Two and a half stars!
Revolver buys, sells, and trades CDs, vinyl, and DVD/Blu-Rays. Honestly, I'm surprised that stores like this still exist. Places like Best Buy, HMV, and Wal-Mart have been downsizing their stock of physical media for a while and the limited items that they do sell are at greatly discounted prices. Why would someone pay $10 for a used CD at Revolver when they could get it brand new at HMV for the same price or less? Not to mention that most people now get their music and movies from streaming services for a fraction of what Revover charges.
All of the negatives about the Bonnie Doon Revolver store apply to the Londonderry location as well. They do not separate their new and used stock - it's all crammed in the same disorganized, loosely alphabetized bins. They don't sell a lot of new music but the little bit they do sell is barely noticeable because it's stuck between mouldy, ring-worn Perry Como and Bing Crosby records that somebody brought in after their grandparents died. They do have a lot of vinyl here which is priced at around $15 each - on average.
The best deals on music here are on the 45 RPM (7 inch) singles. There aren't very many at this location compared to the Bonnie Doon store though. Once again, they're just haphazardly arranged - not separated by alphabet, genre, or condition. Many of the singles are just $2 each with most expensive ones being $5. I snagged a copy of Ace Frehley's "New York Groove" single from 1978 in pretty good shape for only $2 (Thanks, Revolver!). It seems that some of the things that should be expensive are cheap and vice versa. Unfortunately, Revolver affix the price sticker directly on the record sleeve (the PAPER record sleeve!), which is a big no-no for collectors. They had quite a few obscure vintage country singles too which were all sealed in protective plastic, so they obviously came from the estate of a collector. That's not to say that everything in the 45 section is a great find, but there were a few gems there.
As we move into the digital/streaming age, purveyors of used media are becoming a thing of the past and Revolver probably don't have more than a couple of years left in them. The best thing about used music and video stores is the possibility of finding rare and out-of-print items. When these types of stores are gone we'll be at the mercy of the eBay sharks, so enjoy them while there are still some around. Just be prepared to dig through an unsorted mess. read more