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Cutouts - Do They Mean Anything Anymore?

My favorite cut-out shopping was from "Still Rare Records" in North Carolina. They were the major bootleg wholesale outlet in the USA. Every month you would get a mailer of new releases, sales, and cut-outs. Beatles bootleg LP's (and every other artist you could think of) for $1.20 per disc!!! Those were the days...
 
Nope dose not bother me a bit.
Back in the day I bought them. And now when I visit my "new&used" record shop it still dose not bother me.
I'm a music listener not a record collector.
I have my share of picture disc.
They sound tarrible and I never play them but hey they are cool.
 
audiojones said:
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.
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Nope. The quality of the songs is subjective and has little to do with it.

They were typically overstocked records and they had to be moved out, so they reduced the price and put the cutout mark on it.

While it could be in some cases that a particular album was not highly regarded and never sold well so it become an overstock item but that is not the full reason they did it. Some records that I found in cutout form are gold and platinum sellers.

You can find both great records and poor sounding reissues, missing gatefold covers, missing inserts, and have plain inner sleeves that once had lyrics and the like.
 
bobins08 said:
Nope. The quality of the songs is subjective and has little to do with it.

They were typically overstocked records and they had to be moved out, so they reduced the price and put the cutout mark on it.
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Yep.

I remember when I was a kid they had a whole bin of Pink Floyd "Piper at the Edge of Dawn" cutouts on Tower Records for $0.67 at my local discount store.

Any idea what one of those babies is worth now.....:yes:
 
How often in perusing collections of pre-owned records do you find playable examples whose covers look like they were dropped onto a running belt sander in a wood shop? I have encountered these examples. Split apart seams, worn through edges, scuffed flat panel graphics, or no jacket at all. Some things are fixable, sometimes a replacement jacket is necessary. For me, a little slit or punched hole that does not hurt the record inside is a small factor in deciding whether or not to adopt another stray record. A pretty cover IS a nice bonus, but when push comes to shove, it can't sing to you.
 
My old man was explaining this to me when I ran into a cutout while digging through a bin. He said that occasionally at the store he worked at he would get the sales guy in the music department to do a cutout on a new record so he got the discount on it...
 
There's not even a record store within two hours drive of my house, so no cutouts are available to me. However, I usually buy used CDs off Amazon or Ebay. Sometimes I purchase a wholesale lot of 100 or more, sometimes for less than $50. I have always come out ahead this way. Occasionally there are CDs with holes drilled in the case, or maybe melted. Anything I do not want I donate to the local thrift store. Overall, I probably average 50 cents per CD in lots, and $3 for them used. My basic cheapster nature will not allow me to buy a CD at full price.

Regards,

QEMaster
 
Agree with most everyone here. It just doesn't matter. If I want the music, and the LP or cd is clean, no big deal. The cutout mark is always just in the cover/inner sleeve or case/insert.
45's are a bit of a different story, though. They always have a drill hole through the label, which not only affects collector value, but also mars the record itself. Still, if nice and clean, I do not let this deter me from a purchase, if I want the music badly enough.

Enjoy the music,
-Mark
 
It just doesn't matter for me too. If the record is clean or not that clean but desirable I buy it regardless on cut, drilled holes etc.
 
If the vinyl is in good shape I could care less, especially if its an album I have never managed to find without a cut.
 
I miss the cut out bins. One could find some progressive rock gems in the remaindered bin. Ironically a lot of albums that were remaindered ended up being quite influential and are seeing LP re-releases today. I recently bought a replica of a US United Artists pressing of Can's Future Days and I commented to the guy at the counter that if they really wanted this to look authentic, they would have cut the corner off.
 
TAGO MAGO said:
I recently bought a replica of a US United Artists pressing of Can's Future Days and I commented to the guy at the counter that if they really wanted this to look authentic, they would have cut the corner off.
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Haha good one! That's one of their best too IMO.

I prefer to avoid cutouts, but if it's a great deal, and especially when they're still sealed, I will buy them. It may seem superficial to some that I care about whether or not there's a little saw cut or hole punch in my albums, but to me it's nothing less than damaged, and it annoys me just a little bit every time I see the album.

If I took all my newly-purchased lps and CDs home, threw out the covers/cases and stored them in something different without the artwork, maybe I'd feel differently. It's interesting to see in this thread how many people say they don't care about cutouts in lp sleeves, when I so often read that AK members prefer vinyl to CD because of the larger artwork :)
 
Of course my favorite CD cut out was the album titled Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder from 1971. I paid .50 for my CD copy in the college bookstore only to find several years later that they were selling on eBay and Amazon for anywhere from $40.00 to $100.00. Apparently it was either deleted or withdrawn shortly after the CD re-release making it quite rare. Apparently it has never seen another CD reissue which is shocking.
 
Cutouts? Always loved 'em & still do. Rooting through the bins in search of gold was a great time.

A friend owned a small stereo/music store & once bought an entire pallet of LPs by the pound. Gave me first look (since I helped sort 'em out:D) & wound up with a couple dozen great albums.
 
the cutout doesn't bother me a bit. I likely have hundreds of them, but I can't say for sure as they all go in the same pile. I never saw the lack of gatefolds or liner notes to be specific to cutouts, but to reissues or newer pressings of older material unless it's a special edition. Whether that reissue sounds as good as the original is a crapshoot. I will sometimes match my best record with the cover in the best shape if I own multiple copies. I try to make sure the catalog number is the same, but if it's not, I don't get that worked up about it.
 
3 spindle holes

A cutout per say not sure, but I came across 2 LP,s that each had 3 spindle
holes in each.
First time for me and I can't see any other reason.
 
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