upnadam wrote:Would my best bet for acquiring some of those simply be eBay/discogs/etc?
Probably, or, depending on where you live, you can check out used music and Christian book stores. You can even ask churches since they sometimes get music and keep it in a library. If you're near a larger city, the better chance you have as far as quantity of the second-hand market. But sometimes being in a po-dunky small town means finding stuff no one else is looking for. I don't think Rad Rockers is around anymore, but they used to have one-off rarities in their catalog and web store. I think that was where I found my CD of Songs & Stories.
Back in the late 90s, a friend and I quested after several "rare" CDs that we read about on sites like JTX's discographies. At the time, the Echoing Green's second album Aurora 7.2 on CD and third "album" Science Fiction were at the top of our list. (We ended up lucking out and got CD-R copies of SF from Joey B after talking to him after a show.) Anyways this friend and I were in Tampa at a larger Christian bookstore, and asked someone at the counter if they could find out if they had either of those CDs. The guy pulled out a small box of CDs from the counter, and there was a very nice, barely used copy of Aurora 7.2. We were floored!
A year or so later we found out that you could get Aurora 7.2 on CD from those mail order music clubs like Columbia House or whatever. But their version had a black CD tray, and the original was white, so we felt justified in our crazy efforts to acquire the original
A few years later, I was visiting my dad in Tuscon, and wanted to check out some large Christian bookstore. As I'm walking through, they had this small section of used CDs, records, and misc. stuff. In that island I found the vinyl for JE's WATMM and Robot Rock, the VBM reissue of Rainbow Rider, and two original copies (2nd pressing) of the Echoing Green's Science Fiction! That store was like finding a gold mine.
So it's worth a check to any kind of used music or Christian bookstore. Granted my tales are from a different time compared to today. But look around your area and ask questions... you never know what you'll find!
Right now I'm still seeking out original CDs of The Birthday Massacre's early stuff (Imagica Demos 1 & 2, original Nothing and Nowhere, the Violet EP). I just found someone selling a sealed copy of N&N, but he's asking $500 for it!