Collecting log: DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN Japanese white label LP with an extremely rare promotional booklet

These releases up for auction are accompanied with promo
pictures, pamphlets, booklets or fact sheets
(photos taken by the shop owner).

If you remember, last September I wrote about a local used record shop where various rare collectibles of Japanese pressing vinyls of domestic and foreign artists were reserved for a private auction. As for Springsteen collectibles, reserved for auction were extremely rare promotional releases of the first and second LPs, which are mostly known for the unique wrap-around and typographical-error obi, respectively, and the custom promo-only Killer Tracks 12" EP, as shown previously here. The shop owner had told me that he was planning to hold the auction at the end of 2015, which was slightly delayed and actually began mid-January this new year, ending on the first day of February. Towards the end of the auction, he uploaded several pictures of the auctioned items on his shop’s blog. Shown above are additionally uploaded images for the other Springsteen LPs that were up for the auction.

Really tough to find. Indeed, I've seen this only twice so far.

Because it was a kind of closed auction in which all participants were allowed to bid through e-mail or fax, individual bidders couldn't know how much amounts were raised (if any) by competitors for a targeted item. Then, after auction, the final bid amount for each item was disclosed only to a highest bidder to request the payment (The information on how to join the auction, as well as auction list, were given in Japanese on the shop's website). Last weekend (after three weeks of the end of the auction), I drove down to visit the shop again. While quite busy for packaging the auctioned items for shipping to winners, the shop owner kindly took time to talk to me. My main interest was, of course, the final results of the auction (i.e., what the final bid amounts are for these Springsteen items). Although he didn’t go into the details of what amounts were exactly paid by highest bidders for individual cases, from what he said, it seems to me that in most cases the amounts fell within the ranges as predicted in domestic market.

Various Japanese promo booklets and pamphlets following the
releases of HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN

Among the auctioned items, what called my attention most was a promo LP copy of DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (CBS/SONY 25AP 1000) with a 20-page Japanese booklet (pictured above) that was distributed exclusively for promotion purposes when the album was originally released here (July 1978). An LP copy with this booklet, or the booklet alone, is such a rare item that it is seldom seen and circulated even in Japan. In fact, this was the second opportunity for me to see it in my entire collecting career. Luckily, many years ago, I was able to get the one the first time I found it (which was shown on this blog previously).

Several colorful booklets and pamphlets have been issued in Japan for promotion of Springsteen's albums, but most of which are for the CD releases following HUMAN TOUCH and LUCY TOWN (Note that in Japan, TUNNEL OF LOVE is the last Springsteen album released in vinyl format and that no vinyls have been pressed since these twin albums). In the vinyl era, posters were a main paper medium for promotion of new releases and reissues. Actually, I cannot think of any other booklets but this one in terms of rarity and page volume, although the promo biography pamphlet included in the first press of THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE LP (CBS/SONY SOPL-239) is also scarcely seen.
— To be continued.