Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: ALL THOSE YEARS — unofficial but the first retrospective release of a supectacular 10-LP box collection (Part 1 of 3)

Two copies are in my possession, with and without a limited serial
number. The first copy I got was a reissue without a serial number
at the JEUGIA Karasuma Shijo (烏丸四条) branch, Kyoto, in 1987.
It took a few more years, but luckily, I obtained an early copy with
a limited number in the 200s from a European collector at a much
cheaper cost than the original copy I first saw in 1984.

"It is the nicest collection of Springsteen material released anywhere, commercially or bootlegged."  Steve Reed (1984) 'All Those Years' a great set. Backstreets, Number 11 (Vol. 3, #3), excerpted from p. 23.

"The thoughtful choice of songs and all round excellence of sound, packaging and production makes this the ultimate in bootlegging."  Patrick Humphries and Chris Hunt (1985) Fire on the fingertips (Bootleg singles, EPs and albums). In: Springsteen: Blinded by the Light, excerpted from pp. 133–134, Plexus Publishing Limited (London).

"Most [sic] complete Springsteen set ever made."  Author unknown (1986) Section One: Non-commercial releases. In: The Bruce Springsteen Collector's Guide, excerpted from pp. 4–5, 1986, publisher unknown.

"The original vinyl version, which had also originated in Italy, had excited considerable comment in the wake of Springsteen's own disappointing three-CD collection Live 1978-85 [sic]."  Clinton Heylin (1995) Chapter 17. It was less than twenty years ago ... In: Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Reccording Industry, excerpted from p. 311, St. Martin's Press (New York).

It was forty years ago in 1984, and if my memory serves me right, before the release of BORN IN THE U.S.A. in early June (see 08/14/2019 on its release in Japan). It was when I was a university sophomore in a natural science course and often stopped by import record stores on my way home from the university in Kyoto City. Back then, two music stores, JEUGIA (十字屋) and YURINA Records (優里奈レコード), were major sites in the city's shopping district, where U.S. and European vinyl import discs, including bootlegs, were available (It was three years before Tower Records invaded in this ancient capital in 1987). On such a routine visit to the latter branch in Shin-Kyogoku Sanjo (新京極三条), I noticed a massive black box with an unusual thickness I had never seen before (only one copy and not in stock at the former store nearby). A brief Japanese memo was attached to the front of the box, which a store staff member hand-wrote, explaining it was a serially numbered, limited edition 10-LP set containing various live performances. That's how I got to know the legendary bootleg.

The retrospective box is the thickest (28 mm of spine width)
among Springsteen's bootleg boxes from the 1970s and
1980s that typically contained 3 to 4 vinyl discs.

Not only the box package, but also the retail price was out of standard. I still remember the price tag asking for 42,000 JPY (Japanese Yen), roughly US $180 based on the JPY-to-USD exchange rate 40 years ago, which would cost about $530 today (according to Inflation Calculator; https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/).   How the pricing was extraordinary is also known easily compared to the retail prices for official albums released in Japan back then, such as 2,500 JPY for BORN TO RUN (single LP), 4,000 JPY for THE RIVER (double LP), and 7,500 JPY for the later LIVE/1975-85 (quintuple-disc box) (Note that these retail prices were fixed under the Japanese system). Of course, the amounts were far beyond the affordable level for me as a university student, so all I could do was just to see when it would be bought by someone rich or a die-hard collector. I remember the box remained there for a relatively long while, obviously due to the incredibly high expense, but it was finally gone after several months.

From a bootleg catalog of a Japanese retailer around May 1987. The advertised copy was most probably a reissue because nothing was mentioned about the assigned limited number. However, it was still sold at 40,000 JPY (= $277; Compared to 1984 when this bootleg was originally released, the Japanese Yen strengthened much against the U.S. Dollar in 1987).

This issue also introduces Japanese collectibles.

Interestingly, rumors of this unprecedented underground release (to Springsteen) seem to have been widespread among bootleg collectors in Europe and the U.S. Although the carried information mostly turned out to be incorrect, the number 10 issue (vol. 3, #2) of the Backstreets magazine delivered an advanced report to readers in its "On record" column before Steve Reed, the reviewer of bootleg in the issue, obtained or listened to the box set. So, in the column, the bootleg was called THROUGH THE YEARS rather than ALL THOSE YEARS, although I don't know whether it was a tentative title or based on false information.

In his contribution entitled New Bootlegs Reviewed (page 23), Reed wrote: The last three months have been rather quiet on the Springsteen bootleg front — there have only been a handful of new releases, though the new album* certainly increase the number of these records once again. Most of the talk these last few months has been of a ten record set titled "Through the Years." It's supposed to contain a complete concert from the 75, 78 and 80 tours and sound quality and packaging is rumored to be excellent. It's a European release and we still haven't seen a copy — it's also probably the most expensive bootleg ever marketed: We've heard it's selling for something like $125, making it of interest only to the most serious archivist.
*Denoting what became his seventh album (BORN IN THE U.S.A.).

The issue says "Summer 1984," so all the article manuscripts must have been collected by early 1984 or earlier for the scheduled publication. After the hearsay of the box set, the bootleg column continues to introduce the then-latest two unofficial titles, BLINDED BY LIFE (2LP) and "LUTHER" (another box set of studio outtakes pressed on three colored vinyls, named after a popular Italian soccer player who is a big Springsteen fan). The anticipated box was fully covered in the same column of the next issue (Number 11, Fall 1984; see the quote at the beginning of this post).

— Continued to Part 2.