For every record collector there are always the holy grail albums, the ones that, usually due to their scarcity take on mythic status, affecting both the waking and dream state with their bekoning possibility of ownership. Since I started collecting about two years ago, I've amassed around 350 LPs, and a few 7" singles.

The most I've paid for an album is $80, for Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children, and it didn't even come in the original sleeve! The runner-up prize goes to the Flaming Lips' Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, at $75. Much of the cost goes into shipping, since in the 1990s, few records were pressed in the US, with more pressing plants still operational in Europe. Finding vinyl by popular 90s bands will almost certainly come from the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and interestingly, Japan.

Since I don't want to wait a month to get the 12" package in the post, I pony-up for faster shipping, ergo the expense. I got Pulp's Different Class, notable for its eight interchangable covers, and an obscure album by Tiger Trap, that had a very limited run. Sometimes I see an album in the used-bin I didn't know I wanted, which starts the obsession all over again.