Why does one like to own "original press" reggae LP's?

[Vlad]

First, a definition of "collecting":

The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector.

A few of my ideas for collecting original press LPs:

1. Owning a genuine piece of the incredible history of Jamaican music.
2. Getting cleaner sound / better press (not always the case, but often).
3. Getting that great cover art no longer used on repress in print quality or actual art
4. Owning music that hasn't been repressed nor is available as MP3
5. Getting your friends to go "waow...this guy rules" or "wow..this guy is insane"!

[Jonti]

I prefer originals mostly for the (generally) superior sound quality. It's not *always* the case that they sound better, but most of the time they do.

That, and for bragging rights.

[jordandance]

You forgot

6. Getting something that's not available on repress.

[Jonti]

I think that was number 4...

[jordandance]

No chance of renaming it 6?

[Jonti]

Hey, why not!

[Jah Chicken]

7. Owning the music in a format the closest to which the producer and engineer had in mind when mixing down the album.

[ital kemar]

leggo, you crafty old git. now that sounds like a well thought out excuse for the missus
but most definitly true too. collecting vinyl is like saving money in a way.
me, i'm the only one in my circle that collects vinyl. my brother and friends have cds, burned cds, music on their computers, cassettes, mp3s etc etc. no disrespect to the other formats, but they just dont do it for me.
nice to have the original pressing, but i have some re issues too that are well crucial. i love them all.

ital kemar

[flashman]

Oh lord, when I think of all the lps I gave to used record stores over the years for like $3 in trade that are worth $50-$100 now!!!!!!!!! :X

I do still have the odd gem, but nothing like what I had around the end of the 80's. And it's just too daunting to try to get back into it. Back when I was an avid vinyl collector, there was hardly anything over $10, often $4-$5 could get you pretty much anything.
Nevertheless, this site is making me consider getting back into it to some degree. I'm dying for a copy of
Freddy McKay's "Tribal Inna Yard". Why did I sell that? What possessed me?

OK, I guess this was a bit off topic, but it just got me thinking....

[flashman]

Well, I guess I kind of know why. I rarely had any money at that time, so I had to trade things in just to hear new stuff......