Anyone have a spare $1,300?

I used to be a ravenous record collector, but my buying has slowed to the rate of what one might call that of a "normal person," i.e. just once in a while. It's not for lack of interest, mind you. It's more a matter of time and storage space. And yes, money.

I have a handful of items I still look for regularly, and have continued searching for enough years that I don't remember when I started. There's the stock copy of Queen's second U.S. single, "Liar" b/w "Doin' Alright" on Elektra. There's the final U.S. edition of Paul McCartney's Tug Of War LP, pressed with the standard stock red-and-gold Columbia labels, as opposed to the custom design labels on the original (I do have a Canadian pressing to hold me over, but I will not rest until I have my hands on a U.S. copy). And then there's the stock copy of the first Genesis single on Atco, and last with Peter Gabriel: "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" b/w "Counting Out Time." Like the "Liar" 45, I do have a white label promo of this last one, with "The Lamb" on both sides (one side stereo, one side mono). I probably paid no more than $15 for it. Sounds like a lot for a 45rpm record, huh?

Well, tonight I performed one of my infrequent eBay searches for these three items, the three remaining records that I care that much about to search for. Lo and behold, I FINALLY found a stock copy of the 45 of "The Lamb"!

There's just one small problem: I'm not exactly thrilled with the price it's commanding.

As of 11:36 PM Pacific Time, this little styrene 7" record, offered for auction by U.K. seller "stairofsirius" on eBay, has a high bid of GBP 625.00.

In U.S. dollars, that's $1,246.69.

And I thought $600 for "Liar" was outrageous!

Granted, this record does have a version of "Counting Out Time" on the b-side with a clean intro (it segues from the previous song on the LP) that has not been issued on CD, but really... $1,246.69? That's $246.69 more than the price of the second state Beatles Yesterday And Today "butch cover" LP, one of the most valuable and sought-after Beatles collectible LPs, currently for sale at Amoeba Records in San Francisco.


(Yes, I know I just pictured a first-state butcher cover, but really, who wants to look at what was pasted *over* the bloody slabs of meat?)

So, needless to say, I'm going to pass on this auction. That is, of course, unless someone wants to gift me with $1,300.00 before the auction closes. Ha!