To illustrate Book Off's outlandishness, they aren't only dabbling in shitting all over the VGM market with inferior, overpriced, incomplete copies but also ones without any media!

http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/a … w146876694

EDIT: For fairness, Bookoff was contacted and disc was there (not pictured).

If they're going to sell it for that much, the least they could do is 1. describe in detail the condition of that particular specific item (instead of just a general A, B, C grading) and more importantly, 2. list the fact that the all-important disc is not included on the auction title itself.

If you browse the seller's store and sort by price, you will find the album in a sea of similarly priced brand name bags, watches, jewelery. Remember, this is the album WITHOUT the disc. To be fair though, the SDK2 OSV is legitimately rare unlike the aforementioned items, and the music will never go out of fashion.

Maybe the auction lister fat-fingered the price field and intended a 5 figure digit, not 6?

At least it has the sticker

Personally, my guess is that the disc actually is there, and they just removed it to show a photo of the back tray.  However, I wouldn't recommend paying 120,000 yen to find out.

Got a reply from the seller. CD is included.

Out of curiosity, how did you contact the seller?  Do you have your own dedicated account on YJA (e.g. not through a proxy)?  If so, is it possible to do so from outside of Japan?

Yes, I used my own Yahoo account to do so. I'm not Japanese so it is indeed very possible to make your own. It might take a bit of fiddling on the registration page though until you get in.

I removed the "w/o actual CD" part from the title since it appears to not be accurate.

I think I've mentioned it before but I love Book Off. Many of my best VGM finds from my years in Japan were from there (most recently getting Phantasy Star Universe Original Score for a very reasonable price last year). It's not like DKC2 is a new release that they picked up just to scalp, I imagine they had to pay a decent price for it up front.

My concern is more with people spending a thousand dollars for a glossy sheet of paper and manufactured piece of plastic. (And yes I realize people are free to spend their money however they like, it just seems like questionable placement of priorities.)

Pretty much this. At a level like this ($1000) I'd like to think I'd not pull the trigger and pass, theoretically to spend that money in a *wiser* fashion.

I've never exceeded $250 for a soundtrack or a box set - and I've only done that like 4 times since 2006. I'd like to think that's my limit. However, if the right item came along...? I'd probably be weak and break that limit. Why? Cause I'm human and we're freaking impulsive.

Everyone is entitled to spend his/her money however he/she feels like it. Myself, I can never imagine spending this kind of money on a CD. I ask myself "Am I getting something I simply can not get anywhere else?" and the answer is no. I could purchase an incomplete, perhaps scratched CD, and still get the same quality music. But to each their own.

Well, in this case there is also the US/European version. I know that also runs high but I don't think it runs this high.

Ah, for some reason I thought this was a 2-CD set. In that case, unless you're a super serious collector, heck yeah I'd pass on spending such a crazy amount! Of course, I wouldn't pay $500 for the US version either. Not sure there's any CD I would pay $500 for... unless you know, it was a limited edition signed by the Beatles or something like that!

Here's another perspective on the DKC2 OST.  Considering that it's the most expensive soundtrack out there, it's still quite a bit less than "the most expensive X" in a lot of other hobbies.  Think Magic cards, baseball cards, coin collecting, sports memorabilia, comic books,  ... .

From that perspective, maybe it's not too crazy.

Dumb question, but IS this the most expensive soundtrack out there? Granted, I can't think of anything else off hand, but I'm just wondering if there's something I'm forgetting. The only other one I can think of is maybe the Super Mario RPG OST? Didn't that one shoot up pretty high lately?

I still don't understand why DKC2 is priced as high as it is... it's hardly the rarest album afterall.

As far as expensive soundtracks go, the top ones (right now) are probably DKC 2 and some of the Ganbare Goemon soundtracks. The Sound Horizon Thanatos album used to go for around the same price or more back in the day, but I haven't kept track of that one in a while. Nothing else that I can recall that tops 100,000 yen.

Super Mario RPG OSV is typically in the 40,000-50,000 yen range now, and the Kirby Adventure OST is in that same range. Galaxy Odyssey seems to be in the 70,000 yen range.