Not only that, which is all true, but Tom told me his prices are actually lower today than years ago. Because the time and effort required to sift through the dreck and find the diamond hasn't changed. But his volume has gone up to where he can afford to run it more efficiently now, and so he has been able to lower his prices. It just doesn't seem that way to anyone looking at it today, but he tells me they were a lot higher 10-15 years ago.
Even at these high prices the sought after copies can go fast. I was looking nearly every day for Year of the Cat. When I saw it and got all excited and went to buy, it was already sold!
When I let Tom know, that is when I really started learning. There are people all over the place who know Tom will pay top dollar for an excellent copy. I even got to know one guy who claims to have sold a Hot Stamper this way. Well, I bought one from him, supposedly Hot Stamper level, and let me tell you, not even. Good copy, yes. Much better than average. But Hot Stampers are not merely much better than average. The best of them, White Hot, are almost like defy the laws of physics they are so good.
Took a good 6 months for him to get enough YOTC for a shoot-out. Then when he told me he was going to do it, I got all excited and started bugging him. Not so fast. It was more than a week by the time he was done and had them sorted and ready to list.
These things are not cheap. Even Tom himself jokes about how extravagantly expensive they are. But at least with these, unlike so many expensive reissues, you really do get the sound quality you pay for.
Even at these high prices the sought after copies can go fast. I was looking nearly every day for Year of the Cat. When I saw it and got all excited and went to buy, it was already sold!
When I let Tom know, that is when I really started learning. There are people all over the place who know Tom will pay top dollar for an excellent copy. I even got to know one guy who claims to have sold a Hot Stamper this way. Well, I bought one from him, supposedly Hot Stamper level, and let me tell you, not even. Good copy, yes. Much better than average. But Hot Stampers are not merely much better than average. The best of them, White Hot, are almost like defy the laws of physics they are so good.
Took a good 6 months for him to get enough YOTC for a shoot-out. Then when he told me he was going to do it, I got all excited and started bugging him. Not so fast. It was more than a week by the time he was done and had them sorted and ready to list.
These things are not cheap. Even Tom himself jokes about how extravagantly expensive they are. But at least with these, unlike so many expensive reissues, you really do get the sound quality you pay for.