The Tiny Record Shop

I’ve been to a lot of record shop (around 100) and this is by far the best one I’ve ever been to. You won’t come to a better store to find rare records anywhere else. I went to 10 – 15 other record stores in Toronto and found maybe 1 or 2 records I was looking for. I came away with 10 – 15 records here alone. And rare first pressings.
Is it a bit spendier than your $ 1 bin 17^th pressing Led Zeppelin IV you found? Yes. But it’s also a rare first pressing in new or immaculate condition at a *very* fare price.
I’ve spent lots of money buying records on Discogs, but if I could do it again, I’d buy every record here.
Love this store and the owner loves music. You can tell in the way he gets excited about every record in the store. And that I ran into him at the Wolf Parade show.

After my initial shock settled from last week, I decided to give this place a deeper look today and re-​review. The shop is very tidy, staff are super friendly and the gift shop in the front gives my wife something to do other than nag me while I dig for records. The shop has a superb selection of used rare hard to find albums, many from the 90s. Also many from other countries, if you’re into that sort of thing.
The prices for many of the albums are very high compared to other shops in the city, and higher than most discogs medians. Pink Floyd Division Bell UK is on the wall for $ 200, discogs median is $ 103. Def Leopard Hysteria for $ 25 other shops $ 15. Ozzy Bark at the Moon $ 25. Pleasant surprise, AC/​DC High Voltage $ 15 or $ 12. I did find some $ 5 stuff today but not enough.
The owners try to defend the prices with a disclaimer in the shop description here. As a consumer, it is not fair to assume I will pay for any extra research or traveling or digging it took to find these records. If an album is generally worth $ 5 across the board then why is it $ 15 here? It is just too bad that some consumers out there are greedy enough to buy into this mentality.
Overall, after a second look I’d likely buy something here, but after alot of research. The friendly staff both times I have been in are great. Upped my rating.

The store exists in the back. I went there twice and thought it had closed. Limited stock, comparable Queen St. prices and worth a try for any obscure album.

Great «Tiny» store on Queen east. Gift store at front with a small elevated area at the back with an eclectic vinyl selection. You do find some bargains but most of the selections are overpriced. I guess that’s what you get if you don’t have the time to shop around. A copy of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane was listed for $ 30, most stores sell for $ 10. Neil Young’s On The Beach was $ 50, found it for $ 15 at another store. Syd Barrett’s UK Pressing of The Madcap Laughs was displayed on wall for $ 60, paid $ 20 for exactly the same album in west GTA area. Still would recommend shop for hard to find vinyl but do your homework.

Uninteresting and bland. Basically taking up the back part of a gift shop, this collection is truly tiny. In terms of selection, nothing really outstanding — the Joy Division on the wall is seemingly the coolest thing they have. Meh. Your usual flea market mix of domestic LP releases of 80’s dime-​a-​dozen bands and some basic dollar bin rock and jazz. No electronic or dance music to speak of, this store needs to start purchasing entire collections to cater to a more discerning market.

Love this place!!! So happy to have a store close by that sells vinyl. And I haven’t been disappointed yet each time I’ve gone in to peruse the jazz section. Yes the albums come with a heftier price tag then what you’d find if you were digging in the second hand vaults, but that’s the price you pay for someone else filtering the gems from the silt. Secondly, if vinyl isn’t your thing, they also have a great collection of gift items. I know I will be doing some serious Christmas shopping there. Check it out!