Down by 23

So a ways back I got an e-mail from a great collector overseas that I had bought some rare Down to Nothing records from before. He was looking to sell the rest of his DTN collection. There were three 7"s he had that I still needed. So after a bunch of e-mails back and forth with logistics we worked out a deal, and they were on their way.

So the first of three was this test press of the self-titled three song release. So apparently Robby Redcheeks made his test presses very limited, only five of these exist.

So this one has a pretty cool transparent yellow sleeve of the original artwork. The usual quality you'd expect from Dead by 23. One the back you can also see a great Revelation Records rip off logo.

Here are the other two of the three 7"s. These are both copies of the six song self titled 7". The 6 song 7" was ditched for some reason, I'm not sure why, recording? song selection? who knows. Either way it gave a great opportunity to put out a super rare release, all together only 55 copies, including tests. So on the left is this release on pink vinyl out of only 16. Then on the right is the test press out of five again. This seems to be a trend. Robby made another cool sleeve for this one, with some little differences but good ones. It even says on the front that mine is number four of five.

All together these are some of the best DTN records I have. They're incredibly rare and hard to find, and also some of the best material from this band. Not to mention Dead by 23 did a great job with them. They also complete my collection of both releases. Now I'm sure furhtur down the road I will try and get my hands on some more versions of the three song release transitions.

Updates more Often? Maybe?

I picked up the other version of New Found Glory's Don't Let Her Pull You Down. This one on clear is out of 666. I think I got it from eBay.

So Reaper Records put out a special compilation for United Blood this year. This is it. I believe all of these songs were already released, but it's still a pretty cool compilation. The compilation has Terror, Naysayer, Down to Nothing, Death Threat, Take Offense & Maximum Penalty. It has a cool booklet in the cover as well. This guy was out of 250, and though made and sold for the fest, it was put up in the Reaper webstore not too long after the fest.

So I picked up a copy of the Hatebreed/Neglect split. I don't know how many there were of these. It was put out by Jasta's own label, Stillborn.

So I picked up another copy of the Frostbite 7" put out by Dead by 23. This one I believe is the pre order silkscreen cover out of 159. This record is a pretty cool one to collect I have to say. As much as Robby Redcheeks gets criticized for putting out so many versions of records, he did a great job of it.

So I ordered a copy of the Remission Winds of Promise from the band. The reason for going to the band? They've got the band color of course, clear. This one is out of 100. They also had a tape that the band put out themselves. This tape has the songs from the Winds of Promise 7" and the Police & Thieves split 7". I'm not sure how many of these there are.

So my fellow blogger Mike noticed that I was unable to get a copy of the Youth of Today Disengage 7" from Record Store Day, so he sent me an e-mail that he had picked up an extra copy and the guy he was gonna give it to fell through, so he sent it to me. Great situation. I was stoked to be able to get this as easy as I did, after not being able to initially get it. Thanks Mike.

So I picked this one up from Tre of Deathwish on eBay. This is the Final Show/Posi Numbers version of Time Flies s/t 7". The special cover was made for the two shows and is out of 200.

So I think I picked this up from Andy Norton, but not totally sure. This is the record release version of Mindset's Real Power. This probably my favorite version of this record, the cover, vinyl cover, stamp, layout are all awesome.

It's numbered on the back out of 78.

So I picked up a copy on black of the original pressing of Iron Boot's 2004 Demo. This one was put out by the now defunct Brain Grenade Records. This is out of 500. I have no idea where I got this one, maybe from eBay.

This Is Hardcore, Part 1

So I was able to go to This Is Hardcore this year. It was great to get to go back this year after missing out last year. The line up was pretty solid. I do have to say that I can no longer do a three or four day fest. It's just too much. I could do two days but anymore just seems like overkill. So I went to Thursday, Friday and Saturday this year. I skipped out on Sunday and missed Down to Nothing, which was the only band on that day that I wanted to see. I was just too out of it to go.

So I missed most of Face Reality's set on Thursday night. They had a pre-cover version of their new s/t 7" from Youngblood. These sold out pretty fast, by Friday I think. This version is out of 75, numbered and stamped on the back.

Sean Youngblood also had a tape with songs from the new releases coming out soon on the label. It has No Tolerance, Face Reality, Give, Police & Thieves, Sacred Love and Mob Mentality. It's limited to 100 copies. I think there were some of these left over, maybe it will be put up on the webstore soon.

This is a special version of Strife's My Fire Burns On. It was made for the fest and is numbered out of 50. New Age did a great job on this thing. The silk screened cover, artwork, layout and details are superb. The record labels are numbered too. Great touch. Strife set was also awesome.

So Stick Together was one of those bands this year that you could consider was a hype band. The local kids like them, no surprise and their merch goes for a lot on eBay. All the things you need for hype. To be honest this band is good, defiantly worth listening too. I hope if the hype dies down these guys still keep going. I know it features members of Bad Seed and War Hungry. They had the new second press of the 7" on clear. The first press sold out pretty quick, especially for 1,000 copies and the bands first 7". They sold a lot of demoes too I think. I'm not sure the pressing of the clear copy. They also had a discography up til now tape. It has the song from the Six Feet Under compilation, the 7", the demo, the live in Toronto tape and I think a cover of a band called Magnus maybe? Cool thing to have either way. Not sure how many of these their are either.

So Robby Redcheeks had a table with some of his stuff in the warehouse across the street from the venue. He had some Dead by 23 releases he was selling for cheap. I picked up this copy of Frostbite's 7". This is the version I believe from the Floorpunch "last show". I'm not sure how many of them there are. I think it's the fourth or fifth press.

So Strength for a Reason played the fest, which they normally do. I decided to pick up the other version of the split they did with Cold World. I got it for Cold World, not for Strength for a Reason. This is on white and I'm not sure the pressing. Cold World killed it at the fest. So good. They get better and better each time I see them. One of the best reactions as usual.

So Pulling Teeth had a copy of their Demo pressed as a flexi disc. These seem to be the new thing to do. I don't really get it. It's just like a flimsy record. It's different, which is cool, but I'd prefer an actual vinyl. This copy is clear and out of only 50. So this was a great pick up. I'm not sure if this was made for the fest or not. Pulling Teeth were great as usual. I was not sure about the latest LP but after their performance I can say it's great. There are so many guest vocals on the thing. Some great tracks on it, and they played them live.

So I think this was a limited copy of Praise's new 7". I'm not sure, but I bought it either way. The pre order was on Black White and Grey, so that was my reasoning to get it. I was happy React was there, but I wish they had made some limited versions of the records for the fest, like limited merch or covers or something. With the showcase, Aram has plenty else to worry about with the limited stuff he has for that in the works.

So I picked up a couple of things from the Six Feet Under table. Up top is the limited fest version of the recent reissue of the Cold World and War Hungry split. I think this is limited to 75, but I'm not sure. I also picked up a copy of the reissue without realizing I made the pre order for it. So I probably already have the one on white coming to me. Below that in the distro I picked up a copy of Not Afraid's 7" put out by Control Records. I've been wanting to get a copy of this and I slept on the pre order for this hard. The copy on black is out of 400. This 7" rules, picks right back up where True Colors left off, with a little bit of a change. I need to find one on green. I wish I picked up the Alert 7" they had, I think it was a special press for Sound and Fury and This Is Hardcore, but it looked just like the record release version, just different colors on the font. Oh well.

Transitioning

So I lied in my last post, there were a few more arrivals before I moved. Here is a copy of Inside Out's No Spiritual Surrender. This is the final press, as indicated by the white bar on the top of the cover. I'm not sure how many copies there were of this however, if anyone knows please let me know.

I won three Frostbite 7"s from Tre of Deathwish on eBay a ways back. The top is on grey from the second press out of 225, made exclusively for Very Distro. The middle is on blue/white mix, almost baby blue. I don't know anything about this one, so if you've got some info please share. The bottom is a pre-release cover numbered out of 299. Dead by 23, from a collectors stand point was a very cool label, lots of different things going on to make things interesting, it feels like there was never a dull release.

So when I came home for Thanksgiving this is what had piled up in my room. If only everyday was like that one.

I won this on eBay from someone. I'm really in to this band now, so I'll have to track down all of the versions I can. This, the most common is out of 400.

I was happy to get my first copy of this, Keep It Clear's s/t. Again the black is the most common out by Not Just Words out of 480.

Here we have the last copy of the DTN/OTI split that I was missing. This as the cover says is the Euro Tour '06 cover. I believe the guy or one of the guys who ran Dead and Gone Records posted on the React board that he was getting rid of some of his personal collection along with some Dead and Gone rarities. I wanted to get a lot of different things, but this was the main thing. The guy seriously hooked me up with a great price. I have 14 copies of this record, 8 of which are black.

So Dave Sausage sent out an e-mail that he was looking to make some extra money for the label so he said for people to send him offers on rarities. I sent him an offer on this and another rarity I'll get to later.

This is the True Colors Consider It Done with the Sound and Fury cover. When I first heard about these on the internet I was mad that once again there was another True Colors record that was made limited again for the people like myself to have to get a copy of. What made me more upset about this one was that True Colors didn't even play Sound and Fury. I don't know if they ever have. How do you make a special version of a record for a fest that the band isn't playing? So that was a bit annoying. Either way I'm glad I have this one. This is by far the most limited, only 50 copies.

So I won these a while back on the Bay for what I thought was a pretty good deal. The clear is out of 150 and from the second press and the red is out of 200 and from the first. Both are the two rarest of the regular pressing (special sleeves, test presses and transitions aside). I hope these guys do an LP soon, they're due.

This is the European version of Not Sorry's Moving On on blue out of 96. Salad Days did a good job on this release. I think it's awesome when it's hard to distinguish which is the better version, the U.S. or the European. I'm still bummed I didn't do the big pre-order package they had for this.

EBAY

So I've just been getting stuff off of eBay recently, lots of rare stuff and some just great deals too.

First up we have a copy of Stay Cold on white. Limited to 1,000.

This is a copy of Strife's Grey on white out of 1,017. I've been meaning to get Strife vinyl.

This is a copy of the Listen to Your Friends single put out as a promotion for the latest LP. On clear limited to 500.

This is a copy of the Listen to Your Friends single put out on Epitaph, 1,334 of these.

This came with the other two NFG records, Not Without a Fight on Orange, Epitaph press, 700 Copies.

This I thought was a copy of the same thing put as a 10" from Revelation, instead it's Epic's single release. Still cool.

This is the rarest copy of the Cold World - Dedicated LP on clear out of 330.

I picked this up at the D.C. Record Fair this past weekend. It's a DJ single of Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby and Play that Funky Music. Yeah, and I got it for 50 cents.

This is a copy of the Not Sorry Moving On 7" from Salad Day Records, the European press. I got this from the band's bigcartel store. Wish I could have the other versions of this press.

This was a great eBay score for the price. It's a copy of the s/t Down to Nothing 7" on red transition, numbered out of 30. Here is a comparison of the transition on the left and the regular version on the right.

Not a big difference but check out this photo as a reference for the different kinds of transitions.

Next we have my winnings from the Six Feet Under Records eBay extravaganza a few weeks ago. Originally I think I only won three of these but to my surprise the next day I had several second chance offers which was awesome. All in all I definitely spent too much, but it was defiantly worth it too.

First is a copy of the Adult Crash Compilation/Book on White, out of 150.


I also picked up the Test Press, out of 35, which is a lot of copies for a test.

This is a copy of the last press of the Cold World/War Hungry Press on grey.

Numbered out of 105. I had a chance to get this at This Is Hardcore, but like an idiot I passed up on it and had to pay more for it in the end.

This is a copy of the split with the War Hungry European Tour sleeve.

Numbered on the back. I now have every version of this split other than the test, and seeing as how much it went for in these auctions, I don't think I'll be getting it anytime soon.

Here is a copy of TC Focus on the Light on Tri-Color. I've now got every version of this one too except for the test. I think it's more likely I'll get the test for this however. This band is definitely going to be like Biggie in 2Pac, meaning that now that they're dead they'll get more recognition. Looking at pictures and video from the last show this past weekend makes me wish I had seen them more. Here's a picture from the last show.

It doesn't get much better than that.

This was the biggest thing I wanted and it originally went for more than I wanted to pay, so good thing for second chances. This is the test press for the Hem Hem 7". I probably spent way too much on this since it's a joke release and not anything memorable, but hey this might be the only time I could've ever gotten it. Oh wait that's right I could've gotten this at This Is Hardcore too, but at that point in my record collecting I had no idea what a good offer would be. I'm kinda bummed about the cover, same thing as the regular version.