The National - Cherry Tree Club

I feel like Joyful Noise has a pretty great formula with their JNR200 club (or whatever it's called). The most committed fans receive the "collector security" of a strict 1-copy-per-member subscription (no one can get a 2nd copy, non-members don't get copies outside of the secondary market, no member ever misses out on a release but it's still hyper-limited) and the label gets security knowing everyone in the hyper-exclusive club has agreed to buy every release in exchange for that strict exclusivity.
 
None of these are gonna sell though. $200 is the highest any cherry tree package has sold for on ebay and that was Vol 1 with everything included. Someone also sold a bundle of 1 + 2 with every extra for $300. One copy of the Cherry Tree split EP has sold for $189 but I wouldn't be shocked if that's someone "selling" it to boost the price artificially. There was 1 bid on it.

I understand people are frustrated by how it was rolled out with not having a pressing number when it launched. But it's a popular band with some pretty ravenous fans putting out a limited exclusive. It was always going to sell out quickly. And it really sucks to see people already flipping this release but I have just accepted that it's sadly part of the game now. It's going to happen with every limited release.

Hoping there's a restock of some replacement copies after they are all mailed out. I'll keep an eye out for ya!

I've been waiting for a restock of Vol 2 and no dice so far. I got a new card from my bank before that charge went through and I didn't get a notification from Cherry Tree that the charge was rejected until after the deadline had passed. Customer Services response was basically "Sorry there's nothing we can do" so I've been refreshing the shop a few times a week just praying I don't have to pay second market prices to fill the gap in my collection
 
I've been waiting for a restock of Vol 2 and no dice so far. I got a new card from my bank before that charge went through and I didn't get a notification from Cherry Tree that the charge was rejected until after the deadline had passed. Customer Services response was basically "Sorry there's nothing we can do" so I've been refreshing the shop a few times a week just praying I don't have to pay second market prices to fill the gap in my collection
I'm keeping my eye out on vol 2 as well. I'll try to remember to tag you if I see one! I signed up as soon as vol 1 came back in the shop but had missed the deadline to get vol 2. I'm hoping they restock 2 like they did 1.
 
I think all limited records should be limited to 1 per customer as best as they can. When you're the only retailer who is selling a limited item, there really is no reason to allow people to buy more than one. If you want to buy 2 Cherry Tree memberships because you want 2 copies, then sure--do your thing. But the 1 per customer seems like the best fix for something like this and doesn't seem particularly hard to do. Even if they can't do it in their software/backend, they can easily cancel a 2nd order with the same name/address or payment method or any orders that have multiple copies ordered.
I'm trying to get a better grasp of how this "club" works, but at first go through, I gotta agree, 1 per membership solves a lot of problems and if flippers want to open multiple memberships, have at it.

But as @MikeH, said, it's just part of the game now, but try not to lose sleep over stuff like this for too long ;)
 
One thing that did throw me off though, I went to order the 3 albums (represses) I was missing and went to check out and the total seemed a little high, so I took a closer look and they're charging shipping twice because 2 of them are pre-orders and haven't been released...........where's the "Hold my shipment" option? lol

................release date is tomorrow, so we'll wait.
 
One thing that did throw me off though, I went to order the 3 albums (represses) I was missing and went to check out and the total seemed a little high, so I took a closer look and they're charging shipping twice because 2 of them are pre-orders and haven't been released...........where's the "Hold my shipment" option? lol

................release date is tomorrow, so we'll wait.
The club is pretty much you sign up and for $50 you're guaranteed the one yearly club pressing. Yours will be volume 4 and it usually comes with a bunch of National swag. For the rest of the year, it's a bit of a free for all! You'll have access to buy any reissues they do and they will often do a "cherry tree" exclusive variant for members. I feel like they put at least one other exclusive album or repress up each year to buy, whether it's a National side project or

They may put up some copies of volume 2 at some point if they have leftovers which is my hope... They did that with volume 1 and it was $50 but didn't come with any swag. Outside of that, they just kinda stay radio silent for most of the time and keep the yearly record a bit of a secret until it's close to being sent out. I wonder what exclusives they will do this year outside of the club album.

You have already found the "quirks". Their logistics are....not great. I'm pretty worried about moving soon and them sending the club album to the wrong address. I know that has happened to others here.
 
Hey Cherry Tree gang - without me going back and searching, what's up with the 2021 remasters, standard black or otherwise? Has anyone play tested them vs earlier presses? Cherry Tree? Sad Songs vs VMP edition? TIA.
 
Hey Cherry Tree gang - without me going back and searching, what's up with the 2021 remasters, standard black or otherwise? Has anyone play tested them vs earlier presses? Cherry Tree? Sad Songs vs VMP edition? TIA.
I just got my colored pressings of their Self-Titled and Cherry Tree EP today. I haven’t yet had a chance to give them a spin (listening to the new Neil Young album currently) but I hope to give them a go soon. I will report back once I’ve given them a go.

Also, I don’t recall if they did this for I Am Easy To Find but they actually removed the LPs from the jackets before mailing, the inners have minor splits but a am pretty happy about that.
 
View attachment 89855
It’s a bit dirty, getting a small amount of static but nothing that a good wipe down wouldn’t fix. The remaster is fine. I don’t know how good or bad the Brassland pressings sounded but this works for me, I am very happy with how it turned out.
Love your personalized now playing stand!🔥
 
View attachment 89855
It’s a bit dirty, getting a small amount of static but nothing that a good wipe down wouldn’t fix. The remaster is fine. I don’t know how good or bad the Brassland pressings sounded but this works for me, I am very happy with how it turned out.
Was there anything on the sleeves indicating that it's a color variant or anything? I'm giving some to my buddy for his bday but just got them today and didn't see anything indicating that it's actually the color variant. Not sure I entirely trust them to not have given me the plain black versions haha
 
Was there anything on the sleeves indicating that it's a color variant or anything? I'm giving some to my buddy for his bday but just got them today and didn't see anything indicating that it's actually the color variant. Not sure I entirely trust them to not have given me the plain black versions haha
Both of my albums were opened and the LPs was outside the jacket. Outside of that though, there were no hype stickers.
 
That's interesting, mine all came sealed as well. Haven't gotten around to opening/spinning them yet, but also no hype stickers or any indication of color.
One of mine had a tiny seam split on top but nothing worth complaining about. I gave a listen to Cherry Tree and it sounds pretty solid to me. Don't have any to compare to aside from digital streaming but no issues on Cherry Tree at least.
 
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