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Red Octopus vinyl value

Prices for this album are still being collected: our eBay tracker quotes a pressing only after at least three live listings match it. The pressings and identification below are complete.

Jefferson Starship — Red Octopus: pressings we track

PressingCatalogCountryNotes
1997 DCC Compact ClassicsLPZ-2036USLimited Edition, Numbered, Reissue
2011 Friday MusicFRM 0999USReissue, Remastered, 180 Gram, Gatefold
2020 Friday MusicFRM-99900USLimited Edition, Reissue, Red
2021 GruntFRM-99900USReissue, Yellow
Undated FameFA 3156UKReissue

5 pressings tracked · catalog of 974,753 releases, August 2026

What separates the pressings

Oldest we track, 1997First released 1975; our table starts at 1997 (DCC Compact Classics, US). A copy older than 1997 predates everything here. Treat it as the find.
Collector variants1997 US: Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue; 2020 US: Limited Edition, Reissue, Red; 2021 US: Reissue, Yellow. Short runs like these often bring more than a standard early copy.
Reissues, 2011Easy to find, priced as a listening copy.

How to identify your copy

Three checks, in the order worth doing them.

  1. 1

    Match the catalog number. It is printed on the spine and the record label. Check it together with the country against the pressings table above: the same number can appear in more than one country.

  2. 2

    Read the runout. The code etched in the dead wax near the label names the exact pressing. On the 1997 US pressing it reads “LPZ-2036-A” on side one and “LPZ-2036-B” on side two. Jackets get swapped over the decades; the runout does not.

  3. 3

    Grade the condition. The same pressing can be worth several times more in near mint than in VG. Grade the vinyl and the sleeve separately — our grading guide shows the standard scale.

A 1975 jacket with a later disc inside is a reissue in an original sleeve. Judge the pressing by the runout etching and the label, never by the cover.

Questions

Which pressing of Red Octopus is worth the most?

Original 1975 pressings lead; they predate everything in our table, and that scarcity is the point. Among tracked copies, the 1997 pressings come first. Scarcer variants (the 1997 “Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue” and the 2020 “Limited Edition, Reissue, Red”) can beat an ordinary early copy. After that it is all condition: the gap between near mint and VG is usually larger than the gap between pressings.

How do I tell which pressing I have?

Match the catalog number on the spine and label against the table above, check the country, then read the etched code in the runout groove. On the 1997 US pressing the runout reads “LPZ-2036-A”. A period jacket with a later disc inside is still a reissue.

How much is Red Octopus worth today?

Market prices move, so a static number goes stale fast. Scan the record in the RecordScout app: it identifies your exact pressing from the label and shows a current value range for its condition.

Not sure which pressing you have? Photograph the label and RecordScout names it, then shows a current value range for its condition.

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