The Misfits - Halloween 7"

Well, this will be the last Misfits 7" post for a while. My wallet couldn't take the strain!

I guess I saved the best for last because growing up, "Halloween" was the song that hooked me on the band. It's pretty awesome and quite satisfying to have the original now.

I love the overall look and feel of this single as the band had made the move to Doyle on guitar and had changed their logo to the Famous Monsters of Filmland style font. This was the version of the Misfits I was most familiar with and enjoyed the most, mainly due to the awesomeness of the "Walk Among Us" lp.

On the collecting side, this was also the easiest and cheapest (relative term when it comes to this game) seven inch to obtain.

One pressing of 5000 on black vinyl. That's it. No label variants or different covers. One set of matrix numbers. You can't ask for more clear cut than that!

Of course Misfits Central gets into 10 copies that Danzig gave to friends with a photocopied cover, but whatever. Good luck chasing that down.

The insert is a lyric sheet for the song "Halloween". Not all copies came with the insert for whatever reason. That is pretty much the case with all their original records. The lyrics for the B side, "Halloween II" are on the back cover.

Bootlegs exist for this as with all the Misfits 7"s, but they are pretty easy to spot with this release. Blank labels and wrong matrix numbers are the big giveaways. Also, the insert has been bootlegged as photocopies on orange paper, but the original isn't exactly indian ink on high end parchment paper either.

I was also going to post on 3 Hits From Hell, but I ran into some bad luck. After all my histrionics about bootlegs, the research I do and the questions I ask of sellers - I ended up with a $300 bootleg.

I swear the listing was fine. The labels looked good, cover looked legit with sharp colors and lines, insert included, everything looked good. The Buy It Now option is always appealing as well.

The first sign of trouble was the record showed up in a bubble envelope. No cardboard backing, no box. How it survived the trip I have no idea.

I opened the package up and slid the record out of the sleeve. I can't tell you how close to a heart attack I had when I held the record up to the light to read the matrix number "Promo 7003". A far cry from the "Masterdisk PL 1013-A/B" or "R-10261/2" I was hoping to see.

I'm too fucking old for this kind of stress.

The insert is an obvious copy as well as part of the image is cut off on the top from the original.

I am working on a return (money and record) with the seller who was bummed to find out it was a bootleg. He bought it from a indie record store for big bucks too. Makes me wonder if any of this is worth it...

Then I look at my Halloween, Horror Business, Evilive and Beware records and yeah - sometimes it's worth it!