I've been buying LPs (stereo mostly) since the mid-'60s. I'm not a completist or collector but among 17,000 records at one point, I had (and still have):
- about 45-50 original Vertigo Swirls, mostly UK, a few other countries;
- The Island pink label catalog for the most part, with multiple copies;
- a pretty nice collection of jazz, ranging from more obscure offerings on Strata-East to a fair number of private label recordings done during the "loft" scene in the '70s;
- All the standard rock warhorses, usually best pressings, but in many cases, I have easily a dozen pressings;
- with that "classic" rock category I would include numerous different Zep records; few of them were recorded well;
- I have thousands of classical records that I'm ashamed to don't listen to more: from an almost entire Lyrita and EMI ASD catalog and many Decca/Londons from England;
- lots of odd ball stuff, from a first pressing of Disgraceland by Elvis Hitler, to a a lot of rare stuff that you just cannot find on the market today.
- Most of the audiophile stuff- whether old MoFi, Direct to Disc from Sheffield goes unplayed, as do most other "demo" recordings. I have many.
I dumped about 12,000 records before I left NY. In Texas, I brought around 5,000 and have selectively acquired various records since. My penchant for not buying is inflation in price and grading. I do have preferred suppliers, but they don't have some of the "one-offs."
