Hey, /wsr/, I've had a vinyl record for a few months now,

Also, if there would be a better board for me to post this, please guide me to it.

I've also already tried using a high power flash light to see through the packaging, but that didn't work very well.

just slit the plastic along the opening of the record sleeve. it's a bad idea to leave sealed plastic wrap on a record. the plastic tends to shrink due to changes in temperature and it can warp the record inside and damage the sleeve.

>>134042
Wow, thank you for responding. I'd never thought of the long term effects of keeping it wrapped. I'm going to open it right away.

>>134042
It's been wrapped since December. What do you think the chances are of it already being damaged?

>>134050
It generally takes quite awhile for any serious damage (that's why it's a huge risk to buy "new"/sealed records pressed in the 70's or 80's). Plenty of vinyl records will sit on store shelves for longer than that, so it's probably fine. You can tell if the record itself is damaged if it doesn't lay flat. If there are any crests or waves in it then it's warped which can be an issue depending on the severity.