The Prince Estate just made your record collection a lot more interesting—and potentially a lot more expensive. At the June 2025 Prince Celebration, Londell McMillan of Prince Legacy LLC announced that a boxed set for the 1985 classic Around the World in a Day is officially on the way, alongside long-awaited vinyl reissues of Prince’s final studio albums, HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two. For collectors chasing the perfect albums of all time, these reissues could easily earn a place on that list.
This isn’t just another cash-grab compilation. The estate is taking a methodical approach that reflects the complexity of Prince’s rights situation—six different entities now control parts of his catalog, including Sony, Warner, Primary Wave, and the estate itself. This deliberate pace is designed to ensure that each release enhances your understanding of Prince’s music rather than simply boosting streaming numbers.
The focus on Around the World in a Day is significant. While Purple Rain often gets the spotlight, this follow-up album found Prince confounding expectations and refusing to repeat his biggest commercial success. With hits like “Raspberry Beret” and “Pop Life”, the album showcased Prince’s willingness to experiment, pushing boundaries that most superstars wouldn’t dare approach.
Perhaps the most staggering stat: only 45% of Prince’s legendary vault has been digitized. This means there are potentially decades of archival releases ahead if the estate maintains its current quality-focused strategy. The vault, famously cracked open by a professional safe cracker after Prince’s death, was packed with thousands of unreleased recordings—many of them fully finished and ready for release.
The estate has also teased that Parade is on deck for 2026. This cinematic album, which served as the soundtrack for Under the Cherry Moon and gave us the iconic “Kiss”, is set to receive its deluxe treatment. Fans can expect more rare cuts and possibly even new vault surprises tied to this era.
For the first time, vinyl editions of HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two are being pressed. These albums, released in 2015, captured an artist still experimenting in his final years and have been highly sought after by collectors who never got a chance to own them in physical form.
Your patience will be tested, but this careful, quality-first strategy means that each release could genuinely redefine your understanding of Prince’s 1980s output. For fans of bold 80s aesthetics and music history, these reissues are shaping up to be essential additions to any collection, especially for those revisiting the most popular songs in America during the 80s that shaped a generation.
