Has the bottom fallen out of the Mosaic market?

[gmonahan]

Lots of very fine music there! You have hours of great listening ahead!

 

 

 

gregmo

[T.D.]

Surprising but pleasant experience today.

Last night I was looking at Lennie Tristano CDs (thanks to a video posted on the pianist left hand thread), and noticed a "NM" Tristano/Konitz/Marsh Mosaic on eBay with a seemingly low current bid.

I lobbed in a lowish (IMO) bid expecting to get soundly topped, but won it for $118.50 shipped. Looking forward to listening. [Added: This was the first time in years that I made a non-"Buy it Now" bid on eBay. Can't even recall the last time I did so.]

Edited February 26, 2018 by T.D.

[Larry Kart]

The liner notes are worth that much.

[paul secor]

2 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

The liner notes are worth that much. 

[Brad]

Yesterday I went to Princeton Record Exchange, which was pretty crowded.  Anyway, they have quite a few Mosaic, both the big box and Selects and the prices were very low. No new news there but still kind of shocking. The Tolliver (which I picked up for Justin) was $29; you can’t find it for less than $85 on Discogs. They had a Maynard Ferguson; only $299; cheapest I’ve ever seen it. You can’t buy it on Discogs or eBay for less than $450. And on and on.  Even the recent Teddy Wilson was heavily discounted. Admittedly, Princeton Record Exchange wants to move merchandise, but still.  

[gmonahan]

4 hours ago, Brad said:

Yesterday I went to Princeton Record Exchange, which was pretty crowded.  Anyway, they have quite a few Mosaic, both the big box and Selects and the prices were very low. No new news there but still kind of shocking. The Tolliver (which I picked up for Justin) was $29; you can’t find it for less than $85 on Discogs. They had a Maynard Ferguson; only $299; cheapest I’ve ever seen it. You can’t buy it on Discogs or eBay for less than $450. And on and on.  Even the recent Teddy Wilson was heavily discounted. Admittedly, Princeton Record Exchange wants to move merchandise, but still.  

They'd get a lot more if they sold on-line.

 

 

 

gregmo

[sidewinder]

That’s a great price for the Maynard set - presumably CD version?

[jlhoots]

Tried to sell my Braxton, Threadgill & Morgan / Shorter sets here recently at what I thought were reasonable prices. Nothing sold. Of course several reasons were given - everyone who wants them has them, I don't take PayPal, I don't ship out of the US.

[Brad]

Pretty sure it was cd. 

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Tried to sell my Braxton, Threadgill & Morgan / Shorter sets here recently at what I thought were reasonable prices. Nothing sold. Of course several reasons were given - everyone who wants them has them, I don't take PayPal, I don't ship out of the US.

From a strictly objective standpoint, the more you reduce your potential market, the more you reduce you chance of selling your product.

Still, though, once you find a buyer, you get a sale. Keep trying.

[jlhoots]

1 minute ago, JSngry said:

From a strictly objective standpoint, the more you reduce your potential market, the more you reduce you chance of selling your product.

Still, though, once you find a buyer, you get a sale. Keep trying.

Not right now. Thanks.

[Brad]

10 hours ago, gmonahan said:

They'd get a lot more if they sold on-line.

 

 

 

gregmo

Probably but it was pretty crowded and people were buying records by the bags. In fact, when I called asking if they had a certain record, they asked where I was calling from. I assume that if it wasn’t from the upper east coast, they wouldn’t have answered the question. 

[Tjazz]

14 hours ago, Brad said:

Yesterday I went to Princeton Record Exchange, which was pretty crowded.  Anyway, they have quite a few Mosaic, both the big box and Selects and the prices were very low. No new news there but still kind of shocking. The Tolliver (which I picked up for Justin) was $29; you can’t find it for less than $85 on Discogs. They had a Maynard Ferguson; only $299; cheapest I’ve ever seen it. You can’t buy it on Discogs or eBay for less than $450. And on and on.  Even the recent Teddy Wilson was heavily discounted. Admittedly, Princeton Record Exchange wants to move merchandise, but still.  

Maynard Ferguson?  I'm still waiting for $150 or less.

[sidewinder]

1 hour ago, Tjazz said:

Maynard Ferguson?  I'm still waiting for $150 or less.

Long wait.

[Shrdlu]

My main problem with Mosaic sets is not the cost (though, of course I don't buy sets with fierce prices): it is finding time to hear them. I got the recent Teddy Wilson set just before it ended, but so far, I've only listened to CD1. A major hindrance is that they insist on scattering the tracks all over the place - by the will of the majority, Michael says. For me, step one is to unravel the tracks and burn them onto CDs in proper order. The last Lester set took days to unscramble and arrange chronological order. There, Sony's stubborn attitude made it even harder - they refused to mix the stuff they own with other companies' material. They are as childish as sulky kids playing marbles. May I remind these companies that they didn't play on, or record, ANY of the music.

[J.A.W.]

1 hour ago, Shrdlu said:

I got the recent Teddy Wilson set just before it ended

Just before it ended? The Teddy Wilson set is still available from Mosaic and, in Europe, from JazzMessengers in Barcelona, Spain.

[Ken Dryden]

If you find the Maynard Ferguson Mosaic box for under $400, it will likely be missing the box and booklet, or in less than near mint condition. Some of the inflated prices are a bit ridiculous, but everyone who wants to hold out for $800 or $1000 is welcome to do so. I finally bought one off Discogs this week after losing a second ebay auction, though I got hit with $30 in sales tax by the seller's state, which collects from everyone, not just residents.

 

[Brad]

8 hours ago, Tjazz said:

Maynard Ferguson?  I'm still waiting for $150 or less.

 

6 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Long wait.

A long wait indeed. I’m pretty sure you will never see it at that price. 

32 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

If you find the Maynard Ferguson Mosaic box for under $400, it will likely be missing the box and booklet, or in less than near mint condition. Some of the inflated prices are a bit ridiculous, but everyone who wants to hold out for $800 or $1000 is welcome to do so. I finally bought one off Discogs this week after losing a second ebay auction, though I got hit with $30 in sales tax by the seller's state, which collects from everyone, not just residents.

 

It was complete and although the box was sealed, I’m sure it was in mint condition.  I’ve purchased a sealed box from them (as well as other cds) and the discs were mint. They check everything they buy closely.  

Edited December 7, 2019 by Brad

[sidewinder]

This Princeton Exchange place sounds like the ‘dog’s proverbials’. Too bad that it is thousands of miles away (or maybe a good thing - for my wallet! )

[JSngry]

Mosaic boxes are never sealed. The discs inside them are, if that's what you mean.

[Brad]

33 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Mosaic boxes are never sealed. The discs inside them are, if that's what you mean.

Correct but Princeton Record Exchange seals them so you can’t look inside. I think they do that with all or most of the box sets they have and they have a lot of boxed sets, not just jazz. Single CDs and vinyl (not referring to Mosaics) can be inspected. 

[JSngry]

Yikes! I get why they might need to do that, but still...yikes!

What's their return policy, lest you get home - or even to the car - and find something not as it should be in terms of completeness or condition?

[sidewinder]

I think Jazz Record Center in NYC does that outer sealing up of boxes such as Mosaics too.

[Ken Dryden]

They probably have to seal Mosaic boxes to reduce pilferage, as shoplifters are notorious to do with gutting boxed sets.

 

[Shrdlu]

You are absolutely right about the Teddy Wilson set, Hans. It was the Oliver Nelson set that was about to end.

That Nelson set is an excellent example of the value of the Mosaic concept. I strongly doubt that I would ever have chased up all the albums covered by the set. There is some superb arranging and playing. I would include Cannonball's "Domination", but they had to consider size, and the album is easy to find.

I love the fact that Oliver didn't restrict himself to a "trumpet section", a "trombone section", a "saxophone section" and rhythm. He offers mixures of all the instruments, plus many extras, such as bass clarinets, flutes and other tasty tone colors.