MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE

You could do a search of closed auctions on eBay to get an idea. There are some books at places like Borders, etc. Yes, they did use 33mm film on some recordings. A lot of them are Eastman groups, I guess close to Kodak in Rochester.

My original Mercs that I own have purple (plum?) center labels. The value of the Mercs depends on the pressing (not just whether it's an original issue vs. a generally less desireable Golden Imports reissue, but also the stamper number, such as an fr or rfr 1), its condition (including the cover) and the particular recording. Some fetch a pretty penny in mint condition, some are not worth very much. Given the condition you say yours are in, I'd probably just enjoy listening to them, but maybe others here can refer you to some publications which could give you an idea of their value.

One last point I forgot to mention. If you are interested in getting an idea about which of the recordings in the Mercury and RCA series were the best, you might want to expore the back-issues and archives of "Stereophile" magazine and "The Absolute Sound" magazine. If memory serves, one of these mags (and I think it was "The Absolute Sound") did a long series of reviews about 8-10 years ago of the Mercury and RCA LP's. Knowing which recordings were the "best of the best" might help you determine what value your LP's have. I should caution, you, however, that LP prices have cooled off a lot in recent years. Only the most serious vinyl junkies are willing to pay $100 or more for an LP. (As an example, I have about 3000 LP's in my collection, and maybe 10% of them are titles that would sell for more than $25.)

Sdcampbell, you are pretty quick with the keyboard! Excellent post! I should point out for Honda's benefit, if he didn't know, that you can (unless they're all sold out) get a few of the Mercs and many of the RCA's as reissued by Classic Records, which lack some of the warmth of the originals but have advantages in the bass, dynamics and surfaces. On a side note, the CD remasterings have uniformly been excellent, and I agree with your description of them vs. the vinyl; wonder if Phillips could/will reissue on SACD, since they own the tapes? I find that SACD does an excellent job giving a natural rendition of recorded space, among other things; might even get more of those famous Mercury dynamics.

Also with respect to the second post by the quick-fingered Mr. Campbell, the series he's referring to is in TAS, a series of articles by Sid Marks, I believe.