Has the bottom fallen out of the Mosaic market?

[Tjazz]

10 hours ago, Dmitry said:

I think it's mostly because Mosaic customers are older and tend to die fairly often, so the used sets are hitting the market pretty regularly now. If anything, I think the prices will drop some more.

I'm just hoping the Chinese will start copying the Japanese, and become the next jazz-crazed nation.

But the Chinese tend to just copy the CDs.  Not exactly quality products.

9 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

CDs?! Hell, kids don't even buy downloads anymore!

 

They have to spend money on the latest cellphone.

I like to buy the Maynard Ferguson 10-CD box set for about $100.

[David Ayers]

11 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

CDs?! Hell, kids don't even buy downloads anymore!

 

 

I almost never have done, and I'm no kid. That's one I'm glad I skipped. I was about to make a joke about confederate dollars but I suspect they are quite valuable. Compared to downloads. 

[Scott Dolan]

I only buy downloads these days, unless it is a box set. 

I've never gotten into streaming. 

[Dmitry]

8 hours ago, David Ayers said:

 

I almost never have done, and I'm no kid. That's one I'm glad I skipped. I was about to make a joke about confederate dollars but I suspect they are quite valuable. Compared to downloads. 

I had, or still have an "original fake" CSA $20 bill [meaning it was counterfit during the bellum years], so I asked a collector about the value of CS currency. Some examples are valuable, most are not, according to that collector. What's your joke?

Edited May 10, 2017 by Dmitry

[sidewinder]

Not to forget also that the CD mastering technology has improved quite a bit since those earlier sets came out - although they still sound pretty good to my ears. Plus you are paying for 20-30 years of condition depreciation, in many cases.

Edited May 10, 2017 by sidewinder

[Ken Dryden]

I don't think most customers bought them with resale value in mind, I think they bought them because they treasured the music and printed content. I thought about selling my Lightnin' Hopkins/Otis Spann once after it became OOP but thought better of it. The only Mosaic I've ever sold was the single disc sampler, a gift from my mom. I already had all of the music on it.

[paul secor]

I may have sold a Mosaic - can't remember - but I always bought them because I wanted to hear the music, not as an investment.

[hbbfam]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

I may have sold a Mosaic - can't remember - but I always bought them because I wanted to hear the music, not as an investment.

Exactly.  I would prefer my kids discovered jazz and appreciated the trove I have acquired, rather than sell.  but if they do they are alerted to sell on this site or Hoffman. 

[Ed S]

4 hours ago, hbbfam said:

Exactly.  I would prefer my kids discovered jazz and appreciated the trove I have acquired, rather than sell.  but if they do they are alerted to sell on this site or Hoffman. 

Hoping not to die too soon, but at age 60, you never know.....  

 

My will has a provision to let my sons pick my Mosaic sets in a "snake" format.  I hope they will keep and enjoy them but realize they will more than likely be put up for sale.  I don't care what they may be worth, I just know that I enjoyed the hell out of them!  Hope they will too.

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, Ed Swinnich said:

Hoping not to die too soon, but at age 60, you never know.....  

 

My will has a provision to let my sons pick my Mosaic sets in a "snake" format.  I hope they will keep and enjoy them but realize they will more than likely be put up for sale.  I don't care what they may be worth, I just know that I enjoyed the hell out of them!  Hope they will too.

You're way too young to be worried about this. (Oh to be 60 again.) , But what's "snake" format? 

[Scott Dolan]

For example: 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 2 3

It's a draft that snakes back and forth. 

[mjzee]

Just bought The Complete Roost Sonny Stitt Studio Sessions on eBay for $74.99 (incl. shipping).

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I am still waiting for a Horace Parlan vinyl set to show up at a decent price. Not all sets have dropped in value.

[sidewinder]

The issue with that one of course is that the price is likely to track what are now some very high priced Blue Note originals on vinyl.

I remember deliberating between CD and vinyl on this one when it was originally on sale and glad to have made the vinyl choice.

[mandrill]

It sure feels like a "buyer" market in Mosaics. I got long coveted Jimmy Giuffre Atlantic set for $72 on e-bay yesterday, along with Buddy Rich and Basie Verve sets also well below the original prices. There were about a dozen of other sets (mostly pre-bop) from that seller that didn't bid up to original price. One of the reasons could be that the seller misspelled it "MOSIAC" on all his listings. But even ones with correct description are not getting as much attention as they used to years ago. I wonder if there might be some resurgence in 5-10 years or so, as hipper millennials might get into Mosaics, as they do into vinyl in general now.

 

 

 

 

[Scott Dolan]

Good question. My guess is probably not, because vinyl is a hipster fad that's mostly about the medium itself. I think for Mosaic's to have a similar revival the younger generations would have to alter their musical tastes. 

You have to keep in mind that youngsters are buying vinyl, but it's mostly of music they already enjoy. 

[mandrill]

Perhaps you're right, Scott. Most likely the drop in Mosaic prices is a part of a broader trend of people bailing on CDs as medium, transferring their music to ephemera of computer files. Well, I remember 90's being a golden time for second-hand LP hunters. Not anymore. Maybe something similar will happen to CD. Maybe not.

I've never thought about buying music as investment-  discovering a lot of various interesting music in affordable ways is what I'm after.

Edited December 11, 2017 by mandrill

[Scott Dolan]

Yeah, I'm right there with you. I never bought any piece of music thinking, "in the future I could sell this for a mint!" 

I don't begrudge those that DO look at it as an investment, but it's definitely not my thing. 

If it's not reasonably priced and relatively accessible, I'm not interested. 

Hell, based on prices I've seen the Plugged Nickel box going for, I could get double what I paid for it. But why? 

[mandrill]

Actually, it's easier to find Plugged Nickel set at decent price now, than, say, 5-7 years ago- unless you mean a Mosaic vinyl copy. I got a sealed copy of CD set for $80 on Amazon last year.

[Scott Dolan]

Oh cool! Then it must be back in print, or was it a used copy? That's an outstanding price, though. 

It's been a few years since I looked it up on eBay, but I remember the CD box sets being sold for $300+! Insanity! 

[mandrill]

3 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Oh cool! Then it must be back in print, or was it a used copy? That's an outstanding price, though. 

It's been a few years since I looked it up on eBay, but I remember the CD box sets being sold for $300+! Insanity! 

It was used, as it is still out of print.

[aparxa]

Selling a Mosaic set on ebay without a proper mention of Mosaic or no mention at all is major mistake and the ending price does not represent its actual value. The  poor filters/categories  on ebay make it difficult to  track down  a specific record, unless you make multiple searches, a real hassle. And it's got worse over the years. My steal of the year was the Nat King Cole 27 LPs, almost sealed and delivered for $120. When discogs will start selling lots and do auctions, Ebay will look even more pathetic, musicwise.

 

[Al in NYC]

Well, I'm suddenly the owner of 19 more Mosaic sets (and several additional Selects).  Although he died back in April, I finally removed them from my father's apartment last month, and have them sitting in a box in the "office" (read: deductible room full of junk that has no place else to go) in my typically cramped NYC apartment.  I was sort of idly wondering what they were worth, remembering the ebay frenzies of several years back, and ended up on this thread.  All I can say is that it's a good thing that I enjoy the music in most of them so much that I wouldn't consider selling them anyway.

[hbbfam]

4 hours ago, Al in NYC said:

Well, I'm suddenly the owner of 19 more Mosaic sets (and several additional Selects).  Although he died back in April, I finally removed them from my father's apartment last month, and have them sitting in a box in the "office" (read: deductible room full of junk that has no place else to go) in my typically cramped NYC apartment.  I was sort of idly wondering what they were worth, remembering the ebay frenzies of several years back, and ended up on this thread.  All I can say is that it's a good thing that I enjoy the music in most of them so much that I wouldn't consider selling them anyway.

What was in the collection?

[Al in NYC]

On 12/12/2017 at 7:47 PM, hbbfam said:

What was in the collection?

Armstrong Deccas

Baker/Freeman

Serge Chaloff

Columbia Small Group Swing

Desmond/Hall

Curtis Fuller

Gillespie

Hall/Johnson/DeParis etc.

JJ Johnson

Thad Jones

Mingus Candids

Blue Mitchell

Mulligan/Baker

Herbie Nichols

Joe Pass

Oscar Peterson

Stuff Smith

Teagarden Roulettes

Teagarden Fifties

He also had the Andrew Hill and the Mingus Jazz Workshop sets, but I already had those.