The Penguin Price Guide for Record and CD Collectors

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View books by Nick Hamlyn.

Nick Hamlyn : Record & CD Collectors Book - Rated
A good book if you have old Records, Not so much if you have CDs.

A thick book... with little in it - Rated
Save yourself the bother of buying this book, it has glaring ommissions, and is just frustrating to use. Here`s how it works, if you have an LP record in mint condition it`s worth a tenner, In very good condition £4 or £5

The best Price Guide on the market! - Rated
When I wanted to value my record collection, I used Nick Hamlyn's Penguin Price Guide and found it really easy and reliable to use. With the records listed alphabetically, it is simple to find the titles - unlike other guides I have seen where for each artist the records are listed in chronological order under a number of different format headings - very confusing if you're not an anorak! The book also has a number of useful rarity charts and is filled with fascinating pieces of extra biographical and critical information, making it a really good read as well as a list of prices. For my money, the Penguin Price Guide stands head and shoulders above the competition.

Not very good - a guide for people who don't collect records - Rated
This guide simply does not have the detail (or accuracy, but thats a perennial problem with all guides) that record collectors need. Quotes £150 for "With the Beatles" yellow and black parlophone stereo. There are at least 4 different variations of this item - the prices of which vary considerably. Therefore, pretty useless.

Setting the all records out in by song title rather than type (CD, LP, EP, single, promo etc) is also annoying. There is a real opportunity to offer an alternative to the 'Record Collector' price guide - but this isn't it.

A good Guide but has some big ommisions - Rated
This guide has a fundamental problem in having only one author. While Nick Hamlyn's knowledge is huge, no dealer can know everything. It's strengths are in 60s and 70s Jazz and rock, it is very lacking on modern releases. A look at The Manic Street Preachers listing shows some titles listed at 10% of their current market value. He also has a tendency to overvalue records he likes, particularly prog rock, a good guide to this is that he has inserted little comments on some bands. If he sings their praise, he has probably upped the value! On the plus side he lists important overseas pressings, that are common in the UK (Record collector does not.) He also lists 2 prices, one for VG condition and one for mint. This is worthwhile, some records are near worthless if damaged, others hold their value, particularly those in demand from DJs who are less fussy than collectors!