Collector's Issues

[Smallstone]

So this looks a bit like one of the 200 x 1st edition pressed on black vinyl versions of Touch me I'm Sick. But that onbody looks different to me than the brown vinyl versions:

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=017&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=270114459956&rd=1&rd=1

anyone know anything about this pressing? Dude who's selling it thinks it's gonna go for big bucks - Brown vinyl versions don't go for $500+ though - well the one I got didn't cost that much anyway.... Looks pretty mint to me - this sellers off loading rare schnizz here, and who's is that winning the bidding at the moment?.....

[Smallstone]

So anyways... this item went for £126 - which is a lot less than the seller seems to think it was worth and I got sent a 2nd chance offer thang as the dude had 2 for sale? Seems a bit odd. I had a few bids on it - I couldn't help myself
Seriously - anyone else here know anything about this item? Is it one of the 1st pressings black vinyl versions? It's just that the onbody is a different colour to the maroon/brown vinyl versions.

[brokenhands]

smallstone said:

So anyways... this item went for £126 - which is a lot less than the seller seems to think it was worth and I got sent a 2nd chance offer thang as the dude had 2 for sale? Seems a bit odd. I had a few bids on it - I couldn't help myself
Seriously - anyone else here know anything about this item? Is it one of the 1st pressings black vinyl versions? It's just that the onbody is a different colour to the maroon/brown vinyl versions.

AFAICT, that is one of 200 black vinyl versions of the first pressing of TMIS, set aside for promo use and Sub Pop office frisbee comps. IIRC, there were 800 on the rather sexier brown vinyl and then limited quantities on a whole run of other colours.

I also started bidding on a whim, really just to see how big a bid this one guy had laid on it. Anyhoo, got a second chance offer for my highest bid - £66.66! Obviously I snapped it up.

I'll let y'all know how it looks when it arrives!

[brokenhands]

Hey, I see what you mean about the onbodies being a different colour to the brown and coloured vinyl versions - those look flat-out grey rather than blue-grey.

Hmm... maybe I'll send it to Mark and have him cast his beady collector's eyes over it. If it is a fake I'll ask him to sign it with a "bootleggers suck" message or something...

[krsoere]

I think something is rotten in Denmark. All of us received second chance offers for this item. I just received a reminder from the seller again. Brokenhands picked one up and I bet ebayer spankinvinyl bought the other one. Something seemed a bit strange about this seller aftera while so I decided not to increase my offer and hoped that someone would bid higher than me. Something is not right about the color of the label. well I hope for brokenhands sake that I'm wrong and that you recieve the real thing and not a bootleg.

[brokenhands]

krsoere said:

I think something is rotten in Denmark. All of us received second chance offers for this item. I just received a reminder from the seller again. Brokenhands picked one up and I bet ebayer spankinvinyl bought the other one. Something seemed a bit strange about this seller aftera while so I decided not to increase my offer and hoped that someone would bid higher than me. Something is not right about the color of the label. well I hope for brokenhands sake that I'm wrong and that you recieve the real thing and not a bootleg.

Here's what I got from the seller:

Message from hazey_jane_records:
Hi, I have one more duplicate copy of this rare record which I am offering to the 4 losing bidders at their bid prices. It is in Near Mint unplayed condition and exactly the same as the one you missed out on complete with toilet labels on black wax, and I will sell it to the first bidder who clicks to buy it. Once sold I will have to withdraw the offer so be quick, the first one who accepts the second chance offer wins the record. Good luck HJ

Then, after buying:

Hi there - thanks for taking the 2nd chance offer and I'm pleased to say you were first, so the record is yours. I'll get it in the post this morning - thanks again! HJ

Hey krsoere, any chance you'd fancy trying to "buy it now" to see if he bites? If he does I will be cancelling that Paypal transaction and reporting his ass faster than you can say sweet young thing ain't sweet no more!

[brokenhands]

I'll take that as a "no" then

Well, it just arrived on my desk this morning and sad to say, I'm fairly sure it's a bootleg.

For one, didn't the original pressing come in a plain white sleeve? This arrived in a regular 7" paper sleeve inside a clear 7" bag.

And isn't there supposed to be the message "what does the word crack mean to you?" in the run-out groove? Well there ain' t on mine.

It is stamped "GOLDEN" (as in Golden Mastering) in the run-out but any bootlegger could have done that I suppose?

Meh. What's my next move?

[thumper]

I have a bootleg of Hunted Down by Soundgarden. I did't pay a lot for it. No matrix and thin vinyl. When I saw this copy of TMIS i knew direct it was a fake.(sorry to say)

[brokenhands]

Well, this is actually pressed on good thick vinyl (not heavyweight, but definitely not cheap crap) and the labels are very professionally done.

Anyway, thankfully the seller is being cool about the whole thing. Here's what he just sent me following my initial query about the lack of message in the run-out:

Hi David, I think you seem to know a lot more about this than me. I have a copy on yellow vinyl, brown vinyl and black vinyl. I have just had a close look at the matrix etchings in both the yellow and brown vinyl copies and they both have the 'what does the word crack mean to you' inscriptions on the non-toilet label side, plus a k disc etching, but the other black one, as you rightly pointed out, doesn't have these. I'm sorry I missed this info, I had no idea this was a bootleg, I thought it was a genuine U.S. Sub Pop pressing. The records came froma massive grunge 7" collection I picked up sometime ago. I have still seen only very few with these labels. Still, feel free to send it back to me and I'll give you a full refund, how does that sound? Of if you wish we could arrange a partial refund where you keep the record. It's your call. Cheers, Keith

Nice to know there are some honest types out there, eh?

[thumper]

Well do you keep it for $5?