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| - Place sits below street level in a mall, but has a sign on the side of the building making it easy to track down as you head down the street.
Inside is a medium size, well organized collection from an aficionado who takes pride in his merchandize, both personally, and on the price tags. This is not a a place for someone getting started and looking for bargain bins, but more for the discerning collector who knows rare pieces when he/she sees them and is willing to part with some coin. I have to reiterate that the store owner was very helpful and personable, yet stayed out of the way while I spent over an hour going through everything.
There are some bins on the floor, but it seems that half of it is in the same league as the stuff up top (an interesting change from the norm), which is almost all protected in outer sleeves.
I honestly think you are best served having been a number of places beforehand so you know what you are willing to pay for things and what they go for elsewhere; this kind of place is otherwise dangerous and one can get emotionally involved without delay. I have the fortunate advantage of having shopped a couple dozen stores in the southwest, building as I travel. I also feel if I wanted something hard to find, he would be the best to call hands down.
Finds included a copy of The Wall (stickered at 25 for my copy which was in good condition), three Journey Albums (from $7-10, which is steep but I haven't seen these titles anywhere else), Aerosmith Rocks ($8?), and Aerosmith Classics Live II ($10). I wound up leaving with 15 +/- records for $140 out the door after some haggling. There were huge collections of Bob Dylan, Rush, AC/DC, and all the staples, but some of the prices for used copies routinely were $40 and up. Sticking to your guns and going through the whole store will reward you with some pieces you won't find elsewhere (The Doors 13, for example, something I've only seen on the 7" Reel my dad got who knows where and when, and this store had two copies).
Bonus point for playing ELO on vinyl over the sound system while I was there. Sounded good.
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