yes, the famed boxsets.

i have 4/5. and substance is beat up on the outside, so i'll have to get another one.


here's various pictures of them, luckily most are in good shape on the inside,
and i've never played the tapes or opened the boxes since i first got them to check.


























later
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probably, but all my copies were used. odd how the oldest one is in the best shape,
and the newest one is turning brown.

later
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do you remember the marketing, or what was going on. was it some kind of anniversary.

or was it because of substance, they decided to do all of them.

never saw these in the US, because of course we don't get anything cool. (except the dumb republic inflated cd vest).

canada got one of the cassette boxsets.

later
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Here are mine (managed to dig them out today):





Movement is in great condition, apart from a tiny mark at the top:



Low Life is also in good condition, but it has discoloured slightly. There's a couple of small brownish marks on the back of the tracing paper too:





Brotherhood is easily the best, without any marks or discolouration:



Substance, on the other hand, is the worst. THere's a ding in the box and the insert is creased:




Excuse the orientation of some of these. I thought I'd rotated them, but something went screwy during the image upload.

Edited by user 31 January 2021 07:10:13(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

thanks and check out willowmans collection !!!

https://forums.stevehoff...06/page-64#post-26012753




later
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sorry, don't know anything about linen boxes aging. maybe a chemical reaction.


moving onto another cassette + cd hybrid, the best of promo box:
https://www.discogs.com/...New-Order/release/506810

New Order ‎– (The Best Of) New Order
Label:
London Records ‎– none
Format:
Box Set, Promo
CD, Compilation
Cassette, Compilation
Country:
UK
Released:
Nov 1994
Genre:
Electronic, Rock
Style:
Synth-pop, Indie Rock
TracklistShow Credits
CD 1 True Faith-94 5:34
CD 2 Bizarre Love Triangle-94 3:53
CD 3 1963-94 3:47
CD 4 Regret 4:07
CD 5 Fine Time 3:08
CD 6 The Perfect Kiss 4:48
CD 7 Shell Shock 4:26
CD 8 Thieves Like Us 6:35
CD 9 Vanishing Point 5:14
CD 10 Run 4:26
CD 11 Round & Round-94 3:59
CD 12 World (Price Of Love) 3:39
CD 13 Ruined In A Day 3:58
CD 14 Touched By The Hand Of God 3:47
CD 15 Blue Monday-88 4:10
CD 16 World In Motion 4:30
MC A1 True Faith-94 5:34
MC A2 Bizarre Love Triangle-94 3:53
MC A3 1963-94 3:47
MC A4 Regret 4:07
MC A5 Fine Time 3:08
MC A6 The Perfect Kiss 4:48
MC A7 Shellshock 4:26
MC A8 Thieves Like Us 6:35
MC B1 Vanishing Point 5:14
MC B2 Run 4:26
MC B3 Round & Round-94 3:59
MC B4 World (Price Of Love) 3:39
MC B5 Ruined In A Day 3:58
MC B6 Touched By The Hand Of God 3:47
MC B7 Blue Monday-88 4:10
MC B8 World In Motion 4:30
Total Time: 2:20:02
Credits
Producer – Mike "Spike" Drake (tracks: CD 1 to CD 3, CD 11, MC A1 to A3, MC B3), New Order (tracks: CD 4 to CD 10, CD 12 to CD 15. MC A4 MC A8, MC B1, MC B2, MC B4 to MC B7), Stephen Hague (tracks: CD 1 to CD 4, CD 11 to CD 13, CD 16, MC A1 to MC A4, MC B3 to MC B5, MC B8)
Notes
Promo box set.

Includes standard UK retail editions of the CD (828 580-2) and Cassette (828 580-4), plus a fold-out chronological discography card.

"All tracks produced by New Order, except the '94 versions."

Track 10: Run is mistitled Run 2 on both CD and Cassette editions.

I stuck my little moving puzzle in there.







later
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Edited by user 31 January 2021 08:53:08(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Thanks for that Smash Hits cutting, P. Is that a cutting you own or did you find that image online somewhere?

Regarding the PC&L linen box, Discogs appears to state it was released in April 1986 which sounds about right.

Doh, the PC&L box does actually state on the cassette © 1986 Factory Communications. So , deffo 1986 then.

Of the 3 boxes I have ( could have sworn I had the Brotherhood one also..) the Low Life one is in worst condition. Shocking.

^ Yes, they were most definitely all from new.

A complete JD/NO set!
Very impressive.

Again, it looks like Substance is the most discoloured. I wonder why that is.
Has to be due to people playing it more frequently.
I guess it’s always possible that that particular set was made with slightly different materials.

I've definitely got a distinct memory of buying Brotherhood from either John Menzies or WHSmith, but basically they're the same shop in my town. After Menzies closed, WHSmith opened in the same building. I think the latter purchased the former. Wikipedia states this happened in 1998, but I'm pretty sure our branch changed prior to that. Probably about 1990, I think. Around about the time that I bought the tape.

So, copies of Brotherhood certainly got out to shops other than Woolies, even if they weren't meant to. Maybe they were timed exclusives when first sold, but by 1990, anyone could see them.

I do think, though, that I probably bought one of my tapes from Woolies. Movement maybe (my Low Life and Substance are both second-hand, whilst Movement and Brotherhood were bought new, I think).

I also remember that that Menzies/Smiths shop had a beat up copy of Low Life. I was thinking of buying it, but it was so tatty, I decided against it.


I've also got multiple copies of Substance on tape. Three to be precise.

When I first got into the band, a mate of mine gave me his copy on tape. As he called it, it was on 'permanent loan' to me. It had a slipcase but was pretty battered by the time I got it (I think he must've sat on it as it wasn't old when he leant it to me; it was still 1987).
After playing it multiple times, tape 2 got shredded by my player.

I then went out and bought another copy.
This also had the slipcase, but were different tapes to the above. I can't remember which one is which now (my tapes aren't to hand) but one set of tapes was made of clear plastic, whilst the other set was made of black plastic.

My third copy (the linen box) was bought a few years later, second-hand.

It does appear that it's very difficult to keep the boxes in good condition. Especially the New Order ones.

Sorry! just getting to grips on how to post pictures ..