Were Columbia Promos From The Late '60s Ever Sealed?

I'm looking at buying a promo copy of a Columbia album from the late '60s with a timing strip on the front but am a little wary because it is sealed. I would think they wouldn't bother sealing it after the timing strip was applied because the record would be on it's way to radio stations, etc. Are there any sure fire ways to tell if the shrink was done at the factory, style of breathe holes or something, or is this just absolutely a re-seal?

 

Never saw one. However, Columbia (and others) used to seal the inner plastic bag containing the record.

 

I've seen that before, but mainly on records from the late '50s-mid '60s. The title is from the late '60s when Columbia wasn't doing white label promos any more but just timing strips on first pressing stock copies. So to reiterate, anyone have/seen a factory sealed Columbia promo from the late '60s or was that just not done?

 

I have yet to see a sealed promo Columbia LP from that time.

 

I have never seen a legit sealed copy of a Columbia promo with a timing strip. Or a legit sealed Columbia promo with a promo stamp on the jacket. Or a legit sealed Columbia promo with a white promo label. If it's sealed, it was sealed later.

 

That era of Columbia Promo LP discs with timing strips were not sealed. Records were in sealed plastic bags.

 

Even into the mid-'90s when I was doing radio, promo LPs from ANY label weren't sealed. If I ever got a sealed one it was an anomaly.

 

I concur. I've never even seen a Columbia radio promo with the cover in shrink wrap, let alone sealed.

 

Just saw this factory sealed (original hype stickers) promo copy on eBay:

 

Notice how the "Like a Rolling Stone" sticker looks aged and the other two look practically new. I wouldn't touch it.

Edit: Perhaps the "Like a Rolling Stone" sticker is the only one outside the shrinkwrap or maybe they came speckled like that. Still...

 

Wow. The bootlegging is good.

 

looks like this one is solved.

 

makes me wonder if "sealed" copies were exclusive to the radio station releases that included press kits, etc.

 

I noticed that too about the stickers. Above was a completed auction ($1600!) that I did not bid on but what made me think it is legit is this stock copy:

 

As a guy in commercial radio from 1971-2006, I seldom saw any shrinkwrapped albums, Columbia, or any other label.

 

Here's a legit sealed Columbia promo from '67:

 

Just going by the picture the shrink wrap with its puckering on the right hand side looks too modern, 50s, 60s, and early 70s shrinkwrap was much more brittle and would tear before it would pucker.

 

By the way, this was the record that prompted the original post:

 

Looks OK. A couple posters here point out things they feel mark it as non legitimate. The sticker & the shrink. The sticker is just undergoing bleed through from the glue. Thats very common especially on records several decades old, even if they've been stored stable, indoors. I have plenty of LPs with this bleed through on the hype stickers. The shrink is also aged and looks like many, many legitimate still-sealed LPs I've handled over the years. Depending on the life of the LP the shrink could have stretched a bit. There were hundreds of millions of LPs shrink wrapped in the US over the decades. The shrink used was far from uniform - or uniformly applied.

 

I vote somebody found a Dylan H61 LP with the hype stickers, slipped the shrink 'n' stickers off and slid it onto the promo copy.

 

And then resealed it?

 

It's hard to slide a 50 or hundred dollar bill into a promo album if it's shrinkwrapped shut.

 

Interesting. Mono? With a stock label too I bet.

 

I own "sealed" albums from the late 60's that have cut or punched corners (promo) and sealed shrinkwrap over the cut. I think there were stores or jobbers that were sealing these things and selling them that way. It wouldn't have been the record company.

 

Yep, mono and you're right, when this came out Columbia wasn't doing white label promos anymore.