About two weeks ago, the family decided to go out on a rainy Saturday to hunt for that rare animal, used vinyl records. Now I have to tell you that this was both an odd nostalgic trip for me and an amazing blast for a family afternoon. Let me do a quick summary on the participants: middle-aged mom and dad who grew up in the 1980s when vinyl was still being sold in record stores; an early 20-something daughter who is totally into vinyl as a retro thing because her generation loves old school records; then early teen, youngest daughter, who is somewhat interested in vinyl since her virtual playlist does not cover all the music she likes. Off we went to the antiques malls hunting records. For oldest daughter, it was fascinating,, as she was searching out the punk bands of the 1980s in vinyl. She was so frustrated because she could not find the Sex Pistols, the Damned, or even the Ramones. I had to explain to her that many of those bands back in the day were considered heavily alternative and that you could not even find their stuff in the local record store. Growing up in Harrisburg, there was a converted gas station in Camp Hill that sold those records, and that is where everyone went. You paid a pretty price too if they were UK exports, so building up a collection was tough. For oldest daughter, it was a lesson in supply side antiques. If it was rare to begin with, then it is rare and expensive to find now. For youngest daughter, she is enamored with 1960s music. There are many choices, but not all of them sound very good. Scratched records and cheap later knockoffs are the issue. She loves Jefferson Airplane and the Mamas and the Papas. We found her examples but had to walk through with her why some were expensive and others were nothing in price. Then there was me. I found myself drawn to the rare bootleg albums that I never saw as a kid growing up. The vinyl that might have a rare cut or an oddball performance. And I will say that the record shop assuredly knows my kind of buyer, as those albums definitely cost me a song and a prayer to get. Again, scarcity of the market driving prices up. My wife enjoys classical music, and there, too, was an interesting phenomenon. I remember going past a trash heap and finding piles of vinyl classical records being pitched. This was about 20 years ago. Today, I am surprised by the strong prices for classical vinyl. As I found out, many of these performances have not been moved virtually, and so the vinyl is the only way to hear a particular ensemble. Therefore, our day out hunting netted about $100 in purchases between the four of us. It was great fun and actually kind of neat to go through vinyl with our kids looking at albums. If you are looking for something fun to do, I heartily recommend a day of vinyl hunting. Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.