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The Beatles – The Collection (MFSL Box Set, 1982) – Limited Edition #6 - $2,000 (san bruno)
Fleetwood Drive near Westborough Blvd
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Purchase transaction will take place during business hours at a local bank, no exceptions.
As the original owner, I purchased this set in 1983 and kept it as a collectible over the past 43 years. Your purchase will include the two newspaper articles (see photos) from November,1982 announcing the release of this limited edition set. The records have been stored in an upright position and were only removed twice from their fancy black box; once to admire and enjoy upon receiving in 1983 and again now for the purpose of photographing and letting go - but never since have they seen the light of day or have they touched the head of a needle or turntable so they will come to you in pristine condition safe in their original rice-paper sleeves. The only blemish is on the exterior cover of the GEO disk which is shown in photo and is original to its arrival and not from handling.
The Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (or MFSL) Beatles Box set was released in 1982 (October or November). It's official name is "The Beatles/ The Collection" and its catalogue number is MFSL BC-1.
Before the box set, MFSL had already released three of the Beatles LPs as individual items. The first was "Abbey Road" either in December 1979 or January 1980. The process for the discs included using the master tapes (when available) and then utilizing "half-speed" mastering of the lacquers. This was then pressed onto "super vinyl" when sent from California (MFSL headquarters) to the Yokohama factory of the Victor company in Japan in order to fabricate the metal masters and the press the records. This "super vinyl" was transparent when held up to light and was heavy vinyl and harder than regular vinyl in order to establish the best sound possible. The master tape used for "Abbey Road" was actually the Capitol sub-masters and not the original from Abbey Road.
The second Beatles LP from MFSL was "Magical Mystery Tour". The master used for this project was actually from EMI but this version originated from Capitol and was used by EMI for the 1970s re-issue. This didn't make much sense when considering that this version contained second generation stereo for eight songs and fake (duophonic) stereo for three songs. This second release was put out on February 01, 1981.
The third Beatles LP from MFSL was "The Beatles (White Album)" issued on January 07, 1982. The master tapes used for this project were also sub-masters from Capitol.
All of the above covers were released with color banners at the top denoting that there were "Original Master Recordings". "Abbey Road" had the standard cover, "Magical Mystery Tour" had the re-issued gatefold without the booklet and "The Beatles (White Album)" was not embossed did it contain the poster and individual photos. The labels for these three pressings were white with black print. "Abbey Road" has the target Capitol logo, "Magical Mystery Tour" has the EMI logo (ironically) and "The Beatles" has the dome Capitol logo.
The box set was then released. The remaining 10 LPs were as follows: "Please Please Me" (using the original master tape from EMI), "With the Beatles" (also using the original master tape from EMI) "A Hard Day's Night" (also using the original master tape from EMI), "Beatles for Sale" (using a re-mix from the four-track tape), "Help!" (using a re-mix tape), "Rubber Soul" (using a re-mix tape), "Revolver" (using the original master tape from EMI), "Sgt. Pepper" (using a re-mix tape), "Yellow Submarine" (using a re-mix tape) and "Let It Be" (using a corrected copy tape). It is also interesting to note that "Pepper" in this set does not contain the recording of the high frequency or the "inner groove".
Each of the 14 discs in the box set have the white labels with black print. All have rice paper inner sleeves and are surrounded by a cardboard gatefold sleeve and housed in custom covers. The custom covers feature a photo of a tape (actually the same tape is used for all the covers) and an open tape box which shows information as to when the tape was removed from the box and used for issues and re-mixing for various countries, etc. The sound is amazing.
The box set also includes a "Geo-Disc" which is a 12-inch plastic platter used to align and set your stylus and cartridge to a transcription deck!!
The box set also comes with a 12 by 12 40-page color booklet which explains the MFSL process, contains a certificate of authenticity individually numbered (my copy is 6,036). The booklet also contains reproductions of all the Beatles LP covers - front and back: "Please Please Me" has the "stereo" marking on the front and stereo catalogue number on the back; "With The Beatles" has no marking on the front and stereo catalogue number on the back; "A Hard Day's Night" has the "stereo marking on the front and stereo catalogue number on the back; "Beatles For Sale" has no marking on the front and the mono catalogue number within the left inner sleeve of the gatefold; "Help!" has the "stereo" marking on the front and stereo catalogue number on the back; "Rubber Soul" has no marking on the front and the mono catalogue number on the back; "Revolver" also has no marking on the front and the mono catalogue number on the back; "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" has the mono catalogue number; "The Beatles" has no indications of denoting "stereo" anywhere on the cover; "Yellow Submarine" has the mono catalogue number on the back and is missing the original red lines from the first pressing releases; lastly "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Let It Be" use the re-issue covers from the 1970s thereby eliminating the booklet for "MMT" and using the EMI/Parlophone logo rather than the Apple logo for "Let It Be". I point this out as all of the issues are in stereo and it would have been nice to use the original covers for all of the above with their stereo catalogue numbers.
The booklet also contains a discography at the back. The whole book is surrounded by a sturdy white cardboard outer sleeve. Finally, the set comes with a "Certificate of Limited Warranty".
Supposedly, 25,000 copies of this box set were released. All sold out within a year.MFA