Collecting log: Top 3 collectible acquisitions in 2019 (Part 3 of 3)

The final of the three parts of this subject reports last year's unexpected purchase of a U.K. 7-inch vinyl record which fellow "Boss" collectors often regard as a holy grail. So, this post may deserve the commemorable 150th to this blog which, since Fall 2014, has exclusively focused on Springsteen's official and unofficial collectibles, especially of vinyl pressings, in my private possession. There are still many missing, though, from my collection. If interested, here are links to Part 1 and Part 2.
 
#1: Sherry Darling / Independence Day U.K. withdrawn white label promo 7" vinyl (CBS 9568)

Unfortunately, the color sleeve is just a regular one, listing Be True correctly,
instead of Independence Day, as the backside track.

There is an old Japanese proverb "Early risers earn 3-mon" (where "mon" is an old Japanese currency unit), which has essentially the same message in English as "The early bird always gets the worm." This purchase was just like that and completely unexpected to me. One usual morning last November, I woke up early, just made a quick online survey, and found it being sold at an unbelievably low price. It was just 63 minutes after the seller had put it up on auction. So, luckily and most probably, I was the first and only one who ever saw it online. Needless to say, the copy was sent out here to the Far East, currently sitting on my record shelf.

Collecting log: Top 3 collectible acquisitions in 2019 (Part 2 of 3)

Here is the second post of the subject introducing a collectible 12" single from the mid-1980s, which is a part of the twin vinyls of two different colors (I got one years ago, but not the other until recently). Although the remaining one had long been on my want list, I never hurried to get a copy of this until I found a reasonably priced one (and I did last year). In my opinion, these unique releases would explain why vinyl records can still be a lot of fun to collect. If interested, here are links to Part 1 and Part 3.

Two colors are better than one. The rarer green version is now in my collection 36 years after its release in Mexico, the only Latin American country I have visited before in my life (just once).
 

Collecting log: Top 3 collectible acquisitions in 2019 (Part 1 of 3)

Well this is a little bit belated, but here I select last year's best acquisitions. In the first half of the last year, collecting-wise, it was depressing for me mostly due to the frequent frustrating issue caused by eBay Global Shipping Program (see here). In the second half of the last year, contrastingly, I was brightened by the unexpected acquisition of a holy grail 7" vinyl pressing (although I admit I usually don't put much effort into hunting 7" collectibles; see Part 3). During this term, I also obtained a few items that had long been on my want list but I just had not dug out (this post) or I had had no luck finding at a reasonable price (see Part 2).

The KBFH's 15th anniversary 5-CD collection includinig Springsteen's club performances in the early 1973: Left, the single disc release containing Bishop Danced (a recent acquisition); Right, the four-disc set with Spirit In The Night on Disc A (obtained long before).
 

Collecting log: The early 1980s U.K. vinyl pressings with "timtom" or "Ty" handwritten matrix inscription (Part 4 of 4)

This is the final part of a 4-Part series exploring U.K. pressings in the 1980s that are cut by mastering maestro Tim Young. In this survey, I have used his signatures, timtom and Ty, inscribed on the run-out area of a disc, as sole measure to identify his contribution to Springsteen's British releases. This is because in the case of non-U.S. pressings of Springsteen's LP and singles, actual master-cutting engineers are generally not credited on record sleeves or other associated printouts.

The five U.K. copies used for comparing matrix information.
From left to right, from top to bottom : a test press (matrix
number suffix 1A/3B) and four regular copies (1A/3B, 1A/3B,
3A/3B, and 5A/3B). Note that the last one came with a flyer
advertising the mega-hit 7th album, meaning that it is a mid-
1980s reissue.

To summarize so far, I was not able to find out evidence for his involvement in cutting 7" and 12" singles from any album but THE RIVER (see Parts 1 and 2). On the other hand, it was confirmed that he was involved in the production of at least the following four albums, BORN TO RUN, THE RIVER, NEBRASKA, and BORN IN THE U.S.A., during his career at CBS Studios in London from 1976 to 1993. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN* could be listed as well considering the original release year (1978); however, I have no evidence for that. A search on the Discog database also gave no results of the matrix codes containing or associated with his signatures for various copies of this LP pressed in the U.K. The last post (Part 3) explained the case of his involvement in the aforementioned former two albums. Here, the following report on the remaining two albums.

Collecting log: The early 1980s U.K. vinyl pressings with "timtom" or "Ty" handwritten matrix inscription (Part 3 of 4)

Happy new year! I tried to complete this topic within the last year but was just not able to have enough time to do so. Anyway, I'll continue to blog on my collection and hope all your collectors' wishes come true this year.

In my collection, the earliest example of a timtom-inscription, as shown in the inset on the upper-left corner, is found on Side 2 of BORN TO RUN (matrix number suffixes; -A4/B2) that was included in the 3-LP box set released in the U.K., November, 1979. However, his hand-etching was not found in the other two albums (the first two albums) also coming in this box; the same is the case for a later regular copy of BTR LP shown on the left (-A5/-B3).