price (not discussing the Blue Note audiophile vs Motown thing here).
The reason the Tone Poets are $10 more than the Blue Note 80 are because of the better jacket/gatefold. That's the only appreciable difference from the Blue Note 80s that are also AAA from Kevin Gray. I don't think RTI is more expensive than QRP and if they are I'd rather have QRP.

The anthology box, unless they change from the last one, will be much more similar to the Blue Note 80 releases.
 
You may be right, but the fact that VMP has made it clear that, outside of their subscription service, their business model is now based on FOMO and price gouging, I'm not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It is their choice to make it a limited release, so saying that is why the price is high doesn't make it better. I understand why doing a much higher pressing number might not be as good of a business decision for them, but that's just it, they are choosing it for them, not us. I am absolutely not willing to pay a much higher price for something just because it is limited. If that is true for Loretta Lynn then the label was gouging them and they were passing it on to us.

I'll wait on well done non-limited boxes like the Kinks box all day over this extremely over-priced box.

I don't disagree, but it's not apples to oranges with label releases like the Kinks, Dylan, Beatles, Stones etc. The labels really are gouging the reissue folks, sometimes to the point of driving them out of business (look at Intervention Records who tried to run an AAA reissue label at sub-MoFi prices). Plus, Motown's own box set hardly provides the value that the better rock box sets have in the past few years, so I definitely think theres some greed on their end since they are charging at audiophile reissue prices direct to consumer.

I do agree on VMP's FOMO BS, and I think they totally could drive cost down by doing a run of 5,000 or something, but then they would run the risk of not selling out in a few hours / days which for them is a sin. Personally I wish they would just dispense with the shitty marketing and just announce the price and contents at launch, then if it really was so great people would buy anyways. Personally I think I will sit this one out too, unless I actually want all 8 LPs. In that case I may bite, but will likely do as you plan to, and wait for other boxes / reissues.

On a more important note, where did you get your Kinks box? It seems to be OOP everywhere and I procrastinated too long haha.
 
We got a lot of great, constructive feedback after our first Anthology release. Based on that feedback, some of the major changes we’ve implemented include: shipping Anthology all at once (in a new shipping box) rather than over three separate shipments, moving the fan community from Facebook to Discourse.org, adding more exclusive content, allowing installment payments via Afterpay, and including liner note prints with each Episode rather than one booklet at the end. We’ve also invested much more time in the QC process this time around.

But they're still not going to tell you what's in the box. Unbelievable.

Scrolling through the last 3 pages has been hilarious watching you guys go from righteous indignation to rationalizing buying this thing. I'm leading a boycott. Who's with me? #whatsinthebox
 
We got a lot of great, constructive feedback after our first Anthology release. Based on that feedback, some of the major changes we’ve implemented include: shipping Anthology all at once (in a new shipping box) rather than over three separate shipments, moving the fan community from Facebook to Discourse.org, adding more exclusive content, allowing installment payments via Afterpay, and including liner note prints with each Episode rather than one booklet at the end. We’ve also invested much more time in the QC process this time around.

But they're still not going to tell you what's in the box. Unbelievable.

Scrolling through the last 3 pages has been hilarious watching you guys go from righteous indignation to rationalizing buying this thing. I'm leading a boycott. Who's with me? #whatsinthebox
I’m with you 🙋‍♂️💯

But I’m down with buying the VMP Motown Anthology because I think it will be special! 🙈
 
The reason the Tone Poets are $10 more than the Blue Note 80 are because of the better jacket/gatefold. That's the only appreciable difference from the Blue Note 80s that are also AAA from Kevin Gray. I don't think RTI is more expensive than QRP and if they are I'd rather have QRP.

The anthology box, unless they change from the last one, will be much more similar to the Blue Note 80 releases.
I do think RTI is more expensive than QRP and I think the TPs do sound better than the BN80s I have. But I have only paid a few more dollars per TP than the BN80s. I think I have gotten all of the TPs for under $30. For those in Europe who have been paying $40+, I can see the difference in sound quality being more negligible compared to the price.
 
The answer in that FAQ for why they won't tell us what's in the box is absolutely horse shit. When I bought the Tom Petty box set I bought it because I knew what was in it, and it cost less than this. They ask that people don't say what's in the box once they get it, are you kidding me? this is the internet. On what planet do they think that what's in the box won't be available as soon as the first person gets the box. Bullshit.
 
We got a lot of great, constructive feedback after our first Anthology release. Based on that feedback, some of the major changes we’ve implemented include: shipping Anthology all at once (in a new shipping box) rather than over three separate shipments, moving the fan community from Facebook to Discourse.org, adding more exclusive content, allowing installment payments via Afterpay, and including liner note prints with each Episode rather than one booklet at the end. We’ve also invested much more time in the QC process this time around.

But they're still not going to tell you what's in the box. Unbelievable.

Scrolling through the last 3 pages has been hilarious watching you guys go from righteous indignation to rationalizing buying this thing. I'm leading a boycott. Who's with me? #whatsinthebox
FOMO is their marketing strategy. Despite how they try to deny it, it is 100% their strategy and they stoke it over and over and over again and goddamn if it isn't effective. I still fall for it sometimes and then I look back and realize hey--I don't even really want this record...

If this was not a VMP box, would most people here buy it? How many people here bought the recent Motown in Mono box set that is AAA mastered by Kevin Grey and is 5 LPs for $150? Its interesting to see so many copies of the Anthology 1 box set re-selling for pretty much the same price that people paid when they bought it.

Also, was waiting on this one! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

 
Thank god I don't even have to deliberate this. They excluded Switzerland from the countries this is being shipped to. I kinda get it... would have been a nightmare getting it through customs unless you declare it properly.
 
FOMO is their marketing strategy. Despite how they try to deny it, it is 100% their strategy and they stoke it over and over and over again and goddamn if it isn't effective. I still fall for it sometimes and then I look back and realize hey--I don't even really want this record...

If this was not a VMP box, would most people here buy it? How many people here bought the recent Motown in Mono box set that is AAA mastered by Kevin Grey and is 5 LPs for $150? Its interesting to see so many copies of the Anthology 1 box set re-selling for pretty much the same price that people paid when they bought it.

Also, was waiting on this one! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

I kind of understood not announcing the titles ahead of time. But I honestly (stupidly) thought they would announce them went it went live for purchase. I'm shocked. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am. I'm trying not to judge anyone, but I honestly don't understand how someone can pay $300 and not know what they're buying.
 
The answer in that FAQ for why they won't tell us what's in the box is absolutely horse shit. When I bought the Tom Petty box set I bought it because I knew what was in it, and it cost less than this. They ask that people don't say what's in the box once they get it, are you kidding me? this is the internet. On what planet do they think that what's in the box won't be available as soon as the first person gets the box. Bullshit.

Wait where are you seeing this?

This is even dumber than I thought tbh. Still think the price isn’t as oursgeous as some make it out to be, but the lack of transparency is.
 
I kind of understood not announcing the titles ahead of time. But I honestly (stupidly) thought they would announce them went it went live for purchase. I'm shocked. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am. I'm trying not to judge anyone, but I honestly don't understand how someone can pay $300 and not know what they're buying.
I understand not announcing the titles ahead of time if it's a cheap box set or grab bag. VMP did a "grab bag" thing a year or two ago. I bought a soul grab bag of former VMP titles. It was $58 for 4 records. I don't mind a case of that not knowing what titles are in it in that case. It's a gamble but it's not expensive. At least with BN anthology 1 we deduced what the records were before it went on sale.

This is more expensive than some of the best box sets out there and they refuse to tell you what you're buying. I'm not trying to judge people based on buying this at all either. Conceptually, a women of Motown box set is awesome. But to me, it's not mystery $300 awesome.
 
I understand not announcing the titles ahead of time if it's a cheap box set or grab bag. VMP did a "grab bag" thing a year or two ago. I bought a soul grab bag of former VMP titles. It was $58 for 4 records. I don't mind a case of that not knowing what titles are in it in that case. It's a gamble but it's not expensive. At least with BN anthology 1 we deduced what the records were before it went on sale.

This is more expensive than some of the best box sets out there and they refuse to tell you what you're buying. I'm not trying to judge people based on buying this at all either. Conceptually, a women of Motown box set is awesome. But to me, it's not mystery $300 awesome.
All good points, but the VMP soul grab bag sounds like there was at least a definable universe of possible titles. Limiting this to women narrows it down somewhat, but Motown has a 40+ year history. I think when people think about Motown they think Diana Ross and Gladys Knight, but what if they throw in a Pointer Sisters album from the 80s?
 
All good points, but the VMP soul grab bag sounds like there was at least a definable universe of possible titles. Limiting this to women narrows it down somewhat, but Motown has a 40+ year history. I think when people think about Motown they think Diana Ross and Gladys Knight, but what if they throw in a Pointer Sisters album from the 80s?
Right--and that's why I was fine with buying that grab bag. I knew it A) wouldn't be titles I already owned because I only had 1 VMP soul release at that point and B) VMP had only done so many soul exclusives.

It would be kind of hilarious if it was 6 Pointer Sisters albums and one Syreeta record.
 
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