I wonder if someone can tell me how the mini lp's sold in Japan are packaged. I have purchased from several vendors in Japan and some mini's are packaged with a slightly oversized resealable plastic sleeves, others with just right sized outer sleeves and yet others with no sleeve but shrink wrapped. I'm wondering which is of these packaging methods can be considered as "brand new never opened" and which is considered a value added by the vendor. Thanks.

vimarmot wrote:

QUOTE:
I'm wondering which is of these packaging methods can be considered as "brand new never opened" and which is considered a value added by the vendor.

In my experience (which is significantly less than many others on this site)....

When a mini is brand new from the manufacturer it is protected in some way. It is either lightly shrink wrapped of it comes in a re-sealable plastic bag. Victor releases are often shrink wrapped.

Some of the re-sealable bags have obviously never been opened (Warner is a good case in point). It's obvious because it's hard to open and the glue tends stick to both the flap and the body and "strings" and stretches between the two surfaces as it's opened.

Most of the re-sealable bags I've experienced do not stick like Warners (thank God) and they do vary in size and snugness.

In summary, the only ones that could strictly be called sealed are the shrink wrapped ones, the obvious Warner ones have never been opened (well, maybe once) and the others - anything's possible. That said, it could still be shrink wrapped after being opened if you have the right machinery.

I have minis that are "brand new never opened". I bought them from HMV Japan or Disk Union and have not got around to opening them yet ... but do you trust me?

What it comes down to is (a) if it's from HMV Japan, CD Japan or Disk Union then it's as good as you get (depending on transport damage of course) otherwise (b) get to know the sellers.

Most Japanese based large feedback 99%+ are extremely honourable people and to be trusted (most... there is one who words the auctions very carefully to omit the fact that the unique items they sell are illegal and of their own construction).

By the way - some bags are much better quality than others.

The most important feature for me, perhaps even more important than the bag being approximately the correct size, is which side of the bag or flap the glue can be found. Bags with glue on the flap are a real pain.

I recently purchased the Cluster box set from Captain Trip and the minis came in plastic bags that had not been sealed. (Cut a long story short the bags are now in the bin.) I did not look too closely but dutifully took off the protective strip without noticing first the glue is on the flap making it extremely difficult to get the cover in and out. Also, one of the bags simply ripped when I tried to open it.

You can buy good quality bags from many Japanese sellers. You will use 100 more quickly than you would think. I live in Australia and have bought from Japan and US and the best quality I have ever had were Japanese made bags from the US seller SoundSourceCDs (I'll check the name soon and edit).

the most terrible resealable plastic have CDs made by Sony Music Japan... after 3-4 times of using you can throw out these plastic covers... and buy some new plastic bags from Sushi, for instance...

Some original bags are low quality plastic but the worst is the adhesive.

SoundSourceCDs bags are very good, I use also his bags for LPs and 10" vinyl, but Sushi Sashimi ones fits better for mini lp, and specially for gatefold sleeves. I had problems with some heavy cardboard gatefold albums using the other bags.

sam2095 wrote:

QUOTE:
vimarmot wrote:

QUOTE:
I'm wondering which is of these packaging methods can be considered as "brand new never opened" and which is considered a value added by the vendor.

In my experience (which is significantly less than many others on this site)....

When a mini is brand new from the manufacturer it is protected in some way. It is either lightly shrink wrapped of it comes in a re-sealable plastic bag. Victor releases are often shrink wrapped.

Some of the re-sealable bags have obviously never been opened (Warner is a good case in point). It's obvious because it's hard to open and the glue tends stick to both the flap and the body and "strings" and stretches between the two surfaces as it's opened.

Most of the re-sealable bags I've experienced do not stick like Warners (thank God) and they do vary in size and snugness.

In summary, the only ones that could strictly be called sealed are the shrink wrapped ones, the obvious Warner ones have never been opened (well, maybe once) and the others - anything's possible. That said, it could still be shrink wrapped after being opened if you have the right machinery.

I have minis that are "brand new never opened". I bought them from HMV Japan or Disk Union and have not got around to opening them yet ... but do you trust me?

What it comes down to is (a) if it's from HMV Japan, CD Japan or Disk Union then it's as good as you get (depending on transport damage of course) otherwise (b) get to know the sellers.

Most Japanese based large feedback 99%+ are extremely honourable people and to be trusted (most... there is one who words the auctions very carefully to omit the fact that the unique items they sell are illegal and of their own construction).

very interesting and enlightening