This image is of Steve Buscemi in the great film Ghost World. In it he plays an obsessive collector of old blues 78s. Buscemi’s character feels very true to life, but if you’re looking to see some actually real-life collector characters, you don’t have to go far. Pitchfork is hosting the movie Desperate Man Blues, about legendary 78 collector Joe Boussard, in its entirety for the rest of this week. And also you can stream the brand-new hip-hop record collector film Crate Diggers …A Love Story. I’ve not had time to watch all of it but it looks really well-done.

When record dudes and dudettes get together we often tell of our biggest scores. My most recent vinyl adrenalin rush was in the form of a pile of seventy-five singles I dug out of dusty piles in the back of the legendary Aikei Pro record shop in beautiful Holly Springs, MS. They were these amazing small label soul, disco, hip-hop and gospel singles for $2 apiece. Collectors have hit the place hard for years, but amazingly there are still all these cool records there!

Of course, a true collector never reveals his sources, keeping them close to her or his vest. I suppose that I go out of my way to make sure I’m not one of those super-obsessive record nerds. I’m just a mildly obsessive nerd. Krikey, I haven’t updated my vinyl want list in, like, three weeks!  —Dj Yeti