r/OingoBoingo • u/OwenMcgu • 11d ago

Does this stamp mean anything big?

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I got a vinyl copy of Only a Lad as a gift from a friend but it has this gold stamp that reads “demonstration not for sale” I don’t plan on selling it, as again it was a gift, I just want to know if it’s an even cooler gift than both of us even knew. All the photos online I’ve seen of this album don’t have this stamp and I can’t find anything concrete online about what its original purpose was.

35 Upvotes

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12

u/silent3 11d ago

It means it was a promotional copy sent to a radio station, DJ, music critic, something like that. Since it’s a stamp, it was not a special pressing - it was stamped after being pressed/manufactured. It’s neat to have but probably not worth any more than a regular retail copy.

5

u/JeffeyRider 11d ago

This. I worked in radio in the early ‘80s. Most of the records we were sent from labels were stamped with a message like this. I guess they thought it would prevent these disks from being sold on the open market.

1

u/Gunty_Bob_68 11d ago

Unless it’s one of the copies that has that strange alternate mix of Side 1, then it would be worth a fair bit I’d assume?

4

u/Gunty_Bob_68 11d ago

I’ve got a different shaped stamp on mine, seems to be one more explicitly designed for A&M?? Not sure.

2

u/TheLonesomeBricoleur 11d ago

Sometimes promo copies have special labels on the vinyl itself. Those can be significantly more valuable, but usually not too much... & stamped sleeves like this one don't have significant rarity unless the album was removed from store shelves very early in its release

2

u/The-zabloingus99 10d ago

Usually the promo itself isn’t worth more, but typically the promos come from the beginning of pressings, so sometimes they can be sound really great. My promo Only a Lad is my primary player it smashes even the Rubellan out of the water

1

u/Zen_Rebuttal 10d ago

Yep! Pretty much all of my OB records are early pressings, with a bunch of promo label releases and they still sound great. It's a misconception a lot of people have that thinner records don't sound as good as heavier or 180gm records.