Beatles 1988 CD box questions

Hello,

This is my first post!

I noticed there's a lot of Beatles fanatics here, and I didn't see an answer as I searched the forums.

I have some questions about the 1988 rolltop box. I just picked one up.

Are there slight variances between the boxes?

My first question is about that little ribbon in the picture below. Did they all originally come with that? Also did they all orginally come with the Sgt. Pepper slipcase/cutouts? Mine appear to be missing if so.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-Multiselection-Box-Set/dp/B000002UU7

My box set is more like the one pictured below (no slipcase, no ribbon).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_Boxed_Set#mediaviewer/File:The_Beatles_Box_Set.jpg

Thanks!

 

The UK Pepper CD had a slipcase and larger book, & the box has a slightly larger space to fit it. The US used the UK box, but included US, non-slipcase copy of Pepper, and the separate jewel box version of the White Album, even though the box has the space for the fat box UK White. None of the ones I have seen or owned have had a ribbon. The 1st pictures show the UK box, the second one shows the US box. Note the difference on those 2 albums in the photos.

 

I never owned it, but I've seen several instances of the wooden box. The ribbon was there to help get the booklet on the bottom out.

In regard to the Pepper cutouts, when I bought the album in 1987, they were on the back of the longbox. There was no slipcase or anything else.

 

I remember specifically seeking out the separate jewel case version of the White Album back in the early 1990s when I was buying all of these CDs...for storage and aesthetic purposes, I DID NOT want the fat double-jewel box. I ended up finding it in Ames (anyone here remember Ames stores?), of all places...the ONLY place I ever saw it (besides my uncle's copy, and I've no idea where HE found it). I still have all of these '87 CDs...great memories! I always wanted to buy the box, though, as well as the singles and EPs boxes they released around the same time. Some day...

 

I bought the empty box directly from EMI around the time it came out. You could just buy the empty box to store the CDs instead of buying it full at least for awhile. It had the book but no ribbon. Since it came from the UK it had the larger space for the UK Pepper with the slipcase and the fat box slot for the White Album. I still have the box it came in as well. I use it to store all of my original '80s Beatles CDs.

Edit: I take that back, it didn't come with the book, I added that later - bought it from ebay.

 

Damn, I wish I'd known that back then, I would've done the same thing!

 

I only knew because I saw an ad in some magazine - Beatlefan, Record Collector? I can't remember which magazine but it was much less expensive then buying it full.

 

For me, by the time I'd learned of the box's existence, I already owned all of the CDs, so that was a pretty hefty cash layout for a teenager to buy them all over again (especially in mid-1990s dollars, when money was MONEY compared to these days).

 

ALL boxes were manufactured in the UK, so the ones sold in the US had the larger size spaces. The US discs (Pepper & White) floated around loosely in the larger spaces. The empty box w/the booklet went for $50.00, which is how I got mine (and stuck my UK discs in it, where they remain to this day. The tape, however came off the slats, so they are all totally loose, and keeping the box open forever is my only way to avoid total fall-apartness.

 

What you got was the US Pepper, which Capitol totally botched by putting the cut-outs on the longbox (the UK had them on a foldout on the inside cover of the book, also the printing of the B&W photos in the UK book was a zillion times better than the US--the UK photos had twice the detail, where the US ones were black smudges--they also messed up the color scheme of the individual pages, and shrunk the book to fit in a jewel box, instead of on top of it, under the slipcase). Apparently, Sgt. Pepper was not signifigant enough for Capitol to give it the special treatment that UK EMI saw fit to do.

 

Back in the early 90's, Tower Records sold the empty roll-top boxes for the CD and Vinyl sets. I bought both empty boxes. They did not have a ribbon of any kind, but they did include the booklets. Both came in cardboard boxes made for them. My LP roll-top still sits in a box in a closet, unused but the CD box has all my 1987 CDs in it, sitting on my collection shelf. I do not recall Tower ever selling the cassette roll-top box, because if they did, I would have bought it. I'll have to check the sticker on the cardboard box to confirm the price they were sold for.

 

The sad part is, that booklet was the equivalent of an Immersion box set (sans marbles) compared to the crap booklets and packaging we got with almost all the other albums (the White Album wasn't too bad). There's a reason I hold my 2009 stereo/mono boxes in high regard.

 

So basically, even 20 years later, Capitol was still butchering the Beatles' albums?

 

How much did the separate box cost? I found mine in a thrift store for $5 sometime in 2009 or 2010

 

See post #11.

 

Larry, do you remember where you purchased your box from? I've been in NY my entire life and don't remember seeing it sold anywhere, but then again, it's possible that I saw it and assumed it was the box with the CDs that were being sold.

 

Mr. Cheapo. The empty boxes were only orderable on the week they were released. After that, he was unable to get any more.

 

I found the CD box, with all CDs included for $100 at my local second hand store a few weeks ago. Its dusty but it looks like brand new. The jewel boxes have not a single mark. The discs look perfect. The booklet looks freshly printed, not a mark or crease. Bargain. And Sgt Pepper has the slip case and booklet, White Album is a fat case.

So it was my son's 16th birthday this week and he is now the proud owner of this box. He's from the mp3 generation of course and has never owned a CD before. He is really chuffed. But that's because he doesn't realize this box is 26 years old! Don't tell him about the 2009 remasters!

 

Holy crap! $50 seems really costly for the empty bread box. It is fairly well constructed, I guess

 

We thought it was cheap, as the one with the discs was going for $250 at the time, and I already had all the UK CDs.

 

I had the box sold I don't recall a ribbon...sold it off years ago.

 

It was nice, but the first 4 CDs sucked..

 

a great price! you did well...