BEATLES Help UK 1st press Huge Cover Error

	£		125
	$		166

Formerly mpsmith...

Hi, I am Mike, I have been a music collector for over 30 years now. My Ebay name has now changed at the request of Ebay for security - little else will change I hope, I will still try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find - I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any interested collector. You may notice I only submit one or two items a day for Ebay; time rarely allows more as I Play-Grade every record I offer (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story - I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. A ten pounds record that plays close to new is as important to the collector as a 250 pound record that plays less well. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. Good luck.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed. I also will buy quality single items or collections of original quality rock, 60s popular, folk, prog, psych and underground etc.

PLEASE READ ALL DESCRIPTIONS AND CHECK PICTURES CAREFULLY FOR ALL THE INFORMATION GIVEN. Pleae note I am unavailable to answer any questions until Monday evening.

Artist or Band: THE BEATLES

Album Title: Help!

Cat Number: PMC 1255 Mono.

Label and Condition: Parlophone yellow and black. Sold in the UK etc, The Gramophone Co Ltd etc, Made in Gt Britain. Very clean examples that show only light+ spindle traces. Side one has the KT embossed tax codes near the centre hole, both letter are still very sharp and well defined and mostly still have black finish, there is a small white chip on the bottom stroke of the T, this probably shows up on the label scans. This copy looks a little more played than some from this fine collection just purchased, but still far, far fewer than even an average copy found. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Country of Manufacture: Gt Britain

Rarity Factor: Scarce first pressing, this one has a major error on the cover, the back section has been manufactured upside down, this copy I was told came direct from the factory from a former employee. This rare error would never have made it to the shops.

Original Year of Release: 1965

Matrix Nos: XEX 549-2 and XEX 550-2 The tiny pressing numbers are 4C HA and 18 LG

Album Information: The fab fours’ second major album taken from a film after Hard Day’s Night. This copy is a first pressing and a fine copy too. The unusual thing about this one is the major error on the cover. The back panel is actually upside down, note on the picture scans that the cover credit appears upside down on the top flipback when the cover is the correct way up and vice-versa, when the cover is shown what should be the correct way, the credits appear on the bottom the right way up (hope you followed this, it should be obvious what I’m talking about). The previous owner got this one from a former employee from the factory: this is unlikely to ever have made it to the shop with this glaring error. This could be a unique Beatles item, for sure it will not be seen often and it is totally genuine. All the flipbacks are rock solid as the day they were made and assembled and could not possibily be faked in any way. The conclusive evidence is the fact the flipbacks are virtually uncreased and almost mint. Any lifting to get these apart would have damaged them badly, it simply would not be possible to get this factory finish unless this error came directy from the factory from new. The back entry edge is a little rough too with a scored line and a slightly incomplete edge, I truly feel this may have been a genuine rejected cover that was not passed for sale. This edge does not deter too much - for sure this could have been a first LP and cover off the production line and the whole package is original and probably not likely to be seen like this again. This rare error cover is in fine shape anyway as is the actual record, so a rare chance to own a Beatles Help! that is a little different from the norm, just think you could own a totally unique Batles item.

Cover Condition and Details: Excellent, laminated front, outline mono on the front, three huge flipbacks on rear, Use new emitex advert on back also. Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. Patents Pending. Record comes in its original tracing paper lined inner which is clean and unsplit with a clean crisp window. This is a strange one for sure, you just flip the record over front top to bottom and the back reads correctly. Turning it over from left to right makes the back read upside down. Its a nice neat clean cover which should please most collectors.

Cover Lamination: Clean near perfect laminate with no lifting, peeling or dry areas. Clean and shiny with no nasty indentations or creasing. Even surface marks are few and nothing spoils this fine solid laminate.

Cover Front: Very attractive indeed. still very white with few marks at all. There is a light ‘seam line’ on the left where the wrongly positioned back panel is adhered to the flipback, minor really. A light hint of toning on the very edge of the entry side. A very fine front cover that looks nice to the eye.

Cover Back: The inverted back cover is nice too: no laminate protection and a b/w finish but still no ringwear or rubbing. There is a small light tone mark just to the right of Ringo near the edge and a few marks near the very bottom, all fairly minor again. The three large flipbacks are near perfect and rock solid. Little evidence of any dark lines forming on the end of laminate areas that often appear on most. The entry edge does fall slightly short of full width as explained earlier but this is all part of the error when manufacturing.

Cover Edges/Corners: All edges and corners are near perfect and unworn. The spine is square, thick and solid with all its text pristine under the uncracked laminate. All round this strange and rare cover is in fine shape and its unusualness alone should be a major interest for any serious Beatles collector.

Vinyl Condition: Visually Mint(-) with hardly any marks, the odd tiny hairline on ‘Lizzy’ is all I can see (no sound at all). Plays probably more like EX to Mint with most more nera the mint end. This is a superb clean and shiny record, pressed on the typical very heavy solid vinyl of the time. Vintage Beatles monos, or any monos come to that are always the most susceptible to wear from heavy decks from the time. They took no prisoners in wearing or damaging a fine album of this type, with only a few plays causing problems. The sheer weight of the often crude decks stripped the delicate groove walsl rendereing them very noisy with often heavy distortion. This album has been played a few times but certainly not excessively and my play-grade revealed a very nice sounding copy - one that should please most collectors. Nearly every Beatles album had a certain track, always towards the centre area of the record that was prone to distortion because of the tracking angle and backforce subjected to the stylus. On Rubber Soul it is ‘Michelle’, on Sgt Pepper its ‘She’s Leaving Home’, on With the Beatles its ‘Money’ etc, etc. On Help! its ‘Yesterday’, this copy plays ‘Yesterday’ quite well with only very light sounds on the high frequencies - light years better than many copies around and really not much at all. Just about every other track is near perfect, the odd light tick but almost too few to mention. A superb quiet pressing with massive dynamic, rich mono sound. This is yet another wonderful Beatles album with every track essential again with another classic George Martin production. Finding a mono original copy this clean is always a huge bonus and finding one that will outperform this one will prove very hard. A copy that is not quite perfect audibly in its entirity - but certainly the majority, but of such a high standard I still feel sure it will please most collectors of the Fab Four.

Track Listing:Help!; The night before; I need you; Another girl; You’re going to lose that girl; Ticke to ride; Act naturally; It’s only love; You like me too much; Tell me what you see; I’ve just seen a face; Yesterday; Dizzy Miss Lizzy.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: A fine copy of Help! and a very different one too. I cant be sure how desirable or collectable major errors are on Beatles albums but.probably more desirable than most bands. It could be a one-off chance to get this one. If others do exist are they going to be in this fine clean and near top quality playing condition? - I would doubt it - Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

Buyer pays: (UK) £2.50 P&P , for first-class delivery with standard £28 insurance. Items that sell over £75 will be sent via Special Delivery which are insured for £250.

Europe: £4. This is covered up to £28 (45 Euros) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. A recorded airmail service is now in place for Europe too: this means any item will be fully covered to its true value, No customs sticker is needed for Europe, so this is a worthwhile investment. This costs extra £3, the item is tracked and the item has to be signed for - I will use this service to Europe as standard for very expensive rare items e.g. records over £75.

USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Far Eastern countries etc: £5.50. This is covered up to £28 (43 US Dollars) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more).

Extra insurance is available for non-UK items but will cost an extra £4, the item will be covered for up to £500 insurance.

PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.65 to cover PayPal or cash conversions.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Mailing Details: All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with a minimum of TWO stiffners for extra protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection and three or four stiffners. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other intesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.