Pink Floyd 'The Wall' 2X Vinyl LP EX/EX, SHDW 411, UK, 1979. 1st press?

Sold Date: February 17, 2023
Start Date: February 10, 2023
Final Price: £40.00 (GBP)
Bid Count: 6
Seller Feedback: 495
Buyer Feedback: 0


PINK FLOYD the wall 2X Vinyl LP EX-/EX-, SHDW 411, uk, 1979. 1st press?.
I bought this when it was released, in UK. I think therefore it is a 1st pressing, but the info on Discogs is inconclusive. Here are the details:
The matrix code on the run-out on side 1 reads "SHSP 4111 A-7U TML-M 393". There is also a 1 stamped 3/4 of the way round the run-out

Discogs has details of numerous variants on early pressings, but none of them refer to "A-7U" or 393 (but there are A-6U, A-8U etc, and 394). So I can't conclusively say that this is a 1st pressing, even though I bought it at the time of release. 

Other mnatrix details are:

S2 - "SHSP 4111 B-3U TML-X". There are some indistinct characters between the B-3U and TML-X, possibly 365 or 363. There is also a 4 stamped 3/4 of the way round the run-out

S3 - "SHSP 4112 A-4U TML-X 337". There is also a 1 stamped 3/4 of the way round the run-out

S4 - "SHSP 4112 B-5U 354". There is also a 1 and TML-M stamped 3/4 of the way round the run-out

The loose plastic 'sticker' on the front is perfect

There is no barcode on the rear of the (double) sleeve.

There are errors in the running order:

What shall we do now? is printed on the inner sleeve but not on LP (side 2)

Empty spaces appears on s2 (track2) on the LP but is listed as track 6 on the inner sleeve

Hey you is listed as s3 track 1 on the LP  but as track 5 on the inner sleeve

Both LPs have been kept in top quality polythene inners, inside the cardboard inners. The whole has been kept in a cellophane snap-close outer to keep dust out (as are most of my LPs)

I have played this perhaps 10 times in 40+ years.

As I wrote, I do not know if these are 1st pressings, but the absence of the barcode and the errros in the track listings suggest they may be. Collectors may have other means of telling, so I include pictures of the written details on the inner sleeves.

Opening price is set at what I think is reasonable given the condition and based on other listings, not on the basis of rarity (which I am no expert on).

One final thing - my system comprises a Garrard 401, Grace G-940 uni-pivot arm and Denon 103 cartridge. I am fastidious about vinyl and the records are very clean and perfectly flat. 

Thanks for looking 


On 12-Feb-23 at 19:01:39 GMT, seller added the following information:

Edit. A knowledgable ebayer has kindly sent me a good deal of info, that demonstrates that this is not a 1st press, but one from 1980. I am rushed right now but will add the detail tomorrow. Not sure why but I can only add edits, like this one, but not amend the wording of the original listing

On 14-Feb-23 at 11:46:26 GMT, seller added the following information:

Edit 2. 14 Feb. Here are he details, slightly edited to make it as short as possible without changing the essence of the message, that the knowledgable person I mentioned sent me:


Hi. No, this isn't a firstpress, as the gatefold sleeve doesn't have the misaligned bricks where the toprow is cut off and the bottom is full, but both drop slightly to the right.Inside the cover, a first press only has, Produced by David Gilmore, spreadacross two bricks, and then in a brick below, to the left, ''Words And MusicRoger Waters'' (one brick) and it then has, ''Except Young Lust, ComfortablyNumb, Run Like Hell, The Trial''. Again all of that is in one brick! Yourslists Pink Floyd, then the band members; a later pressing.

Also, the Mothers are too high, the first presses are usually A-2U, B-2U, A-4U,B3-U with slight variations, but not as high as yours. Also, Stampers appear infirst presses, very faintly, but (on mine) I have, for instance, on Side FourGT, being Stamper 19. A Mother is the negative metal press that press theStampers, and the Stampers do just that: stamp their positives into the vinyllump, to produce the flat, grooved (negative) pressings. Both Mothers andStampers were many, as they simply wore out, and even though you bought your LPin the release year, if you were a few months later than release, they wouldthe numbering would have changed significantly. So, too, the cover credits, as,don't forget, Roger Waters and David Gilmore were falling out and various legalissues were raising their heads at this time, so band credits were contentious.

The errors on your inner sleeves are correct, and they seem right, but, again,these were probably left overs from boxes of previews. But there are otherRoger Waters credits on first press inners, and they should be rounded at thecorners, and brown card inside, and heavy card, too.

I suspect your LP was mid- to late-1980, but in its first few months it sold1.2 million copies! So, as you can see, even a 1980 genuine purchase will notbe a first press, and yours, sadly, isn't.

But, it is STILL First Issue, if you bought it in the release year. And I amsure there is a guide out there to the exact Matrices. This is where people getit wrong, and make silly claims about 'First Press'. The Mothers I mentioned?They are produced (as I said) as a negative, and then the Stampers arepositive; hence they are 'pressed' into vinyl. Before the Mother there is aFather and that is positive, and taken from the Acetate, which is the testdisc. An Acetate or Lacquer is actually that, a lacquer coated aluminium disc,which is 'cut' with a lathe, which has a signal sent to the cutting head, whichis sent via the original master tape. Acetates were often used as demos butwear out, and these, too, are highly collectable. Anyway, one Acetate wouldmake ten mothers, and one mother ten stampers, and one stamper around 300 to1,000 records! THAT is your first press: 100,000 only. Then, the whole processbegins again. So you can see how YOUR record will indeed be a First Issue, justnot one of those rare first presses, which, in reality, went to the musicbusiness world-wide first, including press, etc! Not many left from thatcoveted first batch!

Mine, by the way, with lower Matrices, is still NOT First Press, either, yet,being earlier, it does have the correct outer sleeve, but, like yours, thewrong inner sleeves! Yes, I managed to find out that 'ours' with the mistakesare very common! The First Presses were correct! So, why was the running ordermessed around with on the inner sleeves for all others??? Maybe the real firstpresses had that running order? Hard to say, since nobody seems to have a realfirst press!!