Concord/Craft confirmed that only one vinyl variant will be released this year: the picture vinyl shown at left, available solely from Barnes & Noble.
However...
Although this LP was scheduled to be released on September 22, it's "temporarily out of stock" at B&N's online store. Nor is it available in any of the 21 B&N outlets within 100 miles of our home. On top of which, I have a report from one fan who advance-ordered it online awhile back, and his order was canceled ... which is odd.
Hopefully, it simply has been delayed.
That aside ... goodness, just the one?
That's quite a reduction from last year, which saw eight variants, as also was the case in 2021. (A complete history of this marketing program, which photos of the variants, can be found here.) Including this year's release, and assuming my math is accurate — and if it isn't, I'm sure somebody will tell me — über-fans will have accumulated 42 LPs and one green 45 single.
I'd love to know what such an individual did with them all.
Display all the discs on a wall? (If somebody reading this actually did that, please send a photo; I'll happily post it here.)
It seems unsatisfying to simply file them vertically, with only their side ID visible, as with a conventional row of LPs.
There's no question that all the vinyl variants released during the past several years helped push the album into the Billboard 200's Top 10 for the past two years. I wonder, then, if that won't happen this year.
I guess we'll find out...
We get a Thanksgiving LP finally this year. Maybe they are catering to the hardcore fans this year.
ReplyDeleteActually, several variant Thanksgiving LPs, as discussed in the previous post. Hardcore, indeed!
ReplyDeleteI got up to 23 copies before I faced the reality in 2019 that Christmas was not only getting too commercial, it was getting too expensive! ;)
ReplyDeleteI was never sure how to best display them, so I kept them all in their shrink wrap and amassed more and more variants each season. I ended up selling all one-by-one, but I kept the vintage mono & stereo pressings as well as the 2-LP 45prm and the 200-gram pressings from Analogue Productions. It's not such a bad little collection!
Mike, I admire your dedication. I wouldn't have lasted that long!
ReplyDeleteThat said, I rather hope there's at least one fan out there who went 100%, and displayed all the discs on a wall somewhere ... because I'd sure love to see that photo!
Sounds like you saved the important ones. Wise choices!