TYRANNOSAURUS REX Unicorn RARER ORIG UK 1969 BLUE REGAL ZONOPHONE, PLAYS SUPERB.

	£		82
	$		109

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: TYRANNOSAURUS REX

Album Title: Unicorn

Producer(s): Tony Visconti

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Chariots of Silk; ’Pon a Hill; The Seal of Seasons; The Throat of Winter; Catblack (the wizard’s hat); Stones for Avalon; She Was Born to be My Unicorn; Like a White Star, Tangled and Far, Tulip That’s What You Are.

Side 2: Warlord of the Royal Crocodiles; Evenings of Damask; The Sea Beasts; Iscariot; Nijinsky Hind; The Pilgrim’s Tale; The Misty Coast of Albany; Romany Soup.

Label/Format: Regal Zonophone – original blue label stereo with matt surfaces that have a gentle hint of texturing.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only very light, fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Beautiful labels with intense colour. The record does have some surface marks, I think this has been played little, but probably a little carelessly. The main factor is, it plays impressively with very little unwanted. Virtually all the visuals on the playing surfaces are ignored and this delicate acoustic album proved an enjoyable play-grade.

Country of Manufacture: England

Cat Number: SLRZ 1007

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 134 grams. A very solid pressing more typical of the era.

Rarity: This is much harder to find on the blue original Zonophone label, only a tiny run were initially issued before it was changed to the more familiar red format. To reiterate the fact, this has the ultimate first mother and stamper codes seen further down.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: YCARX 51-2 / YCARC 52-2

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 G / 1 G

Musicians: Marc Bolan – vocals, guitar, harmonium, lip organ and fonofiddle; Steve Peregrin Took – bongos, vocals, African talking drums, bass guitar, piano, drum kit, assorted percussion, pixiephone and gong; Guests: Tony Visconti – piano; John Peel – vocals on ‘Children’s Story’.

Brief Info: Third and penultimate album under this band-name before changing to the more familiar T. Rex and the glam years – with huge success and popularity. The early Tyrannosaurus Rex were very different: psychedelic acid-folk music with sparse instrumentation and mildly eccentric vocals – far more limited sales and available copies that play well are somewhat harder to find. The blue label first issues are actually quite rare. Practically ignored in the United States and only with a moderate cult following at the time within the United Kingdom. As stated, this record has a number of marks, but these practically all on the surface with hardly any affect on play. In fact this record somewhat exceeded my expectations, the play-grade proved highly enjoyable, actually better many copies at least a whole visual grade better. Very well pressed, I feel sure this has not been played many times, but most likely a little carelessly. If the actual music is the most important factor (as it should always be), this should please many fans and collectors.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: a gatefold format with laminate on the front and back. The inside is matt and smooth. Printed and made in England by Ernest J. Day, includes the plain white inner sleeve that includes the ‘PATENTS APPLIED FOR’ text.

Laminate – Front & Back: Both sides retain excellent shine with fine freshness and clarity, only light traces of any friction rubs or dulling mostly seen under light, this will seldom be avoided on vintage covers with thicker records inside for decades. No lifting and most of any creasing very fine and few on the spine edges that few will escape as the barest minimum. There is tiny (and I do mean tiny) chip on Took’s bottom lip, look hard to see it. Some grubbiness on the exposed strips where the laminate ends on the storage edges, again, hard to avoid this. The superb picture of both artists has avoided fading and still looks impressive as-seen. Overall, both sides remain impressive with only gentle clues of age.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The inside, which has the song lyrics, has little of note to fault at all. Faint tone spot traces near the central fold being critical, little else.

Top Edges: Both mainly straight, the laminate smooth and folded flush, hence parallel and neat.

Bottom Edges: Superb, barely anything to fault.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Sharp and mostly sharp with any thickening or burr traces minimal and light, as seen viewed end-on. Record entered on the back edge, the front is closed. Both are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: The raised inside ridge construction of this spine will mean, in most cases, the text will sink within a natural central crease. This is near unavoidable and this has a little sinkage of the text at the top, but is still easily readable as-seen. It remains solid, straight with the natural compression and text sinkage as mentioned, the actual text is unworn. Folded very square, so all edges meet up very closely and parallel. There is a central quite small chip to the upper fold and the very ends have shed laminate, but with most still strongly intact, this spine has fared well overall.

Corners: A little tip rubbing and creasing on some, the spine pair have largely escapes and these in particular remain neat. No major knocks, any dinking mild.

Cover Summary: A strong and largely attractive all-round example of this scarce original cover. With only gentle blemishes or clues of its considerable age, this original Ernest J. Day sleeve should please many collectors but not quite the perfectionists who only want ‘perfect’ as any cost. Although laminated, it often fails to wear well, this being one of the best I have seen for quite a while.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a typical plain EMI-style unlined solid white inner that has only gently aged with the usual edge seam adhesive darkening and a small few marks. Minimal creasing and no edge splits or repairs. This has the original ‘PATENTS APPLIED FOR’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: VERY GOOD(+): this has several marks, practically all surface and non-feelable or sounding. Not a copy for the visual purists, but if superb sound is wanted, this fantastic 1G/1G original delivers. Still a fine visual copy that is clean with excellent shine and very solidly pressed. Most early ‘T. Rex’ albums I see are heavily played with hugely disappointing sound. The complex vocals and intense production mean they are less tolerant of early equipment and the results are obvious. Even though marked, I am confident this has been played very little – the gorgeous blue labels strongly reiterate this as well – I feel the original owner was probably heavy-handed, but this record has more than just ‘survived’. It sounds absolutely fantastic. The lack of penetrating stylus scratches is a huge factor, virtually all the marks are ignored*, hence this copy plays with superb sound as the pressing quality is truly outstanding. Not for visual perfectionists, but if the music is priority, and it always has to be, this was a genuine delight. Being honest, a near mint looking copy would be hard-pressed to better this for sound.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This brilliant album plays at least a full grade above its visual grading, and arguably even higher with hardly anything to fault. It offers strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – that a crucial factor, all Bolan’s vocals are fully focused, crisp and precise with no clarity loss or distortion. Sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. Even the spoken word by the legendary John Peel is fantastic, again with hardly anything unwanted, I have never heard this track better, it rarely escapes clicks and pops, and being honest, I cannot remember hearing this album better anywhere, this blows away its still very respectable very good plus grading. Few available copies will outperform this ultimate 1G/1G blue label first pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played lightly, but as stated, a little heavy-handedly, but audio has not diminished at all. I barely noticed any crackle or clicks worthy of mention. Remember, this is an acoustic and vocal album, there are few places for blemishes to ‘hide’, but none really needed. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, this one of my favourites by the early ‘T. Rex’. As stated, not for visual purists, but the sound will prove very difficult to find significantly better – and on this basis can be strongly recommended. To state this exceeded my expectations is something of an understatement.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programs. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is minuscule in over 14­ years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.