SOLAR EAGLE BOOTLEG LP + MORE STUFF....

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ION BRITTON
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SOLAR EAGLE BOOTLEG LP + MORE STUFF....

Post by ION BRITTON »

I don't know if you have noticed it but there was number of sealed SOLAR EAGLE LPs that were sold from some Greek sellers over the last months. People are wrong if they think that there are so many copies of that album in the hands of Greek collectors, especially sealed ones. And they are also wrong if they think that all them decided to get rid of their copies so suddenly.

Unfortunately, those copies were BOOTLEGS, NOT originals.

And I'm wondering why no one suspected anything so far. I mean we have seen maybe 6-7 copies on ebay all these years and now all of a sudden we get a sealed copy every month, isn't that frequency a bit weird?

Anyway, there's at least one difference between the original and the bootleg that I have spoted so far and that is on the spine

In the original there's written SOLAR EAGLE SOLAR EAGLE SE001

In the bootleg there's nothing written

Maybe there’s more but that's what I have confirmed so far

One of the two sellers who was selling it was asked to provide me some photos of the spine but he couldn't send me anything. He only told me that there's nothing written on the spine and also asked me if there had to be something written there. I have kept all his answers in my mailbox to confirm all these.

There's more stuff that's been bootlegged recently and people have to be very careful with what they're bidding on on ebay. You have to ask the sellers for details of their copies and more photos, if you think that it can help. Ask for catalogue numbers, details on the sleeves, labels, anything that can have a difference with an original. Do not blindly bid on anything, especially if there are well-known rarities that are in mint condition or even sealed. Get suspicious if you see massive sales of rare LPs that are all in perfect conditions. This is a very dodgy business and most of them might be identical boots, so I’d advise you to ask for as many details as possible.

Some of the stuff that has been bootlegged recently, just to get a rough idea

Running Wild - Masquerade
Iron Maiden- X factor
Iron Maiden- Virtual XI (black and red)
Mercyful Fate- In the shadows
Mercyful Fate- Time

and of course the classic old ones

Cirith Ungol- Paradise Lost
Running Wild - Black Hand Inn
Heavy Load - Full speed at high level

The times have changed and the bootleg circuit has more branches now and cannot be easily controlled. The whole thing with the rare vinyls stinks and I really don't know if there are people from only one country involved in this sewer. Keep your eyes open and do your homework each time you are about to fork out the big cash. I just hope we won't have to doubt for every single rare LP that's being sold on ebay in the near future.

More on the issue soon….
Good against Evil, Evil sure to win

"It really didn't matter if they liked it or not, i was going to give it to them straight down their throats" -John Stewart
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doomedplanet
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Post by doomedplanet »

is anyone selling the Solar Eagle for a normal $20 price or are the dealers holding on to them to gouge collectors?
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Cyrcka
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Post by Cyrcka »

Thanks!

Someone here in the forum had already commented on the Running Wild - Masquerade and also some Savatage lps to...
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Trigger
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Post by Trigger »

I think they sell them as originals.
Never trust the Goblin King....
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ION BRITTON
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Post by ION BRITTON »

The vinyls are sold as originals and at whatever price the auction ends. The one I'm talking about ended at US $530.00.
Good against Evil, Evil sure to win

"It really didn't matter if they liked it or not, i was going to give it to them straight down their throats" -John Stewart
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Trigger
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Post by Trigger »

I also think this story goes back to at least a year ago when it had initially started concerning this specific LP,maybe a little further back.
Never trust the Goblin King....
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doomedplanet
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Post by doomedplanet »

I wonder when the Warzwolf bootleg lp will come on the market? haha. At least then it will be known easily they are bootlegs.
Angelheart
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Post by Angelheart »

A topic that has become a plague in the metal market the last years..
First of all, as for Solar Eagle bootleg lp.
There are 3 sellers until now that they have sold it and each one is giving each time another story of how he obtain it.
They are such a fraud that even the 2 "different" sellers had put the exact same photo of the lp!
Of course, it's the same group of people here doing that "job" the last 5-6 years.
3-4 people , well-connected with legitimate businesses flooding the metal market and the naivety of metal "collectors" with all kind of stuff.
Identical bootleg lps from rare records (which is the most difficult to detect), identical japanese bootleg cds with OBI (!), bootleg "private" cds from rare nwobhm/USA metal bands, bootleg live lps (which are of course the easiest to suspect) and so on..
Hundreds of different titles, thousands and thousands of euros/dollars made by fooling the ignorant or not so ignorant metal fans.
An example: Running Wild- Black Hand Inn lp has been sold more than 20 times from different sellers in Greece (which of course are the same people) for more than 200 dollars each time.Do the math and u will see what kind of money we are talking about.
I will add to the above list of identical lps the following:

Manowar- Louder than hell
Guns n Roses- Live like a suicide ep
King Diamond- Conspiracy lp (with the original cover)
black metal lps and so on..

It's very easy to suspect them if u see the sellers accounts and feedback in ebay.
They have used at least 6-7 different accounts the last years and u can see they sell the same bootleg stuff every 2 weeks or a month etc..
I could even tell their accounts or even the real names but i guess the fans that are spending lots of money for these items must become more "clever" and not throw away their money without even asking details from the seller.
Hmm, what else?
Oh ,the above doesn't mean at all , that all Greeks are scums or whatever.
I underline again that it is a group of 3-4 people and whoever knows the Greek metal community ,knows them too.
And of course, u will never see these guys in the front rows banging their heads in each concert or festival around Europe :)
To be continued..
Last edited by Angelheart on Thu Jul 07, 2011 6:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
faetze
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Re: SOLAR EAGLE BOOTLEG LP + MORE STUFF....

Post by faetze »

ION BRITTON wrote:I don't know if you have noticed it but there was number of sealed SOLAR EAGLE LPs that were sold from some Greek sellers over the last months. People are wrong if they think that there are so many copies of that album in the hands of Greek collectors, especially sealed ones. And they are also wrong if they think that all them decided to get rid of their copies so suddenly.

Unfortunately, those copies were BOOTLEGS, NOT originals.

And I'm wondering why no one suspected anything so far. I mean we have seen maybe 6-7 copies on ebay all these years and now all of a sudden we get a sealed copy every month, isn't that frequency a bit weird?

Anyway, there's at least one difference between the original and the bootleg that I have spoted so far and that is on the spine

In the original there's written SOLAR EAGLE SOLAR EAGLE SE001

In the bootleg there's nothing written

Maybe there’s more but that's what I have confirmed so far
There are more differences but mainly on the disc itself:
- original matrix is SE 001-A resp. -B, written by hand - Boot has two long lines with numbers and letters, not hand written
- the original cover material is less flimsy than the bootleg
- the inner side of the original cover is light grey whereas the bootleg is white
Angelheart
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Post by Angelheart »

I guess the only thing u can do, is to report all these items and sellers on ebay,
Only then, ebay can close their accounts and hopefully they will stop producing more and more of these bootlegs.
I for one, will stop supporting even their legitimate releases and all their other activities..
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Sgt. Kuntz
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Post by Sgt. Kuntz »

Thanks ION for the thread and faetze for comparing the matrix numbers with the originals. Strangest thing is, i have also bought a sealed copy (through gemm not ebay) from a greek seller roughly one year ago. I've opened it and it appeared to be original. I was quite relieved as you can imagine, but it also tells me to be more cautious and not be blinded by a good offer from a dubious source.

You could also add these to the list of "counterpart" bootlegs:

ST. VITUS s/t
MOTÖRHEAD "Overnight Sensation"
PANTERA first four LPs, black and color vinyl
Where were you in '79 when the dam began to burst


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ION BRITTON
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Post by ION BRITTON »

I guess if the offer sounds too good to be true most of the time isn't true at all.
Best thing you can do is spread the word and of course report the sellers. Inform the rest about it, do not remain silent. In places such as this forum you can find many infos about originals if you want, so it won't be hard to spot some of the differences. Those people are making money from exploiting the passion and the madness (in the good sense of the word) of some fans. They are no real fans of this music, they just happened to do what they do in the metal scene. Do not let them steal your clean hard-earned money.
Good against Evil, Evil sure to win

"It really didn't matter if they liked it or not, i was going to give it to them straight down their throats" -John Stewart
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LethylSteel
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Post by LethylSteel »

If someone pays 530 $ for the Eunuch Metal album number 1 that he just deserves it not better. I still wonder how people can stand this band. :lol:
Seriously, do you think it's smart to mention all the differences of the boot and the original LP incl Matrix numbers etc here on a public forum?

Furthermore this once again proves that Greece is beside Brazil the Bootlegger country number 1 or 2. It's quite confusing to see how you can buy a Metal Mag with a free bootleg CD at any public shop at every place. The greek guys do know what I'm talking about. Prohably the same guy (I was told by a greek friend to never mention his name coz he'd find me and destroy me with his lawyers :wink: ) who inititalized all these Bootleg CD series with 3 albums on 1 CD and an official Metal Mag with a Bootleg CD etc etc. Quite sure he's the one. You can press bootlegs without problems in Brazil. There's noone who cares as long as they get their cash!
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nightsblood
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Post by nightsblood »

Angelheart wrote:I guess the only thing u can do, is to report all these items and sellers on ebay,
Only then, ebay can close their accounts and hopefully they will stop producing more and more of these bootlegs.
I for one, will stop supporting even their legitimate releases and all their other activities..
This is a good idea but to be effective the names of their legit businesses/labels need to be posted on as many forums as possible.


Re: no one noticing the Solar Eagle issue before, couple of things:
1- copies of that one have trickled out over time; there's at least a couple dozen (real) copies in collector hands. So while rare it is not impossibly rare (e.g., < 10 copies known).
2- with many greeks selling collections lately due to that country's economic problems, it helped provide an explanation for why so many were offered for sale lately.
3- With rare, high-dollar records a buyer often doesn't have a legit copy to compare to. You can post a question here and hope someone provides a detailed reply, otherwise you may not be able to find things like etching numbers, spine info, etc. This could actually be a good project for a blogspot or a Feature at the Corroseum- provide documentation of what legit, rare, expensive albums should look like so people can easily access that info. Of course future bootleggers might take advantage of the info as well. There was a thread here some time back that discussed Boot pressings and how to spot them, but it became bloated with Q&A stuff and got so long that it was hard to find info within.
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ION BRITTON
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Post by ION BRITTON »

LethylSteel wrote:Seriously, do you think it's smart to mention all the differences of the boot and the original LP incl Matrix numbers etc here on a public forum?
It is not terribly smart, but we've got to prove our points somehow. It's same people behind different accounts that are selling them anyway. So, even if they put a 'better' boot next time you'll know for who we are talking about. And those boots usually come as a 'package', most probably you won't see only one SOLAR EAGLE being sold without being followed by a Masquerade or a rare black metal LPs. Someone who searches between accounts on ebay can easily understand that there's something fishy there and that there's a weird connection between some of the sellers.
Good against Evil, Evil sure to win

"It really didn't matter if they liked it or not, i was going to give it to them straight down their throats" -John Stewart
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