Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE 3LP box (Update 1)

According to Hobbes, sold at $25 back in old days
(see his comment to this blog)

First of all, thank you so much for recent comments on some topics and private messages (PM) directed to me after the last blog was up on this site. I feel sorry for not being able to respond to most of them by posting new blogs, just because I'm having a flood of work that still pulls me away from blogging. Since I started this site, I've tried to write at least once a month (and did so). This time, however, I just couldn't do that. As a result, there was no update last month. Now I'm recovering from overwork, but I think I still need some time for restoring normal activity. Anyway, here's a short note in response to a recent comment and a PM regarding PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE from two fellow collectors.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Scranton pressing (Pressing Plant owned by North American Music Industries)

Through the 1970s up to early 1980s, there were three major vinyl-pressing plants, located in Terre Haute, IN (1953-1982), Pitman, NJ (1960-1986) and Santa Maria, CA (1963-1981), that served the US Columbia Records. So, most of vinyl copies of Springsteen's albums up to THE RIVER originate from one of these plants. As told in the last blog, however, the original copies of DARKNESS album have more variation with respect to where they are pressed, because the Pitman Plant stopped pressing operation temporarily upon strike until close to the scheduled release date (due late May 1978), which necessitated the company to find out substituting factories. In the May-27th issue, Billboard magazine reports that the strike ended May 17, 1978. The magazine continues that the full production is expected to resume by this week* and that the settlement will allow CBS to be able to meet demand on upcoming releases by Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, Boston, and Dave Mason (*May 27th is Saturday).

The overall label design looks the same between Santa Maria (left) and Scranton (right) pressings, although the stamper ring on the latter is far smaller than that on the former (but still noticeably larger than that on the Pinckneyville pressing).
 

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Pinckneyville pressing (Pressing Plant owned by MCA Records)

Still-sealed US vinyl collection of the DARKNESS album from my archive

Although one of the best sounding vinyls among his early original releases, collecting-wise, the US release of DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN LP (US Columbia JC 35318) has not been so attractive to me, especially compared to the other classic albums such as BORN TO RUN or THE RIVER. This is probably because it is a single album housed in a single pocket sleeve without significant variations, with the exception of the picture disc edition that is not commercially available and released solely for promoting the album in the U.S. market; the half-speed mastered LP (US Columbia HC 45318), another notable variation, is classified as a reissue - not an original. Nonetheless, there still exist minor but noticeable variations, for example, in the font size (large or small) and color (black or white) used for displaying track listing and album credits on the rear LP sleeve, respectively, and thickness and printing quality of the inner sleeve with a B&W photo portrait and the credits, as briefly mentioned here.

Collecting log: CHAPTER & VERSE 2LP Japanese edition. A real disappointing release, speaking collector-wise

The Japanese edition is found out to be just a simple repackage of the European release, additionally reproducing the rear sleeve as a slick insert for Japanese credits and information (see the enlarged image of the portion below). Note that vinyl discs are not originally protected by frosted inner plastic poly bags. Including such poly bags was normal for conventional vinyl discs released in Japan, though.

Collecting log: LAST AMERICAN HERO FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J., Japanese custom promotion-only compilation LP (reprise) — Information sheet originally included?

Never seen before this Japan-only extreme scarcity that is
accompanied with a 7-page info sheet from the company 
(CBS/SONY Japan)

Recently, this mega rare vinyl LP was up for a major Japanese auction site and the competition closed last weekend. The copy went to someone (not me!) who paid over $1,100 (129,500 JPY exactly) as a result of a cumulative total of 36 bids. It is interesting to note that this is the fourth copy of this custom promotion-only album auctioned off here that I saw less than a year ago. The first copy was put on auction last April in 2016 and the winning bid was 241,000 JPY with a cumulative total of 30 bids. The second one came out last June and was sold for 219,500 JPY, which involved total 58 bids. Late December last year, the third one was won for 193,000 JPY with total 44 bids. As far as I examined the images that were shown on the individual auction pages, these auctioned records were different, independent copies each other. I think this is quite a rare case that such an extreme scarcity suddenly emerged four times on the auction site within 10 months, taking into account the frequency by which it appeared on auction in the past and the limited copy number pressed back in 1978 (reportedly 100 copies, the unconfirmed number of which has been exported to the US; check the previous blog).