The Otis Redding singles alone are worth more than the asking price.

$3 million for over 2 million records, many of them rare or unique now sounds like a pretty good deal. How do you cash in on that though is the problem; You can't very well sell copies of the songs, all you have is end-product rights and it doesn't sound like anyone is buying collectible records at all anymore.

Sucks.

Still, I bet he torches the place for insurance money and comes out ahead, that crying at the end of the video is just his way of creating an alibi now.

Sad that no one will purchase such an amazing collection,if just for the historical value alone.Why won't the Smithsonian or Library of Congress take it?Does it have to be a gift to them,not a purchase? If I had the money I surely would buy it!
Someone make Todd Mcfarlane aware of this,if he will pay 7 million for a baseball he should pony up for this!

We should all pool in and divde up the collection equally, then make CD copies of the all the records to be given out accordingly.

I got about tree-fitty to toss in.

I love this and am impressed by it, but I have one critical question.

If the collection is worth an estimated $50 million...

...and the current asking price is $3 million...

...and no one has given it to him yet...

...wouldn't that make the estimated value more like less than $3M?

I'm just sayin'...

/ I got a 7 year old car with an estimated value of $250,000
// I like this new math!

This is sad. This is like the chapter of High Fidelity left out of the movie where some coont wants to give away her husbands music catalog for free and Rob still doesn't take it.

I can't conceive of absolutely nobody wanting to buy his archive -- I would imagine the smithsonian, or a billionaire who would make a museum donation or something.

El Chode: This is sad. This is like the chapter of High Fidelity left out of the movie where some coont wants to give away her husbands music catalog for free and Rob still doesn't take it.

Well, her husband was cheating on her. Just sayin'.

Anyway, I am surprised no one has taken him up on his offer. $3 million for all of that? I can't for the life of me figure out why some of the Bay Area's finest (DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, etc.) haven't gotten in on this sort of action.

Although why on earth are they playing those records on a Stanton turntable? Stanton is a pretty crappy Technics knock off.

That's honestly one of the saddest things I've ever seen.

/Vinyl love.

I have a friend who had an enormous record collection. Not as big as this one, but still probably upwards of a million items including many very rare discs. He finally decided that it had taken over his life and he should find a new home for it. He approached several university libraries as well as the Library of Congress. He wasn't even wanting to sell it, just to find a home where it would be preserved and appreciated. All of them said the same thing: the cost of cataloging it would be more than the collection was worth.

Well, that really sucks.

If only I was a multi-millionaire, I'd snatch that up!

Glitchwerks:
Although why on earth are they playing those records on a Stanton turntable? Stanton is a pretty crappy Technics knock off.

In what sense? If I were him, I'd be more interested in a player that doesn't damage the medium rather than one with superior sound quality.

Record Rama is near Pittsburgh. I used to buy import releases there when I was in high school. If you were looking for something that was difficult to find, it was the only game in town.

People who collect things run into problems like this frequently. They spend years accumulating a collection of items, and are dismayed when they discover that their life's work has no actual commercial value.

Was anyone else afraid that this was about Joe Bussard? Not that this doesn't suck.

There is no real reason to not split up the collection - sell off the really highly valuable ones piecemeal, and then donate the rest to various colleges or city libraries.

No one really has the room for this is the problem, I mean his storage area is a record store.

I feel bad for the guy, but agree with Pronto above - the collecting is impressive but not worth the trouble. If he was doing this altruistically, then break it up and donate it.

I Like Bread: Glitchwerks:
Although why on earth are they playing those records on a Stanton turntable? Stanton is a pretty crappy Technics knock off.

In what sense? If I were him, I'd be more interested in a player that doesn't damage the medium rather than one with superior sound quality.

The Technics isn't necessarily going to have better sound quality, but it's built a hell of a lot better. I don't know that particular Stanton model, but they use a lot of belt driven tables. It does cause less stress on the record than direct drive, but these are priceless treasures...I figured he'd have something way more audiophile level, especially if just one record in his collection is worth around $10,000 like he said that Stones record was. You know, $1,000 turntable, $1,000 cartridge. That level.

This whole story is just kinda sad. There's so much history in there, and you know the dude is probably a treasure trove of information, and it just seems like it's going to fade away forever. Of all the useless garbage that people spend their money on, I can't believe no one will spend $3 million for something that's value is well beyond any price tag.

That was a really well produced mini-documentary..beautiful shooting, great editing, great pace.

Maybe this story will catch the attention of the right person....

Just think, he's got every one of the "Worst Album Covers of All Time" under one roof!

deadsanta: $3 million for over 2 million records, many of them rare or unique now sounds like a pretty good deal. How do you cash in on that though is the problem; You can't very well sell copies of the songs, all you have is end-product rights and it doesn't sound like anyone is buying collectible records at all anymore.

The collectible vinyl market is still very much alive and well, at least for certain genres. You'd be AMAZED at how much some obscure rockabilly, soul, garage rock and punk records go for. Thank you Ebay.

Shouldn't John Cusack look into this?

fark! I'm so jealous, anyone wanna borrow me a couple mill?