I will declare a lower amount on the customs form for all countries so as to avoid/decrease high import charges.  However, in the case of the EU all purchases are subject to VAT which eBay collect at point of sale.  No shipping to Russia currently.

Black Sabbath : Sabotage 1Y1 / 2Y1 1st press Textured Cover / Meglomania 1975

This first Vertigo pressing plays with superb audio for the vast majority and there is only very minimal background.  There are no clicks or pops and only minimal light static on a couple of tracks as you can see from my grading below.  The clarity and definition of the audio is hugely impressive - great power and hardly any distortion.

The fully textured cover has been looked after so well with only minimal wear and there is certainly nothing obvious.  The original inner sleeve is in great condition also.

This first pressing has RECORDS & TAPES on the labels and the cover and 'Megalomania' is spelt as 'Meglomania' on the S1 label.  The cover is fully textured and it has a 1Y1 / 2Y1 matrix.

9119001  1Y//1 ST 1 1  7  STERLING

911001 2Y//1 ST 1 1  1 8  STERLING

The audio on S1 is Mint(-) (T2 Ex)

The audio on S2 is Mint(-) (T1 intro Near Mint / T2 intro VG+ for 4/5 seconds only / T4 Near Mint)

The textured cover is Ex+

The Plastic Bags... inner sleeve is Ex+

The labels are Near Mint-

Visual description

The vinyl is in excellent condition and still has a lovely glossy sheen with no scratches and only a couple of faint marks.  S1 has one small faint blemish on the first track and S2 has some fade 'spots' in one section also on the first track.  You can only see this when you hold the vinyl at a certain angle.  All this purely superficial as they have no impact on the audio and aside from that the vinyl is stunning.  I can only see 3/4 very faint hairlines.  The NEMS labels are very clean with some spindle wear but only around the centre circle.

Play grading

The 'warming up' section on 'Hole In The Sky' has no background and the intro plays with incredible power and depth and 100% clarity.  Osbourne's opening vocal is just as strong and it continues to play with phenomenal audio - I only noticed one minor tick but it's so quiet you could easily miss it.  The audio definition is so impressive and there is no distortion on the top end.  It has to grade as Mint- at the very least.

The instrumental 'Don't Start (Too Late)' plays very clearly to begin with but as it progresses there is a little more static (not loud though) and a couple of light statics towards the end.  Ex

The entire intro on 'Sympton Of The Universe' plays with stunning quality and this track demands to be played loud, the audio does not suffer for it!  The sonic quality through every vocal and instrumental section is outstanding and I cannot praise it highly enough.  Iommi's work is of course legendary but here it's just on another level, so deep and powerful with zero intrusion.  The acoustic section / vocal plays with sublime quality also and I have no hesitation in grading this classic as Mint as it just could not play with any greater precision including the fade out.

'Megalomania' again impresses on every level.  From the quieter opening to every high octane moment the sonic quality is superb throughout.  The clarity of sound is stunning and there is only very minimal inner groove distortion on the final section.  From start to finish there are no ticks, clicks, pops or static and Mint- is fair.

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The intro on 'Thrill Of It All' is so close to perfect with only a couple of barely audible static sounds and one mega quiet dull sound which is so much in the background anyway.  Once Iommi gets intro his stride the audio is stunning and there is only a minor amount of very light static prior to the first vocal.  The opening two verses play with impeccable quality as does the following instrumental.  The next vocal is faultless and it continues to play with STUNNING audio - the power and depth of the audio is undiminished.  The closing instrumental is 'as new' and it has to be said the vast majority plays to a Mint standard.  A couple of static 'moments' early on so I will grade the intro as Near Mint and the remainder as Mint

'Supertzar' has some static on the intro which is a little more obvious but only lasts for 4/5 seconds at most.  Still not loud though I hasten to add.  From then on it plays with a clarity and depth that is second to none.  The Chamber Choir vocal has never played better in my opinion as there is no distortion at all.  The intro is VG+ for those first few seconds and then Mint from that point onwards.

Another experimental number in 'Am I Going Insane' and it plays with imperious quality from start to finish with zero intrusion.  I cannot fault it, quite simply it is a stunning Mint version and that includes the creepy laughing at the end!

The segue into 'The Writ' is flawless and then the quiet intro is very clean with only the lightest of static for 2/3 seconds.  Osbourne's first vitriolic vocal is perfect and the next quiet section has barely any static.  The following three verses plays with sublime quality and it continues to play so clearly with no interference.  The 'acoustic' sections play very clearly and the vocal has only the bare minimum of distortion on it.  The high powered passages play incredible well and the closing instrumental is a case in point, superb audio.  Overall Near Mint is a fair assessment.

The 'hidden' track 'Blow On A Jug' plays clearly but with a few minor static ticks.  I guess Ex- is right but it's not exactly part of the album is it?!

The Cover & Inner Sleeve

The cover is in excellent condition with only very minimal wear, hardly any actually!  The edges are unmarked and the spine is in great shape with only a couple of tiny indents and minimal wear on the corners.  The top right corner is perfect and the bottom right one has only minor rubbing plus the opening edge has just one very small indent.  The front cover is so clean with one minor spot and a handful of the usual edge creases next to the spine.  The back cover is stunning with only 3/4 tiny 'specks' and a small corner crease bottom right.  This is easily one of the best examples of this 'different' cover that you will find.  What was Bill Ward thinking!

The poly-lined Plastic Bags... inner is in great shape with no side splits or marking and only minimal age related fading on a couple of edges and minimal creasing.

Play tested on my Rega P2 with AT-VM95EN Cart / Denon PMA-520AE Amp / B&W 684 Speakers

This record has been cleaned on my Pro-Ject VC-S machine

9119001  1Y//1 ST 1 1  7  STERLING

911001 2Y//1 ST 1 1  1 8  STERLING

I grade according to "Record Collector" guidelines.

Any questions please feel free to ask

Please pay within 4 days of auction end

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Postage & Packaging

I will only send items items worldwide via tracked shipping.  This provides 'peace of mind' in case of loss or damage.  The shipping costs are shown below and combined shipping is always offered.  Any over-payment will always be refunded.

The Royal Mail only insure up to a value of £250 so if an item sells for more it may be wise to use a courier service (e.g. Parcelforce or DPD).  An extra insurance premium will be required but I will not know the exact amount until the final sale price is known.  Because of this I will sometimes have to estimate the cost and this will be shown in the listing.  Please wait for the invoice before making payment and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.  Many thanks.

All vinyls are packaged in strong over-sized custom made mailers with plenty of extra cardboard protection.  They are placed inside separate poly-lined inners outside the cover so as to avoid seam splits in transit and then placed inside a PVC sleeve to provide even more protection.  I pride myself on my high quality packaging as my feed confirms and if any customer has any specific requirements I am more than happy to help.

The mailers I use cost £1.00 each and I will use anything between 3-5 cardboard stiffeners which cost approx £0.18 each.  There is also the cost of the poly-lined inner and PVC sleeve to consider, it all adds up!  Not forgetting that eBay take 10% of the shipping fee also!!

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REST OF WORLD (Tracked - Max 2kg)  

LPs/12" singles : £21.95 then £2.50 per extra

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