THE BEATLES: Introducing The Beatles (Vee-Jay SR 1062, stereo 'ad back')

Please read the entire description before bidding. This is an original STEREO AD BACK "Introducing The Beatles". It was found in old thick 'Sears' shrinkwrap. This acted to preserve the cover beautifully, HOWEVER the shrink has become adhered (stuck) to the ad back slick in several places. I have provided multiple flatbed scans of the item. This is because the cover proved VERY difficult to photograph: the old thick shrink caused severe light reflections. Scanning was the only way to insure a clear image, however the scanner glass is 8.5"x11" therefore multiple scans were required to show the entire item. If I can get a clear digital photo of the cover I will post it. Please note that the vinyl LP itself is quite worn!

• Condition : Cover is mostly NM in shrinkwrap, with the following caveats. The bottom seam has a center split of about 2" beginning, nothing is missing but the paper is separating at that spot. IMPORTANT: the odd bits of color you see at the corners of the old-style thick shrink are not old tape- this LP was sold in a SEARS store when new, and the round printed areas on the shrink read "Sears Roebuck & Co."- the wording has faded greatly over the years but it's still readable on close inspection. In other words, this LP predates the use of shrinkwrap on new LP's by Vee-Jay Records, and Sears or their distributor or rack-jobber shrinkwrapped the LP themselves. This is thick plastic wrap, not the glossy cellophane wrap that the record companies began using a short time later. Here's the thing: I was going to remove the shrink to get a clearer pic of the jacket, however as fate would have it, the old thick shrinkwrap has adhered onto the rare "ad back" slick in several places. I have no idea how to remove the shrink without tearing the rare back slick. There is one VERY small tear (nothing missing; it's about one-quarter square inch in size and is entirely in the white area directly above the pic of the Jimmy Reed album at the upper left corner of the area of LPs shown on the slick). Fortunately I noticed the shrink was stuck in place before I tugged any harder! The shrink is not adhered to the front cover or seams, just a few places on the back. I suspect there is some way to separate the shrink from the cover slick; I would suggest that the winning bidder consult a professional restorer of paper items (such as rare posters or antiquarian books) before doing anything that might damage this rare cover. I don't know if the shrink got stuck on when the LP was heat-sealed back in 1964, or if this was the result of years of being stored horizontally in a big stack of LPs (which is how I found it). Essentially, the areas that are adhered to the shrink are as follows: in the white area between the "Other Fine..." text and the upper row of albums, there are two 'stuck' areas about 1/4" high by 2" long; at the right of the third row of LP's, there is a vertical line (following along the seam in the shrink itself) that is 'stuck', maybe 1/8" wide by about 6" long, and finally, several larger areas all in the far right row of LP's are 'stuck'. The vinyl, which is rare itself in stereo but sort of an afterthought in this case, is quite well worn, maybe VG- or G+ condition, but plays surprisingly well with some surface noise. The labels show some wear, and side two's label has a name in marker (probably "Andy" but hard to see againt the black of the label). There may be a skip or two on some decks (I heard none on mine) but I would assume the bidder is not buying this item to play the vinyl. Suffice it to say this was well-loved when new by some newly-minted Beatles fan who owned a cheap hi-fi. The LP was found with a plain white innersleeve. For what it's worth, I found numerous other "Sears" shrinkwrapped LPs (not Beatles LP's but common titles like Dusty Springfield and several '60s C&W albums) in this same large collection; on some of those, the shrink was not 'stuck' at all, but on others, it was stuck much worse than on this "Introducing The Beatles".
• Description : Very rare STEREO AD-BACK 1964 original. Cover is VJ 1062(1).SC1 per Spizer. "Printed In U.S.A." is printed vertically along the lower left edge of front cover- all of this except the "U.S.A." ended up beneath the yellow corner graphic on the shrink in this case. Vinyl is VJ 1062(1).SR1A per Spizer. Deep-groove rainbow labels with oval logos, "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" tracklist. Matrix numbers are 63-3402 S and 63-3403 S. There is what looks like an "A" in the dead wax each side, plus well-worn (not really legible) machine stamps which I assume are the "ARP" and "Audio Matrix" stamps Spizer mentions in his book. In other words, this is the version pressed by ARP in Owosso, MI. Please look at all scans and READ CAREFULLY the condition section above, the item is as described, if you are looking for a perfect mint cover this is not quite it, please note the slight seam split and most importantly, the STUCK SHRINK on the back cover. If you are looking for mint stereo vinyl, well...the vinyl here is kinda wrecked. Nevertheless, this item is seldom offered. I am not a Beatles specialist but I've bought and sold thousands of original Beatles LP's over 25+ years and this is the only ad-back I've ever seen in person. Reasonable reserve.

• For this item, if the winning bid meets my reserve, I will ship the item via EMI (express airmail) anywhere in the world for FREE. I ship WORLDWIDE.
• GUARANTEE: Condition of this item is guraranteed to be as stated in the above description. Grading is strict and visual. All used LP's are cleaned on a Loricraft machine before grading.
• Records are shipped in a cardboard record mailer with sufficient padding, and the disc is removed from the jacket to prevent seamsplits.
• I do not end auctions early. No offense, but if you ask, you will not receive a reply, sorry.
• I have been selling records via mail order since 1989. Bid with confidence!

SEE MY OTHER EBAY AUCTIONS for similar items. Nice lot of rare items this week, mostly 1960s / '70s psych, rock and private pressings, all are from a massive private collection I purchased recently. Also check my store (link above) for SEALED vintage rock & psych warehouse find LPs from the 1960s-early 1970s. All of the records listed for auction are ORIGINALS, not reissues! If you need to ask me about any label variations, matrix numbers, etc., please do so BEFORE you bid. Thanks.

THANKS FOR VIEWING THIS ITEM!