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Estate sale finds (photos)

72.174.56.5
Posted on August 16, 2014 at 13:48:12
cactuscowboy@bresnan.net
Audiophile

Posts: 7738
Location: Powell, Wyoming
Joined: July 23, 2007
 I was at an estate sale early this morning and looked through about 250 78s & LPs. It was 80% Classical & Opera and 20% Christian. Plus ONE Rock LP! The Uriah Heep was certainly the oddball of the lot. All of these records are NM condition and cost a buck apiece.



I can't recall ever seeing this "shaded dog" title before. NM vinyl with "1S/1S" in the deadwax.



I found a few Milstein LPs that I did not already have.















Rodzinski/Vienna State Opera Orchestra



Could not pass up another Rite Of Spring



This record looks to be never played. Given what the rest of the collection was, I'm not surprised.


 

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Maybe the Uriah Heep was a gift, posted on August 16, 2014 at 15:39:48
Skeptic
Audiophile

Posts: 877
Joined: July 17, 2002
 Some nice ones.

 

RE: Estate sale finds (photos), posted on August 16, 2014 at 16:02:53
dancingseamonkey
Audiophile

Posts: 3455
Location: New Orleans, birth place of jazz.
Joined: May 1, 2006
Contributor
  Since: November 24, 2009
 I se that a lot at estate sales where it is all easy listening except for one or two rock albums. I just figured it was one of their kids records.





"Trying is the first step towards failure."
Homer Simpson

 

Uriah Heep.., posted on August 16, 2014 at 18:14:27
Jive Turkey
Audiophile

Posts: 2409
Location: far left, geographically speaking
Joined: May 5, 2010
 ..a guilty pleasure of mine. Only because for the good rock they put out, they could cheese it up a bit too. The old Rock and Roll Medley on the Live album is a good example. That said, I've got a bunch of Uriah Heep on my shelves.

See ya. Dave

 

And I still loves me some …, posted on August 17, 2014 at 07:53:22
Charlie F.
Audiophile

Posts: 984
Joined: March 31, 2000
 ... “Salisbury.”

 

I should be insanely jealous, posted on August 17, 2014 at 15:14:43
rbolaw
 as a Nathan Milstein collector, but I know the scale of your activities and collection. You deserve those finds, not me.
I've had my moments, though. For example, flipping through two small boxes of crappy LPs in a tiny thrift shop in Canada, I found a clean copy of Milstein's 1953 Recital album (Canadian Capitol, of course, original green label).
No competing with you, though. ;)

 

RE: I should be insanely jealous, posted on August 17, 2014 at 18:24:02
cactuscowboy@bresnan.net
Audiophile

Posts: 7738
Location: Powell, Wyoming
Joined: July 23, 2007



I was wondering if anyone would comment on the Milstein LPs. Yes, nice finds. I'm playing the Mendelssohn/Bruch concertos LP right now. Sounds great in glorious mono.

There were a couple of Hefeitz LPs as well in this lot, but in lesser condition and dupes of what I already had so I passed. Most of the records were fairly common Classical titles and of course the Uriah Heep LP, oddball of the lot.

I'm sure I'll be seeing the bulk of this collection at the local thrift shop in coming weeks as I'm certain that few were sold beyond what I picked up.

 

The Milstein Bach LP, Capitol P8298...., posted on August 17, 2014 at 18:40:02
vinyl1
Audiophile

Posts: 3948
Joined: October 3, 2001
 ...is the only truly valuable record of the lot. They still get $30-75 for good copies. The Fiedlers have good sound, but you can't give away the his later shaded dogs nowadays, particularly that one.

 

RE: The Milstein Bach LP, Capitol P8298...., posted on August 17, 2014 at 20:22:21
rbolaw
 That ain't necessarily so. The other two Milstein LPs would probably sell for at least $20 in decent shape and $40 for a near mint copy. Otherwise I'd have them both rather than the CDs. ;(
Of course, thrift and estate sale LPs from the 50s are seldom in such good shape. I found a Milstein Vignettes for a dollar, a couple of audible scratches, but at least VG+ most of the way, and I count that as a very good find, even though a high ticket collector might not.

 

great finds, posted on August 18, 2014 at 04:12:26
sjg
Audiophile

Posts: 738
Location: Boston
Joined: April 8, 2004
 great covers. Love Milstein & don't have any of the the 3 you show.

It is very hard to find those early Capital stereos without terrible groove damage even when they look nm.



 

geez ... your type of guys, posted on August 18, 2014 at 05:53:48
3Fates
Audiophile

Posts: 940
Joined: December 8, 2000
 Are the reason I steer clear of estate sales. Seems everyone is money hungry - looking to make fast sleezy money at these estate sales. Why cant we just buy stuff to enjoy ourselves? Are vinyl asylum guys that hard up for money?

 

RE: geez ... your type of guys, posted on August 18, 2014 at 07:27:41
cactuscowboy@bresnan.net
Audiophile

Posts: 7738
Location: Powell, Wyoming
Joined: July 23, 2007
 3Fates: I think you might be reading too much into this?

I appreciate vinyl1's comments regarding potential resale value as it is a point of interest. However, my primary goal in digging for records at thrift shops and estate sales is finding new and interesting music to listen to and better condition upgrade copies. I also know vinyl1 well enough to know that he's in it for the music as well.

Admittedly a secondary goal for me is finding clean & salable "Classic Rock" LPs for cheap. For the past two years, I've been cleaning up dupe and unwanted LPs and selling them through a local consignment thrift shop. I don't really need the money, it's just a way to pay for the hobby and whatever profits it generates are spent on new releases & reissue LPs. Makes my wife happy that I'm not just "spending money." :)

 

RE: geez ... your type of guys, posted on August 18, 2014 at 07:35:48
rbolaw
 I have never sold an LP. I admit, I have one that sells for over $200 on ebay, and mine is a sealed demo copy. I found a dealer online who offered me $125, but I decided not to bother. ;)

 

RE: geez ... your type of guys, posted on August 18, 2014 at 10:31:01
Inmate51
 "Are the reason I steer clear of estate sales. Seems everyone is money hungry - looking to make fast sleezy money at these estate sales. "

Where are you finding better deals elsewhere?

I've never been to an estate sale, but from what I've read here about various inmates' experiences, I should. Apparently, there's a lot of stuff to be bought at very low prices.

 

Key words: "NM", posted on August 18, 2014 at 10:58:25
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10911
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 If they are really near mint, then I too am a bit jealous. 99% of the time when one finds 50s classical LPs, especially RCAs and Mercurys, they are completely at the end of their useful life, even if they look OK superficially.

 

RE: Key words: "NM", posted on August 18, 2014 at 15:10:52
cactuscowboy@bresnan.net
Audiophile

Posts: 7738
Location: Powell, Wyoming
Joined: July 23, 2007
 All of the nine LPs I picked are near mint visually and having played three so far, my initial judgment is on target.

This was a sizeable collection, over 250 78s and LPs so it stands to reason that no one record saw incessant and repeated play. Some of the earlier LPs from the late 40s and early 50s showed evidence of more frequent play with spindle trails on labels and minor scratches. So I passed on those. I passed on all of the 78s, which were multi disc albums of 12" shellac, common symphonies of little interest. I passed on the religious titles as well, nothing of interest.

Overall, it was a well cared for collection in beautiful condition. I passed on many other very nice records. With over 4,000 Classical & Opera LPs already, I need to show a little restraint. :)

 

Before you jump to conclusions and misinterpret what people write,, posted on August 18, 2014 at 15:39:09
alaskahiatt
Audiophile

Posts: 7501
Joined: December 9, 2000
Contributor
  Since: November 1, 2005
 please pause and do a little research before responding.

Neither cactuscowboy or vinyl1 mentioned selling a record as a primary goal. In fact cactuscowboy has a collection of over 20,000 LPs, 78s, 45s, etc, so selling is obviously not his main goal. He even does a radio show using part of his 78rpm collection. How many of us share our collections with others outside of the vinyl collecting world?

Vinyl1 has a collection of over 4000 records, so selling is not the only thing on his mind either.

I have a collection of over 10,000 LPs, and I have only sold one record on eBay.

What most of the inmates have in common is collecting records for personal enjoyment. If we can find them in good used condition for very little money by crate digging, then the thrill is even greater knowing the prices some of the records fetch on the auction sites and at dealers. The "thrill of the hunt" is part of the fun at estate sales, garage sales, junk stores, and storage auctions. My best jazz score ever was at an estate sale, and someone will probably love my estate sale as well.

So, please be cautious with quick judgements on the internet and just enjoy the thrill of collecting regardless of the source.

 

Apologies, posted on August 18, 2014 at 16:36:58
3Fates
Audiophile

Posts: 940
Joined: December 8, 2000
 The vibe are the estate sales in my area is a big turn off. At one of the sales a few years ago I walked into a room with about 12 big boxes of records. There is a very large man going through them. Before I could even start looking into a box the man says to me very firmly, 'Do not touch the records'. I ignored him and started digging into a box. He got nasty with language and physically threatened me. I got out of there quickly.

Too many re-sellers - at least friday mornings when the slaes usually begin. One guy even told me he does not even own a turntable just sells on ebay. I ask how does he grade .. he answers if its not too beat up its NM.

The only purchases I do now are new lps from the various online retailers. Last ebay lp I bought was maybe 5 years ago. I have about 5000 lps and very careful about adding more.

 

Things to keep in mind about "crate digging", posted on August 18, 2014 at 17:40:15
rbolaw
 as Alaska hiatt accurately calls it. Whether at estate sales, yard sales, church sales, antique barns or thrift shops, it is not the way to get rich quick. Anything of real monetary value has often been cherry picked already, and condition of the LPs is seldom ideal.

I focus on classical LPs, because those tend to be the least popular, and that is the area I had most of my musical training. For years, at least in the USA, people hunted for RCA stereo "shaded dogs" and left most of the rest alone, especially mono LPs. That left a lot of great music to me at little or no cost. Eventually, collectors got wise, and the best of the rarest got snapped up, including mono.

Still, one occasionally finds interesting and unusual stuff. Just not especially valuable. Cactus cowboy finds more than most, because he has likely looked through well over a million records. So he has earned any good finds he has. But they aren't making him rich, either.

 

RE: Apologies, posted on August 18, 2014 at 20:35:37
cactuscowboy@bresnan.net
Audiophile

Posts: 7738
Location: Powell, Wyoming
Joined: July 23, 2007
 I wouldn't let one bad experience sour the whole scene. Perhaps a good approach to that big guy who got there first would have been saying "No problem, what have you already looked through, I'll start there."

I guess I'm lucky in that there's not much competition here in Wyoming. At this particular estate sale, there was one other digger who got there before me, but he wasn't very serious about it. In my experience, most guys are looking for Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Black Sabbath and that sort of thing.

 

RE: Apologies, posted on August 19, 2014 at 05:07:53
vinyl1
Audiophile

Posts: 3948
Joined: October 3, 2001
 Cactus is right - I keep all the valuable records I find, I've never sold anything.

I rely on the stock market to make money, it's much better than used classical records!

 

RE: Apologies, posted on August 19, 2014 at 08:33:00
Inmate51
 Cactus is right and wrong, depending on which comment we're talking about. Focussing on the intimidation by the 'large guy', I don't put up with that crap in any kind of situation, and I'm a 99 pound weakling. I tell such doofusses (sp?) that if they want to make a scene, they'll end up in jail, and then I appeal to their sensible side.

In 3Fates case, if that approach didn't work, I'd have gone straight to the sale manager and had the guy thrown out. Unless the guy owns the records, he has no business telling other people not to touch them.

:)

 

RE: Key words: "NM", posted on August 20, 2014 at 06:33:29
rbolaw
 I find that back in the 50s, and 60s, even folks who took good care of their LPs usually only had a few favorite classical ones and played them frequently. (Not as frequently as Beatles, Stones and Dylan LPs, of course.) They can look beautiful but still have at least some play wear. The truly NM classical LPs are from the late 70s and early 80s. Many are still sealed.

 

RE: Key words: "NM", posted on August 20, 2014 at 14:45:42
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 Yes but when you get one that is really NM, it is heaven! (IMO!)

Dave

 

RE: Apologies, posted on August 22, 2014 at 11:16:31
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 I have never had anybody threaten me over records! But I teach Kung-Fu and look like someone who could handle themselves in a fight. Even so, that is not something I would be willing to fight over. If someone does threaten me, that is assault. I would pull out my cellphone and dial 911 ...

Dave

 

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