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Indisputable evidence that the vinyl bubble hasn't popped.


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So here I am, in 2017, reading some random stories from random news sites and what do I stumble upon but this:

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article140535443.html

 

Why school lockers are going the way of rotary phones and vinyl records

 

Now, despite what most of us on this board would think ("School lockers have their own commercial holiday how? And Urban Outfitters sells rotary telephones??"), the vinyl analogy is in fact being used to say that records aren't cool and trendy but old and tired. My theory is until there's no folks left out there that are surprised to hear high school kids are buying turntables and they still make records, the bubble hasn't burst. 

 

Anyone agree?

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Bubbles and collapses can absolutely happen within niches and subcultures without the larger culture ever noticing. I'm sure most people aren't aware of the comic book crash of the mid-90s, and yet it had an inescapable effect on comics.

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As long as people are continuing to purchase vinyl for the purpose of listening rather than the purpose of collecting, I believe there'll be no bubble to burst.

 

But if folks are only buying them as an investment, there will be a bubble to burst.

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I think they already use this book in some economics classes:

 

https://www.google.com/amp/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/book-review-the-great-beanie-baby-bubble-by-zac-bissonnette-1425677030

 

EDIT - And then there's this poor family:

 

https://qz.com/114753/meet-the-family-who-lost-100000-when-the-beanie-baby-bubble-burst/

Edited by unknown pleasures
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24 minutes ago, Battra said:

As long as people are continuing to purchase vinyl for the purpose of listening rather than the purpose of collecting, I believe there'll be no bubble to burst.

 

But if folks are only buying them as an investment, there will be a bubble to burst.

This guy understands what a "bubble" actually is. 

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59 minutes ago, AlexH. said:

Bubbles and collapses can absolutely happen within niches and subcultures without the larger culture ever noticing. I'm sure most people aren't aware of the comic book crash of the mid-90s, and yet it had an inescapable effect on comics.

Yep, I remember the comic book insanity. They kept pushing out inferior product with many variants riding on the fear of "missing out" by collectors. Resale prices inflated. One day people realized that that pointless variant of an obscure soundtrack  Lady Death comic wasn't worth much of anything. I see happy days ahead for collectors' record portfolios.

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39 minutes ago, Battra said:

As long as people are continuing to purchase vinyl for the purpose of listening rather than the purpose of collecting, I believe there'll be no bubble to burst.

 

But if folks are only buying them as an investment, there will be a bubble to burst.

I think you're always going to have both groups of people present in any "hobby" - it's just a question if the balance between them. 

 

I think right now there's still way more people buying records because they like them and they enjoy the music, but each RSD sort of shifts the balance a little based on what I see being sold, who I see in line, and what eBay looks like before & after. 

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I think of it as an investment in some way.  I collect records for the music though.  They actually serve a purpose too, unlike a beanie baby.  If they tank in value, who cares?  I still have the music.  When I started collecting about 18 years ago I could get a decent used Hendrix or Pink Floyd record for $4 or $5, now it's at least $20 at the same shop.  Most of the hardcore record collectors I see at record shows/estate sales are 50+, once their numbers start to dwindle I feel like records of certain genres with start to diminish in value.

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2 hours ago, unknown pleasures said:

I think you're always going to have both groups of people present in any "hobby" 

The part of me that nerds out over the most limited variant is the (your quotes) "hobby" in me.

 

Take that out of the equation and rekkids is how I enjoy listening to music.

 

So the only way a burst affects me is if it shuts down pressing plants.

 

Actually, if the bubble bursts, we'll probably get better music, since pressing plants won't be choking on RSD bullshit.

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2 minutes ago, unknown pleasures said:

There's a fine line between "lifer" flippers and a few of the record stores I've been...

Ahhh yes come to think of it, there's a jazz-oriented second-hand place in town that always has exorbitant mark-ups. Half that older clientele probably don't know what a Discogs is, nor the fact that they could buy a Numero or Light In The Attic reissue of what they just bought for a third the price and mint condition.

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16 hours ago, unknown pleasures said:

That's a good point. I guess it depends on the size of the bubble. 

 

For example, everyone knows about the Beanie Baby crash, to the point that it's become a pop culture reference.

Everyone knows but very few were actually effected by the crash. For most it was just a fad that died out. The people that got destroyed are most likely the same people that do extreme couponing , "sweep" , and are on hoarders. If they didn't go broke by beanie babies they would have been smothered to death in their own homes by them.   

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15 hours ago, unknown pleasures said:

I think you're always going to have both groups of people present in any "hobby" - it's just a question if the balance between them. 

 

I think right now there's still way more people buying records because they like them and they enjoy the music, but each RSD sort of shifts the balance a little based on what I see being sold, who I see in line, and what eBay looks like before & after. 

I've not worried about RSD stuff in so long. I have been to a few, but that was before I was buying vinyl.

 

I was going to stop a few years back...more like...5 years I think, my daughter wasn't speaking yet...and I saw the line and just laughed....I was downshifting (had a stick then) and then I saw the line and starting shifting right back up..haha.

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