VINTAGE MEDIA GRADING

Your Source for Vinyl Grading

SLAB of The Month :

VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO

“Sunday Morning”

The original pressing of “The Velvet Underground & Nico” is exceptionally rare due to its unpeeled Andy Warhol-designed banana cover and unaltered back cover image, preserving the album’s raw, avant-garde essence. It stands as a coveted treasure for collectors and music enthusiasts, offering an authentic glimpse into the band’s groundbreaking debut.

Vintage Media Grading (VMG) is your source for Grading, Authenticating and Protecting vinyl records.

With VMG, each album is ultrasonically sealed in our patented cases. Protect and preserve your vinyl while maximizing the value of your collection today!

1993 – Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle – First Pressing

This first pressing of this iconic hip hop album has some unique features not found on other 1993 pressings or future releases. This makes the first pressing desirable, but it can easily be misrepresented (intentionally or unintentionally) by sellers. VMG takes the guess work out of the marketplace. Not only do we grade the condition of the album but we also authenticate and carefully identify the version of the album. We clearly note on the front of the VMG label that this version is a first pressing, as it includes the track “Gz Up, Hoes Down”, which was omitted from subsequent pressings.

1984 – Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain – Allied Record Company Pressing

In the heyday of vinyl record production, record companies often produced many pressings of the same album, all within the same year. So how do you know which variant you have? Well, sometimes, that information is found on the matrix code. For Purple Rain, there are at least eight different major pressing variants in the US alone, and within each variant, there can be dozens of subvariants with different matrix codes. VMG’s comprehensive label identifies the variant and the matrix code to better allow the collector to determine exactly which variant they own, helping to take much of the guesswork out of buying, selling, and collecting.

1992 – Alice in Chains – Dirt – Brazil

Sometimes, the identification of vinyl records requires information that is best determined from examining the vinyl itself. In this case, the label identifies this version of the classic Alice in Chains album as the Brazilian pressing. With VMG’s patent-pending hinged case, you are able to see and present the vinyl and its information alongside the sleeve, providing the visual proof of the variant and origin of your album.

1963 – John Coltrane – Impressions

VMG will grade and authenticate all genres of music with the same level of expertise and attention to detail. Seen here is a 1963 mono pressing of jazz great John Coltrane’s Impressions. The album was released on the legendary record label impulse!.

2022 - Taylor Swift - Midnights Signed Green Jade Edition

This popular album has been released with many signed variants. VMG does not authenticate aftermarket autographs that we did not personally witness. However, we will grade and authenticate sealed albums that were sold from the factory and include autographs. Once the album is opened, we cannot authenticate the autograph itself, and will only be able to authenticate that the signed item was included with the original factory produced album if there is a unique identifier provided that determines its origins. In cases where autographed inserts, labels or sleeves cannot be proven to have pre-market origins, we will grade and authenticate the vinyl and the sleeve as we would any other album.

1966 - The Beatles - Rubber Soul - Sealed

Sealed albums present all sorts of investment and collecting opportunities, but also can present all sorts of authentication and identification problems. Sometimes, the exact pressing or year of the album is impossible to determine from just its sleeve. In the case of Rubber Soul, unique identifiers on the album sleeve DO help to identify some of the characteristics that make this pressing different form dozens of other versions of Rubber Soul produced. They include:

A line on the bottom of the paragraph on the back stating “this stereo record should be played with a stereo cartridge and avoid needle damage”
“New Improved” in brown letters inside the front photo
Jacket code of “9” on the back bottom right
No “File under” inside the top front border

All of these findings help to narrow down exactly which sealed variant you have, and VMG’s research staff is able, in this case, to identify this year as a 1966 pressing. VMG’s label is the most information intensive label available, providing these crucial identifiers to make it easier to collect, buy and sell some of these tricky items.

VMG

Vintage Media Grading (VMG) is your source for Grading, Authenticating, and Protecting vinyl records.

With VMG, each album is ultrasonically sealed in our patented cases. Protect and preserve your vinyl while maximizing the value of your collection today!

Why Use VMG?

Vinyl records are works of art designed perfectly for collectors.
The sound, the vinyl record itself, the cover art, the sleeve design – these, like any work of art, are beautiful, unique, and, just like a prized painting, deserve to be preserved, shared and displayed.

Submit to VMG

Our process starts with you!
At VMGvinyl.com, you can enter your record information under our submission tab. We have some simple questions for you regarding the album you are sending. The more you know, the more efficient the process can be.

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The first step to getting your albums graded is joining the VMG community.

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VMG uses a highly accurate, industry standard 10-point grading scale to evaluate collectibles.

Learn more to see the Standard Grading Scale for Open Albums, and Sealed Albums

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Resources
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