Collecting log: BORN TO RUN Japanese original LP with an oval-shaped sticker

Finally, the shrink-wrapped, stickered copy joins my collection. All the
others obtained previously are shrink-removed without the sticker.

As you can know from my blog title, I was born and raised in the Far East country of Japan, collecting vinyl and CD collectibles of my favorite artist for many years. So, you might assume that I own, if not all, nearly all of the official rare collectibles released here under his name, from major items like custom promo-only stuff from the 1970s and 1980s to minors such as cheesy CD-R samplers released in the current century (see the image below for some examples from 2007 to 2009). But, no, that is not true. My official vinyl/CD collection is rather limited in variety and far from perfection, still lacking this and that sort of major domestic rarities, whether promo or regular releases. Why? Although paradoxical, that is right because I live in Japan and have spent all of my life here (except for a one-year stay in the U.S.).

I've lost my interest in collecting CDs considerably
since CD-R became a main promotional medium.

Like many collectors, I was (and still am) attracted to overseas items that are often the mystique of something not of my homeland. In fact, in the first place, I started this practice by collecting vinyl bootleg imports from the U.S. (see 8/14/2015). On the other hand, I tended to rely on an unwarranted or unfounded assumption that I could somehow locate and get domestic collectibles at any time if I really wanted. In this way, my collection has been expanded to obtain mainly foreign official releases (and vinyl bootlegs) while I disregarded or underestimated Japanese products to a relatively large extent.

Although slightly discolored (but who cares?), the hype
sticker says that the album charted number one in the
U.S. without mentioning the source (i.e., Record World
magazine); it peaked at number three on the Billboard
200 album chart in October 1975.

Shown here is one of such Japanese collectibles I had tried to find but failed for years to add to my collection. This is the first issue of his masterpiece released here 47 years ago, widely known to collectors for its catalog number CBS/SONY SOPO-96 and the top red obi. Even in Japan, it's not easy to find pristine copies since many in circulation show ages with the white sleeve often spotted or stained here and there. Moreover, even if the sleeve is fine, the red stripes of the spine part of the obi are discolored mildly to severely, depending on storage conditions. Generally, red color is more prone to fading under sunlight or fluorescent light due to the absorption of higher-energy wavelength light such as blue, violet, and ultraviolet. You can probably find other examples of such discoloration on the spine of LP sleeves for NEBRASKA, HUMAN TOUCH, LUCKY TOWN (red lettering) and BORN IN THE U.S.A. (red stripe).

However, from my experience, the toughest one to locate and obtain is the shrink-wrapped copies with the oval-shaped hype sticker. As far as I know, the most recent case where such a copy (w/ sticker & obi) appeared here on a major domestic auction site was in late November to early December 2017 and fetched 67,691-Yen with 33 cumulative bids (see the table above; although the disc was a regular pressing, the auctioned copy contained a promo info sheet, which must have increased the final bid further). I don't know whether all or some of the initial copies were shrink-wrapped and stickered when they were first released here on October 21, 1975 (cf., the U.S. release date is August 25). Nowadays, the stickered stock copies are much rarer than the white-label promotional edition without the sticker. The white-label promo with the shrink, sticker, and info sheet is impossibly rare, although I've seen it once (see the table for the auction on December 26, 2013).

Upper left : The obi is in perfect condition, including the spine part, which generally suffers the most from discoloration.
Lower left : The label is rubber-stamped "Mi-hon-ban" in three Kanji characters referring to "Sample disc" (only on SIDE B).
Right : The regular stickered copy is much rarer than the white-labeled promotional edition without the sticker.

Last month, I searched for some information on CBS/SONY's stamper numbers on Google to write about the relationship between Asian and Japanese NEBRASKA pressings (see 4/17/2022). Then, surprisingly, I happened to come across a shrink-wrapped copy being sold at a used vinyl shop located in the northern city of Kyushu Island (the third largest of Japan's four main islands). Further to my surprise, it was not auctioned but available for a set sale priced at 2,800-Yen (circa US $22) excluding tax, one order lower than the final bid amounts of domestic auctions above. 

Not to mention, the copy is now sitting on my record shelf (and shown here). All I can say is that I was just lucky, and hunting rarities in this unexpected way is one of the best parts of collecting vinyl!

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Notes on the late pressing labels and deadwax

Even a barcode-bearing, very late issue comes with the hype sticker
as viewed in the mirror (This one is a Pitman pressing with the matrix
numbers G2C/G1C). See my thoughts on DARKNESS stickers posted
previously (8/24/2020 and 8/29/2020).

The DARKNESS label variation continues. Here are some notes for the U.S. late pressing, although I don't own as many copies as the early pressing. With the shutdown of the pressing plants in Santa Maria, CA (1963 to 1981), and Terre Haute, IN (1953 to 1982), in the early 1980s, vinyl releases after that from Columbia Records were manufactured at the old Pitman factory, NJ (1960 to 1986), and the newly launched facility located in Carrollton, GA (1981 to 1991). As the major differences from the early releases, at first, these late issues came in the sleeve with the small tracklist/white credit on the rear side, often accompanying the barcode on the upper right corner. Second, the inner sleeve is made of thin paper with poor-quality pictures. Finally, the discs do not carry TML-M or TML-S stamps on each side of the dead-wax space.

Left : An early Pitman pressing (see 4/23/2022). The label image is taken from my personal copy with SIDE ONE/TWO matrix numbers 1AD/2AA.
Center : A late pressing from Carrollton. Taken from my personal copy with SIDE ONE/TWO matrix numbers G2A/G2A.
Right : A late Pitman pressing with a "upside down" triangle symbol (printed on SIDE ONE label only). Taken from my personal copy with SIDE ONE/TWO matrix numbers G2H/G2F.

One of the late pressings (matrix G2A/G2A) in my possession comes  
in a stickered sleeve and is cut by Chet Bennett, as authenticated by 
the inscription of his first name on both sides (shown is SIDE TWO;
encircled with dashed line). Another hand-etching CBS GA refers to
CBS Records' plant in Carrollton, GA. 

As shown immediately above, the label design of the late releases (center and right) was further changed from that of the first Pitman pressing (left), which came out very late among the early issues based on the matrix numbers (see the previous post on 4/23/2022). The artist's name is reverted to the original single-line format (as found on Santa Maria and Terre Haute pressings; see 4/23/2022), while the album title is yet differently split into two lines. The sole difference between the two late-issue labels is whether an inverted-triangle symbol is present or absent, as mentioned previously (3/4/2018). Interestingly, among collectors circle, it has long remained unsolved what this symbol means or refers to (for example, see the long-surviving thread titled "Symbol on mid-80s CBS Records releases... ???" on Steve Hoffman Music Forums).

Chet Bennett's cutting (bottom) results in about a two-time larger
dead-wax width on SIDE TWO than that of the original pressing
mastered by Mike Reese (top). Another late pressing (middle;
handled by an unknown mastering engineer) also has a slightly
wider dead-wax than the original.

I don't know if there are more examples of U.S. label variations for the standard DARKNESS pressings, except for the audiophile releases such as old Half-Speed Mastered and recent Plangent-processed remastered reissues. A possible variant could be the red-label repress without the yellow Columbia rim, just like the very last pressing of BORN TO RUN LP (see 9/13/2015 and 12/18/2016). I have thus far not seen any such copy for the fourth album, though.

One last note: Although DARKNESS was originally mastered by Mike Reese at The Mastering Lab (as indicated by the run-off groove stamps TML-M and TML-S), another notable sound engineer cut the masters for the late issue. Chet Bennett had worked at CBS Records in the 1980s and redone some of Springsteen's titles, such as this and THE RIVER (see 12/22/2019 for his inscription on the DISC ONE/SIDE ONE dead wax). Bennett's pressings are easily recognizable, as he generally inscribes his first name on vinyl discs, and particularly for the DARKNESS LP, the SIDE TWO dead wax is considerably wider than those of the early and other late pressings (see the images on the right). It might be interesting to compare and listen to the two mastering engineers' sounds if you own both analog records.

— Back to Summary of the early pressing labels.