Hello there. 

A short preamble before we get down to the nitty gritty, so you know something about who and what you are dealing with!

About me

I am an English PRIVATE COLLECTOR living in Denmark, who has been a lifelong music fan collecting, buying, selling and swapping albums.

I never really got beyond the idea that the vinyl format is the best medium on which to hear music. Digital technology is without doubt a flexible, convenient and virtually unlimited way of storing and managing a musical product, but does it sound good? Well OK yes it does, but not as good as analogue. In my opinion digital lacks warmth, depth, width and lots of other words ending in th!

For me a well recorded, well mastered piece of analogue music sounds best on well pressed, quality vinyl. There are also the benefits of great cover artwork and the feeling that you actually have something special in your possession.

About you

The above should confirm that I am pretty fussy about the quality of vinyl and music generally. This can only be a good thing for you, as the stuff I auction will be *graded aurally on a good system. My aim is to provide the best quality that I can, graded fairly, so please bid with confidence.

*PLEASE NOTE

I DO listen to rare items all the way through. However I simply do not have the time to listen to all items individually all the way through. I play the openings of tracks to get an idea plus I'll carefully grade them visually under strong light. Should I see anything suspect, I'll play that part of the record and report to you on it. 

So enough already, up for auction about now...

METALLICA - METALLICA (THE BLACK ALBUM). 12" stereo double vinyl LP on the Vertigo Record label cat. no. 510 022-1 

RARE Dutch 1st pressing released in 1991. With original lyric inners.

Matrix no's/stampers:

Side One;        510 027 1   S1   1  2  6    STERLING (machine stamped) SIDE A (hand etched)

Side Two; 510 027 1   S2   1  2  9    STERLING (machine stamped) SIDE B (hand etched)

Side Three;     510 028 1   S3   1  4  5    STERLING (machine stamped) SIDE C (hand etched)

Side Four;      510 028 1   S4   1  1  3  6    STERLING (machine stamped) SIDE D (hand etched)

Track Listing:

Sides One to Four:

See pictures of labels.

GRADING:

VINYL:

Side One: NEAR MINT. Visually very clean with light hairlines only. Pressed on medium weight vinyl. Plays with very light surface noise & a clear distortion free, fat punchy sound.

Side Two: NEAR MINT. As above.

Side Three: NEAR MINT. As above plus some 'scuffy' looking marks on the in-wax that don't effect play. 

Side Four: NEAR MINT. As above.

Lightly played vinyls, superb sound.

COVER & SPINE:

Soft laminated single sleeve:

FRONT outside: EXCELLENT. Light creasing & rubbing, slightly heavier on the corners. No shelf wear.  

BACK outside: EXCELLENT. As above.

SPINE: NEAR MINT. Virtually spotless bar a hint of rubbing top & bottom.

ORIGINAL PICTURE INNERS: Both NEAR MINT. Very light creasing only & no splitting.

EXTRA INNERS: Plain white poly lined. Both EXCELLENT. Light creasing, no splitting.

Seems the LP's were placed in these extra inners from day one.

LABELS:

Sides One to Four: All NEAR MINT. No marks at all.

If for any reason (within reason!) you don't agree with my grading of this LP then I will provide a refund on it's return, excluding return shipping costs.

*PLEASE NOTE THESE POINTS BELOW *

*Shipping prices: £7.20 in Denmark. £10.80 to the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. 

POST DENMARK CHANGE IN SHIPPING PRICES: AS OF JAN 2019 THE AMOUNT NOW COVERS UP TO 2000 grams!! So it would pay you to buy more than one item if you can. 

If you require SHIPPING INSURANCE then please let me know BEFORE paying for the item as it's extra. 

*Payment: Please pay within 7 days of the auction ending, thank you.

Non-payers & time-wasters will be dealt with swiftly & effectively by whatever means necessary!

Packing; All items will be carefully packed using stiff card, strong mailers etc. Wherever possible I'll recycle packaging. It's cheaper for you & better for the planet.

Feedback & problems; *PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK once you have received and heard your item. It's the only way I know you have got it and are happy with it.

If there are any problems at all then I want to hear from you & get it sorted.

Please don't just leave negative feedback.

That's it!

Check my other listings, good luck, thanks for your interest and above all enjoy.

Gilster. 

About my Grading

I use the U.K. Record Collector Grading System which is: 

Mint: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any items such as the lyric sheet are in perfect condition. Sealed or unplayed records should be mint.

Excellent: The record shows some signs of being played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have light wear and/or creasing.

Very Good: The record has obviously been played many times but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good: The record has been played so many times that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of the edges, spine splits, discolouration etc.

                                                                      * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Beyond here lies madness! I won't be auctioning anything graded below unless they are really rare or sought after:

Fair: The record is just still playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

Poor: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

Bad: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection filler.

CD/DVD Grading:

As a general rule, CD's and DVD's either play perfectly - Mint - or they don't, in which case their value is minimal. They are difficult to grade visually, as they can look perfect but be faulty and visa versa.

CD/DVD inlays and booklets should be graded in the same way as vinyl covers and sleeves, as should the cover if made from card.

On 29-Jan-19 at 08:51:31 GMT, seller added the following information:

NOTE: Have had an enquiry about what looks like a scratch on the 1st vinyl (5th picture) It's actually a hair that I hadn't noticed had fallen onto the disc when taking the picture. I've just added an extra picture (last one) to hopefully remove any doubt - certainly removed the hair :-) Any marks that exist are superficial on both vinyls. Many thanks