Gitter wrote:
Hipsters seem to be the center of the market but don't under-estimate the sheer number of "people over 50" who apparently decided all at once to pile on the 'go out and look for old vinyl' train.
I swear to god, it was like a giant hive-mind had been activated. Vinyl was once limited to collectors and oddball enthusiasts and hard-hardcore music afficianados, it then became a 'cultural' thing with hipsters and a nostalgia thing with old timers. The only thing that I can't figure out is how sudden it was. I've seen plenty of 'collector manias' brew, blow-up then die in years past but this one was probably more abrupt than any I've seen in my relatively brief years in this planet.
Funny, my hipster daughter (though she hates when I call her that) triggered me getting back into buying vinyl. She wanted to get the most recent Vampire Weekend album on vinyl for her birthday last spring, which meant getting a used turntable and receiver and breaking some old speakers out of the garage for her. Vinyl shopping gives us something to do together when she's in town. I've found some pretty cheap gems, though I think I paid $20 for a copy of Chet Atkins Hometown Guitar in really good shape toward the end of summer.
FWIW, I picked up quite a bit cheap back in the '90s when CDs became all the rage. I have no idea how many I have, but I think my collection is in the 8'-10' range, mostly up in closets so not really amenable to taking pictures of it. Probably the most valuable "collector" piece I have is an original copy of the Monkees' Head soundtrack, a movie that featured both Annette Funicello and Frank Zappa, and which was at least partially written by Jack Nicholson. It's very strange.
BTW, the Vampire Weekend album sounds really great on vinyl.