Now, this was a big fair with hundreds of tables, and i really didn't know where or when these records dissapeared. After a while i figured it must have been the Frenchman so i took a gamble and got to his table, saying "you still have some records from me, please return them and i won't make a problem." With the swiftness he returned them to me, saying he forgot to return them.
Should have slapped the dude on the ear.
Le Takeback!
I've never been to the Record Collector shop, but sounds exactly like the Record Man in Redwood City. I truly despise that guy.
There was a thread about the Record Collector years ago. Stories about him berating Pete Rock, his Igor sidekick/record slave and all kinds of other schitt. I - and probably every other so-cal strutter - can verify the majority of stories about this dude. My experience wasn't as bad as some that I've heard, but he definitely has a fucked up attitude in general when it comes to dealing with people.
i remember some older posts about the place, none positive.
whats the deal with this guy?
Well, it pretty much boils down to the fact that he's just a complete dick. He basically eyeballs everyone who comes in - and if you're below 40 or so, it's on. He basically just has it out for you from the minute you walk in because he thinks you're going to ruin his records. I've been accused NUMEROUS times of mishandling the records and putting them back in the wrong location - never one time has that been the case.
He has a guy that works for him who's very kind and tries to be helpful, and who I think has a slight mental deficiency. Sandy, the schmuck owner, consistently bosses him around in the rudest manner and treats him like shit. I've even heard them have a scuffle before.
No record is below $20. Doesn't matter if it's Leo Sayer, it's still at minimum 20. If you even BEGIN to try and negotiate with him, something i learned to immediately stop doing, he gives nothing but attitude. In doing so, he'll mistreat said vinyl way worse than what he'll eventually imagine you did to the record and accuse you of. Last time I was in there before I relocated to NY, I walked in, was my extra kind self as to not piss him off, and was told something to the effect of "are you going to buy anything? if not - don't look at the records. last time you left em all over the place". That simply was just impossible and never happened.
My friend went in a few weeks back and kindly asked to browse through the vinyl to which good old Sandy replied "we don't do that anymore. you have to make an appointment."
Now, you might be wondering why we would venture back to this store time and time again knowing that we're going to be treated like complete shit. Well, I've pulled some pretty killer shit from there before, a pristine Rufus Harley RE-Creation, numerous Italian soundtracks, and some pretty heavy private soul stuff. My buddy has had even better luck, having walked out with a Countdown to Kussini and a Malcom X Philip Cohran, both sealed, each for under $60.00. And those are just the things I'm remembering off the top - there's been many other miraculous finds in there.
The funny thing is, though, that no one else seems to find stuff there. That's because anybody like us in Los Angeles, for the most part, knows from first hand experience that this dude just sucks balls professionally, and it's not worth it. Dude stays open by older gentlemen buying crusty jazz off him.
My earliest memory, though, would be when my friend purchased a record that ended up skipping heavily on one track due to a pressing error (found this out when we took it home as you can't preview vinyl at this store - no way). When my buddy tried to return it, he was accused of swapping out copies within the same sleeve. There, of course, is no way this could be proved, dude is just such a staunch prick that that HAD to be the case. This turned into a serious argument as my buddy was clearly being douched. One of his old crusty friends was on hand too egging Sandy on and chiming in with the occasional douche comment.
So, to sum it up, that place sucks serious donkey dick, but if you're willing to be berated and deal with this guy, you might be able to find something, if he'll let you look.
This, by the way, is Sandy, the everlasting asshole.
From about 1990-95 good old Sanders had close to 60 sealed copies of Nathan Davis "if" that could be had for $30. I pulled a lot of great records out of there. He is a lot like Gary at record man in redwood city. You just have to play his game a little bit. Pull some good shit, pull some bullshit. Bring 15 records up for him to price. Extract the bullshit. Leave.
I hate having to play games with record sellers.
Stores with attitude are even worse.
Tell me what you want, if I like the price I will pay.
There was a great record collector here in Portland for a number of years.
Old French guy who made his living selling postcards and buttons. ("Post cards are worth much more than records.")
We were talking about thefts at shows.
He told a story about catching a guy stealing postcards from him. He held the guy and demanded that the guy pay him for the post cards, refused to take the post cards back. Told the guy, pay or be turned over to the police. He was screaming at the guy and wouldn't let him go. Other sellers intervened and convinced him to just take the post cards back. Guy also returned post cards to other sellers he had stolen from. And then he walked out.
My French friend was pissed. He said in France, if that had happened, all the sellers would have taken the thief out back and beat him senseless. Americans are too polite.
Best I know, theft at record shows in the PNW are rare.
Theft from community radio stations is rampant.
The old Record Collector man is such an asshole. It's as if he doesn't want to sell the records. He just hoards them and comes up with these ludicrous prices out of the clouds that he knows no one would ever want to pay. His cronie is the slow older man as well who does his bidding by pulling records out by request since you are not allowed to look around at anything in the back or other room on your own. He pulled some records for me as I coincidentally went in post Fairfax flea a few weeks ago only to have them priced at at exorbitant price so I went onto my iPhone in the shop and bought the records for cheap just to be a dick back. Yadda yadda yadda
Comments
There was a thread about the Record Collector years ago. Stories about him berating Pete Rock, his Igor sidekick/record slave and all kinds of other schitt. I - and probably every other so-cal strutter - can verify the majority of stories about this dude. My experience wasn't as bad as some that I've heard, but he definitely has a fucked up attitude in general when it comes to dealing with people.
Haven't been back there in years.
From about 1990-95 good old Sanders had close to 60 sealed copies of Nathan Davis "if" that could be had for $30. I pulled a lot of great records out of there. He is a lot like Gary at record man in redwood city. You just have to play his game a little bit. Pull some good shit, pull some bullshit. Bring 15 records up for him to price. Extract the bullshit. Leave.
Stores with attitude are even worse.
Tell me what you want, if I like the price I will pay.
There was a great record collector here in Portland for a number of years.
Old French guy who made his living selling postcards and buttons. ("Post cards are worth much more than records.")
We were talking about thefts at shows.
He told a story about catching a guy stealing postcards from him. He held the guy and demanded that the guy pay him for the post cards, refused to take the post cards back. Told the guy, pay or be turned over to the police. He was screaming at the guy and wouldn't let him go. Other sellers intervened and convinced him to just take the post cards back. Guy also returned post cards to other sellers he had stolen from. And then he walked out.
My French friend was pissed. He said in France, if that had happened, all the sellers would have taken the thief out back and beat him senseless. Americans are too polite.
Best I know, theft at record shows in the PNW are rare.
Theft from community radio stations is rampant.