Well, I'm looking at it right now.
So yeah.
I'll get it sent out. All right.
Bye. Hello.
Hey, I'm Rob from The Great Escape.
The music guru.
That is I.
Yeah.
I've been talking to you. - Yes.
That's great. OK.
I have something to show you.
So this is one of our precious babies right here.
Oh, yes.
I'll grab the other pieces.
So here's the full collection.
We got this in Pennsylvania from a lady whose
late husband was a radio DJ.
Check this out.
Here's the poster for it.
This cover didn't make it because the label
thought the subject matter was too delicate
for American audiences.
[GASPS]
Clutches pearls.
If we take this, and we find out that it's
worth an exorbitant amount of money,
I will contact you and make sure to make that right.
But I feel like $1,200 is fair.
I'll do it.
Yeah.
You got a deal.
Oh, I'm so excited.
This is a whole package from what's known as the Butcher
Cover, which was the Beatles "Yesterday and Today"
album that came out in 1966.
The Butcher Cover name comes from, obviously,
the shocking picture that they decided to put on this release.
When this got sent out to radio stations and reviewers,
they quickly realized they had made a big mistake.
Moms weren't going to want to see this
on their kids' record player.
Somebody messed up in marketing.
Remember, this is the mid-'60s and the Beatles.
Pretty macabre.
Yes.
They recalled the record, covered up
the Butcher with what's known as the Trunk Cover,
which shows the band, and they're sitting on a truck.
They just slapped some glue on it
and put a different picture on top.
Exactly.
When it comes to the Butcher Cover,
there's three different versions that we'd be looking at.
What's known as a third state would
be a record that had this covered up
and was peeled off by a consumer.
OK.
The second state has what's known as a paste-over
that was put over this.
You'll see through the cover, you'll see
the V of Ringo's sweater here.
Because there's so much white on the cover.
Yeah. It's a white background.
You can pretty clearly see it, especially at an angle
or with light.
A first state is what would come directly from the record label
to a reviewer or to a radio station that was done
prior to the release in 1966.
Those are your most valuable copies.
So it was--
Because they never had the paste.
Aha.
That answers, like, so many questions I've had about all
of this.
In perfect condition, a first state
and a nice original poster, you'd
probably be looking at about a $20,000 value on this.
Unfortunately, what you have here is a third state.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
I can tell.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news.
But when you see the residue here from glue--
people would steam them over a kettle to loosen the glue
and peel it off.
But there's usually some telltale residue
that you'll find.
Also, the issues around the edge are indicative of somebody
trying to make the peel.
Oh, I never thought about that.
That makes sense.
This part right here.
Mm-hmm.
OK.
Any record could have some damage on it,
but it shows pretty clearly to me that it has been peeled.
OK.
So this one definitely is a third state.
In my opinion, yes.
OK.
But that's not the end of the world.
It's still a very desirable record.
OK.
All right.
Now, when you look at your poster here, unfortunately
you're missing the capital logo here,
which is indicative of an original poster that would have
been from that time period.
Mm.
My heart.
This is likely something from the '70s that would have
been sold in record stores.
Dang it.
OK, so you're telling me this is also not original.
And I don't-- the only reason that
I question that is because we have an original letter.
OK.
Yeah, let's talk about the letter.
I haven't looked at it too closely.
The letter itself was often photocopied.
I mean, all you have to do is go to a--
Oh, stop.
--go to a copy machine.
How?
If you look here, the letterhead--
see the Hollywood and Vine, the printing here,
and the executive and general office, how it's faded,
cut off, almost?
The original letter is going to have a crisp letterhead.
[SIGHS] I thought for sure this would be legit.
I paid $1,200.
Will I at least see that back?
I'm afraid, on this deal, you're probably
going to lose a little bit. - All right.
All right.
As a collection, it's still a nice package to have all three
of these together.
I think, altogether, you'd be looking at about $700.
That's better than nothing, I suppose.
Absolutely.
This one felt like such a secure gamble.
And I wish I had this knowledge before I picked it.
Well, you'll know the next time you're out there.
Right? We pay for our education.
At least-- look, it's still history.
It's the Beatles.
It's a cool story, just even to be in the shop.
Oh, it's great to have it in the shop.
Rob, thank you so much.
It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I
appreciate your knowledge.
You bet.
I'll walk you out.
Happy to help.