You could start a replacement segment for this called "VMP Refugees: What do we do next with our newly found $529 vinyl shopping budget?" 😉 VMP has always seemed counterintuitive to my collecting goals...its like I don't really need the help and I just do not see that much that I am interested in. That said I would snag a few here and there: the Aretha "never loved a man" and Sly's "riot" are both pretty amazing pressings and proof VMP has reissued many winners. I bought myself a NM '77 Winchester pressing of Rocket to Russia for my bday last year and it is a terrific pressing (so detailed)...I would be very interesting in comparing it with the VMP.
@@juliosanchez95Sorry to hear that. Yes I did receive replacements for both. You should reach out to customer service and they should be able to assist you.
I’d noticed the jackets were not as “high value” of late. I think the answer to jacket condition/no damage lies in either better boxes + packing protocols or simply putting the record outside the sleeve to ship. Neither seem on the horizon though, despite the cost increase. 🤷🏻♂️
Indeed, all the jackets of the last 5 months have been direct-to-board lighter card stock. Don’t get me started on the mailers which we were better ones 2 years ago. 🙄
Does VMP still employ that same 3PL in North Carolina that uses temp labor in a non-temperature-controlled warehouse and ships everything from records to shampoo? That was a factor in me ditching them after their first three years in operation. Arnaldo, this was very cordial toward VMP. Blink twice if you are in distress. 😉 Tom
@@highrantdistrict Hi Tom. I was unaware of VMP’s shipping workers & location. I have been pretty vocal about my woes with VMP in other streams and videos that I didn’t want this video to be just a rant. I tried to be fair and honest about my feelings towards VMP. Thanks for your support. ✌🏻
@@robertmitchell6015 VMP’s mailers are not the most ideal for shipping vinyl. Amazon’s vinyl is shipped in record mailers inside another bigger box the majority of the time. However lately I have received records from Amazon placed in a plain envelope. Obviously it arrived damaged. Glad to hear that luck has been on your side.
I’m surprised it took you this long to see the light but finally, well done to you. For others here, you can simply buy the record of the month cheaper from other record outlets like imusic so it’s a no brainer.
I love the quality of VMP editions, but the thing that made me drop my sub was when I had a problem, they took over 2 weeks to answer a message. And also the slow shipping & bad mailers. They simply cheap-out with low cost packaging. In the last 5 years I've ordered a ton of albums from "The In- Groove" & Acoustic Sounds and have had exactly zero damage/seam splits corner dings, etc. They use bubble wrap with cardboard so the albums don't move around and cause seam splits. Not rocket science, but some sellers refuse to do what works in order to save $$.
I feel your pain. I took a year break because I was getting so frustrated that every album arrived damaged. These past two years I luckily didn’t get that many with damage.
Hi Tom. I was unaware of VMP’s shipping workers & location. I have been pretty vocal about my woes with VMP in other streams and videos that I didn’t want this video to be just a rant. I tried to be fair and honest about my feelings towards VMP. Thanks for your support. ✌🏻
Great video Arnaldo. Thanks for the comparison to the original issues, cool insights on packaging etc. We should chop it up about VMP soon. I’m almost in the same boat as you. I’ve been a member since Fugees the Score which was April 2016. I’ve consistently been on 3-4 tracks over the years. My biggest issue right now is quality control. I’m going on 15 straight months of requesting replacements for at least one record due to SEVERE warping. It’s frustrating. Title selection can’t be underwhelming at times but at least swap credits have been a nice resource. I’ve been able to reallocate credits to VMP Anthologies via customer service or purchase store exclusive titles. I hope they turn it around because a good subscription model is impactful for the VC, especially as a gateway for newcomers. But, even after all this time I’m teetering on walking away also.
Thanks Chris! Agreed on the warping. I got 2 replacements on the Isaac Hayes as they were both warped. They did resolve the issue, but still annoying to submit customer service ticket. It's been a good ride and hope they offer titles that will lure me back in.
@@fidelios_frequency I remember the days when VMP had a sense of rarity to them. I think that’s an aspect they have to bring back. I don’t know the logistics but stealing from the old Run Out Groove model of producing and number stamping the exact amount or something less sophisticated like AP’s subscription numbering system would be a nice touch for legacy subscribers.
@@cchachyeah, another point I forgot to touch upon was seeing VMP dump all those titles on the retail market at discounted prices. It made me feel a bit cheated for overpaying for releases I thought were exclusive to members.
Did the muckety-muck at VMP you were communicating with say anything about more copies of RTR coming on the horizon? I never did get one. I have now canceled by sub as well. Sometimes it seems like they deliberately under-press quantities of bigger name releases in order to get more subscribers.
You could start a replacement segment for this called "VMP Refugees: What do we do next with our newly found $529 vinyl shopping budget?" 😉 VMP has always seemed counterintuitive to my collecting goals...its like I don't really need the help and I just do not see that much that I am interested in. That said I would snag a few here and there: the Aretha "never loved a man" and Sly's "riot" are both pretty amazing pressings and proof VMP has reissued many winners. I bought myself a NM '77 Winchester pressing of Rocket to Russia for my bday last year and it is a terrific pressing (so detailed)...I would be very interesting in comparing it with the VMP.
Eventually I would like to get an OG of RTR, but all the copies I have come across lately were not in the best shape.
@@fidelios_frequency Mine arrived with a seam split too. Have you received your replacement?
@@juliosanchez95Sorry to hear that. Yes I did receive replacements for both. You should reach out to customer service and they should be able to assist you.
I’d noticed the jackets were not as “high value” of late. I think the answer to jacket condition/no damage lies in either better boxes + packing protocols or simply putting the record outside the sleeve to ship. Neither seem on the horizon though, despite the cost increase. 🤷🏻♂️
Indeed, all the jackets of the last 5 months have been direct-to-board lighter card stock. Don’t get me started on the mailers which we were better ones 2 years ago. 🙄
Does VMP still employ that same 3PL in North Carolina that uses temp labor in a non-temperature-controlled warehouse and ships everything from records to shampoo? That was a factor in me ditching them after their first three years in operation.
Arnaldo, this was very cordial toward VMP. Blink twice if you are in distress.
😉 Tom
@@highrantdistrict Hi Tom. I was unaware of VMP’s shipping workers & location. I have been pretty vocal about my woes with VMP in other streams and videos that I didn’t want this video to be just a rant. I tried to be fair and honest about my feelings towards VMP. Thanks for your support. ✌🏻
Hi, I buy a lot of Vinyl on Amazon, from the UK & The US and delivered to me in Australia and never had issues with seam splits 🤷🏻♂️(Touch Wood)
@@robertmitchell6015 VMP’s mailers are not the most ideal for shipping vinyl. Amazon’s vinyl is shipped in record mailers inside another bigger box the majority of the time. However lately I have received records from Amazon placed in a plain envelope. Obviously it arrived damaged. Glad to hear that luck has been on your side.
I’m surprised it took you this long to see the light but finally, well done to you. For others here, you can simply buy the record of the month cheaper from other record outlets like imusic so it’s a no brainer.
For a while I could see the value of having a membership. Not any more 🤷🏻♂️
I forgot to cancel my subscription. So, I'm in for 6 more months. Lol. Great video.
@@therealglennthebaker reach out to customer service and they may honor the cancellation. Worth a try.
@@fidelios_frequency I might do that. Thanks.
@@therealglennthebaker 🤞🏻
I love the quality of VMP editions, but the thing that made me drop my sub was when I had a problem, they took over 2 weeks to answer a message. And also the slow shipping & bad mailers. They simply cheap-out with low cost packaging. In the last 5 years I've ordered a ton of albums from "The In- Groove" & Acoustic Sounds and have had exactly zero damage/seam splits corner dings, etc. They use bubble wrap with cardboard so the albums don't move around and cause seam splits. Not rocket science, but some sellers refuse to do what works in order to save $$.
I feel your pain. I took a year break because I was getting so frustrated that every album arrived damaged. These past two years I luckily didn’t get that many with damage.
Hi Tom. I was unaware of VMP’s shipping workers & location. I have been pretty vocal about my woes with VMP in other streams and videos that I didn’t want this video to be just a rant. I tried to be fair and honest about my feelings towards VMP. Thanks for your support. ✌🏻
Wow, no printed inner sleeve! I expect more attention to detail and at least a few pictures in the booklet.
@@michaeljolly8710 agreed. The RTR has an outstanding packaging 👍🏻👍🏻, TTTD was lackluster👎🏻👎🏻.
Great video Arnaldo. Thanks for the comparison to the original issues, cool insights on packaging etc.
We should chop it up about VMP soon. I’m almost in the same boat as you. I’ve been a member since Fugees the Score which was April 2016. I’ve consistently been on 3-4 tracks over the years.
My biggest issue right now is quality control. I’m going on 15 straight months of requesting replacements for at least one record due to SEVERE warping. It’s frustrating.
Title selection can’t be underwhelming at times but at least swap credits have been a nice resource. I’ve been able to reallocate credits to VMP Anthologies via customer service or purchase store exclusive titles.
I hope they turn it around because a good subscription model is impactful for the VC, especially as a gateway for newcomers. But, even after all this time I’m teetering on walking away also.
Thanks Chris! Agreed on the warping. I got 2 replacements on the Isaac Hayes as they were both warped. They did resolve the issue, but still annoying to submit customer service ticket. It's been a good ride and hope they offer titles that will lure me back in.
@@fidelios_frequency I remember the days when VMP had a sense of rarity to them. I think that’s an aspect they have to bring back. I don’t know the logistics but stealing from the old Run Out Groove model of producing and number stamping the exact amount or something less sophisticated like AP’s subscription numbering system would be a nice touch for legacy subscribers.
@@cchachyeah, another point I forgot to touch upon was seeing VMP dump all those titles on the retail market at discounted prices. It made me feel a bit cheated for overpaying for releases I thought were exclusive to members.
@@fidelios_frequency that was upsetting. It’s also a sign of cash flow issues IMO.
Did the muckety-muck at VMP you were communicating with say anything about more copies of RTR coming on the horizon? I never did get one. I have now canceled by sub as well. Sometimes it seems like they deliberately under-press quantities of bigger name releases in order to get more subscribers.
I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think there will be another run of RTR. I believe it has to do with licensing terms. Sorry you didn’t get one. ☹️
So looks like they didn’t reproduce the inner sleeve of “Rocket To Russia” either. 😡
@@MrDavidleerothrocks it was reproduced in the gatefold. I mentioned that. ✌🏻
@ Oops! Thanks for the clarification, I missed that.
Great video.
@@MrDavidleerothrocks thanks for watching!