How important is the obi strip to you?

[Vert1]

The obi strip affects album prices. It looks nice. But how important is it to you?

I used to not really care about this, but after looking at Henry Explorers Original Game Soundtrack with the spinecard around the cd case I realized that the obi strip made my non-Japan cds look boring. I need to buy plastic sleeves to keep them wrapped around the cd case. I don't think I will buy soundtracks anymore that aren't complete.

[Xenofan 29A]

If it's between $30 with and $25 without, I'll go for with. If it's $25 without and $50 with, I'll take without. It's not necessary in my book, but it does look better on the shelf, that's for sure.

[Phonograph]

sometimes, there are primordial info only on the obi you can't find anywhere else

[Ghaleon64]

I have some albums that I'll be extremely hard pressed to find again... So if I find something I never see for sale and the obi is missing I'll get it for sure. But the obi is important to me. If I have an album without one and one pops up for sale with one, I'll buy the one with and sell the one without.

[Bravebeat]

As listening oriented collector, it's not my thing, really. I have a hard time appreciating CD to CD just on the shelf as it is, and even then, there isn't even much artistic merit to the obi strip as opposed to the CD itself, right?

[Yotsuya]

Nice thread I am mostly indifferent to the obi. It is actually a hassle because you have to stick it somewhere in the CD case and it is always falling out, getting stuck in the hinge or whatever.

If I can find a CD I want with obi, I prefer to get it for completeness sake, but I won't hesitate to buy one without. I mean, as far as the product goes, I'm pretty sure they are intended to be disposed.

The one exception I have, where the CD MUST have the obi is this: http://vgmdb.net/db/covers.php?do=view&cover=64529

[Cedille]

I don't care about obis. They are probably designed to draw attention from a potential buyer who looks at them at the store, but nowadays Amazon or Apple suggests us not visiting shops anymore. It's okay if I can just put them inside the case and keep them in mint condition, and in other words, I'm pretty annoyed by obis that are bigger than case...

[Alcahest]

Voted "Preferred" as it's not mandatory in my book, however if anyone has a spare Live A Live PSCN OBI lying around, I'm taking! XD

[aquagon]

I'd rather my albums to include them.

[Hellacia]

I use to really care, and then I realized that it's really not that big a deal. If I'm gonna pay like... $3 more to get an obi... then okay, sure. But I see people with two listings for the same soundtrack, $45 without obi and $70 with obi and I just kinda laugh inside. But then I stop laughing because I realize I use to be that guy who would pay for that

Having the obi is cool and yeah I'd like my whole collection to be complete, but then, I like registration cards just as much and I like the actual CD the most of all

[Efendija]

Zero importance. Actual disc is all that matters, everything else is secondary. I can't put the obi in disc drive and play it, can I? lolz

[LiquidAcid]

Essential for me. Since I consider myself a collector I don't buy (used) stuff that's either incomplete (e.g. the missing obi) or non-mint (or both).

I don't even have the obi placed on the spine of the album. Most of the time the obi's placed inside the booklet by me, so it's not visible from the outside. So it really is just for sake of completeness, no visual aesthetics involved.

[suicider]

Essential. I only buy complete albums that come with obi, hagaki, and other bonus items. Yeah I'm a bit anal when it comes to completeness I guess

[Zethe]

Originally Posted by Vert1

...the obi strip made my non-Japan cds look boring.

hands down, they look cool. Most of my western film music CDs feel naked in comparison to the Japanese stuff (I store CDs in resealable sleeves for protection and the J stuff with the strip around the spine, like it's sold).

[Boyblunder]

If the soundtrack originally comes with an obi then it is an absolute must for me. I like every soundtrack I own to be as complete and mint as possible even if it means paying through the nose. Stickers and liner notes are a must and the only thing I might possibly overlook is the registration card but only for the super obscure albums.

[student41269]

Strongly preferred, but not essential. The more rare the item on offer, the less the obi matters to me.

Let's not talk about the early days before collecting, where I actually threw away the obi (for a couple of releases now pretty rare and expensive) because I considered them part of the wrapping...

[PSIRockin]

I personally prefer buying something that's as close to original condition if it's used. Sometimes, I'll pass a CD if there isn't an obi. If it's a really good deal, I'll probably just buy it. I got a legit copy of Mario Party 3 without an obi for $2.50 off eBay. Paid a little under $6 after shipping.

[Boyblunder]

Originally Posted by PSIRockin

I got a legit copy of Mario Party 3 without an obi for $2.50 off eBay. Paid a little under $6 after shipping.

Find it very hard to believe it isn't a bootleg.

[Gigablah]

Preferred, I consider it part of the cover artwork. Nowadays when I get an album with a spinecard, I just stick it inside the booklet for safekeeping.

[Ramza]

Originally Posted by Gigablah

Preferred, I consider it part of the cover artwork. Nowadays when I get an album with a spinecard, I just stick it inside the booklet for safekeeping.

ditto! Unless it's one of those fancy super-tall obis that's too tall to fit inside the plastic jewel case. Sometimes those will fit behind the plastic tray. But usually those kinds of large-scale obis come with cardboard digipaks, so that's not an option either.

What I'm trying to say is, I've had a hard time with unwieldy obis. There was one that came with the FFXI OST Premium Box (it wrapped around the bottom), and over time it eventually got destroyed, just from moving from house to apartment to house to parent's house to house.

[PSIRockin]

Originally Posted by Boyblunder

Find it very hard to believe it isn't a bootleg.

If it is, it's kind of hard to tell. Good quality printing, cat# checks out, and there aren't any weird company logos. I can only assume it's real.