calling all music collectors ....

i've been collecting CD's, vinyl, and cassettes for 3 going on 4 years now. new to the game. it started with buying directly from the artists at shows, however, not every band i listen to has represses or multiple copies up to buy from their websites. I talk a lot about a band called Name Taken. emo band from the late 90's, super awesome, and influenced many bands such as panic at the disco's band name (their song "panic"). anyway, I just recently bought a split cd of theirs with bayside, and an ep that is only really up on YouTube of theirs from eBay. pretty sure both are legit. they fall in a very niche category of music and these truly are hidden gems....

so, does anyone have any advice on things I should look out for when collecting? or starter advice in general. ways to find what I'm hunting for, how to take care of my discs, etc... in a way, id like to start showing off my collection but its not super big yet. sort of just putting it off until I accumulate more interesting pieces to share. 

Don't overthink "caring about your discs". So many elitists online will scream at the top of their lungs over the smallest things, SPECIALLY when it comes to vinyl. Honestly the most important thing is just keeping your tapes, cds and records out of direct sunlight and moisture. Also never stack vinyl horizontally, it WILL warp. CDs are by far the easiest thing to maintain because they don't rot nearly as fast as tapes or vinyl.

Clean your tape deck's heads (if you have one) from time to time, specially if you're playing really old tapes. 

Do not spend 1000€ on a record player, just get an used old technics for 100/200 and change the needle. No, cheap record players will not destroy your records either if you change the needle and properly adjust the counterweight. 

Always hold records from either the center or the ends, never the grooves in the middle. Quickly pass a microfiber cloth while the record is spinning to get any dust off before playing (it really doesn't have to be pristine).

When it comes to advice about where to get the things you want, it entirely depends on what you're looking for honestly. I collect mostly black metal so I imagine it's not the same thing as scene/emo/etc, but I usually either buy myself from labels, the artists themselves, discogs (which is a popular second hand music site) OR if I really can't find the release I'm looking for I will ask locals around where the record was released to see if anyone has any copies for sale or something - because with international releases it might be rare in your YOUR country, but where it was released it's relatively common. 
Even with the internet sometimes things work in bubbles like that. People who blindly bought a tape at a local show and didn't really like it but never bothered to sell it, people who dumped their collections at local record stores/thrifts intead of online/on discogs, etc...

I'll maybe add more if I think of anything

i collect mostly metal stuff but, aside from places like discogs, second hand sites like vinted and wallapop can be your saving grace if you live in europe. ive found a bunch of rare stuff there and shipping prices tend to be really cheap specially for vinyl lps

just always keep an eye out for bootlegs - theres nothing wrong with buying bootlegs of super rare albums but buy them from people who clearly state its a bootleg and sell them for bootleg prices. ive seen people falling for scammers on vinted selling bootleg tapes for like 50€ lol and i assume on ebay its the same thing

and if you ever travel abroad visit all the music shops you come across! ive found the most random rare shit for super cheap when visiting other countries or even just other cities in my country

Indeed that the broader your taste becomes, the more varied the paths to collecting it become, once you get into ''obscure'' releases, traditional record stores stop being enough. That's why you have sites for second hand articles like Vinted for example or you can join communities on forums or other websites (reddit very possibly) where they can share or sell. Local stores or monthly markets depending on your location. 

also dont wait for you collection to get ''big enough'' to show it off !! sometimes the smallest collections can have the most interesting pieces to catch someone's eye on the web, share that shit meu. 
When it comes to care, keep them in cool and dry spots, preferably store them vertically, watch out for the finger prints and the usual drills. Have funsss.