The how to find things thread

[anortherncod]

Hello everyone.

I have just been spurred on to start this thread because it seems that many of us don't have all the Japan-related stuff we need, and I thought it might be an idea to have a thread recommending good shops (online or not) which could help people out with buying those hard-to-find items.

Here's mine:

www.xrecords.co.uk

Look forward to reading more!

Natasha

[heartofdavid]

Good idea!

I usually buy current releases and the easy-to-find stuff from Amazon or from the artist's website.

For more collectible type items GEMM is good - a bit costly but they're reliable, in my experience, and you don't have to put up with bidding antics that can occur on ebay. http://www.gemm.com/

My best finds have been at discount/used shops, or at record conventions - takes a bit of time and digging, and I don't always find something good, but once in a while I come across little treasures. What else I like about conventions is the memorabilia - tour programs, magazines, posters, etc.

[anortherncod]

Ah, record fairs, I forgot about them!

UK members should pick up a copy of Record Collector which lists fairs across the country. The two I frequent are TransPennine and Premier who are all across the North - especially good for vinyl

Natasha

[sisterlondon]

I have mostly found stuff on ebay. Sadly things that are cool don't go cheap, LOL!

There are some shops over here where I can find some cool stuff, mainly vinyl. But don't think they have sites. And same as heartofdavid, I got many things on record shows and conventions.

[heartofdavid]

There are quite a few record conventions in the Chicago area and surrounding suburbs - some are very small, 20 or 30 vendors, but still fun. I like the haggling aspect - most vendors are willing to make a deal rather than pack things up again.

[sisterlondon]

We have some scheduled record coventions over here, specially one held at a hotel some times per year, and the same about the one at a popular mall here. Sadly not too many things Japan related in there, though just a few times I've been lucky and found some nice stuff. In one of the latest there was a UK seller that had loads of good stuff. Pity it was all so expensive!

Then I also have a shop near that usually has most of Porcupine Tree stuff and sometimes some surprises (like the Indigo Falls cd that I had already got for a lot more on ebay!). The ownder found me the special edition of Fear of a Blank Planet (the RR one) and given that they were so scarce, it's just a miracle that such a small shop had 5 of them! He also sometime the vinyl version as well. Great shop for prog, metal, hard rock...

[Melaszka]

I'm afraid I'm the Jumble Sale Queen. You have to plough through a lot of Bay City Rollers/Bros/Steps/any other band that was wildly popular with pre-pubescents for about 5 minutes before dropping out of fashion, but you occasionally find real gems for knock-down prices (I once got the 7" of Japan's "I Second That Emotion" for the princely sum of ten pence).

This thread is a great idea - there are a couple of deleted items that I'm desperate to get hold of, and this has given me new places to look. Thanks, Natasha.

[anortherncod]

This thread is a great idea - there are a couple of deleted items that I'm desperate to get hold of, and this has given me new places to look. Thanks, Natasha.

Don't mention it!

We could also post when we've found some of these hard-to-get items as well, if everyone wants to... Last month I found a 3-inch CD single of Pop Song in Manchester's Vinyl Exchange for £15 - not bad, I thought, especially since they do student discount as well. VE is also on the Net!

Natasha

[S4pB]

Woah!!! Cool!
I can remember now I often stumble upon http://www.musicstack.com/ , but I hadn't purchase anything from there and never heard anyone did...
Former eBay store 'bunbun records' got a site at https://www.urabanchou.com/
and I saw early Japan stickers somewhere, but can't find the link right now...
I myself would be happy to get 'Japan' pendant, the one like David's in the late 70's, but they seem didn't survive the hard times...