I'm one of those folks with a small vinyl collection (~75 albums? Like 25/yr since I got into it) and no turntable. I got into this during the pandemic when the

I'm one of those folks with a small vinyl collection (~75 albums? Like 25/yr since I got into it) and no turntable. I got into this during the pandemic when the quality mid-range tables were sold out everywhere for months on end so the available hardware option was either a trash-tier Crosley/Victrola player from Target/Walmart or some kind of hi-fi $1000+++ option which seemed like a lot for a newcomer to the hobby. I chose neither, for now, and I'm sure a lot of other folks without turntables are in that state for the same reason; there was no reasonable hardware to buy when the hype was at the peak. The big album art was/is the biggest draw for me anyway. I'm not an audiophile and streaming sounds good enough for my ears but a 1x1 inch album cover on my iPhone can't hold a candle to the full-sized album art in all its glory. Of course I wish they were more affordable, but in some ways the fact they're so expensive is almost a blessing because I don't have space to hoard albums like I would if they cost a lot less. If forces me to weigh the options more carefully and think about what I would really enjoy most having in my collection. I agree the music industry fumbled the trend, that much is obvious. But calling people like me "t-shirt collectors" isn't helpful for the hobby either; music or not, it's a badass art collection and I don't see a problem with approaching it that way.