Some Serious Scores

So the past week or so I've picked up a decent amount of records, but some pretty awesome stuff has made it that much better. First I'll start with what has been a bit of a long time coming.

So a guy on the React! board posted his On Thin Ice collection and mentioned that he'd be willing to part with his Down to Nothing split Test Press from Dead & Gone Records. So I sent him a private message and a price was agreed and shortly payment was sent. Within a few days the dude shipped the record from Austria, and the waiting game started. I thought it might take about 2 or 3 weeks to get to me. It took about 2.5 months to finally get to my doorstep. Several messages were sent about it not yet getting to my house and he kept reassuring that he sent it and offered to send me the scanned receipt. So I knew the guy had to have sent it, and he had good feedback on the React! board. So I just figured I'd wait a little longer, after 2 months my patience begins to thin. So when this finally got to me I was more than relieved. It's limited to 8 copies. Here's a picture of the back:

The first reason why this post is awesome is because there are two tests, Graham over in the U.K. who I've dealt with on past DTN deals sent me this one.

This is the Test Press of the Splitting Headache release. It is limited to 2 copies, so pretty awesome that I have one. Here's a close up of the labels.


Inside the sleeve Rich wrote this message.

Basically explaining how the color of the vinyl came back from the plant and that there apparently is another version out there numbered out of 3...damnit. Anyway Rich seemed like he just wanted this to stay off eBay, no worries Rich. Also this came with plastic inner sleeves but I don't like those and put the two 7"s in paper sleeves, don't worry I kept the original plastic sleeves too.

In yet another addition to the DTN collection I picked up a copy of the 3 song demo, this one is the record release, numbered out of 30.

I picked up my first copy of the 6 song demo from the same guy. Dave sent me an e-mail after he heard from Alex of Grave Mistake Records that I'd probably be interested in some of his records that he was looking to get rid of. Thanks Dave and Alex. This is the clear copy out of 34. Pretty cool looking record. The color of the vinyl doesn't seem like a straight forward clear, it almost looks like a really light colored coke bottle clear.

Here we have the last DTN release. This is the demo tape from 2002 that I also picked up from Graham. Nice to finally have this, I think there are other tapes out there from DTN but I don't know much about them. I think there's a hand drawn cover maybe from a different year and I think a colored cover version of this. If anyone's got details let me know.

ON just recently set up a bigcartel store, so I stopped over and picked up a copy of the LP from Powered. This is on white and limited to 200. Nice to be able to pick this up especially after all of the problems with the pre-orders with this from Powered. Luckily I didn't partake in the pre-order.

Here we have a great pick up. The React! Records Showcase box set. Aram posted these in the store one night and I believe the 20 copies left from the showcase sold out in like 2 minutes. I was happy to be able to jump on the opportunity as I sat at my computer and hit refresh every second.

These are numbered on the back out of 94 and have a 3-side screen print on the box.


As usually Aram loaded this up with quality. You've got a copy of both Mindset releases, GBNF, Praise and Damages all on black and all stamped on the dust sleeve. Each release comes with what it usually would, the download code, sticker and the full page essays. You put all of those essays together and the list of names in hardcore who have contributed are pretty impressive. Also included was a booklet with all of the lyrics from the records and some special notes from Aram. Very cool addition. Overall an incredibly awesome thing to have.

In another React! release, I got a copy of the Praise 7" pressed for the Showcase also, out of 100. Andy put some of these up in Praise's new bigcartel store. Very nice.

I got my first The First Step record, oddly redundant. This is from the second press out of 885. Nothing special but a good start I think. More to come I'm sure.

Here we have another copy of the Swamp Thing 7". This is on gold, so I can now differentiate between the tan and gold copy. Limited to 112.



So my buddy Bobby Egger had a show about a week ago for one of his label's bands, ANS. He had his distro out in full force to help raise money for a few releases he has in the works, including his first LP. So I knew I needed to at least pick something up from him. I picked up a copy of the Iron Boots demo from Grave Mistake, 3rd press out of 500; Iron Age Constant Struggle 3rd press on clear out of 300 and Pulling Teeth Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions on Coke Bottle Clear with regular cover out of 900. Nothing too special, but all solid pick ups from a solid distro. Keep an eye out on Headcount Records.

Down to Nothing Update

Collect 'Em All

A lot of this blog consists of me continuing to get some of the same records I already own, but different variations of that same record. I'm not sure why I do this or what is my motivation behind it. I guess its almost like a way of showing how much you like a record by getting as many copies as possible. It could also just be for bragging rights, sometimes I feel like it's the latter of the two. Maybe it's just a simple novelty thing? Sometimes I realize it gets out of hand, but moments later I get excited again about it. It's odd how these things work.

Well after that intro, after a while of not really getting anything new from this band, I got two records. Cold World has been a band that just stands out to me, maybe its from seeing them in Philly a few times, or just that the band is so well liked, yet they don't play that much. Cold World to me plays a type of hardcore that is just a no-brainer. A lot of hardcore kids like hip hop and it makes me wonder how a band like this hadn't come out that actually could pull it off well. Probably because it's not easy.

This is the third and lost copy of the No Omega Compilation LP that I did not have. For anyone that doesn't know this puts all of the first 7"s on one release, and I think an extra song. To me this is the best Cold World. This LP just sort of encompasses all of it. This one is out of 104 copies.

Also keeping with my preferred Cold World releases, this is the self-titled 7" on blue. I feel like that for the most part the hype that surrounded this band has died down a bit, which is awesome because it makes for great deals on stuff I normally would've passed on. I believe this one is out of 200.

Here we have The Effort's From Our Mistakes 7" on green from the 1st press, 175 copies. Compare it to the other post I had from the first press here

I decided to place an order at React! for a few things I didn't have. I picked up the Carry On re-release of It's All Our Blood put out a while ago, I had picked up a copy on white from Sean Youngblood and I thought I had pre-ordered this and the red copy from React, but I found out later that I did not. Maybe I'll get a copy on red somewhere down the road.

I picked up a copy of The Effort #2 fanzine. This really impressed me, sometimes I feel like the quality of a zine just doesn't impress me most of the time. This thing is incredibly well done. Huge interviews, lots of topics and just tons of rad stuff. I'm looking forward to sitting down and actually reading it. I was also supposed to pick up a copy of Mindset's Time & Pressure on black, but Aram sent me it on red. Aram did however give me the other screen-printed mailer used for the Mindset 7", so that was a nice bonus.

So now I have duplicates of red and white. Aram wants me to fund his label apparently. No worries I can pick up a copy on black at a show I'm sure.

This is another copy of On's Vital Times, this time on black, out of 600. I need to get more copies of this record. It is just too good.

Here we have another copy of Swamp Thing's 7" on tan I think. Kind of hard to distinguish between tan and gold, under different light it can go either way.

I love Bracewar's first 7" and after I heard the LP I wasn't really impressed at all. About two weeks ago I was giving it another listen, and there are several tracks that are pretty good. So I thought maybe a purchase was necessary, and to my luck and fairly easily, I got the Sound and Fury version out of 100.

I decided to pick up another Wishingwell release, this is Insted's Bonds of Friendship. Probably one of the best covers I've seen, mixes the like 50s and youthcrew look really well.

So Much to Post About

The past couple of weeks I've been getting a lot of stuff in and it's been just piling up so this is the culmination of that. I'll start with what was probably the most notable thing that happened in the past few weeks, Mindset's record release.

This was probably one of the best shows I have been to, including the after show. Lots of great bands and friends. Check out the videos from the show if you haven't here. It would only make sense that I start this blog with Time & Pressure.

On the left is the yellow record release press of the new 7" limited to 100 copies. Next to that is the white out of 200 and then the red out of 400. The record release show was on a Sunday and the next day I received my pre-order from React!, how fitting. At the record release I picked up a copy of the white vinyl because I was under the impression that I had missed the opportunity to get a copy of it for the pre-order, the things went so fast and I was at work. To my surprise when I opened the package there was a red copy and a white copy, so I now have two copies on white. Anyone interested in picking it up let me know. At the record release, pretty much anyone who bought the 7" also got the Sacred Love demo and Thinking Cap #1. Also like an idiot I picked up the poster at the show that came in my pre-order so I now have two of those too for anyone who is interested.

True Colors had a special press of Focus on the Light from Six Feet Under for the tour. At first I saw this thing and was like they just glue a piece of paper to the one I already had, the one that came with the Rush of Hope pre-order. So I was instantly turned off and appalled that they would try and make me buy another copy. So after the first show, before the second show I was playing on my phone and saw Mike's post about the record and then I wanted it. Luckily for me the True Colors guys stuck around for the second show and I asked Packo if he could pull out a copy for me, which he generously did. Close call.

Here's a good picture of some friends and I during True Colors set at the show.

Also at the show I picked up two LPs from someone who I think just brought some stuff they were looking to get rid of.

On top is Blue Monday's Rewritten on purple, on the bottom is Comeback Kid's Wake the Dead on blue. Neither one is that rare or special, but both were definitely good pick ups for the price, $6 each.

Also at the show I picked up a copy of Boiling Over's Trash City on Green, second press. I've been meaning to pick this up and just never got around to it til now.

Bummer this band just played their last show, I would've liked to hear more.

One of the first things I picked up over a week ago was Forfeit's Visions with the Summer Tour sleeve. Limited to 100 Copies, mine's #100, pretty cool.

So big surprise, I pre-ordered the new Down to Nothing 7". So here are the two versions that were available for pre-order.

I believe the black and white cover is the limited version I think out of 300. No idea the pressing on the regular versions. Both on black, the packaging is not bad and overall clean, but I'm not that impressed to be honest. I was however impressed by the music, a few things I'm not a fan of but overall I was definitely feeling it. An updated collection picture is on its way.

Next I picked up two Common Cause releases.

The copy of Statement of Purpose on blue is out of 300. The Power to Change LP is the European tour version with the DJ sleeve, limited to 250 copies. I started feeling this band after Aram sent out the e-mails with the download to the React pressing of Statement of Purpose.

Here's another Down to Nothing pick up.

This is the Revelation compilation, Generations. Not only does this have an unreleased DTN song, but it has an incredibly impressive list of bands on it. These are the two versions that were released both limited to 550 copies.

After winning a couple things on eBay from a guy he gave me a second chance offer on this and I didn't pass up on it.

This is the Summer Tour version of Fired Up's When the Lights go, numbered out of 150. Glad to add this to the collection.

Another addition to a different collection is I finally got a copy of Get the Most's Core Values.

This is the most common color limited to 300 copies, I'm just happy to finally have a copy. These things don't go for cheap.

Next was another record that I was happy to finally get a copy of, add to the collection, and usually goes for a good amount.

This is ON's original release, Vital Times. This record seriously owns, so happy to have it. When I saw my man Marc over at Uncontrollable Substance post about getting a copy as an extra in a package, I immediately sent him an offer. In like two days it was in my hands, Marc is awesome and can pack a record.

In once again another addition to a collection I picked up two more copies of The Carrier's s/t 7".

The bottom is the version from Sound and Fury 08, numbered out of 75. The top one is just from the second press, limited to 102 copies. I got an offer from a guy to pick this up from him like two months ago and like an idiot I didn't check his trader feedback until after I sent my money. So with that being said I didn't expect my record to show up after seeing that I shouldn't have trusted him. So I sent him an e-mail after a few weeks saying I didn't expect him to send me the record. He said that he had and that he had another copy and would send it to me again along with some others to make up for the time, I was like "sure". So maybe two weeks later I get a package in the mail and sure enough there is The Carrier 7", to my surprise. He also threw in the two other colors form the 2nd press and an Answer 7". The dude totally made up for it and then some. However I already had the two other Carrier 7"s, dude definitely still went out of his way.

I also picked up two tapes. First is my man Bobby Egger's old band Full Nelson's promo tape for their 7".

These guys need to get back together to play a show, their 7" was solid.

Just the other day I got my copy of A Helping Hand Compilation.

This was an awesome compilation put together for Keith from Alert. Keith lost a lot of his personal belongings not to mention a house in a fire. All of the proceeds for this are going to Keith. So if you've got $3 and want a great compilation of current bands, head over here and pick one up for a good cause. Keith is an awesome dude and deserves any help he can get. This is the Pre-Order cover, numbered out of 30 copies. I'm going to pick up the regular version sometime soon. Please help Keith out.

So that's all for this massive post, and maybe my biggest one yet. I've got more stuff already to put up. It never ends.

Nothing Special

I've got so many things either on their way or pre-ordered that I'm starting to lose track of things I paid for. Now I see why people include a section of "In the mail" on their collection lists. I might have to start doing this. I got a pre-order sooner than I thought. I got a package from Panic Records with four copies of the new Effort 7". I had previously posted about this release, as a tape that they had on tour. This is the official release i guess you could say of the demos for the new LP.

I ordered these as soon as they went up about a month ago so this has to be one of the quicker pre-orders I've placed. I have to say that these 7"s look boring. The artwork is cool and I actually like it by itself but paired with the vinyl cover, it's not interesting at all. Maybe if the cover had colors it would work out but it doesn't. As far as the music goes, I'm also a little disappointed. Compared to the first 7", the LP and From Our Mistakes, this is just not as good. The tracks have some cool parts but there is a definite difference in the material. Maybe it has to do with the like three new members? Either way its not as good. I picked up a few things from someone on eBay. First up is the Braindead LP.

This was a pretty good Philly band that never really got too recognized. This version is from their Spring tour last year, with a numbered cover. The LP is pretty good, well recorded and the layout is also very cool. I got this for pretty cheap, so nice score.

The main thing I wanted to pick up was this copy of Adult Crash, because DTN is on it. It's also a pretty cool zine, though apparently this person didn't want me to have it.

The last thing I picked up was another copy of the Trapped Under Ice LP, this being the Reaper Pre-Order color. I got all three of these for pretty cheap, which makes me happy about this package.

Keep the Collections Going

I finally got something I was really looking forward to. Rich from Speedowax Records posted on the React! board that he was going to sell the Splitting Headache double 7" directly from himself, so that people like myself no longer needed to spend ridiculous prices for copies of the release. So I jumped on the opportunity to pick up two more copies that I didn't have that Rich was offering. When I sent him a private message on the board about getting them from him once I had some more money in the bank account, rich immediately wanted to help me continue my DTN collection and offered to give me every version that he could get that I didn't have. Of course I agreed and sent him the payment as soon as I could. After a little delay and getting all of the versions together to be sent, I finally got the package. What's better than getting 6 Down to Nothing records that you don't have in one package? Not much.

There are several versions of this release pretty much all identified by the stamps on the sleeves and labels. Pictured is the DTN rules stamp, Speedowax.com stamp, KruptKids stamp, Pre-order stamp, Mail Order stamp and the 2008 UK tour sleeve. The first four mentioned are all numbered and limited to 125 copies. The mail order is out of 25 and the tour press is out of 100. I've seen an earlier UK tour version, anyone know if this is the same thing? Or if there is anything people think I might be missing other than the obvious test then please let me know.

Next up I got another version of the Perspective 7". This is the Powered Pre-Order version. Seems that I'm getting a lot of Powered vinyl these days, especially with the Pre-Order stamp. Nothing too special about this, just happy to cross it off the list.

I got another Carrier 7" to add to the collection, this is the No Love Can Save me on Purple/Green split color, 300 copies. Pretty straight-forward, just haven't been able to get a copy of this til now.

Bringing in Spring

It's such a nice day out that I decided to stay in and get around to updating my blog. The first is an eBay win, On Double Vision on Blue. I was happy to pick up the rarest color finally, with only 150 copies it's not something I can just pick up at my local record store.

So I was up in Pennsylvania visiting the lady and she had mentioned there was a store that would interest me in her town, Pass & Stow. So we finally got the chance to go there last weekend and I saw this and knew it was about time i picked it up.

Even if it's the like 5th pressing or something, still something I needed a copy of. Not much needs to be said about this, just something important to have in the collection. Paolo from the React board was selling a copy of the Get the Most tour 7" combo, so I gladly took it off his hands.

This has both Moment in Time and Common Goals together with a cover made for their 2009 Fall Tour, which i don't think even came to the east coast, so I couldn't pick it up in person. The back of the cover is numbered to make nerds just nerd out more.

I picked a few things up from another gentlemen on the react board that seems to be a big verse fan, Matthew Jordan, good dude. All of them are records from overseas, so it was nice to be able to get them finally. First is True Colors Perspective record release cover.

Once again numbered for the nerds, also has this really cool comic on the back but I have no idea what it says. Anyone out there know?

Another True Colors record, Rush of Hope with the Powered Pre-Order Stamp. Happy to have a copy of this.

Also from Powered and also already mentioned in this post, I got Double Vision with the Powered stamp.

Nice to have some pre-orders that I didn't participate in and a copy from a release show that I couldn't attend. The internet is a wonderful thing. Maybe when I have $150 to waste I place an order with Powered finally.