A Very Special Christmas 1987 A&M SP3911 Precision Marcussen Gold Foil Press NM-

$

20

   For sale is A Very Special Christmas, originally released in 1987 by A&M Records in support for the Special Olympics. This record has the original gold foil cover that has the Keith Haring graphics which has become very rare and collectible.  In the dead wax between the labels and the last tracks is etched "Precision", "DMM" and "SM" along with "delta 18023", followed by the matrix numbers SH-1/SH-3. These etchings signify that this record was direct metal mastered at Precision Lacquers of Hollywood, California by Steve Marcussen, then lacquered at Sheffield Lab Matrix located in Santa Monica, California before an early stamper was used to make this first edition. These are hallmarks of state-of-the-art engineering, sought after by collectors and music lovers for their superior sound quality. I bought this used, professionally cleaned it on my VPI HW-17 machine and immediately put it away into a MFSL archival inner sleeve. This preserves the integrity of the insert(s) and any original inner sleeve(s) that may have come with the release. The inner sleeve is graded as Near Mint. The vinyl is visually graded as Near Mint Minus because of some very faint sleeve marks. I'm play grading it as Near Mint Minus with a hint of low level surface noise between tracks. The cover is graded between VG+ and Excellent because of a tiny tear along the back cover's opening along with a crease and a two stress cracks. The spine has a little color loss from a very minor corner blunt. This is the best copy of this album that I have ever seen or heard. You would be hard pressed to find one in this condition with the original gold foil cover. It's been played only on Audiophile equipment since I've owned it and still has a lot of life yet. This would make a great addition to anyone's collection. I have a lot more Christmas albums, as well as records of all genres, in my Ebay Store. Please take a look. They're predominately Near Mint. Thanks for viewing my listing.    I've been collecting records for about 50 years now and have always cleaned them and put them away carefully in plastic inner sleeves. Over the years I've used Dust Bugs, Disc Washers and have finally invested in a professional VPI record cleaning machine. Now that I'm retiring, I'm selling my very esoteric collection. I'm not a professional grader of records, but will use record guides, as well as my personal experiences as a basis of my grading all records. Since grading is subjective, I will be conservative. I offer discounts for multiple sales. Photos are of the actual item for sale, not a stock photo. Please review all descriptions and photos because I do not accept returns. Thank you for looking!