Collecting log: Mold disaster — a collector's nightmare

Looking nice outside but ... 
Some of box sets released in mid to late 1980s that I took back
 from parent's home to relieve from mold disaster.

As predicted on the previous post (on Jan. 18), I was extremely busy last month, which kept me from writing anything at all. Although still busy at the beginning month (April) of this fiscal year, I am gradually getting back to normal situation at work, and so was able to resume this blog. By the way, during this break, an annoying matter happened to my collection. Last month I made a few official trips and had a chance to make a brief stop at my parent's home where I have left many vinyl Brucelegs for space limitations in my current residence. Sadly, what I found there was that, while I hadn’t seen and taken care of them for some months, the jackets and sleeves of many got moldy! A total nightmare for any collector.

Inside the GRANDE FINALE 6-LP box set, there are unremovable stains
and blotches caused by mold/mildew on inner sleeves and booklet

These bootlegs are mostly European releases during the BORN IN THE USA World Tour and thereafter; most of vinyl bootlegs I have kept at my current habitat are those released before that era, as occasionally covered in the previous posts of this blog. Contrary to such old bootlegs predated 1980 that typically come in a slick or insert cover, many of these European bootlegs are housed in a deluxe, full-colored jacket or box that is laminated. So, it was not difficult to wipe up mold and clean up the exterior of a sleeve or box; however, I knew that it was impossible to remove blotches or stains, once mildew colonies have become established on paper stuff. Previously, I succeeded applying ink eradicators or chemical oxidants like diluted hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in erasing blots or stains, but only in a few cases (mostly white jackets like BORN TO RUN). It appeared that box sets were most seriously damaged by the growth of mold, which caused the development of many spots on the non-laminated interior surface of a box as well as inner sleeves, inserts and booklets.  Maybe I should have reminded myself that for my parents, these records are nothing more than mere vinyl and paper. Regret always comes after.

Anyway, for safer storage, I picked up five (that I could hold by myself; pictured above) from more than 10 box sets and brought them back home with me:

•  THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF (4LP; 09/08/1978) called my attention just because of the recent official live download. The best Agora show bootleg in the vinyl era.
• FOR TRUE ROCKERS (4LP; 15/12/1978) is a substantial upgrade of the classic vinyl bootleg LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND. Shown top right on the above picture is a sample copy of this coming in a blank black box, which was given to me as a bonus by a record retailer when I bought the regular copy from him.
• THIS GUNS FOR HIRE (5LP; 18/09/1984) is one of the best vinyl bootlegs from the BORN IN THE USA Tour in terms of both the sound quality and packaging. Contains four stage-shot photographs, indicating that this one is an early, very limited copy. Purportedly a US bootleg unlike many others from this tour that are of European origin.
• GRANDE FINALE (6LP; 02/10/1985) captures the final concert of the 1984-1985 World Tour, best known for its great package with the booklet listing basic information on almost all the vinyl bootlegs from this tour.

Glory days for vinyl boot collectors:
Mail-order bootleg catalogues from the late 1980s.

These gorgeous boxes made me think back to the flood of vinyl Brucelegs from Europe between 1985 and 1986. Back then, bootleggers not only continued to release concert live performances of BORN IN THE USA World Tour (I remember almost all of the 1985 European shows were bootlegged), but also revived old recordings while unearthing new materials for live and studio-outtake bootlegs. Therefore, I used to look around import record stores at least once or twice a week expecting a new title arrived there, even though I could not afford to buy most of them. With the increasing demand of unofficial records, mail order system of bootleg grew and flourished here, and import dealers actively issued catalogues of these vinyls specifically targeting bootleg collectors (yes, it was pre-internet era!). However, vinyl bootleg industry sank rapidly towards the end of 1980s and early 1990s with the advent of CD technology. Just remembering good old exciting days for a young kid collector.