Texas Rare/Collectable Record Shops

Hi,

I live in austin texas, the few shops here are cool, but their collectable record sections are fairly limited. im looking to take a little road trip and open to exploring new cities for new shops, but want it to be worth my time.

does anyone have experience in texas w shops that have a large selection of rare/collectable records section?

 

I'm assuming you've visited End Of An Ear in Austin.

 

I have, and its a nice shop, but not a huge rare section.

 

It's been several years since I visited, but Forever Young Records in Grand Prairie is pretty fabulous. I found stuff there that I considered "rare," but YMMV.

 

wow, just looked at their website and their discogs account. amazing, looks like a huge shop and tons of collectables.

 

Yes, it is rather large. You can spend hours in there. I've seen stuff there that I've never seen anywhere else. It's almost as much a museum as it is a record store.

 

their prices do seem a little big on the high end, but i guess you pay for the convenience of having all those great records in one place.

 

Yeah I remember some of their prices being crazy high. They are definitely proud of their stuff! But so much of it is sealed or like new. Tons of variants, multiple pressings from different countries, that sort of thing. I also remember it being VERY organized, which is not always the case at record stores. And they had glass cases of vintage memorabilia for sale. Beatles, KISS, Elvis, etc. Very cool stuff.

 

If you are looking for rarities and have deep pockets, Forever Young is the easiest option - stuff is priced so high, the turnover is slow (have any of the box sets displayed along the ceiling ever changed?) Every other store I've visited in Dallas, Austin, etc. are really the luck of timing - anything rare that is priced reasonably will be purchased and won't sit there long, and most stores have a discogs or ebay account as an outlet for rare items as well.

 

Nanker is correct.....too many people walk in and grab the reasonable priced items which is rare in stores.Forever Young has the highest prices in the USA cept maybe Wax Trax Las Vegas.....every store does eBay/Discogs for the rare stuff.

 

Also pulled up their site for a look. Pricing is absurd. That’s one trip I would not take.

 

Just hit the Austin Record Show.

 

I was by Austin 20 years ago and I remember back then there a record store by the name MR cheapo it was great. I'm wondering if is there still

 

I've just bookmarked the Forever Young Discogs account as a sleep aid for the next time I'm suffering from insomnia. Snoresville.

 

You can get sleep aide or just get angry at most record store websites. I just get my laughs at many.

 

Why on earth would I get angry at a record store website?

I have never understood the constant whines and complaints of "Oh, this store just puts all the best stuff on Discogs!" So...go to their Discogs page if you want to buy that stuff?

 

There's a store in Dallas, over by White Rock Lake, called "14 Records".
It's owned by a local music scene personality, Bucks Burnett. He's got an impossibly tiny shop, stuffed with a curated collection of mostly rock, pop, alt records.

Here's the deal - all of it is wildly overpriced, but pretty much anything you find in there is going to grade very well. Basically, his premise is he's done all the hard work for you - why go dig for a clean, VG+ copy of "Aja - AB1006" when he's got 2-3 copies? He's an interesting character but always willing to negotiate on prices.

It might not be for you, he's got a $7,000 "holy grail" copy of LedZep2 RL/SS on the wall (price is partially a joke) and a bunch of other really rare pressings on display.

 

I have been in 14 Records as well. That’s a good call out. The only thing I’d add to Peter’s excellent post is be aware of the store hours. They are odd and not necessarily consistent. As the owner Bucks himself will tell you : “the most consistent hours are Friday-Sunday, from 2pm-10pm.” Other than that, I’d call first.

 

Angry? Dopey prices. Show n Tell wall monsters. How come most stores are Discogs prices now? I dig record conventions Hoss, bigger the better, however; most have become lame compared to even 10 years ago.