US 3-LP Box: Cherubini Medea, MARIA CALLAS, Mercury SR3-9000, ED1 FR booklet

$

44

[IF you are located OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. (for example, CHINA, RUSSIA, TAIWAN, THAILAND OR MALAYSIA), PLEASE BID EARLY to confirm that eBay allows you to bid on my items. If eBay does NOT allow you to bid on my items, PLEASE send me a message and I will put you on the EXEMPTION list SO THAT YOU MAY BID. I will be listing about 60 or so LPs and about 100 or so CDs this week, and you may combine shipping for auctions ending up to 7 days apart . PLEASE do NOT pay for one LP or CD if you want to combine shipping with another LP or CD, since once you pay, I have to ship that LP or CD within 1 business day. When you are finished bidding on all of the LPs and CDs that you plan to bid on, PLEASE REQUEST a combined invoice from me. The shipping charge is usually cheaper on my invoice than the eBay generated invoice.]

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rare US 3-LP Box: Cherubini Medea, MARIA CALLAS, Mercury SR3-9000, ED1 FR5, FR1, FR2, FR2, FR6 and FR2 matrix with thick booklet. This is the original 1958 stereo release by Mercury, with the records pressed by RCA's Indianapolis plant.  (UK EMI Columbia SAX 2290-2292 is a reissue in 1959.  This original Mercury Living Presence is the original.)  The matrix ends with FR5, FR1, FR2, FR2, FR6 and FR2 and the dead wax also has "I" for RCA's Indianapolis record plant.  This one is my collection copy.  [Due to the weight of the booklet and the box in addition to the 3 records, the shipping charge to non-U.S. buyers will be the same as for 3 separate LPs!]

Outer cover/sleeve/jacket/box grade:  VG+; the outer sleeve is solid, clean and glossy but shows some splitting at the top edge of the spine and some corner wear.  The original Mercury paper inner sleeves are solid and crisp but the previous owner wrote a small "1" "2" or "3" at the top right corner of each.  The thick booklet is solid and crisp but the last page (shown above in the last photo) has bits of dirtiness from rubbing against the box.

Vinyl grade:
Visual grade: NM, like new for 5 sides; NM- for either Side 3 or 4 (I forget which), which has one tiny manufacturing or scuff mark that causes a couple of ticks; the records are clean and glossy with no other marks that I can see; 3 Sides have only 1 or 2 spindle trails; the other 3 Sides have between 5 to 10 spindle trails.  [Please note that any marks shown on the high-resolution photos are lint and dust and are not any scratches.  Any marks that I may describe do not show up even on high-resolution photos.] 
Play grade: NM; the record plays NM, with the exception of a couple of light ticks that I described above.   


More than 50% of my buyers are located outside of the United States, and I welcome international buyers. However, I still reserve the right to refuse to honor bids by buyers from countries where shipment routinely gets lost, damaged or delayed and buyers who have a pattern of nonpayment or negative feedback. Please contact me before bidding should you have any concerns. I also reserve the right to end the listing early if there is no bid on the item, in accordance with eBay policies.

GRADING POLICY FOR LPs: Grading is for the cover/box and for the record. The record may have two grades, one for visual grade and another for play grade . I have never played some of these records and some records may only be visually graded. The grading for the record will be relative to a brand new record of the period manufactured by the same record company . Therefore, the standards will not be the same between, for example, a Japanese Pioneer/Holland Philips/German Teldec pressing of the early 80's (which are on super quiet vinyl) and a U.S. ABC/MCA pressing of the late 70's (which are typically noisier). A Near Mint graded late 70's U.S. ABC or MCA record will play with considerably more background noise caused by cheaper vinyl material than a Near Mint graded early 80's Japanese Pioneer, Holland Philips or German Teldec record. I have not received any complaints from my past record buyers on my grading. I used to buy many records graded by other eBay sellers as Near Mint, only to find out that they should have been graded VG+ or much worse. My grading scale is: Sealed (still sealed inside shrink wrap or plastic bag); NM (Near Mint); NM- (Near Mint Minus); EX (Excellent); VG+ (Very Good Plus); VG (Very Good); VG- (Very Good Minus); G (Good); and P (Poor). If you ONLY collect "MINT" or "NEW" records, you should not bid on any item with any grade less than NM. For almost all collectors, my NM- should not require any further "upgrade" for you. For almost all collectors, my EX should be acceptable for your collection copy. If you are an audiophile who cannot tolerate vinyl surface noise, you should only bid on records play graded as NM. For most audiophiles, my EX play grade should be acceptable for your collection copy. [PLEASE NOTE that I will not accept returns of SEALED records and I will not refund any part of your payment for a SEALED record.]

SHIPPING POLICY: All records have been cleaned on my VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine and most of them will be placed in a poly-lined or rice paper sleeve, unless the records are sealed or the record already comes with a clean poly-lined inner sleeve. The LP will be packed in a cardboard box LP mailer (not the cheap, thin or flimsy kind but the more expensive, sturdy and bigger kind). Unless the winning bidder requests otherwise, the record will be placed outside of the LP outer sleeve so that it will not damage the cover during transit. I will NOT be responsible for UNINSURED items lost, damaged or delayed during transit. If you would like to pay for insurance, please contact me regarding the cost.

For U.S. destinations , the shipping cost for 1 record delivered via US Postal Service Media Mail will be $4 for everyone in the United States. For each additional record, add $1.00 for each for up to 5 records. (Each LP mailer will fit up to about 5 records.) For example, for a boxed set containing 3 records, please just add $2 to the shipping cost of the first record.

For destinations OUTSIDE of the U.S. (i.e., INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING) , below are the prices for US Postal Service First Class Mail. (Please note that the weight limitation for one package is 4 pounds , including the box mailer, packaging material, etc.)
 

Canada

Asia/Australia

Europe

1 record

$15

$23

$23

2 records

$19

$23

$23

3 records

$23

$34

$34

4 records

$27

$34

$34

5 records (assuming less than 4 lbs.)

$31

$45

$45