scarce records

welcome to 'scarce records,' a blog to showcase and discuss some of the most interesting vinyl releases ever pressed as well as the record collecting hobby itself. each post will feature a different record with information on the release, how i came across it, its supposed book value and anything else that might be relevant. new records are posted at least three times per week.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Mickey Mantle - My Favorite Hits (RCA LPM-1704)

Here we have a unique RCA compilation called "My Favorite Hits." Goldmine lists the record under Mantle's name but as far as I can recall he doesn't appear on the album. Instead we have an assortment of his favorite songs (or at least his favorite songs that RCA owned the rights to). This record is particularly weird for me to have as a diehard Boston Red Sox fan but I'm not afraid to admit that I love it and sought it out for quite awhile before turning it up in a Gainesville, Florida record store for only $20. Goldmine book value is $400 and on the rare occasion it shows up on eBay it goes for a lofty sum. I do regret purchasing it when I did, as it happened to be a day in which the Yankees were playing the Red Sox. Because of the jinx that came with my purchase, the Yanks won the game, haha. An almost identical thing happened when I bought a LIFE magazine with Mantle on the cover. Oh well.
The song selection leaves a lot to be desired, unfortunately. As cool and iconic as Mickey was, his taste in music is pretty disappointing. There are a lot of slow paced jazz classics of the time (1958) and thus I rarely find myself listening to this one. Highlights include Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. This is one of a few sports related records I've turned up over the past few years. I proudly own a record with the best of the broadcasts from the Red Sox 1975 playoff run as well as a record on the 1980 Kansas City Royals World Series run. More similar to the Mantle is the Stan Musial record I own. I suspect it's comparably valuable to the Mantle but cannot find it listed anywhere outside of eBay.

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