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Saturday Deluxe / 15 December 2018

By Paul Sinclair

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92

Fans disappointed by lack of availability of Wings box

The super deluxe editions of Paul McCartney‘s news Wings reissues (Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway) are/were available in a mega-box called Wings 1971-1973. This includes an extra book (Wings Over Europe) and a bonus 78 minute CD of previously unreleased live performances from this tour. This set was only available ‘D2C’ (direct to consumer) via McCartney’s label partners (Universal’s uDiscoverMusic store, for example) and not from major online outlets like Amazon, or HMV.

Many fans have been caught out by the lack of availability (perhaps taking the ‘limited edition’ tag with a pinch of salt, and/or hesitating over the hefty £300+ price-tag) because as it has turned out, this did indeed appear to be genuinely limited (I’m guesstimating around 3000 copies) and is now unavailable anywhere, officially.

This has created a crazy situation where these sets are now selling for absurd amounts via online platforms like eBay. Check out this copy which isn’t even sealed, the owner has used the downloads (!), has a day to go and is up to £1480!!

My advice would be for people to calm down a little bit and hope that a second run will be produced. The fact that on Universal’s UK site the ‘sold out’ message now reads ‘First edition – sold out’ does rather suggest a ‘second edition’ will be forthcoming. What’s disappointing is that no one from McCartney’s camp or the record label will come out and clarify the situation, so some fans now are spending a small fortune, perhaps totally unnecessarily.

Incidentally, while this Wings tour always appeared to be something of a ramshackle jaunt, the reality is that there was enough foresight and organisation to ensure that these shows were recorded by none less than Alan Parsons in the Rolling Stones’ mobile unit!

Read more about the Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway reissues

As some of you may be aware, Cherry Red’s reissue of Re-Flex‘s The Politics of Dancing was effectively cancelled. That hasn’t stopped a few copies sneaking out – I know that some of you received copies from a few places, including Amazon in Germany.

Paul Fishman (who played keyboards with the band) actually left a comment on SDE giving his explanation and thoughts on the situation. This is what he said:

“…The intended release was not taken from the master tapes. Most of it came from dodgy vinyl, which is a shame because the masters exist. Changes to the artwork and credits were neither approved. Almost a bootleg! I think people deserve better and so I requested that they start again and do it properly. Another album is being put together and will be available soon. I would suggest you wait as unlike the scrapped album it won’t include tracks that were never recorded e.g. Spanish or other non existant versions. Sorry for the delay.”

So it looks like the reissue will happen, it but we’ll have to be patient. Here are the original details about the now cancelled release.

In other ‘delayed’ news, the Super Furry Animals coloured vinyl version of ‘Rings Around The World’ – which was supposed to be released yesterday – has also been delayed until early next year. We were selling this on the SDE shop (long since sold out) so I made sure everyone who had pre-ordered it was at least aware of the situation. Hopefully, this will all be resolved amicably, but it comes down to a bit of label politics and SFA being unaware of the reissue and not exactly over the moon about, although Kliph, the drummer who works on the archive projects, acknowledged that “Music On Vinyl is a legitimate label and do license things properly”

Read more about Super Furry Animals on SDE.

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92 Comments

92 thoughts on “Saturday Deluxe / 15 December 2018”

    2. Hi Paul
      Why are you delete my posts now? I’ve never been negative to you or anyone else on here. I’ve only offered what I’ve bought and for how much or if I’ve felt something was a rip off or if a link that was posted didn’t work for me

      1. I haven’t deleted anything. Here’s a tip for people… if you’ve posted a comment and it doesn’t appear for whatever reason within half a day or so, then try again. Reasons why some posts might not appear: The moderator (me) hasn’t got around to approving them. You are repeating something someone else has already said (‘there’s a great deal for product x in such and such). You are attacking or being horrible about another person. You are trying to wind someone up or provoke a response. You haven’t got your brain switched on and are saying something irrelevant “that box set isn’t available at that price you said a week ago, so you are wrong” (no *you* are late). I somehow missed it amongst the hundreds of comments posted each day. etc.

        1. SDE needs a FAQ!
          It should be compulsory to read it. No moaning until one has read the FAQ. Moaning about something in the FAQ. First Strike.

          Don’t take it personally Jeff, I have about two or three posts a day that disappear into the ether. It’s all good and nobody died. In fact it’s probably a bonus for other readers….

      1. all gone, prob snapped up by scalpers. Stupid money for essentially an extra CD and book.

        Glad some have the money to shell out on this at insane prices.

        Same thing happened to the BBC Dr Who Tom Baker blu ray. Sold out and scalpers started selling at £200-500 for a faulty set. The fools paid for it.

  3. Is the Tug Of War limited version really that sought after though ..? I don’t think there were any musical exclusives within and haven’t heard of it going for big money

    1. I would agree with the opinion that “laminate does not a special edition make”. Just like the recent Brian Eno set with identical product in a laminated box. I don’t have either so can’t comment on whether it has been worth owning either set. But as ever it is down to the buyer and their devotion. A laminated SDE of The Kick Inside would have me reaching for my wallet which makes me a selective hypocrite. But at least one extra disc of unique music should be added if you are trying to claim some sort of hierarchy (Bog standard release, Deluxe, Super Deluxe Edition, Super Duper Deluxe Edition etc.).
      I know it’s been discussed / disparaged before but I still think it should be “law” that if a company is trying to claim a “Limited Edition” they should clearly state a number and have the material numbered (it isn’t that difficult or expensive to do at least one of the two). Otherwise everything and nothing is limited and it’s just marketing BS.

      1. Agree with the sentiment in your last paragraph Chris.
        I decided to “watch “ some of the boxes on eBay. Got email just now to say one ending in a few hours.
        Current bid is 1,360 Sterling!!
        As John Martyn sang : some people are crazy….

        1. In case anyone is interested, it sold for 1,555.55 sterling. Nice profit for seller.

          Lot of money for a box and extra cd when you still get the other 2 together for 400 euro or so.

          1. The buyer could be a millionaire, in which case it isn’t going to dent his/her bank account so not so crazy if you can afford it.
            On the other hand, for average Joe like me, I don’t have the finances to pay £1,500 for a box set so I would be crazy to pay that much.

    2. The Tug of War limited edition numbered box set has a red acrylic sleeve, 5 stamped and hand numbered photos. There’s no extra musical content.

      In terms of being sought after, initially they were and lots of people posted here whether they managed to get one or not, remember this is when the box set was selling at the normal retail price.

      As usual a few copies went straight to e-bay with sellers asking around £400, whether any of these went for that price, I don’t know. On Discogs the highest price paid so far is £180.

      You can still find copies on e-bay but I don’t think anyone wants to pay over the odds when there’s no extra music. It’s one of those items, nice to have at normal price but not worth paying over the odds to those types on e-bay.

      1. As Adam has posted above, they are available again.
        Pity the poor (pun intended) person who bought it on eBay earlier.

        But (pun intended) as Seymour said, buyer could be a millionaire.
        Jose M with a bit of shopping time perhaps?!

  4. I was also one of those people who ordered early to try and avoid disappointment in case ‘limited edition’ was pretty limited like the ‘Tug of War’ limited edition.

    Unfortunately, the link on the McCartney website took me to the US Universal website instead of the UK site. Knowing I may be hit with a hefty import tax duty, I went back to the link to see if I could cancel my order. Guess what, each time I clicked the link, it took me to the UK site.

    In the end, I left it and like others never got any confirmation e-mail but the money had been debited from my Paypal account so I assumed the order did go through.

    I finally got some contact from Universal when they were ready to mail the box set. I received the box set and it was sent from the US to the UK.

    As for the download cards, I only had one download that froze on me so I refreshed the web page and it allowed me to begin downloading again.

  5. Like Andrew r said: If they say ‘limited’ and it seems 100.000 editions are pressed, everyone is upset. If they say ‘limited’ and the pressing seems -as promised- really limited, everyone is upset too. I’m a bit confused (and a proud owner of the big box :) ).

    1. Yeah theres always reason to whine… overpriced, limited but still available after 20 years, limited but sold out after week…i dont whine. I buy .

    2. I am excited by the prospect of a combined London Town / Back To The Egg / Wings Final Tour compilation SDE.
      Keeping the current 71-73 box limited to 3500 only adds to the thrill of hunting down ‘the next one’.
      As to 2nd edition of 71-73 box, how do you put out another release of material without annoying everyone? No books? Download only? Just call it 2nd edition and keep it the same?

  7. Further to wings 71-73 being limited would everybody be this keen to have a copy if it was still available at the original price? Or is it being driven by ” i can’t have it so i want it more”
    a thought not a criticism.

    1. David,
      I’ve only used them since the McCartney deluge of material came out from November 2017 onwards. To date I’ve had no problems and found them very helpful when contacting by email or phone. Might be one of the lucky ones though

  9. I agree with Andrew R in that basically if a limited edition is actually limited then it is refreshing. And if some people have the mental and financial wherewithal to know of, find and and then order the item in time then good for them. I think that is basically how it is supposed to function.

    Isn’t so much of music is inherently limited by physics anyway, which can bee sen to add to the fun in some ways, the e.g. (1) there are only so many “X” first pressings made of an LP upon release, with the unique first press matrix numbers etched in to it or (2) there are only so many tickets available to a concert, as they’re limited by the venue and so on

  10. One issue with the 1971-1973 box set, and indeed the separate box sets too, is the problem with the download cards. Many people, including myself, have been unable to download all the seperate parts required to complete each box set. Despite emails to Universal to rectify this no response has been forthcoming.

    After having issues with obtaining confirmation of my order in the first place, and hearing of other peoples problems too, I’m not very impressed with how they operate.

    1. Issue with the 1971-1973 box set. Ordered via PM site using Mcard on 10/22/18. Received confirmation of order and Mcard showed charge on 10/23/18. So far no box set. Universal Music says to contact PM site even though UM is listed as the merchant and recipient of the payment, Also when I check the udiscover music site my account no longer exists and it wants to sign-in as a new member!

    2. Same problem here with the Wings download; I downloaded parts 1 and 2 of Wild Life, third part hung up, I reloaded and re-entered the code, then a message that “Code already used or has reached its limit.”. I can understand limiting a code somehow so dozens of people don’t use it across the US to get the tracks over the course of a month, but there should at least be an hour or two window the code is active, or an easy mechanism to reset it. Best way would be to use an e-mail to create an account then have access to all files. No response from UMG in past 4 days, and McCartney store says they can’t help.

  11. I received my super deluxe last Monday, which was quicker than the Knopfler super which arrived 5 days after the release date. Why is it that those who pre-order these expensive releases have to wait until after the release date. Bizarre customer service. I am pleased with it, and I love the re-imagined or reconstructed Red Rose Speedway. But I am a little grumpy over the quality of the actual box itself, which is made of thin cardboard made of recycled paper. It won’t last long and is a bit, well, cheap.

  12. The Re-Flex news sounds promising, although I wonder if the removal of “non-existent” versions from the track list will extend to promotional mixes which were probably made without the band’s involvement? Time will tell. I think the benefit of a properly mastered album will outweigh getting some “lifted from vinyl” bonus tracks.

    Hooray to Paul Fishman for – I assume – listening to a preview copy and providing his input in a timely manner, and hooray to Cherry Red for listening and pulling the release so they can improve it.

    1. Why are you saying hooray to Cherry Red for pulling this release when some copies have made it to the shops ? Cherry Red were going to go ahead with this sham of a release until Paul Fishman intercepted it.

      1. It would help to know how to feel about something like this if we were to know where the master tapes are, what the logistics are for a licensee to obtain them for a project like this, and to what degree the artists (or original producers, or fans) are in the loop throughout the process of compiling and sourcing the track list.

        Conversely, Paul Fishman’s comment about “tracks that were never recorded e.g. Spanish or other non existant versions,” leads me to a different presumption than Stephen and Neil: that he did not actually listen to the Cherry Red product, as apparently some representation of the band’s material exists in those track positions, no?

        Are there any SDE readers who picked up a copy that can tell us what the tracks not found on the band’s self-produced box set sound like (as in assessing those tracks’ original mixes, not the fidelity of Cherry Red’s sourcing or mastering)?

        I should think it’s worth noting, “Politics of Dancing” was one of my ten favorite ’80s songs I never got in the ’80s. My desire to have that track at a time when the band’s album was unavailable on CD led me first to buy a commercial compilation a couple decades ago (Pulsating Grooves 3), then the Hot Tracks compilation from that company’s website (also for their mix of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life”), and a couple years back I bought Re-Flex’s 6-disc box set through the band’s own site.

        I say that because if I were to quadruple-dip for a 2-disc set it would be for the added value of mixes that I don’t already have, not for an abbreviation of the set I already have.

        It does boggle the mind that a company would go as far in the process as to have pre-orders shipping and product in stores only to pull it and promise a totally revamped set. To “hooray” or not to “hooray,” whatever one thinks of Cherry Red for doing the former is mitigated by their doing the latter, though one wonders what it does to the cost of the product we’ll eventually see. (As Mansun’s “Taxloss” plays in the background…)

        1. The likes of Cherry Red and Edsel do get things right sometimes and that usually happens when the band or artist are involved in the release or Paul of course but they have clearly went ahead with this with no involvement from that band at all and were caught out. Why they didn’t put out those mixes on that box set years ago is anybody’s guess maybe they thought they were crap.

  13. I’ll guess that the next releases will be December 2019 and consist of London Town and Back To The Egg. Further, it wouldn’t surprise me if another limited release at the same time will be Wings 1978-1979 with the exclusive being Wings Over London. Start saving.

    1. Funny, I thought that the likely bonus material for a “London Town”/”Back to The Egg” megabox would be an official CD release of the Glasgow concert which was the very last Wings concert.

  14. After reading the comments, I feel less alone about how the VISA credit card fraud alert cost me a chance of getting the Wings “1971-73” SDE box. I don’t know if my situation occured because I am in the USA? What happened to me is the following: I placed my pre-order on the same day that the box was announced for sale in October. I received confirmation for my pre-order, and a pre-authorization charge was made to my VISA credit card on that same day, shown as “pending transaction”. A week or so later, I noticed that the pending transaction disappeared with no transaction showing up in my charges. So I sent an email to the Macca store and they confirmed that my order was not cancelled, and that the store will charge my VISA credit card when it ships in December, and that as long as my credit card has sufficient funds at the time the box is shipped, I should be okay. That gave me assurance that I had all my ducks in a row and everything would be smooth sailing from there on out. However, last Sunday in the middle of the night I get a flurry of text messages from my VISA credit card saying possible fraud alert, do I recognize a charge that was attempted from a foreign (UK) company? Of course, I immediately responded YES, knowing that this was the Macca box. VISA responds to me saying, okay please have the retailer reprocess the charge and this time VISA will let it go through. In the meanwhile, I get an email from the Macca store saying that their attempt to charge my credit card was denied by VISA and that this usually means that there are insufficient funds, so my order has been cancelled and if I still want the box I should place a new order (which, of course, is impossible for me to do because the item is sompletely sold out). So I send the Macca store an email explaining what happened and that they should reprocess the charge. I get no response to my email. The next day I send another email, again no response. Same thing on the third day. Haven’t heard anything and it has been a week now. I would think that if they had a box reserved for my pre-order, that this box would still be sitting there because I have not seen the item opened up for new orders. And today I read here in the comments that something similar has happened to others. So the question is, what happened to the boxes that were reserved for our pre-order? Today I jumped at a great deal stacking a 20% ebay seller discount plus a 15% ebay site-wide coupon to get a net 32% discount on each of the individual SDE boxes for “Wild Life” and “Red Rose Speedway”, but am still left with the disappointment of missing out on the “Wings Over Europe” CD+book. I decided not to wait for the possibility of a second run of “1971-73” boxes, but if there is a second run, then I will probably end up buying it and selling-off the opened individual WL and RRS boxes to help recoup some of the loss for duplication. Yikes!

    1. Hey Stan, the same exact thing happened to me. I had ordered it from musicvaultz and that same visa fiasco occurred. I was slightly more lucky. As I live in Lebanon when that whole thing happened, it was 7:30 am my time so I immediately went back in and found a set to re-order (although without the 20% I had on my first order). I did e-mail them and they re-imbursed me the 20%. I tried to re-look for another set afterwards but I can’t find the box set on the website anymore (not even with a sold out under it)
      It is currently in the mail and suppose to received it on Tuesday, fingers crossed!!!

      1. Bassel, you are so lucky that things worked out for you in the end – hope your “1971-73” Wings SDE box arrives at your place soon. Thank you for sharing your story, I think it solves the mystery of what happened to the boxes that were on hold. Sounds like anyone who placed a pre-order but the credit card wouldn’t process the charge on the release date, those orders were “cancelled” and apparently those boxes were put back up for sale (which you said you saw happened in your case) and of course were immediately snatched by someone. I was asleep when I received the fraud alert, so it wasn’t until an hour or two later that I was able to respond and try to rectify things with the Macca store, but when I checked the webite it was still showing “sold out” so that must mean that if it was briefly put back up for sale that it got sold almost immediately. I’m guessing that is how things played out. I did finally (a week later) get a response from the Macca store, but it was basically a form letter in which they said they sympathize about the hassle and confusion, but if I am still interested in the item that I should just place a new order. Haha – if only I could!! The surprising thing I have learned from reading the comments in this forum is that folks are saying that the actual “box” in the 1971-73 set is flimsy and cheap in construction – that really surprises me, because all of the other McCartney SDE boxes that I bought in the past were all very sturdy and quality products.

      2. I attempted to grab the Red Rose Speedway Super Deluxe from the Canadian Amazon but it won’t ship to the United States? I didn’t know that. Too bad. That’s an amazing price.

  15. I have the Wings 71-73 box, but am currently trying to battle with UDiscover UK because some of the pages in the Red Rose Speedway book are creased.

    They have offered me a £20 refund as compensation, or s full refund if I return the whole box ( which i’m not going to do).

    I’ve pointed out to them that the Red Rose Speedway sets are still available, so getting a new book shouldn’t cause a problem.

    I’m now waiting for their reply.

  16. Hi
    Hey Paul, How crazy do you think we will get if the next reissue Paul does the same thing. I am very thankful I did get a copy of 1971-73.
    What do you think the next archive release will be? I am hoping Press To Play or London Town.
    Choba C CCCP would be a good choice. He could include a Secret Gig show.

    HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE
    Dave

  17. In a world where limited edition kit-kats exist – anything is possible.

    Often a limited release calls out the number (usually when it is limited to the humdreds or low thousands) and why wouldnt you – something to call out as a marketing differentiator.

    I tend to ignore anything called limited edition that has no limits..it could literally be anything . If I want it I will buy it – that is all that matters.

  18. Hi Paul… Great column as always. Do you know the size of the runs for the deluxe editions of Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway? I have been holding off buying them since seeing the possibility of another edition of Wings 71-73. However I would hate to miss out on them while waiting for an announcement that may not come.

    1. Unfortunately record companies in Australia are losing the plot. Warners couldn’t get the 2cd/dvd of David Bowie, They were 2 weeks later with the Neil Young. The Rolling Stones – Voodoo Lounge live was nearly 2 weeks later. The latest Jethro Tull reissue never got released in Australia. YES Australian collectors are being screwed. Thank got I can get these cds etc from importcds.com.
      Merry Christmas to all SDE readers and Paul.

  20. Don’t hold your breath for a refund, I opened a paypal dispute and like you suddenly got a response after not replying to my previous emails. I requested a refund 6 days ago and still not credited. Many people have not received this record and I don’t believe they were all lost in post, they probably were not sent in first place. There are many quotes about this on the SDE thread regarding Spotify Green vinyl if you search. I looks like small claim court to get refund and trading standards for shoddy non existent transactions.

  21. Slightly off topic
    Has anyone had their Spotify copy of Egyptian Station go missing in the post.
    After chasing it up 2 weeks after despatch email and no reply l put in a dispute in with PayPal.
    Suprise surprise they then contacted me to say they would refund me. So hopefully they do without having to contact PayPal again.

    1. Hi Harry..yes after two attempts. Those mugs at universal also lost the Paul Heaton set signed as well as the McCartney spotify green vinyl! Their logistics are a joke and they don’t track anything. The tried to blame the post, which is bulshit. It was never sent out. I’ve a mate down the sorting office who spent ages trying to track them through various methods just in case no note was put through the door or it came back in error. i did this mainly for the Heaton set as i wanted this release it looked nice.

      Can I say just forget about the spotify vinyl. It just a green vinyl no concertina sleeve like the blue and orange version. The concertina sleeve is really nice but this isn’t even a gatefold sleeve…move on they are useless when something goes wrong.

      I’m sorry to be hard on them but that’s the facts, having bought a lot of music over the past three years from them. I’m really surprised Macca uses them for his webstore or did on this occasion.

    2. This happened to me too. My order was presumed “lost in the post” but I don’t believe it was ever sent in the first place. My despatch email was sent at 5.45 am on a Saturday morning. They only operate Monday to Friday. Contacted them and they sent out a replacement (don’t know how they managed to have one as it was sold out long ago !) which I received 2 days ago.
      And the reason McCartney’s webstore uses them is that Recordstore is part of the Universal Music Group – his record label.

  23. Amazon US actually had a listening for the mega box posted for several hours awhile back. Most ordered were cancelled but a few actually shipped for $295. Would love to know how this happened.

    Also there is probably at least 3500 copies since we’ve seen numbers around 3200-3300

  24. Oh for the days of a bus trip into town to pick up the limited edition double pack 7” of Gentlemen Take Polaroids or the calendar poster pack of Everything Must Change. 99p for what felt like something genuinely beautiful. Whether it was teenage naivety or whether t’internet makes us all angry for little reason but now there is rarely a release that doesn’t get someone bent out of shape when it was so much better then, even if you had to walk what felt like miles just to get a remixed 2nd Limited Edition 12” in a slightly different coloured sleeve. How beautiful it was to see the cat. no. with that extra Q in front of the TA, the X after the number or the last two numbers changed from 12….. to 13 to denote this one was special. Happy days for happier people.

    1. When I read posts like this oh how I wish I lived in “another country” (like the 1984 film title) in those days and not a country that only released its first ever domestic licensed 12″ single release in 1984 (Duran Duran – The Wild Boys)……but what can you do, eh ?

  25. McCartney’s team knew how many copies they wer going to press up at the outset, so why weren’t they specific about this from the outset? Super Furry Animals were up front about their 500 copy only vinyl version their forthcoming vinyl “BBC” release and this meant that fans could make an informed choice about buying. And SFA are clear that there is only one vinyl pressing of this.

  26. I think for a box set in excess of £300 then 3000 copies is not exactly a small run and lets face facts it was mentioned on this site about 2 months ago and has not sold out overnight. The sellers on ebay will want to get as much as they can because if they are investing in multiple copies and hoping they will make a profit they will also be sitting on multiple copies of other box sets that will not sell at all.
    I suppose if you wanted this set and can afford it why not buy it earlier when it was released, if you could not afford it at the time then maybe this is a blessing?
    Thanks for all the great info from this year Paul and am sure most people when they rant are not directing it at you….or are they??? Merry Christmas Paul, SDE and everyone who visits the site. P.S there is a 10% discount on all music over £20 on ebay at the moment with the code PINCHME used at checkout.

    1. There’s more to it than just “should have ordered..” Some of us did place timely orders just to have them canceled after two months due to VISA credit card security concerns. We lost out with no chance to rectify a simple matter.

  27. Just hope for an official CD « Wings Over Europe » available in 2019 (with a little booklet – Media Book or Digipack). It will always be better than nothing at all… ;-)

  28. Limited Editions have nothing to do with music, they’re marketing tools. If there is a demand, they should feel an obligation to fill it, and from an economic standpoint should be keen. Sadly, the music buying business has turned into a Collectable market.

    I mean, this is Paul McCartney we’re talking about. I’m not a fan myself, but damn, there’s no reason to severely restrict a McCartney release, surely? After all, he’s got a fan or ten.

  29. I don’t blame people for selling the Wings box set. A cool £1,200+ profit for placing a listing on eBay followed by a trip to the local Post Office – easy money!

  30. I am surprised that the 71-73 Wings box was not only super expensive but hard to come by, especially since last week PM.com sent out an email to fans saying “click here to order” (or something similar) only to find that it is sold out!! Would have absolutely wanted to buy this set but it is insanely priced.
    Wings in the early 70s were a hippy band not out to make money and so it’s a bit disapointing how Capitol have priced these and marketed them!

  31. I am completely unmoved about all the complaints coming in about not getting a crack at the recent Paul McCartney box set! I got my order in at Paul McCartney’s website first thing as soon as the Super Deluxe Edition website announced it in an article. I have lost many chances in obtaining really cool boxsets in the past because the edition numbers were limited and once I found out, the series was sold out. I was upset several times but it is what it is. I really, really, really wanted this Paul McCartney box set, so I made a point in rushing my decision and getting that order in. I had not done that with past box sets. Another issue is the buying and reselling at huge prices. I bought mine to keep because I am a huge Paul McCartney fan and would never consider selling my boxsets. There is a huge group out there that purchase these sets just to resell them at inflatable prices on auction sites. On one hand, it really irks you, but on the other hand, they did get their orders in fast and paid upfront, so its really one of those things.

    1. Getting your order in early didn’t help many people who tried to buy the McCartney “1971-1973” box. People who ordered on October 19th(the first day that preorders were accepted) were amongst those whose orders were arbirarily, unilaterally cancelled by Universal Music. As I said previous, i’m one of the very few lucky people who received my “1971-1973” box.

  32. I bought the mega box, and shouldn’t have, due to other bills. I’m leaving it sealed and putting it up for sale. There are more massive Macca fans than I.

  34. Wasn’t last years Beatles Christmas singles set supposed to be a limited edition? Yet here we are twelve months on and it’s available from both the SDE shop and What Records. Who knows how many other outlets are also stocking it.
    Glad I got it last year.

  35. I was disappointed with the limited availability of the content to begin with. In addition to the Wings Over Europe set being so rare (when it’s worthy of a standalone release) there is content on the Red Rose Speedway deluxe set that’s not on the 2-disc, but could conceivably fit. (I can live without the rough mixes of the Wild Life album.) Most if Paul’s fans don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on these things, especially when we’ve already laid out for the deluxe White Album and Imagine reissues. Jimmy Page did the Zeppelin reissues right — every album out in a year’s time, and the “deluxe” versions are merely coffee table books. Or, Paul could take a hint from Neil Young, and put the stuff online with documentation (recording dates, streaming video, etc.)

  36. Re Macca .
    Universal made the Tug Of War set with the acrylic cover a limited edition and that sold out quick as even though it was silly money for what you got .
    Mine came with a small dent but I kept it just in case they couldn’t replace it .

  37. The whole limited edition thing is very cloudy, especially nowadays, and often a bit of smoke and mirrors. Back in the 80s when vinyl was still the dominant medium, limited editions had much bigger runs obviously. I got The Police Six Pack of blue vinyl singles and it displays a sticker proudly proclaiming “LIMITED EDITION OF 50,000 COPIES”. That was probably an average limited run
    Cue present day; vinyl-only limited releases seem to vary between 500 & 2500 in most cases and don’t always sell out quickly, if at all. Then you get the ‘smoke & mirrors’ of Bowie coloured limited editions; I cite ChangesOne and Aladdin Sane specifically. I clearly remember the prerelease hype about ‘strictly one off limited runs’ which ticked off most of the boxes apart from one – numbers. You can still find copies of Changes nearly 30 months later, and Sainsbury’s still manage to restock silver Aladdins in their pods on a regular basis
    I was quite pleased to see some fairly high run numbers for RSD this year, a few in excess of 10,000. I think it helped to cool the resale-on-the-same-day market and keep secondary market prices down. I went into JG Windows music shop in Newcastle in July and they still had stacks of ‘premium’ RSD stuff in high quantities at regular prices; great to see and I managed to get stuff I’d missed in April.
    Sorry for droning on, Paul, but a mate and I have debated the limited edition subject a lot! If McCartney has managed to sell out a limited edition of 3000 (per your estimated figure) that people will pay big money for says more about the appeal of his material rather than him starving the market. Bravo if Universal do a second run, they’re as well getting the money (along with P McC) rather than eBay sellers making silly money; everybody wins

  38. I’m one of the thousands of fans who would have bought this but missed the initial offering. PM’s loss I guess. Part of me thinks that the PM camp do this simply to generate buzz and online chatter (like this) about the new release. I think it’s likely this box set will get a second edition but what I’d really like – and I think will happen sooner or later – is a standalone vinyl release of the ‘Wings Over Europe’ disc. That would be something..

  39. Sticking primarily with The Paul McCartney Archive releases, I’ve eight out of the twelve releases so far, and have never paid more than £40 inc. postage for them, brand new and sealed. That’s inc. Flowers in the Dirt btw! I’ll no doubt have to pay through the nose for the other four, time will tell and will wait it out in the mean time, but it seems that there’s alot of people out there with more money than sense when it comes to these particular sets. Unbelievable, who in their right mind would pay over a grand for the ’71 to ’73 box set, seal broken etc. I guess there are some people who just can’t wait and must have it regardless of common sense or their bank account. Austerity? What austerity.

  40. OMG – Wings box ebay prices are unreal. I suspected they might be very limited, so I’m glad I asked Santa for one. He has predelivered it, and it’s sitting wrapped under the tree. I don’t usually jump when something as expensive as this is announced but these were originally released when I was a teenager, so there’s a powerful nostalgia pull, and I wasn’t going to risk missing this set.
    Like you Paul I was struck by the phrase “first edition sold out” and hope the genuine fans who missed this get another chance. Meantime I am as excited as a 10 year old and can’t wait for Christmas day!

  41. Paul, enough already with the constant attacks on McCartney. The reason he’s still here 60 years later is because he leads and does not follow. Same for Neil, Bob, Bruce, Kraftwerk, Nile etc. If it means enough to you and you see the words “ltd edition” you better spend now or hold your peace. Those caught out can only blame themselves.

    1. Hi Merck… it really isn’t an attack on McCartney. Rather a news story about how many have been caught out. This is a great set and Macca hasn’t done anything wrong. Having said that, I think we can agree that the music industry has had a very loose definition of the term ‘limited edition’ over the years so I wouldn’t lay the blame solely at the fans. The point I made at the end still stands, it looks like there may be a second run, so let’s hear about it, if that’s true, so the scalpers on eBay don’t profit.

  42. More fool anyone paying silly money for the Wings boxset. It’s a pity Mr McCartney doesn’t try to stop other sellers from profiteering given the release was ‘D2C’. Maybe he should employ someone like Mr Fishman. Great that someone has stood up to Cherry Red regarding the quality of some of their releases. When they get it right the results are fantastic.

  43. Oh MOV license things properly but labels often ignore or don’t ask the artists concerned. SFA are clearly reissuing their catalogue with care and bonus material rather than a cash grab coloured vinyl for Christmas.

    They tried to issue Gillian Welch ‘Soul Journey a few years back and similarly no one had contacted her and the release was pulled. Thankfully the album received a fantastic release on Gillians own label.

    1. Not sure I’d log this as a ‘cock-up’. Similar, in a way to the Tug of War super deluxe – a genuinely limited item that even I didn’t manage to get hold of.

      1. The PM team actually announced that the Tug of War super deluxe release was limited to 1000 copies, so it was easier for me to make a decision to purchase it right away, even at ~$200 CDN. I wish they would have done the same thing with the 71-73 box set, but snooze you lose. Hopefully there will be a future Wings Over Europe release to keep some PM fans happy.

  45. Don’t understand this a genuine ltd edition that has sold out ? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to function ?
    3000 people got lucky / had the wherewithal. Good for them I find it refreshing that something actually sold out . I hope they don’t do a second run otherwise what was the point. Ps Merry Christmas Paul outstanding site outstanding year . Onward to 2019

      1. I think it would be helpful to know how limited an item is going to be.
        If you knew there would only be 2 or 3 thousand, then it might make your mind up earlier.
        If you have to guess that “limited” might mean 10 thousand, you might hold out a bit for a box set.
        Perhaps record companies could let us know precisely how “limited” it means a box set is in 2019.
        Though probably not as they want to sell them quickly and not telling us helps them do that.

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