@@MSMediaRotterdam In one store here I saw a fluorescent lamp on the discount shelf at the till, with a "reduced" sticker on it due to it being "shop soiled" .. quite obviously broken as you could see that through the window in its box. Muppetry at its best. At least in _this_ case it's likely recoverable. ☺
Thrift stores will put ridiculous prices on anything that they think might possibly be worth something, regardless if it actually is or not. So yeah, a vinyl in shrink is something that looks "valuable" to someone that doesn't know any better.
I remember seeing imploding boxes of software on the shelf when they were BRAND NEW. The last NOS vinyl record I opened (Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward) was sealed for about 20 years and didn't have this problem. It really depends on the shrink wrap. I guess Sire Records did a decent job during the final years of mass market vinyl.
I've bought a lot of old 12" singles and some battle records/scratch tools that have been sealed for a couple decades and they were fine too. I don't remember having a record where I noticed the shrink was warping it tho. Maybe I'll pay more attention to that now
Funny enough, my Sire re-release of Remain in Light didn't even come shrink wrapped, it was in a loose plastic wrap with a perforations for an easy tear. Nice purchase btw I love SGR.
I totally agree. I never bought or even seen in person vintage big box software, but the moment Robin mentioned it I immediately had memories of collapsing shrink-wrapped cardboard packages.They were probably the flimsiest, toilet paper-tier boxes, but evidently over time plastic beats any type of cardboard.
As a vinyl collector myself, it is never a good idea to leave records sealed for too long because you'll never know what's its condition beneath the album jacket/sleeve. It may have slight warp regardless if its jacket is straight flat, like what if it's a bad pressing? You have a point VWestlife! Also, the method of using books to flatten a warped record is not effective for me. I think you should make a video about it Kevin, if the "2 glass and oven trick method" works or if it is effective, that would be an interesting experiement to do. Thank you for the video!
@@realmackle yeah. that's what a record store owner told me, so i make as a rule that i will no longer buy a warped record not unless it was given to me for free.
@@realmackle I agree with that; if a record is not perfectly flat the groove pitch is distorted and the only way to recover from that would be to apply heat and pressure evenly throughout the thickness of the vinyl, i.e.decreasing pressure gradient from the "pit" of the groove to the outer surface. Otherwise if you just apply pressure to the surface of the record, it wil just squash the top (land?) of the groove.
So does it have to do with the shrink wrap or just that it was left outside in the sun? I doubt that extremely flimsy shrink wrap could put enough pressure on cardboard or vinyl to bend it….
Even though I personally have never bothered to keep any of my records sealed for any reason, this video actually gives me an excellent reason why… thanks again!!!
"About as straight as I am!!" LMAO... Love people with a great sense of humour!!! Too bad that we live oceans apart!! Love your videos and the personality that you display in them!!!! Cheers.
I've bought a few lps from the sixties advertised as mint that came sealed. Even with the older plastics, stiffer cardboard and thicker vinyl, they had slight warps from the shrinkage.
i have seen this as well however its always great when you find a perfect condition sealed record, i find it fascinating to open something that has not been open for over 50 years
“Even though their music is so repetitive, you can barely tell the difference” LOL - some great gags in this video and equally as informative. Great work!
An excellent message for collectors! Unwrap the records and enjoy them! (I do keep the hype stickers, though!) A few salient anecdotes in book form-- I got the Run Out Groove 2-disc version of The Monkees' debut lp that had about half that bad of a warp right out of the package. Rhino/Warner replaced it with no problems but, when I checked the original discs again after a month or so, the warp had settled out. I've heard of this phenomenon with newer vinyl formulation as being a sort of plastic "memory" where the disc eventually returns to its original shape. Older lp's from the 70's/80's tend to not fare as well. Beware gatefold covers left in shrink, as the insides may stick together, damaging the artwork if left too long. Also, not just for quality reasons, beware of any second-hand picture discs that go for ridiculously low prices, even rare ones. Those are more prone to warp by design and collectors will cherry pick the best of several and unload the rest that are damaged. Collecting records can be fun and can truly suck at the same time.
I've had good results putting a warped record between two pieces of heavy glass left out in the sun. Depending on how warm it is outside, it doesn't take too long and the record retains its shape. Great video!👍🇺🇸
good idea. most people would be surprised how hot direct sunlight can get. for example i used to have a outdoor job far away from society and we would cook our ramen noodles in a ziplock bag out in the sun.
For a while I've been saying we oughta get rid of shrink wrap for records. Aside from the warping, I can think of a few times I've accidentally damaged a record sleve in wrestling off some particularly stubborn shrink wrap.
What a wonderful surprise! 😀 Of course, this video gets my full approval, and while outgassing isn't an issue for software collectibles, it most certainly is for vinyl. Excellent work.
A good test to check a sealed record for warping is to hold the sleeve vertically, then gently shake the sleeve from left to right. You should be able to feel the record sliding back and forth in the 1/4 inch of play inside the sleeve.
@@rabarebra Give me a break. I guess you never actually take your records out of the jacket when you get them, and of course being shipped half way around the world doesn't shake them at all, while one shake 1/4 inch in each direction is going to destroy them. Sheesh.
@@gotham61 Almost all records sold in stores have some kind of problem with them. Either from mo--ron's like you, or they are either warped and extremely dirty from factory. Oh, I've had many scratched records straight out of the shrink-warp. You play so tough don't you, with your fcking assumptions. 🤜 Clown 🤡
@@rabarebra Well you can relax from your neuroticism, because at this point I’m my life I almost never buy new sealed records in a brick and mortar record store. I can also report that pretty much none of the 12,000+ records I have bought over the last 50 years suffered as a result of my checking for warpage. If you came across a record I put back due to apparent warpage, you wouldn’t have wanted it either.
Is that the first gay joke you've ever made? I don't even recall you mentioning it since that Toshiba laptop video (I had the same laptop so it stuck).
I am aware of another joke he made in another video and he said "I am gay, but not gay enough to carry a purse" and that quote still lives rent free in my mind.
I watched this video yesterday and this morning I was in a record store and checked if I could see any sealed warped records. I couldn't tell if any of the vinyls were warped, but there were some sealed CDs in the used section that had their digipak completely bent out of shape. And they were clearly pulling to one side because of the shrink wrap.
Dang it, I have a LOT of sealed records (at least a few hundred), so I hope I'm not in for the shock of a lifetime with warped records. It's a good reason to open them up and to start enjoying them properly like they were meant to be.
It’s really crazy when you think about it… Somewhere in the world there was a collector who paid thousands of dollars for some sealed Beatles album. They will keep it for a decade, probably as the centerpiece display of their rarest Beatles items… Then someday they will have a special dinner party and decide to open the cellophane and actually listen to the record. It will turn out to be unplayable because of warping. So much for the thousands of dollars spent thanking me how to real treasure. Just my opinion but I think about 10% of the “rare sealed LPs” are actually being sold by people who have a record sealing machine.
Thanks for the heads up! I bought duplicates of all the Barenaked Ladies 25th anniversary pressings a few years back. I kept the extras sealed but just broke the seals on them after seeing this. Luckily after 3 years of being sealed they are still fine but don't want to take any chances. I'm gonna play them at some point anyway!
One time I bought a record off of eBay, and it arrived unplayably warped (but still much less than yours, I'm surprised by how well that little AT turntable tracks). I got a full refund, stuck it in with all my other records, and forgot about it for a few months. Came back and randomly tried to play it again, and the pressure being on the shelf with a bunch of other records was enough to completely flatten it out. A pleasant surprise, i didn't think it was possible to flatten them out until then.
A year or so ago, I purchased some Nintendo Switch titles from Limited Run Games despite not owning a Switch. When they finally showed up, I immediately removed the film wrap and opened the case, thus quote-unquote "devaluing' them by hundreds of dollars. I didn't buy them for the resale value, I bought them so I can play those games when I finally do get a Switch, and not have to worry about disc space. Besides, where else was I to store the trading cards?
I can still order still sealed new-old stock records from european distribution, which are 40 to 50 years old and they are perfectly fine. No warping. I even have several records in my record shop for 3 years and they are perfectly fine. It pretty much depends, how the records are stored.
So I guess doing it my way - slitting open, playing, stuffing back and keeping it that way is perfectly safe? Also thanks a lot! I really needed to know the name to that remarkable and unique sound! Heard it once at a friend and never got to know who it was. Great!
I learned this lesson -- almost the hard way -- when I bought a sealed OG copy of Prince "Sign O The Times" and my DJ vinyl collector buddy told me it would be a 50/50 chance it would be warped as hell... Luckily, for me, it was still in great shape after 35 years in plastic.
What you need is a birds beak. The Flintstones records were just as warped as that but their players employed (or enslaved) talking birds to act as the stylus.
I can recommend an oystercatcher, they are a wading bird found on freshwater and seawater margins and on drier ground inland, including pastures. Nice solid sharp beak. YRMV.
And I thought "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" was a repetitive song even on a normal record. I think I'm going to have "Light 'em up, up, up..." stuck in my head until Christmas now... Anyway, I can't wait for you to come back in the future to see how well those books helped flatten out that shrinky-dink-wrapped record. Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great...
this video convinced me to not only unseal a couple of records, but also to get some really nice outer sleeves for all of my records. So thanks for that!!
A lot has to do with how the records are stored and if they are subjected to any adverse conditions. I have 100's of sealed records with some close to 50 years old and none have I ever had an issue with when I opened them. When stored, my sealed records have never seen the light of day, but only house lighting when removing, or adding to the box. The records are in dedicated record storage boxes with the records stored vertically and many are compressed inside the boxes between other records. The sealed records which I bought new have always been in a climate controlled environment. I have been collecting records for over 60 years. I have experimented with flattening warped records, initially with a heavy weight on them which covered the entire record, over a long period and it didn't make a difference. I next had a couple of panes of very thick glass cut in 14" squares. When a vinyl record is pressed, the vinyl puck is heated to 270 degrees before it is inserted into the press. I would take a warped vinyl LP, place it between the 2 panes of glass, sit it in the hot California summer sun and sporadically monitor the temperature with an infra red thermometer gun and when it reached 135 degrees, I would carefully carry the sandwich into the air conditioned house to cool for several hours before removing the record. It often worked. I'll add that the vinyl LP's had slight warpage or dishing from being removed from the record presses too soon before the records had time to cool sufficiently. BUT, you need to consider that when a record warps the material actually grows, so when you flatten it, the material has to go somewhere. That somewhere is outward creating a bulge, including the grooves. When the record is played on a record player, it will play like a QRP pressing and seem off-center. But the off-center of a flattened record is only at where the record has bulged and the tone arm will do a wig-wag when it plays that part of the record. As another experiment, I was going through some 45's and sorting out the duplicates, playing each to find out the best to keep. One of the 45's was made out of poly styrene, which doesn't usually warp and one was slightly warped. I've set styrene 45's on my cement patio in the summer sun all day and they never warped. I put that record between the heavy glass panes, kept it inside the house, for about 6 months and it DIDN'T flatten the 45. Oh, I have to say that when I used to buy direct from Classic Records, they would hand select my records and put them in their flattening machines before sending them to me. My next experiment is with the Vinyl Flat record flattening kit I just received. I got the groovy pouch with heating pad with it. As it doesn't have any way to capture the record, I expect the really warped records to develop a bulge.
The inner ring of a 45 is thicker than the distal ring that has the play-surface grooves. They were designed so that the play-surfaces of the records wouldn’t be in contact when stacked on multi-disc spindles that some automatic record players supported.
@@kristofaxelson5088 Somewhat correct. It is the label area which is thicker. Yes, because of the thicker label area the playing surfaces wouldn't rub, but that really wasn't an issue. The 78's were totally flat and rubbing wasn't an issue. Early LP's were totally flat and rubbing wasn't an issue. With the 7" 45 rpm singles, RCA was trying to save money as there were many boxed multiple record albums and the 45's didn't need to be sleeved individually. Instead, they would just separate the records with pieces of paper, to protect the labels. Often these pieces of paper had printing on them explaining why they are there.
I have fixed this issue a few times by heating the record up gently with a heat gun (leave the record in it's protective sleeve and jacket). Yes, heat it all. the jacket protects the record from overheat. Then put the heavy books on top. leave alone for a few hours and all should be good. I have done this a few times with warped dime store finds and have had good success. Thanks for all your video efforts and Good Luck!
I've purchased records off Discogs that were sealed for a very long time! It all depends on climate, and how often it's moved around! I bought a sealed 1992 Slaughter The Wild Life vinyl 5 years ago, and thankfully it wasn't warped!
Yes it's one of the earliest 'tips' I heard about collecting vinyl , don't keep them sealed. I hate that type of saran shrink wrap plastic... so I remove any shrink on any album ASAP. even if they are not sealed you'll still get warping issues sometimes. don't keep your Vinyl in those library style PVC sleeves either.. you'll get ghosting and artifacts in the vinyl playback.
Oh damn! I've had a couple of records sitting in their shrink wrap for like almost a decade! I was waiting till I could afford to buy a nice record player to break them out, but never managed to find that round toit so they've just been sitting in a pile on top of my cupboard. I've now taken your advice and released them from their clinging prison. Thankfully the worst has no more than a couple of millimetres of warp at most, so my 2-LP edition of Superunknown thanks you.
I had this happen once. Luckily I have a very "warp-forgiving" setup but the tonearm really goes on a rollercoaster ride. The whole record including the sleeve was warped.
There's two types of factory shrinkwraps. The thicker, non-stretchy type which they usually use on boxes and which is sometimes folded like a present, and the thinner easier to tear kind they use on record albums. The shrink tends to keep on shrinking as it ages so it crushes the item inside. The way they fixed this in the 1980s days of records was that they punched a few small round holes into the wrapping. It seems like new young execs either didn't get the proper on the job training from the previous bosses or they just stopped because of the slight cost savings. If you break the shrink or just cut it a little bit along the sleeve/poke a tiny hole or 2, it will stop the effect.
That IS TRULY terrible 😔. I have 50-60 year old records that have been stored who knows where that were NEVER as warped as the one you just unsealed NEW. Edit: I was going mention the glass/oven "resto"., But since you did, I'll leave that to others to decide if that's what they want to do with their seriously warped LPs.
I had a soilwork album that came to me like that from Amazon. It was the shape of a bowl. I put it under a tape deck and a heavy box of books for a year. It is flat now but it was a couple of years old when I got it. It is now in storagesince I bought another copy. Great video.
I always take the shrink wrap off for that reason, I was told that years ago. To protect the jacket though, you can buy plastic sleeves that go over it. Hey you should do a follow-up video in the future about how the un-warping went!
@@stepheng8779 Left for decades the plasticizer in the plastic can do all sorts of strange things. The combination of photocopies and plastic sleeves can be particularly bad with most of the toner transferring itself from the paper to the sleeve.
I recently opened a sealed copy of Bettye Swann's Make Me Yours LP from 1967. It's super rare. Got it off of eBay. Once I opened it, the record was filled to the absolute BRIM with fog and mist. I must've cleaned the record about 20 times by now, and it hasn't made ANY improvement. Plays with so much hiss from start to finish. I was very disappointed. And as far as I'm concerned, there isn't any way to remove or mitigate the damage that has been done to the grooves. But HEY at least it wasn't warped at all! And also the seller gave me my money back.
@@vwestlife I've had some success with Goo Gone (regular, not the stronger version) in dealing with this residue. Spray it onto a microfiber cloth, evenly spread it over the affected area, and allow it to work for a short period of time. Be sure to not let it sit for more than ten minutes as it will begin to soften plastics (which is why it works for this issue). Gently wipe the Goo Gone from the record, and wet clean away all of the Goo Gone residue (I used my Spin Clean and changed out the fluid after the first couple of spins). It is advisable to practice this tactic on junk records first in order to be familiar with how the Goo Gone reacts to the vinyl. I have heard that others were using regular WD-40 for the same problem, but have not tried that method yet.
In the 70's they sold Dynaflex records which was a technical gimmick to use less vinyl: they say the LP was thin and very flexible thus preventing any type pf warp. Reality was quite the opposite, LP's were so thin they would warp due to the shrinkwrap or for not being stored perfectly flat or vertical. I have Black Moses by Hayes which after almost 50 years is still warped !
Ringo Starr “Rotogravure” (1976) - bought it at a record fair for $8. Sealed. When I played it, it had a warp that made it impossible to play the outer tracks of one side and what could be played sounded horrible. As if the stamper was worn out. Got rid of it at the local used record store for credit.
Since buying records I always had a bad gut feeling leaving them in the shrink would do this kind of damage, even when just slicing the opening to play the record. Surprisingly though when I bought a first pressing of Dolly Parton's The Fairest of Them All that's been sealed for 50 years on eBay, didn't do any damage. Maybe it might only effect records that used thin and cheaper materials for the outer sleeve
I bought a 1984 Twisted Sister record that still had its shrink wrap on it. The record wasn't warped but the shrink wrap had adhered to the dust cover so that when I removed it there was a permanent widespread residue.
Shrink wrap needs a tremendous amount of heat to shrink. It doesn’t just shrink at room temperature. I think what you’re seeing is the warped record warping the shrink wrap, not the other way around.
I've got sealed records from the seventies which are just fine. This one must have been left near a heat source or someone had it with them in the sauna.
Good video. I once opened a 30 year old record.i found a $100 record sealed for $20. (I wouldn't have opened it aside from the fact it is incredibly rare.) Upon opening it it wasn't warped but the vinyl has strange wavy imprints in the record itself.
it depends on shrink wrap AND storage conditions. most places records aren't stored optimally. you should store a record upright in a space packed with enough other records so they all keep each other flat, than the shrink wrap can try all it likes to warp the record but it can't
I once straightened out a laserdisc by putting it between two servers for a few months. Servers are warm and heavy. It worked well enough for me to be able to play it, it did not become perfectly flat, but flat enough to not rub against any part of the player. This reminds me - I have a severely warped record (trying to play it makes the tonearm jump.
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“Even though their music is so repetitive you can hardly tell the difference”
the absolute SHADE!!!
"Even though their music is so repetitive that you can barely tell the difference" oh my lord someone finally said it
0:45 “that’s about as straight as I am” lol
Yeah that comment gave me a good chuckle 😆
he caught me off guard with this one 💀
i screeched at that
Iconic moment if you ask me
that line caught me so off guard. one of the only times ive chuckled at a youtube video lol
“Hey, it’s not skipping … even though their music is so repetitive that you can barely tell the difference.” 🤣🤣🤣 Savage!
I’m surprised that the thrift store didn’t just toss that record out and I’m even more surprised they were asking $9.99 for it.
Yup! Just a little refund maybe?
@@MSMediaRotterdam In one store here I saw a fluorescent lamp on the discount shelf at the till, with a "reduced" sticker on it due to it being "shop soiled" .. quite obviously broken as you could see that through the window in its box. Muppetry at its best.
At least in _this_ case it's likely recoverable. ☺
Thrift stores will put ridiculous prices on anything that they think might possibly be worth something, regardless if it actually is or not. So yeah, a vinyl in shrink is something that looks "valuable" to someone that doesn't know any better.
@@Arjay82 If only people knew their business.....
I’m not a fan of Fall Out Boy either, but throwing it out would be a bit much.
"That's about as straight as I am ". 😂 I didn't expect that line. Rock on!
0:41 I BURSTED OUT LAUGHING WITH THE "What's the catch? Well here is the catch...ouch"
I remember seeing imploding boxes of software on the shelf when they were BRAND NEW. The last NOS vinyl record I opened (Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward) was sealed for about 20 years and didn't have this problem. It really depends on the shrink wrap. I guess Sire Records did a decent job during the final years of mass market vinyl.
great reward for you indeed!
I've bought a lot of old 12" singles and some battle records/scratch tools that have been sealed for a couple decades and they were fine too. I don't remember having a record where I noticed the shrink was warping it tho. Maybe I'll pay more attention to that now
Funny enough, my Sire re-release of Remain in Light didn't even come shrink wrapped, it was in a loose plastic wrap with a perforations for an easy tear. Nice purchase btw I love SGR.
I bought a copy of Big Bam Boom by Hall and Oates sealed; Not warped in the slightest, just very dusty for some reason
I totally agree. I never bought or even seen in person vintage big box software, but the moment Robin mentioned it I immediately had memories of collapsing shrink-wrapped cardboard packages.They were probably the flimsiest, toilet paper-tier boxes, but evidently over time plastic beats any type of cardboard.
As a vinyl collector myself, it is never a good idea to leave records sealed for too long because you'll never know what's its condition beneath the album jacket/sleeve. It may have slight warp regardless if its jacket is straight flat, like what if it's a bad pressing? You have a point VWestlife! Also, the method of using books to flatten a warped record is not effective for me. I think you should make a video about it Kevin, if the "2 glass and oven trick method" works or if it is effective, that would be an interesting experiement to do. Thank you for the video!
That experiment does not work. It makes the record flat but the music information is basically ruined.
@@realmackle yeah. that's what a record store owner told me, so i make as a rule that i will no longer buy a warped record not unless it was given to me for free.
@@realmackle I agree with that; if a record is not perfectly flat the groove pitch is distorted and the only way to recover from that would be to apply heat and pressure evenly throughout the thickness of the vinyl, i.e.decreasing pressure gradient from the "pit" of the groove to the outer surface. Otherwise if you just apply pressure to the surface of the record, it wil just squash the top (land?) of the groove.
So does it have to do with the shrink wrap or just that it was left outside in the sun? I doubt that extremely flimsy shrink wrap could put enough pressure on cardboard or vinyl to bend it….
Even though I personally have never bothered to keep any of my records sealed for any reason, this video actually gives me an excellent reason why… thanks again!!!
"About as straight as I am!!" LMAO... Love people with a great sense of humour!!! Too bad that we live oceans apart!! Love your videos and the personality that you display in them!!!! Cheers.
Wait… so my habit of opening sealed things may actually be helping to preserve it?
I've bought a few lps from the sixties advertised as mint that came sealed. Even with the older plastics, stiffer cardboard and thicker vinyl, they had slight warps from the shrinkage.
As long as the warps weren't too bad, I bet they sounded great!
They were likely warped from poor storage not the shrink wrap.
i have seen this as well however its always great when you find a perfect condition sealed record, i find it fascinating to open something that has not been open for over 50 years
@@floydnut5908 Always stick your nose in there right after you open it. 50 year old sealed vinyl aroma.....aaggghhhhhhh!
“Even though their music is so repetitive, you can barely tell the difference” LOL - some great gags in this video and equally as informative. Great work!
It's been a year. How's the record doing?
He probably tossed it out a year ago…
4:56 sounds like the record got possessed by Micheal Jackson
"That's about straight as I am" I needed a good laugh today, thanks for that.
An excellent message for collectors! Unwrap the records and enjoy them! (I do keep the hype stickers, though!) A few salient anecdotes in book form-- I got the Run Out Groove 2-disc version of The Monkees' debut lp that had about half that bad of a warp right out of the package. Rhino/Warner replaced it with no problems but, when I checked the original discs again after a month or so, the warp had settled out. I've heard of this phenomenon with newer vinyl formulation as being a sort of plastic "memory" where the disc eventually returns to its original shape. Older lp's from the 70's/80's tend to not fare as well. Beware gatefold covers left in shrink, as the insides may stick together, damaging the artwork if left too long. Also, not just for quality reasons, beware of any second-hand picture discs that go for ridiculously low prices, even rare ones. Those are more prone to warp by design and collectors will cherry pick the best of several and unload the rest that are damaged. Collecting records can be fun and can truly suck at the same time.
I hate people who just leave things in the shrink wrap on a shelf to rot. These were meant to be played and used and yet people don't do that.
I've had good results putting a warped record between two pieces of heavy glass left out in the sun.
Depending on how warm it is outside, it doesn't take too long and the record retains its shape.
Great video!👍🇺🇸
good idea. most people would be surprised how hot direct sunlight can get. for example i used to have a outdoor job far away from society and we would cook our ramen noodles in a ziplock bag out in the sun.
You can do the same thing in a low oven.
You’ve never had good results doing that because it doesn’t work
For a while I've been saying we oughta get rid of shrink wrap for records. Aside from the warping, I can think of a few times I've accidentally damaged a record sleve in wrestling off some particularly stubborn shrink wrap.
Dude I've been watching you for literal YEARS. So happy to still see you kicking it.
"That's about as straight as I am"
Amen brother
0:45 got a laugh out of me, lol. thanks for another great video ❤
It got a good chuckle out of me, too 😂
What a wonderful surprise! 😀
Of course, this video gets my full approval, and while outgassing isn't an issue for software collectibles, it most certainly is for vinyl. Excellent work.
#UnexpectedJim was my second favorite part of this video, just after the "as straight as I am" comment that made me laugh out loud.
0:45 “That’s about as straight as I am”
Same.
A good test to check a sealed record for warping is to hold the sleeve vertically, then gently shake the sleeve from left to right. You should be able to feel the record sliding back and forth in the 1/4 inch of play inside the sleeve.
So this is why we get scratched records from the physical stores? Yes, even polylined inners can create scratches because of this.
@@rabarebra Give me a break. I guess you never actually take your records out of the jacket when you get them, and of course being shipped half way around the world doesn't shake them at all, while one shake 1/4 inch in each direction is going to destroy them. Sheesh.
@@gotham61 Why do you go around and shake records at the stores? NO you wrong. I take them out, and play them. Mo--ron.
@@gotham61 Almost all records sold in stores have some kind of problem with them. Either from mo--ron's like you, or they are either warped and extremely dirty from factory. Oh, I've had many scratched records straight out of the shrink-warp.
You play so tough don't you, with your fcking assumptions. 🤜
Clown 🤡
@@rabarebra Well you can relax from your neuroticism, because at this point I’m my life I almost never buy new sealed records in a brick and mortar record store. I can also report that pretty much none of the 12,000+ records I have bought over the last 50 years suffered as a result of my checking for warpage. If you came across a record I put back due to apparent warpage, you wouldn’t have wanted it either.
I literally couldnt tell the record was skipping, thats exactly how fallout boy sounds to me.
LMFAO
Is that the first gay joke you've ever made? I don't even recall you mentioning it since that Toshiba laptop video (I had the same laptop so it stuck).
i remember he made a joke about dick pics once
I lolled
I think it is, he rarely brings it up
I am aware of another joke he made in another video and he said "I am gay, but not gay enough to carry a purse" and that quote still lives rent free in my mind.
Absolutely beautiful 😭
"That's about as straight as I am"
LMAO!
A lesson to everyone here, records were meant to be played, not stuck on a shelf left in their wrapper for years on end...
0:43 I was not expecting that joke. Lol.
"That's about as straight as i am" I laughed way too hard at this line.
I watched this video yesterday and this morning I was in a record store and checked if I could see any sealed warped records. I couldn't tell if any of the vinyls were warped, but there were some sealed CDs in the used section that had their digipak completely bent out of shape. And they were clearly pulling to one side because of the shrink wrap.
Sad. We must break the fanboy mentality the 90's did to us.
"it's about as straight as I am"
Love this channel so much
Dang it, I have a LOT of sealed records (at least a few hundred), so I hope I'm not in for the shock of a lifetime with warped records. It's a good reason to open them up and to start enjoying them properly like they were meant to be.
Results?
I'm so glad I opened my copy to play it when I did. they're my favorite band so it's sad to see this happen
It’s really crazy when you think about it… Somewhere in the world there was a collector who paid thousands of dollars for some sealed Beatles album. They will keep it for a decade, probably as the centerpiece display of their rarest Beatles items… Then someday they will have a special dinner party and decide to open the cellophane and actually listen to the record. It will turn out to be unplayable because of warping. So much for the thousands of dollars spent thanking me how to real treasure.
Just my opinion but I think about 10% of the “rare sealed LPs” are actually being sold by people who have a record sealing machine.
Thanks for the heads up! I bought duplicates of all the Barenaked Ladies 25th anniversary pressings a few years back. I kept the extras sealed but just broke the seals on them after seeing this. Luckily after 3 years of being sealed they are still fine but don't want to take any chances. I'm gonna play them at some point anyway!
One time I bought a record off of eBay, and it arrived unplayably warped (but still much less than yours, I'm surprised by how well that little AT turntable tracks). I got a full refund, stuck it in with all my other records, and forgot about it for a few months. Came back and randomly tried to play it again, and the pressure being on the shelf with a bunch of other records was enough to completely flatten it out. A pleasant surprise, i didn't think it was possible to flatten them out until then.
A year or so ago, I purchased some Nintendo Switch titles from Limited Run Games despite not owning a Switch. When they finally showed up, I immediately removed the film wrap and opened the case, thus quote-unquote "devaluing' them by hundreds of dollars. I didn't buy them for the resale value, I bought them so I can play those games when I finally do get a Switch, and not have to worry about disc space. Besides, where else was I to store the trading cards?
I can still order still sealed new-old stock records from european distribution, which are 40 to 50 years old and they are perfectly fine. No warping. I even have several records in my record shop for 3 years and they are perfectly fine.
It pretty much depends, how the records are stored.
This record is about as straight as I am. Priceless :-)
0:43 "about as straight as I am" made me spit out my cocoa from laughter
when he said "I'm not gonna try to play this on my good turntables" and pulled out my record player I crumbled
So I guess doing it my way - slitting open, playing, stuffing back and keeping it that way is perfectly safe? Also thanks a lot! I really needed to know the name to that remarkable and unique sound! Heard it once at a friend and never got to know who it was. Great!
I learned this lesson -- almost the hard way -- when I bought a sealed OG copy of Prince "Sign O The Times" and my DJ vinyl collector buddy told me it would be a 50/50 chance it would be warped as hell... Luckily, for me, it was still in great shape after 35 years in plastic.
What you need is a birds beak. The Flintstones records were just as warped as that but their players employed (or enslaved) talking birds to act as the stylus.
I can recommend an oystercatcher, they are a wading bird found on freshwater and seawater margins and on drier ground inland, including pastures. Nice solid sharp beak. YRMV.
"Thats about as straight as I am" Killed me
And I thought "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" was a repetitive song even on a normal record. I think I'm going to have "Light 'em up, up, up..." stuck in my head until Christmas now...
Anyway, I can't wait for you to come back in the future to see how well those books helped flatten out that shrinky-dink-wrapped record. Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great...
this video convinced me to not only unseal a couple of records, but also to get some really nice outer sleeves for all of my records. So thanks for that!!
Hey VWestlife, it's been more than a year since the record has been pressed by a stack of books. I would like to see an update video about the record
for me, as a record collector, that was the best tip i got for storing my treasures. Many Thanks
A lot has to do with how the records are stored and if they are subjected to any adverse conditions. I have 100's of sealed records with some close to 50 years old and none have I ever had an issue with when I opened them. When stored, my sealed records have never seen the light of day, but only house lighting when removing, or adding to the box. The records are in dedicated record storage boxes with the records stored vertically and many are compressed inside the boxes between other records. The sealed records which I bought new have always been in a climate controlled environment. I have been collecting records for over 60 years.
I have experimented with flattening warped records, initially with a heavy weight on them which covered the entire record, over a long period and it didn't make a difference. I next had a couple of panes of very thick glass cut in 14" squares. When a vinyl record is pressed, the vinyl puck is heated to 270 degrees before it is inserted into the press. I would take a warped vinyl LP, place it between the 2 panes of glass, sit it in the hot California summer sun and sporadically monitor the temperature with an infra red thermometer gun and when it reached 135 degrees, I would carefully carry the sandwich into the air conditioned house to cool for several hours before removing the record. It often worked. I'll add that the vinyl LP's had slight warpage or dishing from being removed from the record presses too soon before the records had time to cool sufficiently.
BUT, you need to consider that when a record warps the material actually grows, so when you flatten it, the material has to go somewhere. That somewhere is outward creating a bulge, including the grooves. When the record is played on a record player, it will play like a QRP pressing and seem off-center. But the off-center of a flattened record is only at where the record has bulged and the tone arm will do a wig-wag when it plays that part of the record.
As another experiment, I was going through some 45's and sorting out the duplicates, playing each to find out the best to keep. One of the 45's was made out of poly styrene, which doesn't usually warp and one was slightly warped. I've set styrene 45's on my cement patio in the summer sun all day and they never warped. I put that record between the heavy glass panes, kept it inside the house, for about 6 months and it DIDN'T flatten the 45.
Oh, I have to say that when I used to buy direct from Classic Records, they would hand select my records and put them in their flattening machines before sending them to me.
My next experiment is with the Vinyl Flat record flattening kit I just received. I got the groovy pouch with heating pad with it. As it doesn't have any way to capture the record, I expect the really warped records to develop a bulge.
The inner ring of a 45 is thicker than the distal ring that has the play-surface grooves. They were designed so that the play-surfaces of the records wouldn’t be in contact when stacked on multi-disc spindles that some automatic record players supported.
@@kristofaxelson5088 Somewhat correct. It is the label area which is thicker. Yes, because of the thicker label area the playing surfaces wouldn't rub, but that really wasn't an issue. The 78's were totally flat and rubbing wasn't an issue. Early LP's were totally flat and rubbing wasn't an issue. With the 7" 45 rpm singles, RCA was trying to save money as there were many boxed multiple record albums and the 45's didn't need to be sleeved individually. Instead, they would just separate the records with pieces of paper, to protect the labels. Often these pieces of paper had printing on them explaining why they are there.
"thats about as straight as i am" realest shit i ever did hear
I have fixed this issue a few times by heating the record up gently with a heat gun (leave the record in it's protective sleeve and jacket). Yes, heat it all. the jacket protects the record from overheat. Then put the heavy books on top. leave alone for a few hours and all should be good. I have done this a few times with warped dime store finds and have had good success. Thanks for all your video efforts and Good Luck!
4:55-5:01 is the best French Touch/Nu Disco song I've heard in recent times. That's a 7 minute loop waiting to happen.
I've purchased records off Discogs that were sealed for a very long time! It all depends on climate, and how often it's moved around! I bought a sealed 1992 Slaughter The Wild Life vinyl 5 years ago, and thankfully it wasn't warped!
Something seems familiar about you, I just can't put my finger on it... lol
At a 1980s HiFi show I recall Dual playing records looking like this to demonstrate how good the tracking was on their turntables.
"That's about as straight as I am" absolutely buckled me 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yes it's one of the earliest 'tips' I heard about collecting vinyl , don't keep them sealed. I hate that type of saran shrink wrap plastic... so I remove any shrink on any album ASAP. even if they are not sealed you'll still get warping issues sometimes. don't keep your Vinyl in those library style PVC sleeves either.. you'll get ghosting and artifacts in the vinyl playback.
Oh damn! I've had a couple of records sitting in their shrink wrap for like almost a decade! I was waiting till I could afford to buy a nice record player to break them out, but never managed to find that round toit so they've just been sitting in a pile on top of my cupboard. I've now taken your advice and released them from their clinging prison. Thankfully the worst has no more than a couple of millimetres of warp at most, so my 2-LP edition of Superunknown thanks you.
All of the record releases of Superunknown are 2 LP. I just hope it wasn’t an original copy that you opened.
Also, storing them stacked has much more potential to damage your records than keeping them stored upright and sealed.
given the content of the record I would call this a vast improvement
shouldve left u shrink wrapped 😭
I had this happen once. Luckily I have a very "warp-forgiving" setup but the tonearm really goes on a rollercoaster ride. The whole record including the sleeve was warped.
“As straight as I am”. You A-hole, made me spit out my dr. Pepper. 😂😂😂😂
Hahaha! ”Thats about as straight as I am” 😂😂 laughed out loud for real!
There's two types of factory shrinkwraps. The thicker, non-stretchy type which they usually use on boxes and which is sometimes folded like a present, and the thinner easier to tear kind they use on record albums. The shrink tends to keep on shrinking as it ages so it crushes the item inside. The way they fixed this in the 1980s days of records was that they punched a few small round holes into the wrapping. It seems like new young execs either didn't get the proper on the job training from the previous bosses or they just stopped because of the slight cost savings. If you break the shrink or just cut it a little bit along the sleeve/poke a tiny hole or 2, it will stop the effect.
"Even though their music is so repetitive its hard to tell" HAHAHHAHAHAHA
Technology Connections is pretty good with the jokes. Both of you guys make great content. Always looking forward to the next video!
That IS TRULY terrible 😔. I have 50-60 year old records that have been stored who knows where that were NEVER as warped as the one you just unsealed NEW. Edit: I was going mention the glass/oven "resto"., But since you did, I'll leave that to others to decide if that's what they want to do with their seriously warped LPs.
I never wanted to open my vinyls but this video scared me so I opened em today. Thanks for this vid
"Even though their music is so repetitive you can hardly tell the difference" -- vwestlife on fire in this video
It's been about a year now. Is it any better?
The jokes in this video had me absolutely floored! Always great to see an educational video that is also wildly entertaining
I had a soilwork album that came to me like that from Amazon. It was the shape of a bowl. I put it under a tape deck and a heavy box of books for a year. It is flat now but it was a couple of years old when I got it. It is now in storagesince I bought another copy. Great video.
I always take the shrink wrap off for that reason, I was told that years ago. To protect the jacket though, you can buy plastic sleeves that go over it. Hey you should do a follow-up video in the future about how the un-warping went!
Depends on the type of plastic sleeves
@@stepheng8779 Left for decades the plasticizer in the plastic can do all sorts of strange things. The combination of photocopies and plastic sleeves can be particularly bad with most of the toner transferring itself from the paper to the sleeve.
seeing as how this applies to any form of collectible media as a DVD collector, this is tons of help. thanks for letting us all know!
"More straighter than me" 💀💀💀
I recently opened a sealed copy of Bettye Swann's Make Me Yours LP from 1967. It's super rare. Got it off of eBay. Once I opened it, the record was filled to the absolute BRIM with fog and mist. I must've cleaned the record about 20 times by now, and it hasn't made ANY improvement. Plays with so much hiss from start to finish. I was very disappointed. And as far as I'm concerned, there isn't any way to remove or mitigate the damage that has been done to the grooves. But HEY at least it wasn't warped at all! And also the seller gave me my money back.
That's outgassing from a PVC sleeve. It leaves a film on the vinyl which is impossible to remove.
@@vwestlife I've had some success with Goo Gone (regular, not the stronger version) in dealing with this residue.
Spray it onto a microfiber cloth, evenly spread it over the affected area, and allow it to work for a short period of time. Be sure to not let it sit for more than ten minutes as it will begin to soften plastics (which is why it works for this issue). Gently wipe the Goo Gone from the record, and wet clean away all of the Goo Gone residue (I used my Spin Clean and changed out the fluid after the first couple of spins).
It is advisable to practice this tactic on junk records first in order to be familiar with how the Goo Gone reacts to the vinyl.
I have heard that others were using regular WD-40 for the same problem, but have not tried that method yet.
In the 70's they sold Dynaflex records which was a technical gimmick to use less vinyl: they say the LP was thin and very flexible thus preventing any type pf warp. Reality was quite the opposite, LP's were so thin they would warp due to the shrinkwrap or for not being stored perfectly flat or vertical. I have Black Moses by Hayes which after almost 50 years is still warped !
This will teach videogame scalper some lessons.
I've noticed this in old Atari and intellivsion games etc thanks for bringing it up and justifying me preferring to open anything I get unopened
Ringo Starr “Rotogravure” (1976) - bought it at a record fair for $8. Sealed. When I played it, it had a warp that made it impossible to play the outer tracks of one side and what could be played sounded horrible. As if the stamper was worn out. Got rid of it at the local used record store for credit.
I lost it at "that's about as straight as I am"
Since buying records I always had a bad gut feeling leaving them in the shrink would do this kind of damage, even when just slicing the opening to play the record.
Surprisingly though when I bought a first pressing of Dolly Parton's The Fairest of Them All that's been sealed for 50 years on eBay, didn't do any damage. Maybe it might only effect records that used thin and cheaper materials for the outer sleeve
the gay experience is the inablility to resist from making a gay joke at your own expense
real
Polystyrene shrinks when it decomposes. You can even sometimes find polystyrene foam packaging that looks shriveled up.
I personally like CDs. All the fun spiny action without all of the skipping, popping, warping, cartridge replacements, damage, and pain. 😂
I bought a 1984 Twisted Sister record that still had its shrink wrap on it. The record wasn't warped but the shrink wrap had adhered to the dust cover so that when I removed it there was a permanent widespread residue.
A BSR autochanger was also capable of playing warped records, due to the prominent downward angle of the tonearm.
0:45 Made me laugh! All my records must be warped just like that one.
Shrink wrap needs a tremendous amount of heat to shrink. It doesn’t just shrink at room temperature. I think what you’re seeing is the warped record warping the shrink wrap, not the other way around.
I've got sealed records from the seventies which are just fine. This one must have been left near a heat source or someone had it with them in the sauna.
Good video. I once opened a 30 year old record.i found a $100 record sealed for $20. (I wouldn't have opened it aside from the fact it is incredibly rare.) Upon opening it it wasn't warped but the vinyl has strange wavy imprints in the record itself.
Just found the same on one of my 45 12" singles. It was sold just in a paper sleeve as it is a promo copy.
it depends on shrink wrap AND storage conditions. most places records aren't stored optimally. you should store a record upright in a space packed with enough other records so they all keep each other flat, than the shrink wrap can try all it likes to warp the record but it can't
Man as a person who loves keeping stuff in it's original shrink wrap this is good to know!!!!!
I was really surprised that it played so well on the first side, it would be interesting to see what happens in a year with the book technique.
Yes I’m eagerly looking forward to the update video next year!
There is also the Schrodinger's Cat problem if the printed material or gatefold glueing itself together if left shrink wrapped
gotta love when a record makes its own loops
I once straightened out a laserdisc by putting it between two servers for a few months. Servers are warm and heavy. It worked well enough for me to be able to play it, it did not become perfectly flat, but flat enough to not rub against any part of the player.
This reminds me - I have a severely warped record (trying to play it makes the tonearm jump.