record collecting, Melvins, & all that jazz ...

[Mount Ambulance]

So, in light of all the recent hullabaloo & brouhaha surrounding the new "End" lp & the weirdass
"Trilogy" set. I was curious ... what (other than the obvious restraint of cost) informs & decides
what Melvins records & shwag you collect? A completist (ie. every possible variation of a release;
concernened more w/ its Melvinsness than personal enjoyment etc.). A collector (into it, but into resale
prospects also). An opportunist (price , availability, overload). Fan (shooting for only those releases that hit
on a personal level). A combination of the above? Something different? What are some your favorites?

I collect as Fan/Opportunist; of course price/avalibility is a factor beyond that it's usually a 50/50 split btw
music/art ... I'll get something w/ music I'm not 100% on (not usually a problem w/ Melvins) if I dig the art ... I'll get
something w/ crap art if the music kicks (again not really an issue w/ Melvins). But yeah, lots of
Melvins stuff I'm not jumping to get, low on the totem so to say ... things where neither the music or art
really hit home ... then again its Melvins ... so if the price was real good ...

Some of my faves:  Neither Here Nor There, MoF/HoF split 7", Smash the State 7", Eggnog, Night Goat 7",
                                     Clear Flipper 7", Making Love Demos, Your Blessened 7", Cowboy 7" ... there's too many!

[bUTTHOLEmAN]

The Neither here nor there book is great; I like it better than the typical bio story (It all started in 1983..). bleh.  In the book they've got stories from friends, pictures from artists..its great.  I kind of wish the binding was better, but don't mind.
Personally I like everything except the boots, maybe i'll get one, but i dont feel a need to get every single colour.

[bathroom creep]

The Neither here nor there book is great; I like it better than the typical bio story (It all started in 1983..). bleh.  In the book they've got stories from friends, pictures from artists..its great.  I kind of wish the binding was better, but don't mind.

Yep, I agree.  NHNT is awesome. Great artwork and cool stories.  I bought mine on ebay and it looked good when it arrived but shortly after skimming through it, it kinda fell apart. The pages still stick together but they're separated from the cover.  Well, that's sad but I'm happy that I own one. The seller added a copy of Alive at the Fuckerclub and a nice live show. That was cool. 

I don't own that many collectors items, but I'm always happy to buy some (ebay etc).  Of course money plays an important role too.  But when I heard of the new The End LP I didn't even think about it for a second, I just bought it.  It was a good decision.

[anaconda]

I'm proudest of my HAT singles vinyl, and my complete cassette collection of Melvins.

[bUTTHOLEmAN]

I'm proudest of my HAT singles vinyl, and my complete cassette collection of Melvins.

Yah Anaconda, tell your brother he needs to hurry up and send me your electro tape. 

[Mount Ambulance]

Yeah the book is stellar, got both hard & soft cover ... initally just hard but the binding
was so shitty a soft too ... 'cause I knew I was gonna look at it lots in the yrs. to come ...
but the binding in the soft sucks too! Downer 'cause its such a great piece & they obviously
put alot into it ... they should reprint and fix it. I'd buy one.

Missed out on heaps of great stuff thou ... Slims 8-Track, Fetus, Baby Monstrosities,
poster set, Shit Sandwich 7", Melvins Beef, Message Saved-Thank you 7"/poster set ...
all of which I had opportunity for. Kicking myself now!

I'm also really big on tour posters ... alot of really amazing examples
(the one I snagged in Buffalo from last tour is amazing). And even besides ones I
actually dig I love how they've been supporters of poster art for years.
That's probably one of my fave things 'bout Melvins ... all the special shit ...
I love the 7" almost more than the albums sometimes (Smash the State!!!).
I love how there is so much to hear and see ... and never too long a wait for something new!

[the bloat]

Personally, it wasn't until recently that I started to get into the Melvins' special releases because of the money factor. Throwing down $20 at the drop of a hat was just not an option for a long time. Now I can afford it and so I can just go for stuff like the End LP, HOF / MOF 7"s, Pigskin, HAT singles, etc

I missed out on the 'Neither Here Nor There' book, but hopefully I'll atleast get to look through one before I die. I have every Melvins song recorded as far as I know on various CDs and stuff, but I am missing a ton of the actual vinyl and I don't plan on seeking out the out of print stuff anytime soon. Some of that stuff is expensive as shit!!!

[glen]

enough show posters to wall paper a roughly 1700 square foot house.

all cd releases including Your Choice Live.

Neither Here Nor There Hardcover, signed.

uumm....   Qee,  Rotten Tooth Paperweight, about 10 shirts, a set of dale's severely used sticks, and some other random items including paperwork from the art show (thanks BHM! for the Qee too!),  various promotional posters including HAT and POTRE.


off the top of my head.

[ManWithNoName]

The Neither here nor there book is great; I like it better than the typical bio story (It all started in 1983..). bleh.  In the book they've got stories from friends, pictures from artists..its great.  I kind of wish the binding was better, but don't mind.
Personally I like everything except the boots, maybe i'll get one, but i dont feel a need to get every single colour.

I remember when I first got into the melvins they had just released that book. Some dude working at my favorite record store was showing me telling me how awesome it was. I didn't get it because of the price and I was only starting to get into the melvins. What a fool I was.

If I could go back I would give myself a nice big swift kick in the ass. Such foolishness!

[No_I_Have_Not]

I dont have much in the way of collectables, through a combination of being in the UK, extortionate Ebay prices, and only being into the Melvins for about 3 years. I have almost all of the CDs (still looking for Singles 1-12). I have Electroretard which is a bit hard to get. I have the 2 easy to get Vinyls - POTRE and Mangled Demos. And i got the Night Goat 7" for a good price. Apart from that i have the Qee and Neither Here Nor There.

I bid on the Trilogy Vinyl on ebay yesterday, my maximum bid was $165, but even that still wasnt enough and i cant justify any more than that, even bidding that much made me uneasy. Sure its a beautiful thing, but at the end of the day i have the music on CDs so its not essential.

[Mount Ambulance]

Rotten Tooth Paper Weight!!! Yeah, I forgot about that ... yeah I missed that too ...
& that's definitely up there w/ the coolest of shit! Glen you are a cool kid! Your in Detroit, yeah?
Did you get that at a hometown show ... I've seen every Detroit (& surrounding area) show since
2002 & never saw it. Damn! if I overlooked that on the merch table & missed it ... big kicks in the ass!!

Do yous collect any other bands? I pretty much approach all collecting as a fan ... just
grabbing pieces/things that really turn my crank ... either music or artistically
so its a pretty hodgepodge collection, not really focusing on one band (well excluding Melvins that is),
or one type of item (7", posters, pic discs, 10" -- whatever).  But some others I've been diggin into
are Boris (awesome stuff both musically, artistically, & frequency), Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Sunn O)))
& various off-shoots ... thou Melvins are ... c'mon who else's is gonna do a rotten tooth paper weight!!

[glen]

hey ambulance.  you and I must have bumped elbows at one point or another.

I go back consistently to 04 and spotty previous to that.

I did not get that paper weight in motown.  it took a little more work than that.

heres how it went:  I heard on the (A)SA tour they were selling these out west when they first got started.
I knew full well they'd never make it any further east than say...  montana before they were long gone.
so I put out an "all points bulletin" here at the board for someone to grab me one.   strangely enough our long-lost vinnie cavallo responded out of NY (which was scheduled previous to the detroit show) and said he'd grab me one.
he did.   a week later in detroit they were of course long gone.     the next step was to get vinnie to forward the paper weight to me.     that took almost as long as it took vinnie to post the now infamous INTERVIEW,  never.
but I kept at him and eventually he sent it to me.   its a prized possesion.

as far as other bands.....  nothing.  its only MELVINS schwag for me.  its about all I can afford.
cept when I was 15 and collected ANYTHING with the tag IRON MAIDEN on it. 

next go-round in detroit you and I will have to hook up for a drinky-winky ambulance.  hows that sound?

 

[rictus]

What's the paper weight look like? I don't see it in the merch gallery.
Actually the qees aren't in there either.

[glen]

heres a shitty pic:



I'll try to get a better one later.  now that I've figured out the macro feature on my camera.

its got a pink skull w/ candy cane cross bones and as you can see "the melvins". and what appears to be a real tooth poured into it. felt bottom.    probably less that 2" diameter.

[rictus]

How much did something like that go for?
Nice pic btw.