DSOTM, another UK 1st issue on Ebay

I'd love to own one of these, but the closest I could get was a mint 3rd pressing. I'm sure this auction will end at about 400 clams.

DSOTM UK Original

 

Ouch! Good luck in the future on this one MD.

 

My UK DSOTM appears identical to his except I've got " A-9 " + "B 8" respectively, stamped in dead wax...I had somehow thought that MINE was a first pressing ... don't know if i ever looked in the trail-off wax though, before today.

Can anyone confirm that seller's lengthy first pressing talking points memo?

 

WOS,

The solid blue prism has always been identified as from the first issue, as far as I'm aware, and that's usually the dead giveaway. Here's a link to check out, just as a reference:

Floyd Discography

 

Thanks for that link MobyD...

I've got the prism and inserts, no bar code, but going by the site you linked it's a 3rd issue. Are we using the terms issue and pressing interchangeably or is mine the 3rd issue of a 1st pressing?

This similar EMI matrix# thread is going on as we speak:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25870

 

Well...to be honest, this whole area seems a bit nebulous to me, but I have always assumed that a production run during a certain period is sometimes called an "issue" and/or a "pressing", with a similar idea in mind, and perhaps a faulty use of words. There are certainly many more knowledgable people around here than I am on this topic, but it certainly interests me.

To make things even more confusing, EMI's matrix numbering system has left me completely baffled. My copy of DSOTM would be identified as a pressing from the third issue by most sources, but the matrix suffixes are A-9 and B-10, which seem kind of low for such a blockbuster of an LP. My British pressing of WYWH was sealed in the black shrink when I bought it (which is supposed to identify a first issue), but the runoff reads A-6 and B-14. Double digits for a first issue?

BTW, what is it on your copy that identifies it as a third issue. Can you post any pictures of the label?

 

Issue, Pressing have been in use for so long it's impossible to get collectors and dealers to use anything else. But pressing is pretty meaningless as it implies a fixed time of manufacture - and there aren't any time stamps on (most) albums.

It's not possible to accurately date a pressing, but it is possible to see the lineage (i.e. to say B comes after A) and then piece together some rough dating based on memory and details from others. We anal collector types carry all this round in our heads.

DSOTM had a pretty short first life, before going out-of-stock for a couple of months. The auction up top is for what I'd regard as from this first batch. That doesn't make it rare - probably one of 5,000. I haven't seen enough to estimate the number of stampers in use for the first batch, but I bet it was a few sets. As few as two sets could press 5000, if you weren't being picky.

Actually, quite a few of these first ones are appallingly noisy, and were returned in relatively large numbers. One of my friends went through two before getting a quiet later copy.

In true terms, I'd like a first pressing to come from the first manufacturing run (uncheckable) and from the first and only set of stampers (somewhat checkable on EMI). If another pressing run is done, and nothing changes, you can't tell the disks from the first ones. (sometimes this second run could be several years later!)

Anyway, rest assured that some will think this is the best sounding DSOTM. Personally, I think the new reissue is better (but I wish they'd pressed it on-center...)

Mike

 

Mine has " A-9 " + "B 8" respectively, stamped in dead wax...That link refers to it as 3rd "issue."

 

Thanks for the info Mike. That certainly puts things in perspective. Rare or not however, I haven't seen one of these copies fetch any less than $300 on Ebay, and if the seller claims "NM", it's generally closer to $400 by the time the bidding war is over.

I've had more experienced collectors warn me in the past that a first issue copy isn't always desirable. For example, I know a fellow in England who tells me he's never heard a "Pink Island" copy of In The Court Of The Crimson King that wasn't fraught with pressing flaws, and suggests that the second run had more desirable results. Could all just be a matter of preference--I haven't heard enough yet to know.

WOS:

Here's a closer look at the 2nd and 3rd issue DSOTM labels (scroll down). I have the same label as the one on the right.


UK Labels

 

WOS:

That's the same label as mine. I forgot that the Ebay photo is not close up. If you look closely at that picture you may notice that the prism does not have an outline like ours, it is filled in with a solid powder blue color. That's the difference. If I can find a better picture of it somewhere I'll post it here.

 

You can see the first label more clearly here:


DSOTM UK Labels