RR-001: Getting The Fear 12"

To plagiarize my own writing: in my opinion, this 12" is the ultimate Poison Idea collectible — an exclusive 2-song, limited edition, colored vinyl 12″, available only through mail order — true collector scum status right from the get go. Not to mention the songs a total rippers!

Apparently PI were fed up with other labels (presumably Pusmort and/or Alchemy) so they took things into their own hands and self-released the Filthkick 7" (July, 1988) and this 12" (early 1989), and then took matters even further and started their own label (American Leather) a few months later. This 12" was released by the band in conjunction with a local record store in Portland, and comes in many flavors. Read on...

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REJECTED TEST PRESS - 6(?) copies

Matrix number RR-001. No sleeve issued, though some copies came with an 8.5"x11" reproduction of the label art. I can't say the 6 copies thing is 100% certain, as I heard it second hand from someone who got their copy from Pig back in the day, but the guy sounded legit so I'll take his word for it. For what it's worth, I've seen at least 3 copies. Not sure why this one was rejected, as it sounds identical to the re-cut. Label is hand written "Poison Idea test press".

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APPROVED TEST PRESS - 6(?) copies

Matrix number RR-001 Re-1. No sleeve issued, though some copies came with an 8.5"x11" reproduction of the label art.

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FIRST PRESS - 1000 copies

PI's official discography states "900 red & white splattered and 100 multicolor splattered", and I've seen people go as far as trying to break down the multicolor copies into more specific color combos — one ebay listing said "About 20 were pressed on Blue & White, 20 Red White & Blue, and 20 marbled, all the rest were White with Red splatters". So where does that leave the other 40 multicolor copies? I can't say for sure how many there are of each, but the multicolor copies are definitely rare, and some colors seem particularly rarer than others.

In general, these were issued in clear picture disc jackets with a 24"x36" poster and a xerox-copied green obi strip that's about 14"x2" and folds around the record (a word to the wise if you own this record — store the obi outside of the plastic jacket, as the copy toner on the obi will stick to the inside of the jacket and then stick to the vinyl). I've seen copies without the obi strips that were obtained straight from the band, so it's possible they either had some overrun on the 1000 copies, or they gave some out before the obi's were made. The obi's are numbered, though the numbers do not correlate to the color variants as far as I can tell (ie, the rare variants are not always #'d under 100).

"STANDARD" VERSION - white vinyl with red/pink splatters - 900 made

OBI STRIP


POSTER

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MULTICOLOR VARIANT COPIES

Red/white splatter with tiny blue spot (around 10 o'clock on the outside edge) - insignificant but interesting

Red/white/blue splatter - these appear to be the most common of the multicolors

Blue/white splatter - seems to be rarer than red/white/blue copies

Solid purple with red/blue splatters - I've only ever seen three of these and they all came from the Rockport Records guy, so presumably not too many made it out. Second copy shown here is #1/1000.

Solid green with red splatters - this is the only copy I've ever seen, or that anyone in the know has heard of existing. Came directly from the Rockport guy, #7/1000.