CD Scavenger Hunt – April 2014 update

So far behind…..OK, 9 or 10 months behind to be exact! Hopefully I can get some momentum here but I feel the need to at least catch up on my purchases for 2014, here’s April 2014…..

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Amazon

Dio – This Is Your Life (2014) – $12
Sonata Arctica – Pariah’s Child (2014)- $10
Steel Panther – All You Can Eat (2014) – $10
Lacuna Coil – Black Crown Halo (2014) – $8

Just a quick $40 order from Amazon to get some new releases…..I know for a fact that I saved about $20 by purchasing via Amazon rather than at my local record store.

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Newbury Comics (Warwick, RI)

Devin Townsend Project – The Retinal Circus (2CD/2DVD) (2013) – $22.50
Nightwish – Angels Fall First (1997) – $9 used
Andi Deris & The Bad Bankers – Million Dollar Haircuts On Ten Cent Heads (2014) – $12.75

When there’s a 25% off sale at the record store, you make the trip. Honestly, there wasn’t much of a selection but I managed to grab a couple newer releases on sale. I’d been waiting on the Devin Townsend release because I missed the sale price when it was first released and it was a $30 regular price! With the 25% off, a done deal. Same with the new Andi Deris record, I waited because the regular price in store was $17 and Amazon was no better but $12.75 is reasonable. My find of the day was a Japanese import, and first pressing, Angels Fall First from Nightwish. Only $12 but $9 with the sale, was a steal at $12.

 

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Newbury Comics (North Attleboro, MA)

Black Label Society – Catacombs Of The Black Vatican (Ltd.Ed. +2) (2014) – $14
Anette Olzen – Shine (2014) – $13

Another quick trip to the record store for a couple new releases, this time to the closer North Attleboro Newbury Comics for the new Black Label Society and former Nightwish singer Anette Olzen’s first solo release. Both albums were on sale so I picked up the limited edition of the BLS album so I could get the 2 extra songs for $14 (saving $6) and the Olzen solo record for $13 (saving $5).

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Ebay

Crystal Viper – Posession (2014) – $9.35
Silent Force – Rising From The Ashes (2014) – $9.35
Nightwish – Once (2004) – $8.75
M.S.G. – Unplugged Live (1992) – $8.75
Triumph – Thunder Seven (1985) – $8 used

Gotta have a little Ebay action going on while you hit all the record stores, even if it’s just for a price comparison. The first four albums were all from the same seller on two separate auctions for brand new CDs and with free shipping each time. I estimate that I saved $7.65 on the Crystal Viper & Silent Force discs and $6.25 on the Nightwish & McAuley Schenker Group discs compared to record store prices. An added bonus was that the MSG disc was a Japanese import and that adds at least $10 more usually! My last winning auction was for an original pressing of Triumph’s Thunder Seven from 1985. I could have gotten the recent remaster of the record but I heard it sounds different so I’m trying to find all the Triumph CDs as original pressings for the original mixes. If I can’t find them all on CD, I’ll go for the vinyl.

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Newbury Comics (Warwick,RI)

Delain – The Human Contradiction (2CD) (2014) – $20
Iron Savior – Rise Of The Hero (Ltd.Ed. + 1) (2014) – $19
Ex Deo – Caligvla (2012) – $0
White Wizzard – The Devil’s Cut (2013) – $18
Hatriot – Dawn Of The New Centurion (2014) – $18
Huntress – Starbound Beast (2013) – $0
Pantera – Far Beyond Driven (20th Anniversary Edition) (2014) – $14
Sevendust – Time Travellers & Bonfires (2014) – $10
(free E.R. Season 2 DVD set – $10 used)
Magnus Karlsson’s Freefall – s/t (2013) – $8 used
Aeon Zen – The Face Of The Unknown (2010) – $6 used
Eclipse – Bleed & Scream (2012) – $0

Nothing like Record Store Day 2014 to get a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale so I can stock up! I put a $100 limit on myself but I went just a bit over ($113) because I found more than a few bargains. My routine on this sale is to buy up all those higher priced sets and/or imports that I passed up earlier or missed the sale price on, that way I can save the maximum dollars. Most of these CDs were regular price but I managed to save $51 in free CDs. I had to get my wife a DVD set of the E.R. television show because it was a sweet price (free), and she really wants all the seasons, so it turned out to be a good sale for all.

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Amazon

Pretty Maids – Motherland (2013) – $7.50
Sebastian Bach – Give’em Hell (2014) – $10
Gamma Ray – Empire Of The Dead (2014) – $12.10
Krokus – Long Stick Goes Boom: Live From The House Of Rust (2014) – $10
Winger – Better Days Comin’ (Deluxe CD/DVD) (2014) – $14
Uriah Heep – Demons & Wizards (1972/2003 deluxe reissue) – $12.50
UFO – Phenomenon (1974/2008 reissue) – $9
Saxon – Heavy Metal Thunder (The Movie) (2014) Blu-Ray – $12

Don’t ask me how I had a $100 Amazon gift card this late in the year but I did. I spent that easily to the tune of $87 worth of CDs & Blu-Rays (plus shipping charges) getting a few things off my want list.

Totals

Total (April) = $268.45

Total (year) = $1068.55

Average Price (per item) = $10.48

Total CDs (year) = 98

Total LPs (year) = 3

Total DVDs/Blu-Rays (year) = 1

CD Scavenger Hunt – January 2013 update

The first month of the new year is off and running with some great shopping trips to the record stores and some great Ebay finds…..I grabbed a lot of 2012 releases I missed and I grabbed a few used bargains and hard to find albums along the way. I crossed a lot of my want list!

Newbury Comics & FYE

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Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud (2012 Deluxe Edition) – $2
Black Country Communion – Afterglow (2012) – $2
Graveyard – Lights Out (2012) – $8
Sepultura – A-Lex (2009) – $5 used
Lamb Of God – New American Gospel (2000) $6
Alice Cooper – Old School box set (2012) – $50
Iced Earth – Dark Genesis box set (2001) – $25 used
Kix – Live In Baltimore CD/DVD (2012) – $0
UFO – Live Throughout The Years box set (2011) – $20 used
Doro – Raise Your Fist (2012) – $14
AC/DC – Live At River Plate CD (2012) – $0

Well the month started out with one last gift card burning a hole in my pocket so I went to my local Newbury Comics store in North Attleboro, MA and immeadiately put that $25 card to the test. Easy pickings on this trip as I grabbed the new Devin Townsend Project and Black Country Communion albums. The DTP album, Epicloud, was a limited edition that came with a bonus CD and there was still a sale sticker on one copy for $15! Regular price for the other three copies of the limited edtion was $22 so I saved $7 straight away and another $13 when I split the gift card up. Same thing with Black Country Communion’s Afterglow, there were a few copies available but only one still had a sale sticker on it for $14. Regular price was $19 so I saved $5 right away then another $12 with the other half of the gift card.

My second trip to the same Newbury Comics was prefaced by a quick trip across the mall to the FYE store to burn a $3 off coupon. When I walked in, I noticed there was a Revolver Magazine display with a bunch of 2012 Metal releases on sale for really low prices, something about the magazine’s year end awards issue. I owned most of the CDs already, or I had a promo download from the label, but one release caught my eye…..Graveyard – Lights Out. I’ve had that Graveyard record on my list since it came out but I never got around to buying it and, when I did, it wasn’t at a sale price. Regular price at FYE was $12 but it was on sale for $7.99 so I saved $4. Unfortunately my coupon required a CD priced at $12.99 or above to get the $3 off so I found a copy of the latest Grave Digger album, Clash Of The Gods, on sale for $15. Regular price was $18, then add the $3 coupon, and I scored it for $12. I went up to the Newbury Comics to do a quick check around and there was nothing new that I wanted but I did find a used copy of Sepultura’s 2009 album A-Lex for $5, which officially replaces my simple promo copy from the label, and Lamb of God’s first album from 2000, New American Gospel, for $6 brand new and sealed. I’ve been trying to pick up all the Lamb of God records I’m missing and this was a steal because there was another copy at a regular price of $15, I saved $9 on a brand new CD!

Last trip to the record store took me to the Newbury Comics in Warwick, RI for a “Buy 2 get 1 Free” sale on all CDs new and used, I wanted a little variety so I was hoping that the Warwick store had a decent selection. My daughter and I were outside the store at 9:50 on a Saturday morning waiting for the doors to open so we could be first inside to snag any bargains. By 10:10, my daughter had her CDs ready but my list is longer and more specific and I was armed with $100 in spendable cash! By 10:20, I had gone through the Rock, Metal and boxed set sections and I came away with some great stuff. Box sets were included in the sale so I grabbed the CD version of the Alice Cooper box set Old School for $50, a $25 used copy of Iced Earth’s Dark Genesis box set and a used copy of the UFO – Live Throughout The Years box set. Old School was on my list of 2012 releases so I grabbed it immeadiately because of the sale tag (regular price was $75) and I have been searching for a used copy of Dark Genesis for years. I could have bought it on Ebay a number of times but they go upwards of $30 + shipping. I’d never seen the UFO box set before but it’s UFO and it was $20 used but still factory sealed. I already had the Doro and AC/DC albums in my hands (both on sale for $14 and both regular priced $18) so I decided to spluge and pick up the Kix – Live In Baltimore CD/DVD package for $22. I saved an extra $2 by pairing the Kix set with Alice and Iced Earth and I got AC/DC for free paired with UFO and Doro. I went a little over budget but the cash was basically money that could be spent wildly so the extra $9 was all that come out of my bank account.

Ebay

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Cutty Sark – Heroes (1985/1997 reissue) – $26
Bullet – Execution (1981/1997 reissue) – $6.25 used
MP – Bursting Out (Beast Becomes Human)/Get It Now (1986 & 1987/2006 reissue) – $6.25 used
Herazz – Yet To Come (1985/2006 reissue) – $6.25 used
Intrinsic – s/t (1987 & 1988/2008 reissue) – $6.25 used
Odin – Fight For Your Life (1988/2001 reissue) – $6.25 used
Steel Assassin – From The Vaults (1997/2003 reissue) – $6.25 used
Lizzy Borden – The Murderous Metal Road Show (1985) – $6 used
Lizzy Borden – Menace To Society (1986/2001 reissue) – $5 used
Lizzy Borden – Visual Lies (1987/2002 reissue) – $5 used

Nothing beats a good Ebay win and I scored more than a few this month. One of my goals is to complete my collection of High Vaultage reissues from the late 1990s/ early 2000s but it’s getting harder with the label out of business and the years going by. I found out about High Vaultage in 1997 from the Metal Dreams fanzine and I started collecting the releases I could find in the record shops but I missed out on most of them. I can get any of the releases on Ebay but it’s the prices that have kept me from buying all of them. There’s one seller in particular that I buy from all the time and they have pretty much the entire catalog for sale but at $23 each + shipping. That’s where I bought the Cutty Sark reissue from, I just couldn’t let it go by at that price when other copies were going for double.

In my quest for High Vaultage reissues, I found a seller basically dumping his/her collection. The saved search for Bullet’s Execution came up in a 6 CD lot from this seller including the MP, Herazz, Intrinsic, Odin and Steel Assassin reissues. I checked my usual seller of High Vaultage releases and he had this particular Bullet CD at the same $26 total so I figured if I could snag this CD lot for under $50 it would be worth it. The main concern was the Bullet album but the rest of the CDs were all ones I didn’t currently own and they were all names I didn’t know (except for Odin and Steel Assassin) so I could discover some new music along the way. The MP disc was interesting because it was a 2 on 1 CD and, although I would prefer to have each on a separate CD, it was another bonus to this really good lot. I topped out at a $50 bid and won at $37.50 (includes shipping) so I only paid $6.25 per CD. Moving to the three Lizzy Borden albums, I found that lot with the same seller so I put in a bid of $20 and won for $16 (includes shipping). Surprisingly, I really only have the later Lizzy albums so I really needed to get the early stuff in my collection.

Total = $211.50

Total (year) = $211.50

Average Price (per item) = $9.61

Total CDs (year) = 19

Total Box Sets (year) = 3