Is vinyl still desirable?

Many moons ago myself and a friend began a small vinyl search service for a few friends in a local pub, hunting down the records they either didn't have time to go find themselves or couldn't find.

We would search many places such as car boot sales, second hand markets and charity shops many of these places didn't really have a clue if something was worth Fifty pence or One hundred and Fifty Pounds so many bargains were found and profits made due to having access to resources for the price guides.

My own personal collection of vinyl was massing around three hundred LP's and 12" EP's and around six hundred  7" singles, many sought after by high paying collectors, along with my friends collection we amounted a stock of over Two Thousand LP's and so began a small market stall business, once a week we would brave the elements and stand at the stall dealing in our wares in the mid 1980's Vinyl was like gold dust.

Our venture didn't last long as we couldn't keep up with local competition but my love of vinyl lasted for many years from then on, unfortunately my whole collection was stolen in 1993 and I now only have a box of around 100 LP's and  a handful of singles non of which are worth anything to anyone, apart from one.

I was lucky enough to be the winner in a competiton on the official The Who website, my prize was a copy of a  limited edition (1000 copies only released) Live at leeds Ultimate box set which included a release of the original Live at Leeds on vinyl LP and summertime blues 7" vinyl single, an awsome prize for any Who fan, of which I am.


Since winning the box set I have put the box set up for sale yet havn't had much interest, the price I feel  is fair (£300 as the only other two copies available are in foreign countries and both are much higher price) and I would think that The Who and this particular release are a very sought after collectors item.

The lack of interest is what brings me to this blog, is vinyl still desirable in this technological age of MP3's ?

I know of some people who still collect, but I think that the desirability of a vinyl record is deteriorating, yes they are easily damaged and scratched (unless looked after properly) but what I loved most about vinyl other than the cover art, was holding that big piece of black plastic in your hands, watching the light reflecting in the grooves and that pop/click as the needle connected with the record.

There was something much more personal about a record, people took more care of them than they do compact discs for example, it was a proud thing to show off your record collection at one time now people look at you gone out, some don't even know what they are.

I hope there are still some who recognise the value of vinyl not just it's historical value but the knowledge it brought with it about the people involved in it's creation.