So this is the best haul I've seen in a decade or more.
I stopped at a junk shop out in the desert. Lots of tools, road signs, furniture, glass, pots, southwestern lawn art, etc. Lots of stuff in sad condition. This is not a curated antique market. An older lady runs the place, said she buys auction lots and resells them here. Inside was just piles of barely sorted everything, lots of shelves, and not far from the front door I spy records. I'm wary. They're stacked vertically and haphazardly. And I hate sand. It gets everywhere. She says these are $1 each, and has no idea what they are, so I get to sifting.
It's mostly hip hop and funk, but that ain't all. A bunch of it is VG+, in sleeves! Funkadelic, Mos Def, Sza, Kid Cudi, Earthgang, Bernard Wright, OutKast, Nas, Tribe Called Quest... There's a Cage the Elephant, Mac DeMarco, Fleet Foxes too, and a bunch of stuff I have no idea about.
But then I pulled out this. No protective sleeve, but I've got those, and it's pristine inside and out. No way does the Star Blazers soundtrack have any business sitting around a desert junk shop in excellent condition for $1.
I gave her $40 and didn't even bother counting how many I grabbed. No, I ain't saying where. I'm going back.
I thought it would be, but I've checked out the listing on Discogs. It's not hard to find or particularly expensive. It's the soundtrack to an older, very popular, classic anime. Usually anime soundtracks cost at least $50, plus like another $40 for shipping, but I guess they pressed a lot of these.
Japanese vinyl is usually more expensive because it doesn't get imported to the USA in large quantities, shipping is high, and it gives a certain allure to Japanese versions in general. Going by Discogs, there are about 40 listed for sale stateside and prices with shipping range from about $15 - 40. I expected a little higher, but I'm hardly disappointed. I found it in a strange place and paid $1.