What was your biggest vinyl surprise for $.99

I got an unplayed Bob Dylan Biograph box set at a garage sale for $1, a great deal on some great music.

How 'bout for nothing! Multiple mint copies of the Concert for Bangladesh, The Last Waltz, and many other box sets PLUS six boxes of great diversified single albums saved by my dad from the yearly town clean-up along his Lawn Doctor routes! He retired ten yrs ago and I still haven't listened to everything. So far everything is mint and far better then the best that the Princeton Record Exchange offers. To top it off, a buddy at work has been giving me free albums being discarded by his sons school system. The best so far? - A mint first pressing of Bookends:)

I am also "GoodWill Hunting" and have found Jerman mono pressings of "The Rite Of Spring", last week I bought an un-opened pressings of Lambro, Lambardo and Cortes" wich I love several other Classical recording that were great.
Last month I bought 60 albums for $30.00 and only had to pitch 5 of them that couldnt be cleaned up, some have ticks and pops that are only noticable between tracks, or else I listen around them. While some records are not as silent as others it is a blast to shop for and find albums I desire, the ladies will let me in the back and look at tittles not yet put on the floor because they know I am a broke guy who buys to enjoy, not to re-sell as many do.

a whole slew of RCA shaded dog monos for 0.99 each from the local goodwill, including a NM, 1S/1S copy of heifetz sibelius voilin concerto that plays like a dream.

Glad to see such a thread! I was thinking of starting one myself.

I have some really cool ones from the 99-cent bins of used record stores. In all cases these play like new and are as quiet as a CD:
I, Robot by Alan Parsons
Katy Lied, Steely Dan,
Famous Last Words, Supertramp
Sports, Huey Lewis and the News
... many others

Also same condition from thrift shops on half-price Saturday (50 cents each) last weekend:
Gordon Lightfoot: Sit Down Young Stranger (AKA If You Could Read My Mind)
James Galway and a violinist: Bach Trio Sonatas
Heifetz violin concertos on RCA Red Seal (reissues of Living Stereo, but very clean and well done)
6-LP Reader's Digest/RCA boxeded set of Artur Rubinstein reissues (and those Reader's Digest special transfers are particularly well done) of RCA Living Stereo recordings. I swear, no one ever played a Reader's Digest boxed set (well, maybe one)
A 1999 Emmylou Harris (forget the title) with backup from Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Dolly Parton, and Johnny Cash.
I also picked up a stack of Windham Hill Lps including many George Winstons, most of which were recorded in analog at 30 ips and half-speed mastered, many by Bernie Grundman, and pressed or mastered by either MFSL or JVC.

In a little noisier/dirtier condition (but they clean up nice) I've managed to pick up an Everest 35mm Mozart woodwind ensemble, two RCA shaded dogs (Mario Lanza and Vivaldi 4 Seasons), and a couple of stereo Mercury Living Presences (including 1812 Overture).

For a little more ($2.99) I also have a 2-LP Gordon Lightfoot of "Gord's Gold" in absolutely perfect condition. So clean, so nice sounding.

As for my freebies, an acquaintance on a guitar players' discussion page sent me 27 barely-played LPs for $8 shipping when he was ditching his analog rig. Titles include the Treasury version of Sheffield Labs' Dave Grusin album, a German pressing of Joni Mitchell's Blue album, Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones, 2 Eric Claptons (Unplugged and From the Cradle), 2 Stevie Ray Vaughns, 4 Rolling Stones albums, The Long Run by the Eagles, Japanese Pressing of Pirates by Ricky Lee Jones, Luck of the Draw by Bonnie Raitt, and a still-sealed copy of ... "Seal."

I bought my turntable 2 months ago and already have an LP library north of 200 LPs for a pittance. That would cost me about $3000 in CDs.