Having read Record Collector's guide to records that "could make you money in 2017", where the previously mentioned (and surely now legendary) Now 4 CD is cited as one of those, I remembered this discussion, and thought I'd check again... one sold on ebay last month for £550!!!!!!!
...There's another one listed for sale now at a similar price, alongside only one other going for a paltry £800 (I will not give in to the temptation to fill the page with exclamation marks... you will just have to imagine my intention there!!!!!)
But where there used to be at least one listed per month at £300 or so, now, you have to go back a long time in sold listings before last month's to find one sold.... they're drying up in terms of supply, and going stratospheric in terms of value.
I think they attract a broad range of people... people like me who may buy one for a couple of songs it has; The young and the trendy; And also a very strong, genuine collectors market....
Of course, it is relatively easy to find the later ones, but as with collecting anything, once you've got all the easy ones to find, you start getting down to the rarities, and by that time, you're hooked!
There is a kind of exchange of values with the Nows, between CD and vinyl, in that these early numbers on vinyl are practically worthless in money terms, as they were the prefered format of the day, so easy to get, but their CD counterparts start with higher values... but as you approach about Now 30 or so, the vinyl issues start attracting the cash, and the CDs get cheaper... perhaps this is thee perfect series in that sense, to illustrate the transition of vinyl to CD popularity over time.
Yes,it constantly surprises me as to just how popular these "Now's" are,as soon as i put them out (in a charity shop),they sell,and it doesn't seem to matter how high the number,they all go.
These are good for getting the odd song or two that you remeber witha a smile, but would perhaps not be willing to go and pay for by themselves.... I was happy to see Joe Le Taxi on this one when I found it in the charity shop the other day :)
I've seen copies of Nows 8 and 9 on CD, which are single disc highlight compilations of their double vinyl counterparts I believe - as they were still unsure if anyone would pay such a lot for double discs in those early days of CD...
... The fatboxes start at 10... still unsure if 5 to 7 were made as CDs, as I've not seen an around on the net, but Now 4 was issued as one of the very first CDs, along with a handful of others, was available in hi-fi shops/stores only - not commercially released in Woolies and the like - and as such is incredibly rare,. Acouple of these Now 4s appear on ebay every month, and always attract plenty of bids for Vertigo Swirl vinyl money! - 3- 4 hundred +.