Oh by the way worth it?

I'm thinking about buying the "oh by the way" boxset but I'm wondering if it is worth it. I'm planning on using those cd's a lot, so maybe those covers aren't that easy to handle for everyday use. I've got some albums from pink floyd but they're not mine so that's kind of why I want to have them of my own.

would you suggest just buying my favourite albums? (that would be a lot of albums actually) or buying that boxset?

OBTW seems to me like something I would buy and never open, as a collectors item, but I'm not about to throw down $250 for it. Especially since I have all their albums on CD and vinyl.

But if you don't have all their recordings, then maybe it would be a good investment.

I reccommend getting yourself some live bootlegs, because that is truly the way to listen to the Floyd!

I don't use CDs that often anymore, so I have no opinion on the box set.

From what I understand, the album art is truer to the original LPs than the standalone CD booklets are. So that is a plus; but as you say, it's harder to handle the discs in those cardboard sleeves.

FWIW you can get it second-hand on Amazon for about $100.

even new on amazon for a little over 100$ like 130$ or something. At least from in the UK. Well, I think if I came to calculate it I would pay as much for all my fav floyd cd's as for the box with that minor point that the cd's in the box are less useable for casual listening

You can always make back-up copies. CD burners are wonderful inventions.

I own all the albums several times over. I owned all but a couple albums by the time I got Shine On for Xmas in 1992. At that point all I needed was Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother, which I ended up getting in 1995 and 1996 when the remasters of those era came out.

Between vinyl, CD and cassette, I've got them all, and some in multiple formats. I really liked the look of Oh By The Way when it came out (I'm a sucker for those faux-vinyl CD reissues), but there was no way I was paying $250 for NO NEW MATERIAL! At least Shine On had The Early Singles.

While I still think Oh By The Way should have included a single bonus CD rounding up The Early Singles and other stray tracks that don't appear on the albums proper, I finally gave in when I found a good price on eBay--80 US dollars. I can't wait for it to come in the mail now!

So my recommendation is set a price in your mind that you would pay for it, and then search around the 'net till you find one that fits your price. I imagine most PF fans are like me--you know you want it, but just not at full price.

I mean, just look at this page and tell me you don't want it!

When I first got into the Floyd I dl'ed all the albums off the net and burnt them to cd. Then as they grew on me and became my favourite band I decided I'd really like to have originals of all the cd's. And so eventually I took the plunge and ordered the box set from Amazon UK, which was the cheapest source I could find. Still pretty bloody expensive for an Australian, but definitely worth it.

I play the cd's frequently and the packaging hasn't really suffered at all as a result of regular handling. The cd's come in miniature replicas of a plastic vinyl covering, which is inside a cardboard replica of the original vinyl sleeve. Some of them also have a thin paper covering with lyrics and such, in between the cardboard and plastic covering. I just line them up so that all the open sides of the coverings are on one side, then it's as simple as pushing the top and bottom of the cardboard sleeve inwards a little and letting the cd slide out. No damage done.

I'd have to say it's one of my most prized possessions. So too is the poster which came with it and blesses the wall beside my pool table. You also get a couple of coasters which I haven't actually used, but maybe I ought to...

If yer gonna spend the money on it, then use everything and don't worry about it remaining in mint condition ... when u die u aren't gonna care about how much it's worth.