I don't think that many (3 or 4) were ever turned up in one acquisition, which is my definition of a quantity find - at least 10 in one shot. The record has only surfaced from time to time
The only Fenton related label finds nabbed in lots larger than 10 at one time that I recall from the past:
JuJus (Fenton) probably 50, Tim had at least one 25 count box)
Legends probably 50, Tim had at least one 25 count box)
Mussies (25 at least)
In my heyday of tracking down bands for my "12 O'Clock July" fanzine, crica 1989-91, I too found quantities on occasion.
As far as Fentons go, I had two 25 count boxes of The Chancellors "Dear John" from keyboardist Jim Ovaitt. Any gem mint copy of that floating around probably came from that batch as I traded them often. He only had one extra on "One In A Million" but also ended up providing what I think might be one of the few copies of The Mersey Men "I Come Around/Give Me Time" on ETC.
The brother of a Mussies band member dealt me 15-20 mint copies of that, and I scored ten Legends from their lead guitarist.
The brother of a member of The Headlyters on Phalanx provided me with a 25 count box of their single, which I again traded frequently.
I also had assorted handfuls from other bands, such as the Rainmakers. I also used to get copies of Grand Rapids area 45's from a guy named Bruce Rizzon. He would come to the GR record shows and bring a handful with him each time. He had quantity on a number of lightweights like the Counts Of Coventry as one example but would also bring in Quests "I'm Tempted", Tonto And The Renigades "Little Boy Blue" and The Mussies on occasion. He also had many copies of the Bel-Aires "Ya Ha Be Be" on Discoteque. I am not sure how many but he always had four or five with him every time he walked into the show. He told me the story of how a big chunk of his record collection was stolen once upon a time, so he went through all of his remaining records and wrote his name on both sides of every one. At one point when he started to try to sell them, he took white out and tried to cover up the names because he thought the writing might hurt their value. He was a nice guy but very secretive. He rarely gave out his phone number and even if you did call, his wife would answer, ask who was calling, then say he wasn't there, and he never let anyone come over to his house that I'm aware of.
I see some discussion here about Bob Stricker. That guy was a first class asshole. Yeah, he sniffed up obscure bands and got info no one else had but he was a truly wretched individual otherwise. I never dealt with him personally, only through my good friend Tim Taylor, RIP, but we knew OF each other and I took pleasure in being a thorn in his side every chance I got.
My "Stricker" story concerns The Mussies. In doing the research for my article for 12 O'Clock, July I located original drummer Bill Johnson, who was living a paupers existence in a cement floor shack on the edge of a huge blueberry farm where he worked. He had some pictures I wanted to use for the article and I asked if he had any copies of the record, and he said he had three or four used ones laying around I could have. I mentioned this to Tim who without thinking mentioned it to Stricker, who immediately got on the phone, drove down from Saginaw to Grand Junction and bought the records out from under neath me for $25 each! I called Bill Sunday morning to confirm the visit and he told me how Stricker had been there the previous night and bought up the records. I went anyway and borrowed the pictures that ended up in the article (and elsewhere without my consent or permission but that's another story) although the interview was a rambling mess as Mr. Johnson was also rather "burnt out" and not a very cognizant individual. It worked out in the end though because a week later I got the call from the band member's brother and scored the mint copies, which I made sure to have Tim let Sticker know about.
Two different bands told me Sticker had showed up at their doorstep, unannounced, begging for records! I heard this from members of The Legends and The Aardvarks. They'd be sitting down to dinner with their family, suddenly the door bell would ring and there would be Stricker looking for records! Both guys told him to get lost and never dealt with him ever again. The guy's caustic personality cost him more than once by doing that crap.
Stricker's acetate machine didn't just crank out bogus garage discs. I have met other people who had acetates by mainstream artists, Rick Nelson as one example, that were sold as "one of a kind" items but were cranked off in his smoke ridden hovel. The most grievous example has to be the whole "Thee Unheard Of" scam because he did that to someone who spent a lot of money with him over a period of years and it just shows how devoid of ethics this loser was.
Anyway, my two cents on the topic at hand! Cheers!
