Casette auctions on Ebay

I wonder how many budget cover version LPs have gone to landfill over the years? Probably millions. No-one buying them on the cheap in the 1970s would have imagined that 40 years on, there would be an internet and a collectors' scene, or that these items would attract decent prices on the market. As for the cassette editions, even more disposable, right?

Well, there have been a couple of interesting sales on Ebay this week, illustrating the continuing interest in these old albums - and particularly the rarer cassette versions. First came the item below, which needs little introduction.

This 69th album in the series was the last one to be produced by Top of the Pops stalwart, Bruce Baxter, who signed off at the end of 1978. This scarce cassette edition closed on Ebay at a handsome £20.99.

We were alerted to the auction below by an anonymous post on the blog, and of course followed the auction with interest. We have already featured the vinyl edition twice on this blog, once when we investigated the original UK release and again when we learned that it had been issued in, of all places, Brazil. See posts here and here.

Amazingly, this is a cassette edition which contains four tapes housed inside a compact box. From what we can tell, the tapes contain a whole LP on each side, so all six albums are crammed onto three cassettes.

It's nice to see the fourth cassette present too. It's the 'extra' album, Rock 'n' Roll of the 50s, which there was some uncertainty over whether it was included in the UK set at all. This discovery all but proves that it was.

I have never seen this cassette box set before, and there are presumably very few copies left in circulation. The closing price for this example was a respectable £16, and for the lucky winner, a real rarity for the collection.

If you spot any unusual or interesting items on Ebay, drop us an email. We're always interested in what's out there and what collectors are up to. Tip: There's a copy of Top of the Pops vol 91 on Ebay right now!