We’re just about the 1 year mark of knowing about the pandemic and so much has changed during that time while much of it has stayed the same. For a lot of the world, the isolation has really taken a toll on people with folks trying to stay busy and creative to keep their minds off things. Traveling of course was a no go and even with shops locally being closed, the only way to get what we wanted as collectors was to order online or from the overwhelming number of Instagram sellers. As time slowly shifted and stores began to reopen, I realized that during this time, I never felt inconvenienced with digging. I still had local record dealers that would open up shop for private and by appointment digs, my comic shops where I would spend most of my time during the pandemic digging never seemed to fail as they always seemed to have new inventory all the time.
As with social media being a window into just about everyone’s lives, one could not help but to see all of the complaining going on especially in the record collecting world about everything from high shipping costs to missing out on a limited pressing record which made me once again realize that everything is amazing and no ones happy because everything isn’t in their favor. When it comes to digging and collecting, the thrill is always in the hunt but people have become so accustomed to things being right at their fingertips of ordering online or typing SOLD on an Instagram auction that no actual work is even needed. Honestly, I’m not a fan of being a crack fiend addict and waiting for sellers to post just so you can type SOLD and being beaten out by someone who was more of a fiend. I’d much rather sellers just put up an online shop and throw inventory up for people to buy. Waiting for a specific time that a seller say they will start posting just isn’t for me or for a lot of people who aren’t just sitting behind their computer or on their phones all day long. I love being the first in line to grab something but I also don’t mind missing out and knowing that I might have to pay a little more on the secondary market because it means that there’s always something on the want list. I’ve won bids and I’ve lost bids, that comes along with the territory of being a collector. But some of those same things I’ve lost, I’ve eventually found at much cheaper pricing that I was initially willing to pay. If it was meant to be in my collection, it will eventually find it’s way there and then I’ll move onto the next thing.
During this time though, I’ve really seen some of my favorite woman diggers going heavy in the field pulling all types of records and vintage collectibles. It always makes me smile when I see them in the field at flea markets and vintage thrift shops looking to see what they can discover new. There’s definitely no fun in sitting behind a screen and all the action is getting up, getting out and getting dusty which I hope a lot of the other collectors out there who aren’t doing will get back to in the very near future.