Hey GI - on point 9 - when I was a teenager in the mid 60s - early 70s my friends and I would often buy albums just because we loved the cover - we'd take a chance based on just the cover and it was great. We'd learn new band,s new recording crews, band histories, artistic designers, and often a whole new genre or sub-genre. You gotta take chances with this stuff - that's one of the great enjoyments of the hobby.
you put out good Information not snobby very humble and us newbies really appreciate that ! Definitely a subscriber I’ve also bought a pack of outer sleeves and inner sleeves for the older records in paper
I personally hate shrink wrap on records. I love hype stickers but find the cellophane to be intrusive in terms of getting the best look at cover art. What I do instead is carefully pull the jacket out of the shrink (keeping the shrink intact besides the one slit you mentioned), and then store it inside the record jacket. Best of both worlds.
I just move the hype stickers to a new protective outer sleeve. I also put other stickers on the new outer sleeve with infor on how and when I latest cleaned the record (Vacuum, Ultrasonic and so on). I've seen shrinkwraps continue to shrink over time and first warp the cover and in some cases even warp the record, so I never keep the shrinkwrap (Been collecting since early 70's). Another good tip, use an antistatic gun or Destat before putting the record into a new inner sleeve. It's so fast and easy, and often you really notice how much easier it slips in and out, and it seems like it holds the lower charge until next time you get it out.
What I do, buy record, list it in Discogs Collection, open edge or remove shrink on gatefold, cut out any hype stickers from removed shrink, clean record on VPI 16.5, insert clean record in MoFi inner sleeve, put jacket in resealable poly outer or two resealable outer poly sleeves for gate folds with flap wrapping around spine so it’s readable on shelf, insert record outside of jacket, put a white sticker signifying it’s been cleaned and a silver sticker indicating it’s been catalogued on Discogs. Sometimes the shrink won’t survive insertion into poly sleeve as I have the spine at the sleeve opening and the shrink will peel back when inserted. If that happens I remove it and retain any hype stickers like a gatefold. I only keep the original inner sleeves if there is any unique info or graphic particular to the artist, the release or the label. I take the unused sleeves back to my record store for them to use along with any non resealable poly sleeves the record may have come in. I play claw hammer banjo so I usually a have a good fingernail to open shrink, but if it’s really tight I use the friction method by rubbing the edge rather vigorously on my jeans a few times until the shrink separates or is softened enough to let my banjo nail work. I don’t always have a knife but I’m always wearing pants. Not going all the way to the edges of the opening helps the shrink stay on the jacket when putting it in the poly sleeves also. Making any of these actions habit will prevent having stacks of records to deal with that could become a chore and therefore less likely to be done. I’m relatively new to Discogs and can’t tell you how important it is to start early and stay on top of cataloging new acquisitions. It’s a great tool, loads of fun to see the values, help prevent duplicate purchases not to mention insurance necessities depending on size and value.
Nice. This is pretty much my routine as well. I’ve invested heavily in quality inner and resealable outer sleeves and can’t overstate the important of a decent RCM. I’m a relative newcomer to Discogs, so have been adding 20-30 titles per night (now up to about 1300). Agree it is fun to see the value of your collection, and hopefully might lead to not having as many duplicates as I’ve managed to accumulate!
Cool G. I, I only have a small collection like 300 albums. Big 70's and 90's music fan. I have everything in the outer sleeves and Mofi inners but, I haven't done the cleaning portion. Gotta up my game again. These thing's are high maintenance.
Lots of great ideas thanks. From someone who has just started collecting I have a question regarding storage. I finally have enough albums that justified a stand with 4 built in storage spaces. I only have like 45 albums total. Some are gatefold a few are special editions or like I can see in the background behind you is the fragile and fragile deviations. I placed all of my albums in the four shelves to kinda fill it out but there’s still a lot of room. In your opinion would it be bad if some are slightly angled? Again, just to fit and fill the shelves on my stand. Or is it better to have them all vertical as possible? Which would cause gaps and maybe an empty space. Just looks bad but I want to care for them. I figured having a 4lp gatefold leaning against a single album could be problematic. So I stayed away from doing that. But they mostly stand straight up but some are angled to fill the empty spaces until I get more. Thoughts? Any advice would be appreciated.
Little did I know 60 years later I would still be into vinyl, especially after cds were introduced. My records are in excellent shape, the covers not so much.
I clean my records before I play them. I use a spray & a microfibre cloth. I have 200-400 records. I replaced all the inner sleeves with rice paper sleeves. I am about to upgrade all my outer sleeves with the clear MoFi 4 mil sleeves.
If I decide to remove the wrapper on a new album, is it worth cutting out and keeping the hype sticker? Does it add resale value? Thanks! I appreciate your videos.
Yes it does. Imagine for yourself, you see copies of an album in a store, they are both exactly the same but one is in the shrink with the original sticker on, to me that is more valuable anyway because its more rare to find on old records.
I like to keep everything that came with the album. shrink wrap gets cut on one end, if a gate, removed, folded (not damaging any stickers on the outside) and inserted in the sleeve. I also keep the record in a sleeve and outside the dust cover and inside the outside plastic sleeve.
I generally never keep the plastic shrink on, just because I like to feel and touch the paper quality of the jacket. I do this with magazines too. I like glossy jackets for example. If the plastic shrink has a sticker on it with a logo or important information, I remove it and stick it on the jacket, for example, or the back cover. In most cases, here in my country, plastic shrinks only have the price tag.
Just one thing I noticed. Most collectors now put sleeves outside but you have opening upwards, of dust falls from the air,surely this must leave more dust in your records over time. Keeping them opening up inside the sleeve reduces the risk of dust getting on the vinyl. I have OCD about this as my wife often puts record sleeves in her records so the records just fall straight out,not the first time a record has landed on the floor from her collection.
I never keep shrink wrap on as it pulls on the cardboard cover, puts strain on the material and leads to glue seam failure (see below). Rather get a clear sleeve that fits more loosely. The protection aspect of the shrink wrap is made obsolete by using clear outer sleeves. I particularly like the dual pocket ones by the Canadian outlet. Even when I take record out of back pocket, the inner sleeve does not rub on the backside of the record. I use the ones without re-sealable flap, as any sticky material eventually will deteriorate. So just get the ones with foldable flaps. If the hype sticker is cool, I may cut it out and put it in the back pocket. Another paper inner sleeve problem is static and records clinging to the inner sleeve. I see that mostly with brand new records. I would use PVA glue for sleeve repair, rather than glue stick. It is pH neutral (good one at least) and what is used in book binding. Agree on record cleaning machine. I have the ProJect version, pretty much the same as the VPI. It's not fully automatic (like the VPI) and takes about one minute to clean both sides.
@@leon9021 Just purchased an LP from 1987 with original shrink wrap on it. The corners are deformed, bent towards the center. Shrink wrap definitely damages covers, no question. Re taping, the problem is the pull of the shrink wrap over the face of the records. No taping can remedy that.
@@danielgeiger7739 I dont quite understand your description. When you keep the shrink wrap on its important to cut it so that it slides back easily, its not supposed to catch on the corners. This means it can only pull the cover like you do when pulling a record out of the jacket. Never seen a sleeve with a permanent gaping pocket before. Taping the shrink prevents it from shrinking, thats the point.
@@leon9021 NTX (and I would think most people) cuts the shrink along one edge, i.e., where the record slides out. So three edges of the shrink are still intact. Typically, shrink pulls tight over the record, so there is a pull from top to bottom of record. That leads to permanent deformation of the outer sleeve. If you cut the shrink along two adjacent edges, then it is floppy and will fall down. So best to just get rid of it, possibly save the hype sticker by cutting it out.
a word of warning about regluing seams on a record jacket, Put enough and just enough, otherwise glue can seep out, and stick to record sleeve and is frustrating to disentangle. I would recommend taking out the record and sleeve and glue without them in it. Also I would say from experience, that make sure the cleaning cloth you use, hasn't picked up anything abrasive from where you have stored it, happened to me and I actually scored my record! I notice some of your records i see in the background, leaning, is that any concern?
Could I ask how you built your shelves? I’ll be building a new music room soon and want to ditch my ugly Kallax shelving. Maybe you could make building those shelves its own video!
Well….they were built in when we moved to this house. One of the main reasons I loved it 😀 I did redo all the actual shelving but that’s just wood cut and stained. The hard part was done for me I am gonna do a video soon that will be a tour of my entire room, and will touch on this a bit.
My simple cleaning method is to a) not buy any really dirty records and b) use a dry swiffer cloth on any ones that need a quick cleaning or dusting. Those cloths do a good job of removing surface dust, dirt and grime. They're soft enough that they won't damage the vinyl and have their own grooves to pick up a lot of dirt and grime. You'd be surprised how well they work.
Pinching the record is never good, at all, even if it's done by extremely small amount, because you drop your stylus into the lead-in groove when you start your playback and the stylus will pick that oil from your fingers in the lead-in groove.
Hey GI - on point 9 - when I was a teenager in the mid 60s - early 70s my friends and I would often buy albums just because we loved the cover - we'd take a chance based on just the cover and it was great. We'd learn new band,s new recording crews, band histories, artistic designers, and often a whole new genre or sub-genre. You gotta take chances with this stuff - that's one of the great enjoyments of the hobby.
Love it! Discovering new tunes that way is the best.
Not to mention full size posters
you put out good Information not snobby very humble and us newbies really appreciate that ! Definitely a subscriber I’ve also bought a pack of outer sleeves and inner sleeves for the older records in paper
Thanks so much! Try to keep it real
I personally hate shrink wrap on records. I love hype stickers but find the cellophane to be intrusive in terms of getting the best look at cover art. What I do instead is carefully pull the jacket out of the shrink (keeping the shrink intact besides the one slit you mentioned), and then store it inside the record jacket. Best of both worlds.
I just move the hype stickers to a new protective outer sleeve. I also put other stickers on the new outer sleeve with infor on how and when I latest cleaned the record (Vacuum, Ultrasonic and so on). I've seen shrinkwraps continue to shrink over time and first warp the cover and in some cases even warp the record, so I never keep the shrinkwrap (Been collecting since early 70's). Another good tip, use an antistatic gun or Destat before putting the record into a new inner sleeve. It's so fast and easy, and often you really notice how much easier it slips in and out, and it seems like it holds the lower charge until next time you get it out.
Just getting into collecting, great info! You’ve got a subscriber!
Fantastic! Thanks for watching!
What I do, buy record, list it in Discogs Collection, open edge or remove shrink on gatefold, cut out any hype stickers from removed shrink, clean record on VPI 16.5, insert clean record in MoFi inner sleeve, put jacket in resealable poly outer or two resealable outer poly sleeves for gate folds with flap wrapping around spine so it’s readable on shelf, insert record outside of jacket, put a white sticker signifying it’s been cleaned and a silver sticker indicating it’s been catalogued on Discogs. Sometimes the shrink won’t survive insertion into poly sleeve as I have the spine at the sleeve opening and the shrink will peel back when inserted. If that happens I remove it and retain any hype stickers like a gatefold. I only keep the original inner sleeves if there is any unique info or graphic particular to the artist, the release or the label. I take the unused sleeves back to my record store for them to use along with any non resealable poly sleeves the record may have come in. I play claw hammer banjo so I usually a have a good fingernail to open shrink, but if it’s really tight I use the friction method by rubbing the edge rather vigorously on my jeans a few times until the shrink separates or is softened enough to let my banjo nail work. I don’t always have a knife but I’m always wearing pants. Not going all the way to the edges of the opening helps the shrink stay on the jacket when putting it in the poly sleeves also. Making any of these actions habit will prevent having stacks of records to deal with that could become a chore and therefore less likely to be done. I’m relatively new to Discogs and can’t tell you how important it is to start early and stay on top of cataloging new acquisitions. It’s a great tool, loads of fun to see the values, help prevent duplicate purchases not to mention insurance necessities depending on size and value.
Nice. This is pretty much my routine as well. I’ve invested heavily in quality inner and resealable outer sleeves and can’t overstate the important of a decent RCM. I’m a relative newcomer to Discogs, so have been adding 20-30 titles per night (now up to about 1300). Agree it is fun to see the value of your collection, and hopefully might lead to not having as many duplicates as I’ve managed to accumulate!
Nice can you come over and re sleeve my 2k just kidding.I use vinyl solutions best 4 mil outer sleeve no contest
Cool G. I, I only have a small collection like 300 albums. Big 70's and 90's music fan. I have everything in the outer sleeves and Mofi inners but, I haven't done the cleaning portion. Gotta up my game again. These thing's are high maintenance.
Indeed they are. Labor of love on every level. Thanks for watching!
My mistake when starting collecting was just like yours....I never put outer sleeves on them when I bought a record.
Thanks GI for doing these. I just bought a ultrasonic LP cleaner but haven't set it up yet. Hope it is as good as the reviews.
Lots of great ideas thanks. From someone who has just started collecting I have a question regarding storage. I finally have enough albums that justified a stand with 4 built in storage spaces. I only have like 45 albums total. Some are gatefold a few are special editions or like I can see in the background behind you is the fragile and fragile deviations. I placed all of my albums in the four shelves to kinda fill it out but there’s still a lot of room. In your opinion would it be bad if some are slightly angled? Again, just to fit and fill the shelves on my stand. Or is it better to have them all vertical as possible? Which would cause gaps and maybe an empty space. Just looks bad but I want to care for them. I figured having a 4lp gatefold leaning against a single album could be problematic. So I stayed away from doing that. But they mostly stand straight up but some are angled to fill the empty spaces until I get more. Thoughts? Any advice would be appreciated.
Albums being slanted a bit on a shelf isn’t gonna do any harm at all. As long as they are upright you are totally fine
@@NTXVinyl I appreciate the insight. Thanks.
Little did I know 60 years later I would still be into vinyl, especially after cds were introduced. My records are in excellent shape, the covers not so much.
I clean my records before I play them. I use a spray & a microfibre cloth. I have 200-400 records. I replaced all the inner sleeves with rice paper sleeves. I am about to upgrade all my outer sleeves with the clear MoFi 4 mil sleeves.
If I decide to remove the wrapper on a new album, is it worth cutting out and keeping the hype sticker? Does it add resale value? Thanks! I appreciate your videos.
Yes it does. Imagine for yourself, you see copies of an album in a store, they are both exactly the same but one is in the shrink with the original sticker on, to me that is more valuable anyway because its more rare to find on old records.
I like to keep everything that came with the album. shrink wrap gets cut on one end, if a gate, removed, folded (not damaging any stickers on the outside) and inserted in the sleeve. I also keep the record in a sleeve and outside the dust cover and inside the outside plastic sleeve.
9:52 made me anxious. 😲 lol
I generally never keep the plastic shrink on, just because I like to feel and touch the paper quality of the jacket. I do this with magazines too. I like glossy jackets for example. If the plastic shrink has a sticker on it with a logo or important information, I remove it and stick it on the jacket, for example, or the back cover. In most cases, here in my country, plastic shrinks only have the price tag.
I never leave shrink cut the hype sticker and slide under my vinyl solutions sleeve. Dual Flap with pocket
Just one thing I noticed. Most collectors now put sleeves outside but you have opening upwards, of dust falls from the air,surely this must leave more dust in your records over time. Keeping them opening up inside the sleeve reduces the risk of dust getting on the vinyl.
I have OCD about this as my wife often puts record sleeves in her records so the records just fall straight out,not the first time a record has landed on the floor from her collection.
I never keep shrink wrap on as it pulls on the cardboard cover, puts strain on the material and leads to glue seam failure (see below). Rather get a clear sleeve that fits more loosely. The protection aspect of the shrink wrap is made obsolete by using clear outer sleeves. I particularly like the dual pocket ones by the Canadian outlet. Even when I take record out of back pocket, the inner sleeve does not rub on the backside of the record. I use the ones without re-sealable flap, as any sticky material eventually will deteriorate. So just get the ones with foldable flaps. If the hype sticker is cool, I may cut it out and put it in the back pocket.
Another paper inner sleeve problem is static and records clinging to the inner sleeve. I see that mostly with brand new records.
I would use PVA glue for sleeve repair, rather than glue stick. It is pH neutral (good one at least) and what is used in book binding.
Agree on record cleaning machine. I have the ProJect version, pretty much the same as the VPI. It's not fully automatic (like the VPI) and takes about one minute to clean both sides.
What you can do is tape the shrink wrap around the edges to keep it from shrinking. Honestly Ive never seen shrink wrap damage a sleeve though.
@@leon9021 Just purchased an LP from 1987 with original shrink wrap on it. The corners are deformed, bent towards the center. Shrink wrap definitely damages covers, no question. Re taping, the problem is the pull of the shrink wrap over the face of the records. No taping can remedy that.
@@danielgeiger7739 I dont quite understand your description. When you keep the shrink wrap on its important to cut it so that it slides back easily, its not supposed to catch on the corners.
This means it can only pull the cover like you do when pulling a record out of the jacket. Never seen a sleeve with a permanent gaping pocket before.
Taping the shrink prevents it from shrinking, thats the point.
@@leon9021 NTX (and I would think most people) cuts the shrink along one edge, i.e., where the record slides out. So three edges of the shrink are still intact. Typically, shrink pulls tight over the record, so there is a pull from top to bottom of record. That leads to permanent deformation of the outer sleeve. If you cut the shrink along two adjacent edges, then it is floppy and will fall down. So best to just get rid of it, possibly save the hype sticker by cutting it out.
@@danielgeiger7739 I meant cut one side only. Never seen that cause deformation.
a word of warning about regluing seams on a record jacket, Put enough and just enough, otherwise glue can seep out, and stick to record sleeve and is frustrating to disentangle. I would recommend taking out the record and sleeve and glue without them in it. Also I would say from experience, that make sure the cleaning cloth you use, hasn't picked up anything abrasive from where you have stored it, happened to me and I actually scored my record!
I notice some of your records i see in the background, leaning, is that any concern?
Could I ask how you built your shelves? I’ll be building a new music room soon and want to ditch my ugly Kallax shelving. Maybe you could make building those shelves its own video!
Well….they were built in when we moved to this house. One of the main reasons I loved it 😀
I did redo all the actual shelving but that’s just wood cut and stained. The hard part was done for me
I am gonna do a video soon that will be a tour of my entire room, and will touch on this a bit.
The good thing about Kallax is there is no back and they are deeper than the albums so you don't get shelf compressions on the sleeves.
@@NTXVinyl I have seen some shelves with lighting. Will the light fade the covers/spines over time like sunlight?
@@sorrenjones548 I don't think so. Especially if we are talking about LED lights.
Best thing I ever purchased for my records was the Vpi record cleaning machine.
Would love one of those. Someday.
My simple cleaning method is to a) not buy any really dirty records and b) use a dry swiffer cloth on any ones that need a quick cleaning or dusting. Those cloths do a good job of removing surface dust, dirt and grime. They're soft enough that they won't damage the vinyl and have their own grooves to pick up a lot of dirt and grime. You'd be surprised how well they work.
Pinching the record is never good, at all, even if it's done by extremely small amount, because you drop your stylus into the lead-in groove when you start your playback and the stylus will pick that oil from your fingers in the lead-in groove.