Happy New Year from the UMR! We are now entering our 14th year of the blog. This, along with the Unknown Vinyl Records blog, will continue to see heavy action throughout 2022, or so I expect. The Under the Radar blog has fallen into complete neglect as I haven't been pursuing new music and new artists as I once did (or at all really). Purple Peak Records, the record store arm of UMR, had its best year last year, and will also continue to subsidize the buying activities for my collection and these blogs. We don't sell online many of the more common - but in demand - items, as they do better at the record shows and flea markets that we sell at.
Coming into 2022, I still have the 25 cent LP haul to finish up. What's left is the newer material, that based on a quick sample, sounded like something I wanted to pursue further. That means it will end up here on UMR, either in the Commodity lists, or as a feature.
In addition to that, I never did finish the large thrift shop find of CDs from mid October. Plenty still to go there. I stopped primarily because my LP listening box became full very fast, and I needed to trim it down. Long way to go though...
And, perhaps the most exciting of all, is the $500 worth of LPs I dropped at a Baltimore record store while there on business this past December (real job...). Sort of a Christmas gift to myself as if I needed rationalization. They weren't cheap by any means, but priced below online market. All of them either are already in the collection or will be shortly, with a potential of a couple I might not keep.
On top of that, I've picked up some LP gems for my collection online, plus a couple of LP gifts from a good friend of the UMR. And there's some stragglers from the RT collection, plus even a few bootlegs picked up at a thrift shop several months ago.
And that's only to report on what's here as of Jan. 1 - all of which needs to get into the blog. What about new inventory? That might diminish some. The estate sales are pretty much off the radar because of the aforementioned new job that started Nov. 1 - I was just very fortunate to have most of the last 3 years with more freedom (they usually start on Thursday or Friday mornings, and I have no time for that anymore). Garage sales are going to be limited as well, except for Saturday and the odd Friday. I won't be as competitive at the thrift shops either, for the same reason. However, I can get over there after hours during the week, and grab some items. I'm pretty sure, for example, that the October CD haul would have been mine whether I got there earlier or later. Same with some items I buy strictly for resale at PPR (odds and ends that most folks don't realize are worth money). And finally, there's also the local record shops which, surprisingly, are reasonable (well, a couple are anyway).
On the positive side for the collection, I still work remote, and Mrs. UMR and I have decided to travel more, and work from different locations in the country (my boss is doing it too lol). This will open more opportunities that were lost to the estate/garage sales. Especially for the Unknown Blog, where there's no competition really. I mean, no one cares about unknown Country but us I think (lol). But usually they cost less than a $1, so it's good entertainment value. And already I've met some interesting people because of it.
What else? Well the usual online scores, though my want list continues to diminish. As for the UMR blog, other activity will result from the revisit-the-collection program. I've put in some planning around that, to ensure discipline. I really have too much stuff in the collection that needs to be weeded out. Especially albums I have multiple copies of. I started that project the last couple of weeks of the year, and already have weeded out many extra CDs that are now for sale on the PPR Discogs site (see link above - a few have already sold). But it's a very slow and meticulous process.
OK, that's it for now. Hope all of you have a healthy 2022!
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