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The Marvelous
Rating Details »
Categories: Music & DVD's, Musical Instruments & Teachers [Edit]
Neighborhood: University City208 S 40th St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 386-6110
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
6 reviews for The Marvelous
I went in here when I had 30 minutes to kill before I saw a movie at The Bridge. Its a small shop in the basement. There are a bunch of boxes with vinyl records stacked on either side of the entrance and to the main wall on the left hand side as you walk in.
It looked like they had a decent selection of vinyl rock. But since I"m a jazz junkie I headed over to the jazz vinyl section. They had a decent selection albeit limited in size. The prices weren't consistent with the shape of the albums. They had albums that were priced at 12.98 and 14.98 that were not that rare(One album had been recently re released on LP and vinyl) and had a bunch of scratches on them. Craziness.
The used/new Rock CD section again looked pretty large, but I was on the hunt for some used jazz CD's. Again, the used jazz CD section is fairly limited in size. But they did have a decent variety of jazz artists/bands. As well they had some albums on rarer/import labels at very reasonable prices. I managed to pick up a Chet Baker live CD released by a Danish label that is really hard to find.
Next time I"m in the neighborhood I"ll see if there's any other hidden gems here.
The Marvelous has definitely gotten a last better since my last review. They stopped carrying comics, and halved the music selection into indie, used, local and vinyl So now you can only find the things that are a little harder to find which is pretty awesome. And they have a knowledgeable staff who are friendly and definitely know their music.
But The Marvelous made their spot a lot more unique by making it more interactive. When they bought in the instruments, music accessories, turntables, and then some, they also bought in the people who are capable of repairing them. and they have had some interesting workshops like one for guitar pedal repair. They do offer occasional music lessons courtesy of some of West Phillys finest. But the best thing about the new Marvelous has been the fun shows that it has bought in!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/2/2007
Music and Comics are two of my favorite things. But even I was surprised when I found a store that… Read more »
First off, one must give it up to anyone who has either the gaul, balls, or lack of good sense to open a shop that sells both comics and music in an age where no one even knows how to read and music's illegally downloaded from the Net. That said...,
The Marvelous is pretty decent, if not quite "marvelous". I really appreciate a place that sells comics and their selection is good enough for the non-back issue compulsive buyer. No, you're not going to fill in the missing issues of your Rom: The Space Knight collection, but you will find a good selection of standard Marvel/D.C. fare as well as good independent books.
As for the music, if you're an indie rock fan, this may be more to your liking. Jazz wise, they have a ways to go but again, that probably isn't their target audience. A good place to hit up on the way home if you work at Penn and want some reading to do.
The selections are decent, but since losing the comics, I've felt no particular urge to go back in. I always felt the staff found customers burdensome, and tried many times to get special orders, none of which seemed to come in.
A great place to hang out and shuffle through rack of old vinyl on a rainy (or sunny) afternoon, The Marvelous is a business run by people who are more into things like graphic novels, comic books and great, rare music than, say, making a lot of money. To start with, I lived about a block from the store for almost six months until I even realized it was there, in the same shopping strip as Smokey Joe's and a Qdoba burrito joint.
But if you're into this sort of thing, or even if you're just curious about it, The Marvelous provides a very cool atmosphere, where the music is always great and the used CD rack always has something you've been meaning to check out.
Save the independent record stores!
My man Greg is a crate digger five star general. He's got more 45's than the Dodge City Museum... and Greg was saying to me recently how legit The Marv really is.
I've been going in and out for three years. The guys who run the place seem cool, but you can easily sense that they'd give your grandmother 10 bucks for your grandfather's record collection, before slanging it for thousands. Fine and good.
The Marvelous has the best vinyl in West Philly. The stuff is all premo, not crappy junk. They specialize in Soul, Funk, R&B. However, unlike the spots downtown, they also have proper sections in Electronic, New Wave, Surf Rock, and Rockabilly. You gotta love all that. Equally, the Jazz section in the back is humbling.
The prices aren't. Like most dedicated record stores, you're not gonna get a 100 dollar Incredible Bongo Band Italian pressing for 50 cents. What you will get is no junk. When people are new at buying records, they pick up crap. For $3-$12, you can guaranteed stuff... that worst case scenario, will hold better than half its value should you go to eBay.
The CDs are overpriced, but they do house some Indie Rock and Hip-Hop that you can't get just anywhere. I'm not a comic book head, but there's always people scanning their collection. Lastly, they have the music mags that Borders and B&N are too dumb and too corporate to carry.
I love The Marvelous, and no crate-digger ever lets his secrets out easily... but I want places like this to THRIVE. So, all that being said, if I see you grabbing my records there... it's trouble t-roy. kid-ding, sorta.
Quite frankly... if I ever marry up in the world, this is the kind of store I'd dream of opening.
