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Cutouts - Do They Mean Anything Anymore?

Wigwam Jones

Wigwam Jones

Caesar non supra grammati
Back in the day, when records didn't sell, they ended up in the cutout bins. This was a literal as well as a figurative term; the records would be cut physically and then the prices would be cut. The disks themselves would not (supposedly) be damaged, but there would be a cut into the cardboard cover or a hole punched in it, etc. Then the record would be discounted until sold.

Those who bought such records would find them a bargain if they wanted that particular record, but they'd also find it was not considered valuable at the used record store if they went to sell it. Cutouts, like record club records, commanded nearly nothing at the used record store.

But time has gone by and now records don't live in the same retail channel they once did. Cutouts are basically a meaningless concept anymore.

Or are they? Do you avoid cutouts? Do you consider a cutout record in good shape otherwise to be collectible or worth having, or do you prefer to have covers that were never cut? Do you care at all?

Just curious. A bunch of my recent finds in record stores that have never been opened or played were cutouts. Apparently someone bought them, never opened them, and eventually donated them to a thrift store. Me, I'm happy to have them; new vinyl is new vinyl!
 
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I agree! I didn't mind back then and I don't mind it now either. I am suspicious of my own motives if I buy an LP for any other reason than music. Well, that or cover art...;)
 
I would guess it would mean everything to a record collector, but absolutely nothing to a music collector.
All I want is something good to play, but judging auction prices for vinyl, many folks collect records as investments.
45's have gone through the roof lately.
 
I've never cared unless they were charging full price, sound quality is the same, if it's the same pressing, so it used to be a way to get great music, cheaply.

I'm pretty sure my first copy of 'Tales and Mystery and Imagination' on vinyl was a cutout.

jaz
 
Good thread. I find sealed cutouts, like saw blades thru the cover, 45 degree cuts about an inch of the corners. They are sometimes sealed, sometimes not. I sort them by artist, book value, how the seal if sealed looks, and vinyl quality if I can get to it..... My main criteria is basically if it aint for my collection, then I needs to get rid of it.......

Ole 10ear
 
I have bought plenty of CD's too that are cutouts . I buy strictly for the music . Well once I bought a used CD at NRM used for $40 and flipped it for $100 on the Bay . But , I made a copy for myself and still enjoy John Stewart - Bomb Away Dream Babies .
 
If two of the same LP's were in front of me, I guess I would go for the uncut one, especially if it is rare. But if I am just plan old bargain shopping, I don't think it would bother me. It's not like my collection is going to end up at the Smithsonian.
 
Back in my earlier days I would often browse the cutout bins for bargains. That is where I found some really good music. I am fairly cheap by nature so the less I pay for vinyl the better. I still buy a lot of cutout stuff. I dont really buy to collect but to listen. It is rare that I ever pay more than 3 or 4 dollars each for vinyl.
 
Nah, cutouts/hole punches don't bother me in the least and never have. I don't give much time to whether a record is highly collectable and I give no time to how much a record is worth. I don't buy records to collect them and then hope to sell them for top dollar. Hell, I just turn my dups or unwanteds into a local record shop if they will take them and I take whatever they give me for them. The ones that they don't take, I donate. I do have a couple of tiny gems supposedly (very tiny), but I buy records to play them, period. Hell I have a single CD worth more than I paid for 1/3 of my record collection (200 records).
 
Cutouts and holes bother the heck out of me. The album covers are a work of art and shouldn't be defiled.
 
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I've seen a few sloppy hole punches that kinda bugged me, but for the most part I could care less. With CDs, I tend to just take them home and swap the inserts over to a fresh case - but I do that with badly scratched or cracked cases, too.
 
If the cutout is a record I want, and the vinyl looks good, then I buy it.

I might add that your chances of finding a lower quality recording are higher with a cutout. Some cutouts are second, third or higher pressings and the quality tends to go down on the later pressings. In addition, many cutouts have simple record covers where there was once gatefolds. Most often inserts are removed and lyrics on the inner sleeve not provided.

Still, if I find something desireable I will buy it.

cheers, Bob
 
I have several records that have either a hole punched in the jacket or a small cut on it. Never knew what it meant. Now I know. They all sound good to me so I am not worried that these are 'undesirable'.
 
Usually when I find a cutout album that I'm not familiar with by a band that I know it turns out that it's in the discount bin for a very good reason - not their best work. Could be a reunion or re-make album, a concept album that didn't work, different band lineup, whatever.

There have definitely been a few exceptions, but for the most part it's either not that band's most desirable work or it's an off-center mispressing or other defect.

If there's a song or two that I want I'll still buy 'em though, they're all cheap enough now that it doesn't really matter anymore.
 
Over 40 years of record shopping, the cutout bin used to be my first stop at record stores, book stores, drug stores, etc. Records used to be sold in many retail settings. I still have many of my favorite record that were cutout finds:

Buffalo Springfield Again (1st mono pressing)
Nazz (1st album)
Todd Rundgren--Runt (extra tracks version)
--The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
Art Ensemble of Chicago--Phase One
Tons of jazz--Blue Note reissues, Fantasy two-fors, avant-garde ...

Paid a couple of bucks each at most. I miss the those days :tears:
 
the cut out bins were just about the only place I shopped in the 60's & 70's,
the entire rolling stones mono catalog, beach boys mono catalog, all early motown catalogue, Chess, Checker, Argo mono's, entire liberty/imperial
mono catalog, I could go on and on. All for 25 cents to 77 cents each.

I really miss those days!
 
Drill holes were sometimes made through the label of the record. I've got a couple like that. Generally speaking I don't care about cutout marks if the record itself is clean and plays nicely. My copy of Saloom, Sinclair and the Mother Bear has a drill hole through the center of the cover and label. The record is NM and plays great. No desire to seek out another copy.
 
Used to stop by Peaches to peruse the cutout bins almost every Friday night after going out to eat, back in the '70s. Any place that had cutouts I would check them out. I have records I bought at Target 2 for $1. A few times I think they might have been getting rid of a bunch of defectives or end of runs, but usually just good quality records that didn't sell. Many records in my collection were cutouts. Lots of new music I discovered buying on the cheap, that I probably would not have ever heard.
 
Heck, I buy LPs for the record not the cover. I've got water damaged, previously molded, torn covers down here with sweet vinyl inside.
 
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