The Beatles: The Collection (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab; 14 LPs plus Artbook)
$
699
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Description
The Beatles: The Collection (14 LPs plus artwork booklet) MFSL-1
This is the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab release of fourteen LPs of The Beatles, remastered at half-speed. Except for one album (Magical Mystery Tour), these discs are based on the original British releases by Parlophone.
This is set number 20,919 in an edition of 25,000. When I purchased it in 1985, its price was $349.00. Except for the occasions on which I transferred the audio to reel-to-reel tape, this box has been sitting on a bookshelf in my home.
What’s in the box
13 albums on 14 LPs:
- Please Please Me
- With the Beatles
- A Hard Day’s Night
- Beatles For Sale
- Help!
- Rubber Soul
- Revolver
- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
- The Beatles (White Album) (two discs)
- Yellow Submarine
- Abbey Road
- Magical Mystery Tour (tracks based on the US Capitol LP release)
- Let It Be
Plus a book of artwork, with reproductions of all of the covers of the original albums (12" x 12", 40 pages). The artbook has a heavy paper cover over the glossy contents. On the inside front cover of the artbook is a “Certificate of Authenticity”, attesting that this copy of The Collection is number 20,919 out of an edition of 25,000.
And a Geo-Disc, a “precision cartridge alignment system”. Basically, it’s a 12-inch plastic disc with a grid that helps you to align your phono cartridge.
Condition
The 14 discs are in perfect condition. As far as I remember, they’ve been played only three times; each playing was done to transfer the music to reel-to-reel tape. Each disc is contained within a rice-paper sleeve, wrapped by a cardboard stiffener, and inserted into a white cardboard sleeve. On each sleeve is a picture of a tape, with a track listing for the album that is in that sleeve. Within the exterior box, the individual albums are stored in the slots of a custom-made plastic holder, which also holds the artbook and Geo-Disc.
But you’re probably more interested in what’s wrong with this item. There are minor flaws, none of which impact the condition or playability of the discs.
- The box. It looks very good; the hinges and latch (brass, I think) are slightly tarnished.
- The outside edge of the Help! album, near the middle (where the title is printed), is split. See the picture above.
- In the artbook, on the page of the back cover of the Revolver album, someone scribbled over the words “Revolver” in blue ink (see the picture). This damage was evident when I received this set, back in 1985.
- The box of the Geo-Disc shows definite signs of wear; and a small area of the right-hand edge of the box front, near the middle, is torn and crumpled (again, see the picture above).
If you have any questions about these flaws, or want to see higher-resolution pictures, just ask.
Shipping
This shipping weight of this item is approximately 16 pounds.
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