Record fairs/best dealers for collectors.

[Unlikely One]

I spent a painful day today going to the record fair at Olympia London billed as a VIP event with worldwide dealers blah blah blah. Anyway having paid £45 for a train ticket and sitting on the floor I managed to get to London (is dead). Victoria tube line is down and there were some restricted services so it took an hour to get across town. No matter I thought....will be worthwhile. Well....what a load of bollox it was. A pretty halfbaked affair with loads of vinyl if you like Jethro Tull or want a lifetime record of Oi. There was nothing remotely if interest to an average Mox collector although a couple of the dealers gave me their emails and said they would have some stuff coming through. One actually ahd his son on the desk and had given him the middle name Morrissey as he was such a fan (which was nice but didnt help much!!). Anyway then it chucked it down and I spent another 3 hours on public transport slowly sinking into despair as kids played nintendos at full vlume and teenagers played shitty mp3s through their phones even shittier speaker. Happily survived to make it home and fondle a cd or two. Calming now.

Anyway question is where are decent record fairs in Europe and what dealers are good for real rarities. I know some might be loathe to give some details but positive experiences would be appreciated. ONe dealer had a homemade Moz cdr of a Eugene concert with minimal artwork for £12............................outrageous!

[beau]

I did Olympia a number of years ago and fared well. As selling online gets more on more popular, I fear the end of the record fair gets closer.

The best record dealers at fairs are the individual type, not the big dealer houses. These people don't always know what they have, and are more willing to wheel and deal, most of the time.

Collecting records used to be about hard work. Now it's about who can place their bid closest to the last second.

Don't despair, the needle in the haystack is out there, just don't toss in the towel because you didn't find that needle in the first haystack you looked in.

Birmingham NEC and Brighton Event Center have been good fairs in the past. I've heard Utrecht is good but have never been.

And while you're in London don't forget to check out Record & Tape Exchange, and the various shops on Berwyck St. Beanos in Croydon, too.

Patience, perserverance and luck is what I attribute my collection to. It didn't just fall into my lap one day. Thousands of hours perusing the classifieds in The Record Collector, 2AM phone calls to Great Brittan, cold-call emails and letters to sellers, networking, hours of driving from record store to record store to record fair, long flights from the US to UK and back, train rides from London to Brighton and Manchester.

[Inox]

Beau, you're right Utrecht is a very good record fair. It is twice a year (April and November) a lot of international record sellers can be found there. Like every record fair you have to go through a lot of records but I always find something. The fun of collecting is the hunting for the records! Last weekend there was the April edition of the Utrecht fair beside some interesting Smiths and Morrissey items I found an unknown ROTT promo CDr (it's also posted in this forum) and the watermarked ROTT promo CDr. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the Utrecht fair in November.

Take care, Marcel

[everydayslikesunday]

I also made the long and painfully trip to Olympia and I agree, what a waste of effort. I only went cos the dealer you spoke to who had called his child Morrissey was holding the Smiths Univerisal 2 cd boxset for me to buy. I met him at a previous fair and wasn't prepared to buy the boxset until checking to see if it was genuine (and a fair price). Did you manage to find any goodies? All I found was:

Morrissey - Let Me Kiss You uk promo
Morrissey - You are the Quarry display flat (it was only a quid)
Morrissey - Southpaw Grammer promo t-shirt, unworn.

If it wasn't for the boxset, it would have been a waste of time and money.

Personally, I prefer the smaller venues as you are more likely to find rarities at cheaper prices as the dealer is more likely to be an amateur. Late last year I got:

Morrissey - Alma Matters cassette
Morrissey - Alma Matters 12" (in totally mint condition)
The Smiths - What Difference Does it Make - Rough Trade cd single
Morrissey & David Bowie - Outsider Tour promo cd

And......

Morrissey - That's Entertainment - Dutch promo cd

All in mint condition, all from one dealer for less than the price that the Dutch promo fetches on dedicated Smiths/Morrissey on-line stores.

[Unlikely One]

There was nothing there that I was after. That dealer did mention he had sold the Universal set earlier in the day....to you I imagine. Seems like a nice enough guy and I left my email with him should anything worthwhile crop up. Bet his son is sick of him telling folk about his name though...poor kid! Dads eh??!!

[everydayslikesunday]

There was nothing there that I was after. That dealer did mention he had sold the Universal set earlier in the day....to you I imagine. Seems like a nice enough guy and I left my email with him should anything worthwhile crop up. Bet his son is sick of him telling folk about his name though...poor kid! Dads eh??!!

Yeah, I think John's a genuine nice guy. By the way, the Smiths Universal 2 cd boxset is lovely, just to annoy you!!

I certainly won't be going to Olympia again, it took us 3 hours to get there and it was never worth the effort. Plus London is crap when it's wet. Did you see the guy who had a smiths 7" record (can't recall which one) that claimed to be a promo with black labels but was in fact (or so it seemed) a normal 7" with the labels removed. Matbe it was a promo, maybe not, I certainly wasn't going to waste any money finding out.

[Cowshed]

Did you see the guy who had a smiths 7" record (can't recall which one) that claimed to be a promo with black labels but was in fact (or so it seemed) a normal 7" with the labels removed. Matbe it was a promo, maybe not, I certainly wasn't going to waste any money finding out.

This sort of thing sucks when you're at record fairs. It's at times like that when I wish I had print-out of Passions and Flax's site's to help me! Although the record fairs down here aren't brilliant, ok for the start of a collection but not rarities. Smiths stuff can be a bit varied (only ordinary releases though) but Morrissey's solo stuff is confined to Viva Hate and Suedehead.

[vivabob]

there is a record fair in glasgow next week ... in hill head , prepair for the rant if i dont get a negitive HIG

[girlunafraid]

there is a record fair in glasgow next week ... in hill head , prepair for the rant if i dont get a negitive HIG

Don't forget to pick me up 1 too ok? Oh & 'I Want A Boy For My Birthday' please, (any format will do btw).

love

Grim

[vivabob]

Don't forget to pick me up 1 too ok? Oh & 'I Want A Boy For My Birthday' please, (any format will do btw).

love

Grim

i'll try and pick it up in cassette single , i know its your format of choice ... since your mini-disc player broke down

[girlunafraid]

i'll try and pick it up in cassette single , i know its your format of choice ... since your mini-disc player broke down

aye it broke 1/2 way through converting my 8-track collection but I must say you could tell the difference in sound quality!

love

Grim

[vivabob]

well the glasgow fair consisted of one done in copy of this charming man and a viva hate CD for 12 quid ... waste of time (unless you like thin lizzy)