Rant of the day...

[Blue Meanie]

On vacation this week and trying to get stuff in order. Bought a Record Cleaning Machine and want to buy polylined inner sleeves for 45's and LP's so that after I clean the record it will go into a static free and dirt/mold free sleeve so that I won't have to clean the record again. Call up a few stores that specialize in Records/Vinyl and they tell me that they do sell the polylined inner sleeves. I tell them I need probably around 300 - 400 inner sleeves for LP's and about 100 - 200 45 inner sleeves. The guy on the other end tells me that they have about 35 LP sleeves and they don't carry 45 sleeves. I ask him if they sell to the public or do they just stock for the store. He tells me that they do sell to the public. I proceed to ask him if they will be getting any in soon and he tells me no. Are you kidding me??!!?? You are a store that specializes in vinyl and you don't have stock on something like polylined inner sleeves. Call a second store and they basically tell me the same thing. I ask him about his LP sleeves and he says that they have a 12 pack for $8. Way to encourage your customers or future customers. But here's where it get's really funny and pathetic...I call a Southern Hobby supplier, the only one here in NY, and the girl that answers the phone has no clue about anything. I tell here that I know that they carry comic supplies, boxes/boards and bags, and wanted to know if they carried any storage supplies for records. She says "I don't understand what you are asking me about....do you mean paper?" I say "No, I am trying to find out if you carry supplies for music records/vinyl." The answer was no but I just had to laugh. This is the 1st time I've ever experienced someone that had absolutely no idea what I was asking about. I must be getting old...because I've never experienced so much ineptitude and sheer laziness in my life. In the case of both stores that specialized in records/vinyl...how can you have a store and have no supplies for what you are selling??!!?? My friend that has had the comic store for 30+ years has hit hard times...but he NEVER runs out of supplies be they Boxes/Boards/comic bags etc. Sorry for the rant...but it's been eating away at me for the last 15 minutes. Had to vent.

[palitoy]

I had the same challenge with magazine bags and boards when I printed Megozine. Even my lcs was like "it'll be about two weeks" and then he kept questioning my desire to get 500.

I gave up and used ebay. You should too.

[EMCE Hammer]

You are an imposter. The Roberto I know would have had 600 of those sleeves at the ready, so that album cleaning fun could commence promptly at 730 am Monday morning. Oops, wait, I'm thinking of Tom.

Probably too late to get them online, right? I feel your pain, I needed a few furniture grommets recently and ended-up with three different styles/brands just to get what I needed, and I had to hit multiple stores to scrape them together.

[Blue Meanie]

You are an imposter. The Roberto I know would have had 600 of those sleeves at the ready, so that album cleaning fun could commence promptly at 730 am Monday morning. Oops, wait, I'm thinking of Tom.

Probably too late to get them online, right? I feel your pain, I needed a few furniture grommets recently and ended-up with three different styles/brands just to get what I needed, and I had to hit multiple stores to scrape them together.

Damn right that is what Tom would do

Think Brian is right...going to go the internet route. Bags Unlimited. I just don't get it though...would you want to accessorize your store with supplies that BENEFIT your customers?? I guess common sense isn't so common after all these days. It's more important to stock your record/collectibles store with stuff that your customers, that are buying said collectibles, with stuff like candy/snacks/soda. I know that if I ever get to a point where I have my own store there sure as hell wouldn't be anything in the store that I sell that would damage what I am selling like candy/snacks/soda.

[Marvelmania]

Yeah I went through Bags Unlimited to get most of my supplies comic and record wise cause I never find what I need around these parts. BU has yet to let me down and are pretty quick to ship too. Sorry to hear of your troubles Berto.

[Blue Meanie]

Yeah I went through Bags Unlimited to get most of my supplies comic and record wise cause I never find what I need around these parts. BU has yet to let me down and are pretty quick to ship too. Sorry to hear of your troubles Berto.

I've never had a problem with them in the past either. Man have they expanded since I last bought Mylites/arklites bags from them. I think the fact that these so called collectible stores are basically telling their customers to do the work themselves and that they don't want to be bothered with extra sales that can help them and their customers. Just doesn't make sense why you wouldn't go that extra mile for your customers.

[johnmiic]

Berto, I guess they don't think forward towards preservation. Their only concern is selling the product to old timers who probably also don't think about storing them in plastic. Which also means you're not an old timer.

[Brazoo]

Crazy! I have no problem getting these around here! Different kinds too. The one I like best is a super-soft polyurethane with a piece of paper sealed into one side so the sleeve corners don't bend when you replace them in the jacket. As I recall these retail for about ¢20 each, so I only use these on my best records. I have regular clear ones on my others.

What kind of record cleaning machine did you get? I was toying with the idea of getting one of those manual Spin 'N' Clean things, but I also wonder if I should bother.

[Mikey]

This place in Allentown PA used to have some pretty decent size record conventions.

I haven't been to one in almost 10 years so I don't know how they are now.

I see they have one coming up in October

Maybe you can find what your looking for there ?

Calendar

http://www.merchantssquaremall.com/calendar.php

Main

http://www.merchantssquaremall.com/

[Aricosaur]

Can't speak to record supplies, but I have a comic store that carries a wide variety of comic supplies, from Golden to Magazine size, in good quantities.

I need to go to Bags Unlimited and order some acid free, zip-closure bags to organize all my loose action figures. Just need that extra money I'm not spending on new, loose action figures.

[Blue Meanie]

What kind of record cleaning machine did you get? I was toying with the idea of getting one of those manual Spin 'N' Clean things, but I also wonder if I should bother.

I ended up getting a good buy on Ebay. Slightly used VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine with the 45 vaccum accessory. It would normally run about $700 + for a brand new one with that accessory...got it on ebay for $485 with free Fed Ex shipping. We'll see how slightly used it is in about a day. It has a delivery date of tomorrow according to Fed Ex tracking. Problem with the Spin Clean is that they basically are a newer version of the old Ronco record cleaner from back in the 70's. It will get into the grooves...but you need to hand dry the records with a micro fiber towel. Doesn't really guarantee that you will get all the gunk out of the grooves. Vaccum is probably a better choice to get deep into the record grooves.

[jwyblejr]

The main problem is,if these store did carry what you wanted they couldn't gripe about how they're losing customers to online sales.

[Blue Meanie]

The main problem is,if these store did carry what you wanted they couldn't gripe about how they're losing customers to online sales.

So true

[Brazoo]

I ended up getting a good buy on Ebay. Slightly used VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine with the 45 vaccum accessory. It would normally run about $700 + for a brand new one with that accessory...got it on ebay for $485 with free Fed Ex shipping. We'll see how slightly used it is in about a day. It has a delivery date of tomorrow according to Fed Ex tracking. Problem with the Spin Clean is that they basically are a newer version of the old Ronco record cleaner from back in the 70's. It will get into the grooves...but you need to hand dry the records with a micro fiber towel. Doesn't really guarantee that you will get all the gunk out of the grooves. Vaccum is probably a better choice to get deep into the record grooves.

Hmm - yeah, that's why I'm debating. With my collection it's probably not worth it for me to spend hundreds on a machine with a vacuum cleaner, but the $100 Spin N' Clean is probably only slightly better than what I'm doing now.

Still, it's so cheap it's tempting. But then again, all the decent but cheap second hand vinyl seems to be drying up in Toronto right now.

[LadyZod]

Heck, we've tried various ways of cleaning albums, and you know what works best? Eyeglass cleaning cloth and 92% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle. Wham bam, done.

As far as vinyl supplies, just find any record store nearby that participates in RSD (Record Store Day)... or check the list on http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home .

Most hipster-infested areas of any major metropolitan area will have at least one.

We go to Park Ave CDs in Orlando, and Rock & Roll Heaven. They always have enough supplies when we need 500 outer bags or inner sleeves. Heck, Park Ave CDs even has their own version of the Peaches crates for sale.