One small, mail order record label from Rochester is putting a new spin on record collecting. And he’s reaching out to a different classic collectible—baseball cards—and combining the two in an unconventional way.
Remember that feeling of getting a Topps baseball card pack as a kid? There was the build of excitement and suspense as you begin to open the plastic wrapping. Were you going to get that Mark McGuire or Ken Griffey, Jr. rookie card? The hologram Cal Ripkin all-star card? Or the Chicago Cubs team photo card… No matter what superstitious rituals there were, you could never tell exactly what you were going to get.
Now, switch gears to collecting records. Going out to the record store, you knew what you were going to get…as long as it was in stock. No guessing or mysteries. What you see is what you got. But what if you didn’t… What if there was some element of surprise, just like opening a pack of baseball cards, in not knowing just exactly what you were going to get. Enter Wax Packs.
The idea behind Wax Packs takes the fun of buying a solid, physical medium of music and mixing it with the element of unknown, as in buying packs of baseball cards.
The idea of Wax Packs came from a Secret Audio Club, a small mail order record label located in Rochester, NY. For the first series they have produced 10 different collectible 7″ splits pressed on black, colored, and hand-numbered colored vinyl. For each 7″, only 150 will be colored and 50 will be hand-numbered and colored.
Secret Audio Club rounded up some of the best up-and-coming independent bands for the first Wax Packs series including Austin Lucas, Such Gold, Banquets, and more! On January 28th, Wax Packs will be available to the masses. To get your hands on them, you can either visit your local record store or order directly online.
Secret Audio Club is currently taking pre-orders for single packs, boxes (a set of 5), and cases (a set of 10 boxes). All of the pre-ordering info, as well as a complete listing of bands, can be found on the Wax Packs homepage. Happy hunting!
To help kick things off, Secret Audio Club has agreed to give away one test press from the series to one lucky fan. And in true Wax Packs form, it will be chosen at random! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below of your favorite collectible from growing up. (For me personally, it would be Transformers.) One week from today one lucky entrant—with a North American mailing address—will be selected.
