Guide to Hector`s list;

Howdy,
This is my guide to reading and understanding my list, it is quite simple once you get the basics
Unlike many people i don`t list items ALPHABETECALLY because that bears no relevance to which items came out first

I list things CHRONOLOGICALLY so basically the first pressing of an item will be listed first, where the exact dates are not known THEN i list things alphabetically
(OK, sometimes it won`t follow this exactly but it my list so handle it), last updated 30/04/04

The guide includes explanations of the following;
Test Pressings Color Vinyl Test Pressings Bootleg Test Pressings, updated! White Label Promo`s Promo Labels Promo Stamps Promo Stickers, (cd & vinyl) Jukebox Promo`s Stickers - UPDATED Inner sleeves/Lyrics inserts Inserts Long box packaging Cut-outs OBI strips

More to come

A typical entry will look something like this;

VINYL ALBUMS:

"KILL `EM ALL";
(release date, megaforce; 25/07/83, mfn; ??/08/83)

megaforce usa 83, first press with first label & lyrics inner (mri-069)

NOTES;
the first label lists sides 1 & 2, some copies do not have inner sleeves

Basically each entry has several bits of info, the above entry has the following info which is the standard layout for all entries for official items;

MEGAFORCE = name of the record label
USA = country of origin
83 = year of release
FIRST PRESS WITH FIRST LABEL & LYRICS INSERT = details of labels, inserts & other relevant info
(mri-069) = catalog number
NOTES; = other relevant info i.e. spelling mistakes, label variations, details on pressing quantity if known etc.

Records that i don`t have will be listed like this;

"HARVESTER OF SORROW", seven inch singles;

vertigo england 88, silver label promo with unique cover, album version (metdj-2)

polygram italy 88, jukebox promo with italian artist on b-side (as-5000-791) WANTED

I have the uk 7" but i need the italian 7", i know it exists as i know of 2 or 3 people who have it, I NEVER LIST ITEMS UNLESS I AM 100% SURE THEY EXIST, also every scan on this site is taken from my personal collection, i never steal images from other sites and would appreciate it if you gave me the same courtesy (i.e. no nicking, "borrowing" or whatever)
Occasionaly people email me images of items to put on here, i will credit the person accordingly

This list should be easy to understand and i am sure you will not have any problems, if you don`t understand an item or have a query just email me and i will try to explain

DEFINITIONS / DESCRIPTIONS / EXPLANATIONS

(a summary of some of the language used in the entries)

PART 1a, TEST PRESSINGS;

A test pressing (or "test press" or "testpress") is an early sample copy of a record done as a trial run to make sure there are no imperfections in the vinyl and therefore will play perfectly
There are a few companies that specialise in making test pressings, these are companies that make the original metal master plates that the vinyl is pressed in. At least fice such companies have produced Metallica test pressings including;

testing, testing

HUAPUAGE RECORDS, based in america
SPECIALITY RECORDS, based in america
MAYKING RECORDS, based in england/france
MPO RECORDS, based in france

Once the metal master plates have been made the company makes a sample (in between 2 or 3 up to 15 depending on how well they have done their job) of the record which is played to see if there are any faults/skips/mistake in track list etc.
(for example; the second lp from SAMHAIN, NOVEMBER-COMING-FIRE bears a pressing fault on the first batch, it skips on the intro track which will play indefinitly)

These test pressings are often scrapped, thrown away, given to the bands themselves or people at the record company or kept by the makers as personal copies
Most test pressings are limited to a few copies and are therefore extremely sought after by fans, not too mention expensive
The most collectable test pressings come from America, England or France

Some test pressings are a bit more common;

The ...And Justice For All (elektra usa 88) test press of the promo 12" is fairly common but can still fetch $100 - $150 in auction, many copies were sent out to radio stations across America in `88, i estimate there are between 100 - 150 copies

The ONE white vinyl 10" test pressing (vertigo england 89) of the picture disc is also fairly common and i suspect may have been considered as a commercial release at one point (instead of the picture disc), again, there are maybe 100 - 150 of these and have been seen priced around the $400 - $500 range although $150 - $200 is probably a more realistic price

Test pressings are usually done 4 - 6 weeks before the commercial release is available, this means that often a test pressing is the first copy on vinyl of that record!!
I am fortunate to own five such records, the first three of which are on the music for nations label, the last two on elektra;

JUMP IN THE FIRE, one of two or three copies known RIDE THE LIGHTNING, one of two known copies CREEPING DEATH, one of four known copies GARAGE DAYS RE-REVISITED, one of two known copies ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, unique single album test press

Why are the labels white?
The record labels will not have been printed at that point (and will be made by a different company) so plain white labels are used, white being easier to write on than most colours. It really is that simple!
(the only known exceptions to this is a uk `one` 7" with a yellow lable on side a & a blank blue label on side b and a copy of the Unforgiven 7" with black labels)

PART 1b, COLOUR VINYL TEST PRESSINGS;

Some music for nations & one vertigo test pressings are done on WHITE or even SILVER vinyl, these are test pressings of the picture discs (identifiable by their matrix numbers), They are done on light coloured vinyl so it is easier to see any imperfections in the vinyl (obviously imperfections on black vinyl will be difficult to see), all picture discs are re-issues so these won`t be the first pressings
two other releases have been done on colored vinyl as test pressings of the standard release, fade to black on green and jump in the fire on red

Colored vinyl LP test pressings are doubly rare as Metallica have never released any albums on colored vinyl

There are only eight confirmed coloured vinyl test pressings;

KILL `EM ALL - mfn uk white vinyl
JUMP IN THE FIRE - mfn red vinyl
JUMP IN THE FIRE - mfn clear vinyl
RIDE THE LIGHTNING - mfn white vinyl
RIDE THE LIGHTNING - mfn silver vinyl
FADE TO BLACK - elektra green vinyl
MASTER OF PUPPETS - mfn white vinyl
ONE - vertigo 10" white vinyl

PART 1c, "BOOTLEG" TEST PRESSINGS;

Obviously a bootleg test pressing is not worth nearly as much as an original test press as many more are available, fortunately there are only a few known examples of fake test pressings;

BRAZILIAN `TESTS` - first 3 albums on RGE, first 5 albums & the one 12" on vertigo
these are all `faked` test pressings, the records are placed in hot water and the tops of the labels are peeled off, then mocked up stamps are used to add the record label name & catalog number - worthless - there have been many other records faked up like this so beware!!

jump in the fire, red vinyl 12" with hand-written label, often sold as "real"

master of puppets 7"`s, numerous coloured vinyls, available with two different "white" labels, extremely common but still collectable

...and justice for all;
metallica;
load;
the above three albums are available as white vinyl albums, these are "test pressings" of the bootleg picture discs and are fairly common but can still fetch $40 - $50 - These last three lp`s have more recently been released as "promo" colored vinyl editions that are numbered, they are bootlegs obviously but still collectable.

Most of these items (with the exception of the brazil vinyl`s) are interesting to a collector but are not worth a vast amount

PART 2a, WHITE LABEL PROMO;

THIS MEANS EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS!!
The label is white and it says promo on it, many people do not realise this fact and list dozens of records as "white label promos! without ever seeing the records in question

Metallica printed a discograohy in "SO WHAT!!" back in late `94 (vol.1, iss.1 & vol.1, iss.2), unfortunately the guy who collated the information did a pretty poor job indeed. It appears this collector (Pat o`Conner i think) knew quite a lot about Metallica records but he appears to have Guestimated a lot of the info

Over the years many people have assumed (wrongly) that because Metallica printed this information that it must be right, There are numerous Metallica Discographies posted on the internet based on this information

PART OF WHY I STARTED THIS PAGE WAS TO CORRECT THIS DISINFORMATION

There are only four countries/labels that have ever produced a true "white label promo" from Metallica;
USA ELEKTRA; All the vinyl promo`s with the exeption of the "..and justice for all" album JAPAN NEXUS; the first (and only) releses, kill `em all & ride the lightning extremeley rare, i have only recently had the existance of these 2 records confirmed ENGLAND VERTIGO; several 12" & 7" promo singles (several other vertigo england releases have blue, silver or black labels) BRAZIL VERTIGO; three promo black album 12"`s, "enter sandman", "nothing else matters" & "nothing else matters"

There are only four countries/labels that have ever produced a true "white label promo" from Metallica;

USA ELEKTRA;
All the vinyl promo`s with the exeption of the "..and justice for all" album
JAPAN NEXUS;
the first (and only) releses, kill `em all & ride the lightning
extremeley rare, i have only recently had the existance of these 2 records confirmed
ENGLAND VERTIGO;
several 12" & 7" promo singles (several other vertigo england releases have blue, silver or black labels)
BRAZIL VERTIGO;
three promo black album 12"`s, "enter sandman", "nothing else matters" & "nothing else matters"

Many people automatically think; "promo record" = "white label promo"
Also many people mistake "white label test pressings" with "white label promos", a test pressing is much rarer

PART 2b, PROMO LABELS;
(labels meaning the labels on the vinyl)

These are records that have regular labels that have wording like;
"for promotional use only - not for resale" or "lent for promotional use only, to be returned upon request", or similar on them

There are only three countries/labels that have used the "promo label" format;

ARGENTINA VERTIGO;
All albums & the garage days 12", some copies also have a promo stamp on the back cover
BRAZIL RGE/YOUNG;
The first three albums, again some copies have a promo stamp on the back cover
USA ELEKTRA;
The "..and justice for all" album, this has normal labels with "promotional" wording on them, this also comes with a promo stamp on the back cover

PART 2c, PROMO STAMPS;

These are usually normal records but they have gold (or sometimes silver) "promotional use.." lettering stamped on the back cover
There are only four countries/labels that have used this "promo stamp" format;

ARGENTINA VERTIGO;
Silver stamps on the first five albums & the garage days 12"
BRAZIL RGE/YOUNG;
Gold stamps on the first three albums
CANADA ELEKTRA;
Gold stamps on the first three albums & the garage days 12"
USA ELEKTRA & MEGAFORCE;
Gold stamps on the first four albums & the garage days 12" (elektra)
Gold stamp on the kill `em all lp, whiplash 12" & ride the lightning lp (megaforce)

The Argentina & Brazil stamps are written in their native language, the Canadian is in english & french

PART 2d, PROMO STICKERS, (vinyl);

These are records or cd`s that have a sticker saying "promo copy only, not for re-sale" or something similar on front or back cover, generally promo stickers are not as expensive as the earlier forms or promo (a, b & c), due to the fact that you can`t always guarantee that the sticker is genuine (i mean the sticker could have been peeled off of another record/cd)

There are four countries that have used the "promo sticker" format on vinyl;

BRAZIL, VERTIGO;
all of the first five albums
ENGLAND, VERTIGO;
the unforgiven & nothing else matters 7" singles proper promo`s unlike the others in this section
FRANCE, VERTIGO;
one, enter sandman, the unforgiven & nothing else matters 7" singles
JAPAN, NEXUS & SONY;
the first four albums and the garage days 12"

All four countries have the stickers printed in their own languages

PART 2d, PROMO STICKERS, (cd`s);

There are three countries that have used the "promo sticker" format on cd`s;

USA ELEKTRA;
load, re load, garage, inc. & S&M
JAPAN, SONY;
pretty much every japanese sony release is available with a promo sticker on the back cover, usually this sticker is inside the case, Japanese cd`s also have four japanese symbols printed on the cd around the center hole
ENGLAND, VERTIGO;
nothing else matters, nothing else matters (live at wembley) commercial cd, wherever i may roam & most cd singles from `96 - `99 use promo stickers
re load, garage, inc. & S&M albums have similar stickers

the english stickers are bigger than most and often have lots of info on them regarding tour dates, album sales & forthcoming events/releases

PART 2e, JUKEBOX PROMO`S;

these 7" singles are less interesting than most of the other promo`s as their will be a lot more available, ""jukebox" means that the single was produced to be suitable for the old style jukebox machines this is why they have a large center hole in the center

A few of the jukebox singles however are more collectable;

ITALY; six different singles, especially the harvester single
ENGLAND; enter sandman single, very hard to find for some reason
MALAYSIA; two different Enter Sandman & the Hero Of The Day, recent discoveries and very rare

PART 3, "extra`s";

Some releases come with extra bits & pieces to make them more interesting (i.e. more likely to make you buy them), often they are re-issues to promote a hit album/single or to promote a tour. these "extra`s" come in several forms;

PART 3a, stickers;

In many countries releases come shrink wrapped, this means that any stickers are usually stuck to the wrapping so that many are lost or thrown away when the item is opened
Obviously this means that finding these items complete with the sticker is more difficult

For some reason the elektra promo vinyl releases have the stickers directly on to the sleeves, this means that 90% of them are complete with the sticker (and unstickered copies will be worth a bit less)

There is some argument about whether a record is a valid collectable with and without the sticker;
For example;
Many discographies list two different versions of the Megaforcs usa picture disc, stickered and un-stickered. From personel experience i estimate around 10% are not stickered, does this mean that they are a second press?...
well it seems that i keep seeing more and more so i have recently ammended the info on this item and have started listing two versions, it appears they ran out of stickers and still had some vinyl left, maybe 15% are un-stickered

What many collectors do is "upgrade" their collections, if you get a record in better condition or with an "extra" (sticker, poster, inner sleeve etc.), you replace the copy in your collection and sell/trade the spare copy

OK, now just to confuse you their are a few exeptions to this rule;
master of puppets, usa promo 12" single
The first pressing of this has a sticker and the matrix number; "st-ed-5139-a-SP"
the second pressing is unstickered and has the matrix number; "st-ed-5139-a-AR"

The first pressing of "re load" in japan had a sticker on the cover which said (in japanese); "first pressing with free stickers", inside the case were two small sheets of stickers
Later pressings did not have the free stickers or a stickered cover so there are two versions

The only other item which is frequently seen without it`s sticker is the fade to black grren vinyl promo 12", there are dozens or even hundreds of these 12"`s without stickers and many discographies list them as two different versions

Over the past 8 - 10 years i have seen about 30 - 40 of these 12"`s and on 90% of them the sticker is starting to peel off, what appears to have happened is that the glue used to stick them to the plastic sleeve is not very good quality and over the last 15 years has dried out causing the sticker to come unstuck

I estimate an unstickered version is less desirable and will be 20% - 30% cheaper

PART 3b, lyrics inserts / inner sleeves;

Again as with stickers many people list two versions of a record when in reality some of the records are merely missing the lyric sheet/inner sleeve
For example the megaforce "ride the lightning" album is listed twice on many discographies, with or without an inner sleeve
This is another case where you can simply "upgrade" your collection

Most countries release albums with an inner sleeve, usually the inner sleeve has the lyrics on one side and group photo`s & thanks lists on the other

The following labels/countries have inner sleeves;

1, USA, both elektra & megaforce
2, CANADA, both elektra & banzai
3, ENGLAND, music for nations
4, FRANCE, music for nations, some bernett & some N.E.W.
5, HOLLAND, roadrunner
6, FINLAND, mfn.unitor oy
7, "EUROPE", vertigo
8, SPAIN, vertigo (1991 pressings only)

Some countries release albums with a lyrics sheet, the record itself is housed in either a plain white paper inner or a clear plastic inner sleeve

The following labels/countries have lyrics inserts;

1, JAPAN, both nexus & sony
2, BRAZIL, young/rge only
3, KOREA, vertigo
4, AUSTRALIA, vertigo, first three albums

if the lyrics insert/inner sleeve is missing it will only make a small amount of difference to the value ($5.00 maybe) with the exeption of the japanese albums ($10 - $15 maybe)

PART 3c, other inserts;

Inserts generally fall into three categories;

1), Record label listings/label merchandise;
These are not very interesting and do not add anything to the value and little to the interest of a record as they have nothing to do with metallica, for example the Canadian banzai lp`s sometimes come with an insert listing other banzai releases

2), Metallica merchandies and/or tour dates;
These are more interesting and may add a little to the price of a record ($5), they also make the record a little more appealing. For example many M.F.N. albums in England/France come with an insert advertising t-shirts, badges etc. Some inserts have the europe `86 tour dates on them, There are several different versions

3), Metallica related items;
These are usually items that are unique to the record in question and will affect the value of a record should they be missing. For example the japanese puppets lp has two unique 12" x 12" mini posters

PART 4, packaging;

In some cases the packaging of the item can be worth as much or even more than the item itself;

PART 4a, longbox`s;

In america during the early `80`s to the early `90`s many cd`s came packaged in 12" high covers, some of these covers were made of clear plastic (sometimes referred to as "bubble packs"), and some were made of cardboard, The reason behind the packaging was to make a five inch high cd much more visible by making it 12" high as cd was only just replacing vinyl at the time.

Several Metallica releases were available with these card covers. These covers were often thrown away, damaged whilst being opened or cut up to use as mini posters on bedroom walls. This makes them pretty hard to find complete nowadays

(Longbox covers are unique to america)

several of these covers are particularly difficult to find today (highlighted);

KILL `EM ALL; twelve track version. available from `88 - `92**
KILL `EM ALL; ten track version. only available from `92 - mid `93
RIDE THE LIGHTNING; available from `84 - mid `93
MASTER OF PUPPETS; available from `86 - mid `93, 2 versions available
GARAGE DAYS RE-REVISITED; only available from `87 - `89**
..AND JUSTICE FOR ALL; available from `88 - mid `93**
ONE; three inch cd single in 4" wide box. only available from `89 to `90?
METALLICA; only available from late `91 - mid `93**

the copies marked ** were also stickered
so far the `Master Of Puppets` is the only release with a variation

PART 5, miscelanious descriptions;

PART 5a, Cut-outs;

Cut-outs are records which have been cut or drilled in order to indicate they have been sold at a discount price.
Cut-outs are predominantly a US phenomenon is used mainly by distributors to prevent dealers trying to return discount items for a full refund.
Some labels and even shops have used the same method to prevent returns. It has also occasionally been used to identify promos, which have been given away.

The term Cut-out refers to records which have been marked in a number of ways:

Cut: this is the commonest, a saw cut is made near the corner into the sleeve
Cornered: the corner is cut away diagonally
Drilled: a drill hole is made either near the corner of the sleeve or right through the vinyl (on the label)

History and notes;

Cut Outs were most common in the 70s and 80s, the practice has declined, but cut-out CDs from the 90s do turn up.
Some titles were dumped in huge numbers on the US market.
Shops buying cut-outs in had little control over what titles they got, so many music shops avoided them, this meant they surfaced in discount stores Etc.
Most Cut-outs in the UK are US imports, huge numbers were shipped over in the 70s and 80s, often at ridiculously low prices.

PART 5b, OBI strips;

I have only just discovered (from a Japanese website in fact) that `OBI` simply means `sash`.
`sash` basically means the same as the sash a beauty queen wears over her shoulder at a beauty padgent.
A sash has much of the information about the group & the album in Japanese as many Japanese people do not speak english.

Some obi strips are so hard to find that they can multiply the value of the cd many times!!

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