Minnesota State University Moorhead junior Travis Maier has been scouring thrift stores for obscure titles to add to his collection of vinyl records. Those hard-to-find records—The Doors, Led Zepplin and The Who—are always at the top of his list.

Maier is one of many people in the United States who collect these little pieces of music history.

Maier began collecting records after he got a good deal on a record player at a thrift store. He was "junk hunting" when he spotted a record including his favorite song, “Life’s Been Good” by Joe Walsh. Of course, to play a record he needed a record player. It wasn’t too hard for Maier to find the nearly obsolete electronic device in the thrift store. He hooked it up to his stereo at home. Next, all he needed was some good music. Thus, the hunt began.

Thrift stores gave Maier several records to peruse, but he found a treasure trove in a small shop in downtown Fargo called Vinyl Connection.

Inside the small shop on the corner of 1st Avenue and Roberts Street is a collection of music gems to rival any other. Owner and long-time collector Jim Deardorff shares his passion with Fargoans through his store.

Deardorff has spent years amassing his record collection. Most of his acquisitions come from trips he makes in search of items for his store. Last fall he visited New York, and he has plans to head to the Pacific Northwest this summer. Going on the trips are a gamble, he said. It’s often hard to determine what records his customers will want to buy.

The shelves in the basement of Vinyl Connection look like that of a museum. They are packed with artifacts of music history—most of them records—carefully organized in preparation to be brought upstairs and sold. But inside a room in the basement is Jim's “private stash.”

“This is stuff that’s not for Fargo consumers,” Deardorff said.

Deardorff estimates he has $150,000 worth of items in the room. He collects many things—toys and African masks he found on a trip to the Congo—but what takes up the bulk of the room’s space are boxes and boxes of records—and of course a price guide for valuable records.

Deardorff carefully lifts out a copy of “Introducing The Beatles,” opens the guide and points to a number in a column. The record he’s holding is worth anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000. And he owns more than one copy. Among the rarities in Deardorff’s collection are a collection of songs from Nazi Germany and Def Leppard’s first recording, a record with a hand-drawn cover that the band gave out to high schoolers after they played in a gym.

"It helps to be organized when expanding your collection," Maier said. He keeps track of the records he has so he doesn’t buy doubles.

“You need to start by identifying your focus,” he said. Maier favors classic rock artists; his favorite record in his collection is "Peter Frampton Live." While some new artists release records for collectors, Maier said when it comes to new artists he’d rather just buy the CD. His record collection is reserved for his old favorites - and sometimes a new discovery of an artist from the past.

“Sometimes if I see something that I like and something I’ve never heard before, I’ll get the one I’ve never heard before,” Maier said.

Other advice he gives to would-be collectors is to start small and make sure you have plenty of shelf space.

Although he can't afford every record he wants, Maier has been able to compile a collection of about 160 records that continues to grow every week. His collection isn’t in mint condition, but it’s worth plenty to him.

"I wouldn’t get rid of it. It’s a big collection and a good variety, so it has some worth,” Maier said.

Instead, some people choose to avoid records and opt for the cleaner sound of CDs. Maier said for a person to enjoy records, they have to appreciate the unique sound of a needle on vinyl.

"Listening to a vinyl is learning music history,” he said. “The music is more real—there’s no synth.”

Deardorff agrees, “Records have warmth.”