Venezuelan Maiden Japan Available on eBay
Whilst we don't normally advertise sales, this one is rare enough for a special mention.The incredibly rare Venezulean pressing of the 1981 Maiden Japan EP, with the decapitated Paul artwork, is once more available on eBay for anyone with couple of hundred quids to spare. The auction can be found here
Maiden are not normally noted for releasing different sleeves for the same record. However, the band's South American fans in Venezuela where treated to a radically different picture sleeve to the rest of the world way back in 1981. The original sleeve known to Maiden fans outside of Venezuela is Eddie wielding a samurai sword - a version which is available quite readily, including the Japanese heavy metal album pressing and at an affordable price.
According to TrooperSounds.com, the Iron Maiden collectors website, who rates this EP as the 17th coolest item in any Iron Maiden collection and an absolute MUST for any hardcore fan, this item went for about £300 (approximately $525) in 2001. Nowadays it seems, you need to put £600 (approximately $1,050) on the table to secure it. This makes the item one of the coolest items you can get for your Eddie shrine!
2 Comments
How many of these were pressed anyway?
I find 17th rarest item a bit too low, I think it should be in top 5 of most hard to get items !
I only have the 6th rarest item of that list (ain't a big collector (yet)), the POM with different sleeve, whitch I bought for 80$ perfect condition.
But like I said that list isn't really good, a lot of items can be picked up easily at a good price, and others can't practically be found :s