collectors

This Weekend’s Events & More

There will be three record shows this weekend, two in Ontario and one in British Columbia, and two memorabilia collector’s conventions in Alberta and Ontario, also on Sunday the 17th of March, 2024:

The London Record Show will occur from 11am to 4pm at Centennial Hall and admission will be $5.

The nearest bus stops are a five minute walk away at the corner of Dufferin and Waterloo, which is serviced by Route 1. Consult London Transit for further details.

The Newmarket Record Show will be hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am to 3pm and admission will be $5.

The nearest bus stops are on the same street as the venue and a seven minute walk away at the corners of Crusader Way and Ordinary Drive. A trip planner and additional details can be found on the York Region Transit web site.

The Vancouver Flea Market will have a record show from 10am to 3pm and admission will also be $5.

The nearest bus stops to the venue are 51277 and 51353, which is service by route 022. Additional information on local transit to the area can be found on Translink.

Edmonton Collector Con will be at the Italian Cultural Center from 10am to 4pm and although general admission is $7 kids under 12 get in for free.

The nearest bus stops are 6152 and 6488, behind the venue on St.Albert Trail. And a trip planner is available at the city’s official transit site.

The Ottawa Nostalgia and Collectibles Show will be at the Nepean Sportsplex (Halls A and B/Entrance 3) from 9am to 3pm and general admission will be $7 until 2pm, the last hour being free. Children under 12 will be admitted free from 9am to 3pm.

This venue is located on a major transit route, the Transitway, and is regularly serviced by multiple bus routes at stops number 1652 and 1683 by OC Transpo. A trip planner is available on the official site.

Please note that cash is preferable but ATMs may be available at these venues for your convenience. And BTW, you can obtain 5000 bonus PC Optimum points on $50 Apple gift card purchases at participating Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores until Friday, March 15th, 2024. Details can be found on their official web site.

Enjoy

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Record Conventions This Weekend

There are quite a few record conventions this weekend in Ontario so I thought i’d give you a heads up :

  • Kingston, Ontario – The Kingston Record Show will be this Saturday from 10am to 4 pm at the Macgillivray-Brown Hall (218 Barrie St). Free admission.
  • Newmarket, Ontario – The Newmarket Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be this Sunday from 10am to 3pm at the Royal Canadian Legion (707 Srigley Street). Only $2 per person to get in.
  • Toronto, Ontario – The Flipside DJ and Vintage Record Show will be held at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen street West) from 10am to 4pm. Admission is $5 per person.
  • Windsor, Ontario – The Windsor Record Show will be this Sunday from 11am to 4pm at Villains Bistro (246 Pelissier Ave). Admission is $4 per person.

A Vinyl Comeback ?

It appears that more and more consumers are choosing vinyl over compact disc when if comes to purchasing physical copies of their music.

According to Soundscan, Americans had purchased just over 330 million vinyl albums last year and over 76 thousand new record albums were released in the United States that year.

Apparently many audiophiles are purchasing mp3s for their portable players and purchasing vinyl for their home stereos instead of compact discs because they believe vinyl has a richer sound. And although many bloggers have claimed that this opinion was subjective, the sales of vinyl records continue to rise.

Regardless of the technological debate, consumers have not dropped vinyl as a physical format like the magnetic tape formats (8 track/cassette tape). And compact disc sales are dropping so dramatically in the United States that many major retailers have either reduced or eliminated the retail space they had dedicated to the format.

On the other hand, many online retailers have created vinyl stores to fulfill the demand, including Amazon.ca & chapters.indigo.ca in Canada, and Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobleicon, CD Universeicon, DeepDiscounts.com & JR.comicon in the United States.

Yes, compact disc sales were still substantial at $225.5 Million dollars in the United States in 2011. But sales have slipped by 5.7% from 2010 whilst sales of LPs, digital singles and digital albums have grown.

LPs will not likely not surpass compact discs in sales anytime soon. But it obviously remains a niche product that is fashionable in certain circles, who also prefer the artwork found on LPs and 45s.

Compact disc inserts may be adequate to some but I personally prefer framing a LP for display if I am unable to find a poster of an album cover’s artwork. And I doubt that I am alone in finding the LP album cover more aesthetically appealing.

Many home audio systems and compact stereo units still include turntables but record players are available as separate components in Canada from Amazon.ca, Sears.ca, and Sony.ca.

TVO Documentary on Record Collectors

Just thought I’d bump an interesting documentary on record collectors called “Vinyl“, which will air tonight on TVO at 9 PM Eastern and tomorrow at 12 AM Eastern.

It is also available for viewing online by Canadians via the TVO web site.