Repro's Of Rare 45's Or Just Another Way To Sucker You?

[dthedrug]

HI ALL I can remember when GOD's DOG was a Pup, and collectors would talk about soul, especially Rare Soul with an emphasis on their specialist area of their collection, for example I often describe my collection as British, and then I will say however I have about 1000 original US soul original from the TORCH WIGAN Period,

However like most of us when I discovered the scene I was happy with any thing to form a basis of a collection, at that time if you lived in the london area, and walked into a pub with a record box and a black driving glove on greeting people by shaking there hand, trust me how can I put it, "You were asking for a KICKing" for sure, however along with that, being on the scene meant dancing and talking rare records, all night long, so a collection could have anything in at the start

In 1974 I went to the ISC LEEDS Festival, still voted as the best 1 off ALL-NIGHTERS, (That when I found the UK copy of Rocky Roberts)

I can clearly remember which is a miracle in it's self, the back wall, whee the ISC had a stall selling all there records,there on the wall was all the white OOTP RECORDS FUNKY SISTERS RIGHTIOS BROS, INKY DINKY DINKY WANJ DANG DO BY THE END OF THE NIGHT THEY HAD SOLD OUT(pun intended) so it shows that for many many young people a record with there favorite track on it was great to own and play to your mates and impress them enough to think you were the Dogs,

In recent years well since 1983 when it seems some small record companies that started in the late 70s had the means and the equipment to release CD's and found out that if you got the rights of a American label the big movers & shakers did not seem to be worried what you took from the vaults of a run down record label as such some of the UK top collectors had many of there rare finds booted?

At that time I had started to collect again in a big way, but by 88/9 my appetite for chemicals and living in THATCHERS world with my mortgage at 17.5% I had no choice but sell of most of my collection (when I think back at the records I had then on US labels, and what they are now worth?)

However I did sell them most of them to Mick Smith who has the knack of knowing that he will have the 1st look in, he gave me much more than I thought I would get and did not take the UK stuff as I suppose this was at a time when the words like MINT or EX+ started to be quoted and RECORD COLLECTOR MAG started to become a regular buy with the record sales lists at the back,

My question that I want to know is about the modern REPRO scene that we see on eBay, as in the past apart from Hendrix Beatles Dylan & Northern Soul. I use to say about Bootlegs At least they don't do British, well not many, but in the last 5 years there has been a change as many rare UK Psyche & Mod R&B records have come out, but under the Banner of 1st edition REPRO, I myself have at least 40 of these that I paid £2.50 each for as would I leave them at that price, I think the Mark Lloyd is probably the best known on the soul scene, recently I come across a polydor record by Waygood Ellis I had to take a good look at it as it was a record that had little following out of our scene, and even within the current soul scene apart from half a dozen collectors know one had it or had heard it as far as I was concern, but here it was and apparently has become popular, now this is the 1st time I have become am I for or against records like this being put out, as I have not got a clue what a proper copy is valued at today as my copy was given to me 25 years ago,

any way there are several discussion points here, I must state I am against bootlegs, but the ReTRO stuff has allowed me to play records that I would not of got and they are some really nice records in whats come out many more expensive than the rare soul. anyway here's my copy out of my collection and the REPRO All I can conclude is to listen to MARVIN & TAMMI classic "there's nothing like the real thing" DAVE