Today, we bring you our vinyl collector of the day, Karl Aurand. Karl took the time to share with us his thoughts on collecting vinyl, colored variants, his most prized records, out of print records he would kill to own, records he would love to see pressed, and more. Thanks Karl for taking the time to answer our questions.
If you haven’t sent us your Vinyl Collector of the Day submission, what are you waiting for? You can find the questions at this link. Just email your answers along with a photo to me.
Please click the link to find out more about Karl.
VC: Your name and the city you live in.
My name is Karl Aurand and I live in Tucson, AZ.
VC: Do you catalog your records online? Where are they? Are you on the VC Message board? What is your username?
I catalog my records on Dead Format, the URL is http://www.deadformat.net/tradelist/Karl. I’m also on tthe VC message board, my user name is karlvsdauniverse.
VC: How many records do you own?
I own about 175 records.
VC: Why do you collect vinyl?
I think it’s fun and I enjoy the challenge of finding rare records from bands I Iike. Records are also more meaningful, personal, and have more value.
VC: What was the first record you remember purchasing with your own money?
The first record I bought with my own money was American Nightmare’s 4 Song Demo. I bought it at a Trash Talk show on Super Bowl Sunday in 2007.
VC: What is your most prized record in your collection?
The most prized record in my collection would be my first press of Lifetime’s Jersey’s Best Dancers on grey. My parents gave it to me for Christmas last year, I had been looking for it forever and was so happy they found it and got it for me. Not only is Jersey’s Best Dancers one of my all-time favorite albums but only 100 copies were pressed on that color. It’s such an awesome feeling knowing that only 99 other people in the world have one too!
VC: What release would you like to see come out on vinyl that hasn’t yet been released?
Ben Nichol’s The Last Pale Light in the West, the last three Cartel albums, all of the Avett Brothers’ albums that have not been pressed yet, and AA Bondy’s American Hearts would be awesome.
VC: What is the most you have spent for a record?
The most I ever spent on a record was $100 for New Found Glory’s From the Screen to Your Stereo on red. I took the buy it now on eBay the second I saw it because that was the only time I had ever seen it in the three years I had been collecting records. Someone in the UK listed it on eBay a few weeks ago and it went for over $200, so I definitely lucked out on mine.
VC: What has been your greatest vinyl score (least amount of money spent for a valued record)
My greatest vinyl score was my original press of Jawbreaker’s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. I placed a bid on it for $12 in the last 3 hours and ended up winning it, I couldn’t believe it!
VC: What out of print record would you kill to own?
I would kill to own a first press of Jawbreaker’s Unfun on clear and Brand New’s Your Favorite Weapon on white.
VC: What are your thoughts on color variants? Do you collect any artists in particular?
I really like color variants, I think it adds a lot more excitement to collecting records. It’s fun to try to find the rarer colors to complete a collection or just to have. If I could easily buy every record I wanted, collecting wouldn’t be fun. The only time I don’t like color variants is if there’s a lot of colors. For example, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me vinyl is such a nightmare because there are so many colors from different websites. It’s cool and all that basically everyone that wants that on vinyl will get it, but it’s kind of ridiculous at the same time. I also don’t like when there are a million pressings of the same record and they’re all on limited color vinyl. For example, No Idea seems to press the same record over and over again and on different colors each time. It’s cool that not all of the represses are on black, but it makes it kind of impossible for someone to collect every color because there are so many.
VC: Do you sell or trade records?
Lately I have been putting a lot of my records that I don’t listen to or like on eBay or selling them on Dead Format. I’m kind of more into getting full collections from bands I really like rather than having a lot of odds and ends from bands I kind of like.
VC: Do you have any good record stores in your home town? Which ones do you frequent?
We have Zia Records, which is cool because you can find records you want and not have to pay for shipping. We also have a record store called Toxic Ranch. Although I have never found anything too cool besides some Bouncing Souls and Chain of Strength records, one of my friends found Chesterfield KIng there!
VC: Your last 5 records that you purchased?
Bayside- The Walking Wounded, on clear
Weekend- Nachos Bleed, on white
Brand New- The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, on gold
Dangers- Anger, on grey
The Wonder Years and Fallen From the Sky split, on brown
June 30, 2010 
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