This is more of a collector's argument, but I was wondering how everyone felt about purchasing straight up reprints of albums as opposed to the original versions. I don't mean limited edition VS regular print, but more along the lines of things being reprinted with a newer record label. Think PSCN versus NTCP, or SSCX VS SQEX. Do those things matter to you, or do you just pick up whatever edition you can get your hands on?

When I first started collecting albums back in 2000 or so SSCX was *the* label in my eyes, so I only have original prints of those albums. I place a lot of personal value in the soundtracks I have, so it's nice to feel like I have a collection that has some history to it instead of a stack of albums that were just printed.

Edit: All this talk about the good ol' stuff makes me appreciate the original SaGa 2 piano CD more than the reprint. Ah, SSCX.

I'm inclined to agree here. I'll take Digicube prints any day over their SQEX contemporaries for example. I also love getting first printings when they come with a little something extra, like a slipcase or something. There's that sense of emotional gravity to holding a really well-produced album in your hands, even more so listening to it.

It really bothers me when I have an album that I know is a reprint. Same with games, actually. I'm kind of pedantic.

That's exactly what I meant. You hold that original print of Final Fantasy VIII in your hands and it just feels more than the sealed SQEX print you can pick up almost anywhere. The hunt and the history are part of the fun, too. I'd rather spend $50 on something that Jodo bought fifteen years ago and then sold to Carl who sold it to some random guy in the Netherlands who sold it to me than pay $25 for that same thing, sealed, with a newer catalog number.

I like having originals, but I don't sweat it too much. I care more when it comes to games, since the re-releases often have ugly packaging. Reprinted soundtracks usually don't have such significant differences in appearance.

I'm just happy to own the album, don't care if it's first print or not. Unless first print had extra tracks or something like that.

an overwhelming majority of my remaining collection (90%+) are SSCX & PSCN oldies...
some of my slipcases received marks from rubbing against each other while packed up when we moved (my poor ff6 osv), but i certainly wouldnt trade them for a new reprint.
for the most part, my gaming interests dropped off a cliff after the formation of the square enix entertainment federation (SQUEEF).

nowadays, owning a cd is worthless.. but i consider my collection more of a portal back to the days when they were something you could take pride in.
staring at a big drawer full of 50 grey plastic game cartridges will always be far more intoxicating than looking thru a file directory with 15,000 roms.

my apologies in advance for not having any new joke to insert in this reply.. will edit if that changes

i try to get original prints when i buy CDs, but i won't hesitate if a reprint is the only print available. it seriously irks me when publishers make a tiny run of first print slipcases that sell out within a couple of days. i can rarely buy all CDs i want on release day, so i automatically miss out on many of them.

As a general rule I collect music to listen to it (I feel that those of us who actually enjoy putting a CD into a player and listening to music that way are dwindling), so it doesn't REALLY matter to me what printing I have.  Most of my stuff IS the original stuff, though, since I've been collecting since aaaaaaages ago.  Notable exceptions would be some of the Falcom Millennium Collection reprints (which are themselves now pretty old, I realize).

I'm also irritated by first prints that have slipcases or whatever, since the compulsive side of me makes me want to have those versions.  Stupid example: this summer in Japan I saw the new FF Piano Opera CDs at a place where I had a point card, but didn't pick them up right away.  I noticed they had outer cardboard slipcovers.  I went back a week later and they only had ones WITHOUT the cardboard slipcover.  I rushed over to another place where I didn't get rewards points for buying stuff and picked up copies there because they still had slipcover versions.  Then of course a week later after THAT I returned to the original place and they had plenty of first print copies again.  I... really don't understand how they stock things sometimes.

Oooookay that was a bit of a tangent.

I really don't care what print it is.  There's a certain accomplishment for finding a hard to find album that hasn't been reprinted or finding a good deal one one, but I'd rather have the music than not have the music.  The only original print that I can think of that I actively sought after was the FFVII LE because of it's unique box and just overall better design.

Reprints are lame only when I have the original. ha.

Besides that it's nice to buy the album for a low price than paying $100+ and find out you hate the album. I sure wouldn't mind a reprint of the DKC and Goemon soundtracks. Overall, the original is the best. It's rare I see a reprint with better artwork. (One day I will have my cds/vinyl on a front display.) The vgm industry avoids the hype of selling super limited only 100 copy albums, so I think people have a fair shot at acquiring the original.

So true, so true.

I echo what most people have said.  I prefer originals because (a) the contents tend to be better, and (b) there are sometimes one or two image/arrange songs on the original which are not in the reprint.  Many older albums have sheet music for some or all of the songs within the liner notes, which are generally missing in the reprint.  Examples of missing songs include Silhouette Mirage, older Cave albums (before they started publishing their own albums), and older Konami albums that were later compiled together in the mega-collections (like the Gradius and Shooting boxes).

These aren't what I would call reprints. They're different products, and the contents have been remastered (necessarily so for compiling music from various sources).

As for the original query, I don't give a hoot. I'm interested in the musical content, not in collecting the physical object.

Isn't it more likely that reprints have more content, ala the original Seiken Densentsu, Panzer Dragoon Saga, or Live A Live?

This is not exactly a reprint, because the disc content is different. However it's an example where the disc content was enhanced, but the booklet itself is more simple than the print by NTT.

Speaking of booklets, check out the difference between the original print of Dracula Best 2 and the reprint. You can't just get that cheesy early 90's character art anywhere!

From a collector's stance, I look for original catalogs and prints to add to my collection almost entirely over reprints. There really needs to be an added value like additional tracks or mastering for me to consider it a companion to the original catalog. At the same time, exposure for some of these classics that deserve a reprint is the ultimate win. It's sad that albums like Rockman X Alph Lyla Arrange or (since we're on the topic of DigiCube) Racing Lagoon never seeing a reprint is sad.

While I do, covet the ones on my shelf that I paid $70 for or $45 and now their values have skyrocketed (like Sonic Adventure), the attitude of some collectors to put their the value of their collections over the actual material getting more exposure, threatening the value of their original is disgusting.

The VGM market is in the worst stagnation I've ever seen it in in both the US and Japan -- a continuance of outrageous asking prices has yielded me from buying some of the classics I've sought for years -- will I ever acquire a Super Mario RPG OSV or Actraiser? With each at near $80/$300 asking prices, never. Reprints? Also, never.

There's always a dubious nature like the Silhouette Mirage OST miraculously getting a reprint after 15 someodd years -- but Guardian Heroes -- much more sought after release, better material -- did not (?).

For albums that did have multiple printings, I didn't think it was important to hunt down the first print. An example is Snatcher Zoom Tracks. I had the second print and I was content with it.

My reasoning is that all first prints are just themselves copies of some master print. So the master disc is the true original, or perhaps the tapes or whatever stored the actual first recording. All subsequent discs are simply copies and whether they are official or not is irrelevant. This is what must be realized and brought to one's conscious attention.

There is an actual separation of the music and its physical container. The music is not dependent upon any specific container. It is not wrong to associate the jewel case, liner notes, and disc with the music, but it is not necessary. This is because they are not necessary. The music can exist independent of those objects.