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Blank Minidiscs

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I know our usual source of blank minidiscs is typically eBay, but I just realised that BandCDs must go through a heck of a lot of MDs so might sell new blanks to the general public.

I had a browse and ended up at their sister site "Retro Style Media" and digging down they do indeed sell new/wrapped blank minidiscs. And lots of makes and styles too, not just the bulk-packed Sony ones that are current new new-stock from Japan. They have Sony, TDK, Maxell, Sharp, Memorex and JVC plus some other specials. Price is umm-ok-ish ranging from just over GBP5.00 (on eBay I tend to look for deals around the GBP2.80-3.50 mark as of April/2020). Delivery is a bit steep at GBP7.95+VAT however is free in the UK for purchases over GBP60, so if you bought say 15 MDs, you'd be in for free delivery. Maybe they have a particular style you like to have in your collection. They do ship international, but I'm not sure you'd like the look of their delivery charges.

Here is their site: RetroStyleMedia

I have no connection to this company, I'm not out to explicitly advertise or promote them, just constantly on the lookout for where we might find our MD stuff. Maybe this will be of use to some fellow users/collectors.

Mods, feel free to delete this post if you deem it inappropriate advertising!

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I've was ordering new sealed discs (the Sony MDW80T ones) from Japan based sellers on eBay. They generally worked out at around £3 per disc delivered but you do run the risk of getting hit by import charges if getting them delivered to the UK. I haven't bought any for about 18 months though and the seller I was using (and I never got charged any additional import fees) does not seem to be operating any more. 

Amazon.jp still sell new Sony MDs (the "Basic" ones) and you can pay import fees etc up front. A pack of 25 costs £61 (£2.44 per disc). You need to create a new Amazon.jp account (i.e. your UK/US or whatever account won't work) but Chrome will translate the site into English to make it easy to navigate.

Having said that, the site Kevin posted does have a really nice selection of MDs available if you're after more interesting ones.

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I keep going back and looking at those new-stock Sony packs of 10/25/50/+ on eBay. I can’t seem to make the cost work for me. The base price is not overly attractive and there is shipping, likely UK VAT and courier charges at GBP8-20. If you bought a decent batch then you would probably hit the customs duty threshold. It all ends up making the single disc price far more than I can pick up bits and bobs new old-stock from your typical eBay punter.

Using a jp account is interesting, but then do you not need an intermediary company to facilitate the logistics (I watched Techmoan’s Japan import video)? Maybe not because it’s Amazon rather than eBay?

Keep it coming guys! The minidisc world is hotting up so we’re gonna need to widen our pool of supplies! For Pete’s sake I spent time last night watching a new YouTube guy unwrapping his latest delivery of blank minidiscs and comparing them side by side. This is getting out of hand!!! He did actually give a nod over to this ole forum (via minidisc.org) saying it was very active! You betcha!!!

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1 hour ago, kgallen said:

Using a jp account is interesting, but then do you not need an intermediary company to facilitate the logistics (I watched Techmoan’s Japan import video)? Maybe not because it’s Amazon rather than eBay?

Amazon.jp will deliver to the UK but you might need to use an intermediary for some of the Marketplace sellers on there. The Sony Basic MDs I was looking at were being sold by Amazon.jp themselves so they will send direct to a UK address.

I didn't have to use an intermediary for the blanks I ordered from a Japanese seller on eBay but I think it very much depends on the individual seller and whether they ship internationally.

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1 hour ago, kgallen said:

Keep it coming guys! The minidisc world is hotting up so we’re gonna need to widen our pool of supplies! For Pete’s sake I spent time last night watching a new YouTube guy unwrapping his latest delivery of blank minidiscs and comparing them side by side. This is getting out of hand!!! He did actually give a nod over to this ole forum (via minidisc.org) saying it was very active! You betcha!!!

I'll check that video out later today - thanks :)

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In case (!) anyone is interested, CPC (UK) have the 80-capacity aluminium minidisc cases back in stock. I bought their "last one" a couple of months back and assumed that would be the last ever. However today they have 5 in stock (I looked because with my latest batch of purchases I'm needing some more storage...):

https://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/mc-20-sw/minidisc-case-80mds/dp/AV02695

It's a case you'll find on eBay in some places, but they tend to want silly prices (it's a "collectable", see).

I'll photo my existing one in a moment, then you can see how well/badly they fit for your own purposes.

Here we go. 75 in cases. Presumably 80 not in cases!

MC20SW_filled.thumb.jpg.0c7b8a67f31bad3b135555190ca1d0b2.jpg

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50 minutes ago, BearBoy said:

Am I right in thinking there is a gap down the far side of the outer two columns? If so, do the discs rattle about at all?

Hiya. Yes, I'm sure this is was not designed as an MD-specific case, even though it's sold as one! More a generic case with some dividers you can put in approximately the right place. Probably started off as a case for "music cassettes" as the model is MC-20/SW. Those dividers can move into any of the grooves you can see, although the case does arrive with them in this position, and in an outer box printed "minidisc case". To answer your specific question, yes there is a gap and yes if you shake the case they do move around a bit. However the lid is lined with bumpy foam that does clamp down quite well onto the discs. At least in my case with them in the slip cases. As you've already determined from the picture, the centre column is a closer fit. Probably a 4mm gap in the centre column and 8mm gap in the two outside columns. More of a gap if you had the discs alone and probably overly rattly!

As you've probably also twigged, this case is described as being 80 MD capacity. So how do you get 80 MDs in 3 columns? Surely 78 or 81 capacity! :-D

I have a couple of those "wire-frame" type racks that "display" the MDs, however mine is probably more of a "functional collection" than a "display" collection, and this box has been a good way, in this example at least, to collect my blank stock together in one place. I have a very large number of MDs in my desk at work. Many are stacked loose, but I do have a few of those 10-capacity acrylic flip-top cases - Maxell brand maybe? I've just ordered two more of these cases from CPC to accommodate my ever expanding current and probably future disc stock!

Seems the "MC" is probably Monacor. Here is their page on the product:

https://www.monacor.com/products/components/transport-and-storage/racks-and-cases/mc-20-sw/

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Thanks Kevin. I've been looking for some storage for my MDs. I've got some Sony plastic racks that I bought back in the 90s but they're full so was looking for some alternatives. I found someone on eBay who 3D prints MD racks in various configurations (including for cased MDs or just the discs) so was thinking of ordering one of those to see what they're like. If I do, I'll post some pictures etc.

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  • 6 months later...

always liked the maxell md74 golds and the pro 80's, used to get them in asda back in the day, pukka gold coloured discs aswell, unlike the md rxg's that looked gold until you slide the door and find out they are ordinary silver discs, dont know if gold coloured vs silver makes any difference, probably not, if it does, shame on you tdk we were conned, sony premium/prisims come to mind aswell, however i have not had any problems with any of them and they are 20 years old, cant say that about a solitary sharp one i have, i have one jvc like in the pic above, its been ok aswell, still has its 20 year old recordings on it.

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There does seem to be a lot of minidisc blanks available on eBay from what I can see, but the prices for me seem to be relatively high. I actually do import the majority of my blanks from Japan and even when you factor in shipping and VAT charges when importing to the UK, the average price per disc I think is still favourable and there are some good deals to be had on both new and used discs on Yahoo Japan. You can often get some great deals on bundles. For example, recent things I have picked up in the last couple of months include:

  • TDK M discs - sealed 10 packs for less than 10 GBP
  • Bundle of 44 "Used" discs for 17 GBP, but which included a sealed 10 pack of TDK Lucir and a sealed 5 pack of TDK "Wa"
  • Bundle of 18 sealed discs - including sealed 10 pack of TDK Little Man and 8 other sealed TDK / Sony - 20 GBP
  • Axia 2 x 5 Sealed Slim Packs  - 12 GBP
  • TDK Fine - Sealed 5 pack for 3 GBP

I do see a few interesting discs on eBay, but the prices all seem to be on average at least 2-3 GBP per disc or more. 

 

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On 10/13/2020 at 7:05 PM, sfbp said:

Jumping in here......
The best way to access Yahoo jp is to use a service. There are at least three. I have tried 2 of them, buyee.jp and fromJapan

Beware the hidden costs. You may well end up paying roughly double the final auction price.

Sorry for the late reply, but essentially my answer is the same as Stephen's. In the past I did have contacts directly in Japan or used independent middlemen services to import things, but as Stephen said the easiest way these days is to use a "proxy" service such as the ones he mentioned. I use a different one called ZenMarket, but I think the principle is essentially the same. They provide their own kind of user interface through their site that allows you to bid on Yahoo Japan auctions and purchase from any other online store in Japan. 

You do need to keep an eye on "hidden" costs. Again these vary between the different services, but for example with ZenMarket you can bid on the auction and then on top of that you may need to factor in shipping costs within Japan to the warehouse of the forwarder. These costs are sometimes free depending on the seller and type of item but are usually listed in the auction listing if you read it carefully. Other costs may include combining multiple items into one package (ZenMarket don't charge for this), the shipping costs to your country and depending on what you are importing you may also incur customs charges (usually VAT in the UK), but this also depends on the value of the goods you are importing and by which method (courier, normal postal services). 

So yes, you do need to watch out for these things or at least budget for them in advance, but I think on the plus side if you are careful you can still find a huge variety of things that you would never find on eBay and even including the various add-on costs, there are still some good deals to be had.. But if you want some detailed examples feel free to drop me a pm..

 

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  • 1 year later...
On 4/2/2020 at 9:24 PM, kgallen said:

In case (!) anyone is interested, CPC (UK) have the 80-capacity aluminium minidisc cases back in stock. I bought their "last one" a couple of months back and assumed that would be the last ever. However today they have 5 in stock (I looked because with my latest batch of purchases I'm needing some more storage...):

https://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/mc-20-sw/minidisc-case-80mds/dp/AV02695

 

Crazy days, CPC price for this case is now nearly 60 quid! They were about 27. They have 12 in stock - either they are cashing in on the popularity or ‘supply chain issues’ have put prices like this up to silly levels.

 

It’s quiet round here, where is everyone?

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How much were they going for before @kgallen?

 

Prices for portables and decks on eBay seem to be heading ever upwards still. Saw an auction (not one of those daft BiN listings) for a 980 end up at £500 + P&P the other day. Crazy. I'm glad I got (most of) what I wanted before the recent rise in popularity. I daresay there are still bargains to be had for the patient though.

 

Realistically I have all the gear (and blanks) I need but it's always good to keep half an eye out for what's available... 🤣

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