I'm actually at a loss for words.....no, make that a lack of information...
Supposedly, on 12/27/2011 and 1/17/2012 there will be 12 Alice Cooper group and solo titles released in Japan. They are supposedly 2011 remasters, SHM discs and Mini Lp Sleeves. There are already some titles being sold by Japan Ebay etailers that are in Jewel cases. The following titles are being released: PRETTIES FOR YOU, EASY ACTION, LOVE IT TO DEATH, KILLER, SCHOOL'S OUT, BILLION DOLLAR BABIES, MUSCLE OF LOVE, THE ALICE COOPER SHOW, FROM THE INSIDE, GOES TO HELL, LACE AND WHISKEY, and WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE.

I would expect School's Out to be complete with panties, BDB's to have the billfold, and Muscle Of Love to have the box,( after all, it's the Japanese way ) I haven't seen any catalog numbers for the titles, but I see at least 8 in my future. Hmmmm, maybe reviving the business for an order is in my future..... but then again it could be a "Nightmare".

I want all of these. Any links?

The place I got the info from had them listed for preorder at $55.98, $62.98, and School's Out at $67.98 I'm figuring that the base list on these is around 2457 yen ($32.33), which is list price for Warner Pioneer SHM products, (except for the more elaborate titles) I'm sure they'll be on CDJapan soon for preorder.
Hot Tracks Music (from Ebay) sent me the email.

Jim

Yikes. Maybe I'd better rethink getting all of them. (Is it me? $50+ seems excessive, even for a Japan-only release. IIRC, I can get stuff from CD Japan for $30-40 per title--including shipping--but maybe I'm getting old.)

That was why I said that getting them from CDjapan at the $33+ list would be cheaper. They just aren't listed on their site yet. Hot Tracks wants to make $25 or more on each disc. Either that, or they are ordering them through Super D who "wholesales" them at list price+.

Hi All, I Will Buy All Of These Mini LP CD´s. I Just Can´t Wait To Get My Hands On These Fantastic Albums. HMV Japan Have All The Discs Listed With Prices & Record Numbers. The First Six Will Be Released December 21, The Next Six Will Be Released January 18 2012.

Take Care

Benny

I'm not a fan of all of these albums, but getting the complete set is a no-brainer for me.

I've used CD Japan in the past and have been very happy with them, so I will wait until they have them listed. But http://www.cdbanq.com has them listed right now at the following prices:

-Pretties for You = $36.45
-Easy Action = $36.45
-Love it to Death = $35.45
-Killer = $36.45
-School's Out = $45.56
-Billion Dollar Babies = $41.66
-Muscle of Love = $41.66
-Welcome to My Nightmare = $36.45
-Alice Cooper Goes to Hell = $36.45
-Lace and Whiskey = $36.45
-The Alice Cooper Show = $36.45
-From the Inside = $41.66

Yep, based on those prices it certainly appears School's Out, Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle of Love will mimic all of the original packaging of the vinyl. Surprised to see the higher pricetag on From the Inside. I remember how the front cover opened down the middle, but unless I'm forgetting another extra, I don't remember it having any real differences from the packaging of Styx Cornerstone which was a mini-lp release and carried the same price tag as the rest of the Styx series.

There is only one real disappointment here. Where are the rest of the Warner Bros. titles?
-Flush the Fashion
-Special Forces
-Zipper Catches Skin
-DaDa
Yeah, not the greatest albums. But it still will be disappointing to have the first 12 of set and always be missing those last four. Hopefully these will make up a third batch of releases for ~April.

The original LP of Killer featured a wrap-around cardboard poster that was perforated, so it could be detached. I expect the mini-LP will duplicate the original packaging.

I've mentioned this before, but Super D often sells cheaper at retail than at wholesale. Some of their retail names include Import CD's, Deep Discount & (recently) Collector's Choice. I'm pretty certain there are more.

Edit: "Odd Banana" is another of their aliases.

I would have been all over these a couple years ago, but my 3 favs (KITD, Killer & School's Out) got redone by AF last year, & are probably the best AF releases in years. I'm also marginally ok with BDB, & would have to keep the USA release anyway for the live disc.

It also had a little door on the back that opened up. I'm not surprised that this would have the higher price tag. Along with Killers, BDB and WTMN, this is ranked near the top of Alice albums for me.

I had totally forgotten about the door on the back of From the Inside. Should make for a cool mini-lp, but it will be a pain getting that one into and out of the protective sleeve.

CDJapan is now listing all twelve of these, but they do not seem to be offering much, if any, of a discount, especially compared to CD Banq. The total, with shipping, for the first six titles is $232.17 on CD Japan (economy shipping) and $258.02 on CD Banq.

Do mini-sleeve prices this this historically ever tend to go down? I'm still smarting from the time I picked up all of the Zeppelin titles seperately, only to see a boxed set released domestically for far less.

In my experience, they go down IF & ONLY IF they are slow sellers. These are usually limited releases, & often sell out. It's a gamble. I don't have a feel for how popular these are going to be. Jim (aka Roxanne) may have a more accurate answer. I would think that the recent Audio Fidelity gold discs of LITD, Killer & SO should somewhat reduce demand for those 3.

I'm trying to remember--does CD Japan charge me when my order ships, or do I pay up front?

Last time with me, they did a pre auth for the full amount, but didn't charge until shipping. That was several months ago.

I don't do a ton of shopping from Japan, but in my limited experience I rarely see a price drop for the mini-lps.

Mini Lp sleeves are usually pretty limited, although Universal Japan has a habit of reissuing "Encore" editions if they see extreme popularity among certain titles or artists. Warner Japan usually sticks with one release and that's it. It's also very rare to see a price drop because they are limited and there is a hardcore collector cult for them. Things must be changing as I am receiving release lists from my supplier and a lot of the SHM discs are being released in jewel cases with little in the way of extras, but at a price reduction from 2667 Yen down to 1714 Yen.

Glad to hear about the price reduction!

Recently, for the first time in at least a year, one of my overstock wholesalers came out with a Japan cd list; there were some mini sleeves, some SHM & some regular stuff. Unfortunately, I only got about 30% of what I ordered. I really wanted the Matthews Southern Comfort Later That Same Year SHM mini sleeve for myself. I ordered all 6 they had, & got 0.

Just ordered from CD Japan. Price tag was a killer, especially with two separate shipments (two different release dates for the first six versus the last six) with EMS shipping prices on each.

Nonetheless I am looking forward to getting these. Hopefully the mastering will be great (lately Japanese remasters have been sounding a little loud to my ears), but I know the mini-sleeves will be top-notch because the Japanese always to a first-rate job on these.

Checked out my CD collection and was surprised that I only have 4 of these (Love It To Death, Killer, School's Out, Billion Dollar Babies) on CD. So not too many repeats. For some reason I thought I had more of these. Apparently I can no longer distinguish between the CDs I bought 20 years ago from the vinyl I bought 30 years ago.

That's my big fear with these. I've been holding off on any preorders for this reason...yet I don't wanna miss the ship on these.
I'm interested in the whole first wave + Muscle Of Love and Goes To Hell. But if there's a full set box making it cost-worthy, I'd go with them all. What to do...what to do...

I got the first six (Pretties for You - Billion Dollar Babies) last week and finally finished listening to the set.

IMO the sound on these is disappointing. They are "louder" but not excessively so. My problem with them are they are super, super bass heavy to the point of it being distracting. Also, Under My Wheels and Be My Lover (the first two songs on Killer) have some very minor drop-outs that are noticable if you are listening through headphones. It doesn't sound like mastering issues but rather the result of deterioration of the master tapes. Didn't notice any problems like this with any other tracks on these six discs.

The packaging is as superb as you would expect. Schools Out comes with the panties and report card. Billion Dollar Babies gatefold has the perforations so you can punch-out the cards just like the old LP jacket. The older ones are made with thick, sturdy cardboard just like the LP jackets were. I am probably not remembering every single detail as I haven't seen any of these old LP jackets for 30+ years, but these mini-lp replica's appear to be beautifully done.