Collector Is The First Car In The Flea Market Lot, Pays $25 For A Stack Of Cassettes And Records, Then Comes Home With More Than 50 Vinyl Records

The alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., and by the time the gates opened the collector behind Forever Analog was the first car in the parking lot at the Nashville Flea Market. He hoped an early start would give him the first shot at CDs and vinyl.

It worked, though not right away. “This month, things got a little out of hand,” he says, because he went home with more than 50 vinyl records.

A Front-Row Parking Spot And A Kool-Aid Man

The Nashville market takes place at the fairgrounds once a month, Friday through Sunday, with vendors both outside and in. He takes the day off work to be there first thing Friday.

At the entrance a vendor named Brad recognized him from the videos and told him to check his booth. A giant Kool-Aid Man stood out front, which he took as a good sign.

$25 Buys Six Cassettes And Three Records

Brad’s cassette selection was great. He picked six: The Human League’s Crash, The Psychedelic Furs’ Midnight to Midnight, the Batman soundtrack, Bon Jovi’s New Jersey, and two Red Hot Chili Peppers tapes, Freaky Styley and Mother’s Milk.

He also took three records, Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare, The Cars’ Heartbeat City and Foreigner’s Head Games. “All of those cassettes and all these records together cost me $25,” he says.

They are bound for his vintage booth at Four Sisters Antiques, where he sells records, CDs and shirts.

Then A Crate Vendor Gave Him Nothing

Next came the vendor who always brings crates of records. He went through every crate and found nothing he needed.

That bothered him. A voice in his head said, “This is it. You finally found the month where you’re not going to find enough stuff at the flea market to even make a video.”

It was still the first hour, before the market had even opened, so he kept walking.

Fleetwood Mac, Dolly And Kenny, And Five Band Shirts

A vendor he knew had three more records that he could not pass up, Fleetwood Mac’s Heroes Are Hard to Find, Bryan Adams’ Into the Fire and the Dolly and Kenny Christmas album. He got all three for $30.

Inside, another vendor named Steven had band shirts. The collector bought a Sum 41 2019 tour shirt, a Blink-182 tour shirt, a Judas Priest Defenders of the Faith shirt, a faded Van Halen shirt and a Tool shirt from 2019. The five cost $70.

He prefers the worn ones. The Van Halen shirt has holes and stains, “and those actually sell the best for me.”

Six CDs For $15

CDs are his main reason for going, and at first the usual seller was not there. His partner was there, so he searched the tables and walked out with six: David Bowie’s The Next Day, a Gary Numan collection, Big Star’s Radio City, Soul Coughing’s Irresistible Bliss, a two-disc Sugar set and the DGC Rarities compilation.

He paid $15 for all six. The DGC sampler, with Nirvana, Weezer, Hole and Beck, is a cheap classic from the label.

He also left a table of CDs behind. Every one he checked was scratched, which he says explains many of the things viewers wonder why he skipped.

The Big Stack From Josh

The real payoff came from a vendor named Josh, who had records out. He built a “gigantic stack” and they worked out a deal at the end.

The haul read like a record store top shelf. It included a UK copy of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” single, Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, Queen’s Jazz, Journey’s Escape, Madonna’s first two albums, Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, Duran Duran’s Rio and The Rolling Stones’ Some Girls.

There were two prizes for his own shelves. One was a first-issue mono pressing of The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, still in its shrink and “not even a pop on it.” The other was a four-LP Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness box set.

The Math On 43 Records

He checked the box set on Discogs, where a copy would cost at least $80 to $90. Josh gave it to him for $60, and the price dropped further in the bundle.

All told, the 43 records from Josh came to $540. Add the records from Brad and the $30 batch, and he says the trip came to more than 50 records in total.

He also grabbed a Bowie Let’s Dance promo with a hype sticker for the first MTV Music Awards, and a Duran Duran copy with a “Hungry Like a Wolf” sticker.

A Casio TV And A Cigarette Radio To Finish

The last stop was odd electronics. He bought a Casio pocket television that appears never to have been used, plus a Camel Cigarettes radio to sit beside his Marlboro one.

With a third item that is a surprise for a friend, all three cost $25. “I’m not a smoker,” he says, but he enjoys collecting branded radios.

Tips For Your Own Flea Market Trip

His morning shows a few things anyone can use.

Show up early, since the best stacks go first and dealers are friendlier before the crowd.
Build one big pile from a single seller and bargain at the end, as he does with Josh.
Flip CDs over and check the backs, because scratches tell you the real condition.
Look up a record’s price history before buying, as he did with Discogs for the box set.
Keep walking after one empty table, because the good stuff may be around the corner.

His final thought sums up the day: waking at 5:30 a.m. is easy when you are going shopping, and it paid off with a pile of vinyl he had feared he would not find.

Vinyl and Velvet