Fans of vinyl recordings in State College may not be aware that there is a gold mine of low-priced records minutes from their homes.
The Garage Record Sale, 1011 E. College Ave., may not have a professional sign outside -- and may not technically be a real store -- but it's what's inside that counts.
The plain white building is tucked along the side of the Joy's Salon For Kids, and between its dull walls and faded hardwood floor, there are boxes upon boxes of used records.
"There are at least 40,000 albums here," said Jeff Mitchell, who helps run the garage sale. "It's pretty much a mixed bag -- you'll find jazz and rock and classical. Some sections are organized by genre, but three-fourths are not organized at all."
Despite the hodge-podge nature of the shop, which is only open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, there are deals to be found. Rare classics like Miles Davis' Bitches Brew generally aren't in the shop, instead housed at owner Mark Biega's boutique-style shop at Apple Hill Antiques. But there are many great LPs.
Last Friday, the selection included albums like Blonde on Blonde, Beatles for Sale and Thriller, among many others.
"Vinyl is definitely not dead," Mitchell said. "People will shell out -- they'll take the crowbar to the wallet -- for good-shape classic jazz albums."
The overflow that required this sale comes from an Internet auction of 50,000 records that Biega entered and didn't even expect to win.
"They called me and said, 'Guess what, you tied,' " he said. "I had to submit another bid, and so I did -- and lo and behold, I was given the responsibility of picking up 50,000 records."
The records were originally all collected by one person who had bought them over 40 years, putting them into every crevice of his home, including his kitchen and bathroom, Biega said. Moving them required three trucks and four people. While the records were being stored in the auction house he purchased them from, the collection was so heavy that the entire second floor was bowed from the weight.
Most albums are priced a dollar apiece, with a handful going up to $5 or $10, Biega said. Today, the store starts a 50 percent off sale to promote business, he said.
Mitchell said the store won't be around much longer and will probably close by the end of October before the heat needs to be turned on. The sale has been going on for about two months, and many good records have already disappeared, he said.
"There's a lot of records you'd find here that you won't find anywhere else," Biega said. "There's also a lot of junk."
One example of the former is the 1962 recording Midnight Special by Jamaican-American singer Harry Belafonte, which features the first official recording of Bob Dylan, who played harmonica on the album.
Other gems include albums like Skeet Shooting with Fred Missildine, Instructor of Champions and a Parakeet Training Record that reads "Your parakeet can teach itself to talk!"
Biega, who described the collection as "eclectic" and "esoteric," used to own a record shop on Beaver Avenue called Arboria that closed in 2006, he said. He now sells records at Apple Hill Antiques, 105 Gerald St.
"Vinyl people know there's a certain quality you won't find on other mediums," Biega said. "It's even more crazy considering one guy had all of these."
