Yugoslavian versions of "Arrival" LP by ABBA
By
jopla2updated 4 months ago
jopla2updated 4 months ago
This list includes all the 24 Yugoslavian "Arrival" LP's by ABBA currently in the database.
To identify your copy you need to check three identifiers:
1) Is there a pressing code on the labels? (from II to XVII, for example "IV-20 000")
2) Is there a sales emblem on the sleeve front? (none, Srebrna, Zlatna, Dijamantna or Platinasta, for example "3x ZLATNA")
3) What is the colour of labels? (blue, plum red, red, white, light blue or orange)
'Unique' identifiers are marked with "(*)". They can't currently be found in any of the other versions. Obviously you still need to check the other two identifiers, to make sure you don't have a new, unique version!
Disclaimer: I am not an expert with RTB or Yugoslavian releases. I've relied on the data on the release pages and in submission notes. See also forum discussion about this topic. I was informed there that these releases actually were not intended only for the Yugoslavian market but for other countries in the Eastern Bloc as well. That might well be true but currently I don't have more information - and obviously there's no suitable Country option on Discogs for this kind of situation either.
Last update: Oct 25, 2023.
- - -
More about the identifiers:
1) Pressing code
Most issues have a 'pressing code' on the labels indicating (what's thought to be) a pressing number and the number of copies pressed, for example "IV-20 000", ie. 4th pressing, 20.000 copies. For some reason there exist several variants of many of the pressing numbers. For example for "IV" there are currently four variants.
These pressing codes are still missing: II, VI, VII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV and XVI. The issue listed here after the 17th issue, XVII, is currently the latest. It is possible that the two (apparently early) 'Srebrna' (silver) issues are in fact "II" pressings but the code is just not printed on the labels.
The second part of the code indicates (what's thought to be) the number of copies pressed. "Arrival" was probably one of the biggest sellers at the time in Yugoslavia and it appears a batch of 10 or 20.000 copies was pressed with short intervals in the first years. By the 8th pressing (VIII) over 100.000 copies had been sold. By the fifteenth (XV) pressing the number had been reduced to 3.000 per pressing. The latest pressings seem to have been made in the 80s.
2) Sales emblem
Most issues have an emblem (award) on sleeve front indicating increasing sales: The 'true' first issue has no emblem, followed by 'Srebrna' (silver), 'Zlatna' (gold), 'Dijamantina' (diamond) and "Platinasta" (platinum). The shape and placement of the emblem on sleeve front varies.
3) Colour of labels
Several label colours were used. Blue on the first issue was immediately changed to plum red, followed by red on several pressings. White colour first appears on the fourth (IV) pressing and also appears on many later pressings. There's no data on label colour for pressings VI to XI. Light blue is used on several later issues. XVII pressing has orange labels.
Other observations:
Rear sleeve is identical on all issues, except the placement of the RTB logo and the text that accompanies it, varies slightly. All apparently have the RTB logo and Cat# LP 55~5636, along with the Polar logo and Cat# POLS 272. I believe the Polar data is only there because of the copied artwork, of the original Swedish LP. The RTB data 'moving around' on the sleeve between pressings suggests it was added on top of the original design for each pressing. All labels, except the XVII issue, do state "Polar 272" on the labels.
All issues apparently come with the standard 'printed' inner sleeve, group photo on one side and lyrics on the other side. I couldn't detect a difference with inners in any of the releases from images. Not all releases mention or picture the inner sleeve, but no release has a mention that they didn't come with it (or that they came in a generic inner).
All images of the A-side label have a typo in the first track: "WHWN I KISSED...".
All early issues (up to pressing V; with blue, plum red or red labels) have the Cat# on labels as "LP 55~5636". All issues with white labels have "LP 55 5636" on the labels.
Three sets of matrices have been submitted, the first with "171176" (17 Nov 1976), the second with "11277" (1 Dec 1977, more likely than 11 Feb 1977), and the third with "18777" (18 July 1977). These apparently indicate the date of mastering. The first was used until the 15th pressing (XV) with "4 x ZLATNA". From the "5X ZLATNA" issue (still marked as 15th, XV) onwards the second was used. This is why all issues with the pressing code II until XV (from "SREBRNA" to "4 x ZLATNA") should be marked with 'Repress'. "Arrival" (XV pressing with "5X ZLATNA"), is the first to use the second matrix "11277", it is a 'Reissue'. All later issues (with "11277" matrices), from other XV issues (with "DIJAMANTNA") to XVII (and beyond) should be marked with both 'Reissue' and 'Repress'.
The only submitted issue with "18777", "Arrival", doesn't quite fit in this scheme. "18777" suggests it's the latest of the three. If so, the pressing code "IV" appears to be too low or 'too early.' Two "ZLATNA" emblems and white label colour do fit with "IV", however. Matrices have "I/3000" instead of "I/5000", the only submitted issue where "I/3000" appears. Based on the scheme, "18777" makes this a 'Reissue', but as this is a unique set of matrices, it is not a 'Repress'. The appearance of this sub suggests this scheme is incomplete if not incorrect. It might be that during the "IV" pressing the demand for the album was at its highest, which is why an additional master was needed. Other issues with "18777" are likely to exist since many pressing codes haven't been submitted yet.
The above 'date' codes are sometimes followed by "I/5000", but as it stays the same regardless of the pressing code (except for the one issue, above), it apparently has nothing to do with the number of copies pressed.
The submitted release years are unreliable and don't seem to be based on anything except the matrices ("171176" or "11277"). Since we know that the first matrix was used all the way to XV pressing, it is unfathomable that RTB would have taken fifteen pressings and put them for sale during November and December 1976. We can fairly safely assume that the first pressing got on the market during 1976 - but very little beyond that. If no other proof is presented, all (except that first issue) should have the release year removed.
Although it's not possible to date the releases based on the identifiers, it is possible to place them in roughly chronological order, used below.
To identify your copy you need to check three identifiers:
1) Is there a pressing code on the labels? (from II to XVII, for example "IV-20 000")
2) Is there a sales emblem on the sleeve front? (none, Srebrna, Zlatna, Dijamantna or Platinasta, for example "3x ZLATNA")
3) What is the colour of labels? (blue, plum red, red, white, light blue or orange)
'Unique' identifiers are marked with "(*)". They can't currently be found in any of the other versions. Obviously you still need to check the other two identifiers, to make sure you don't have a new, unique version!
Disclaimer: I am not an expert with RTB or Yugoslavian releases. I've relied on the data on the release pages and in submission notes. See also forum discussion about this topic. I was informed there that these releases actually were not intended only for the Yugoslavian market but for other countries in the Eastern Bloc as well. That might well be true but currently I don't have more information - and obviously there's no suitable Country option on Discogs for this kind of situation either.
Last update: Oct 25, 2023.
- - -
More about the identifiers:
1) Pressing code
Most issues have a 'pressing code' on the labels indicating (what's thought to be) a pressing number and the number of copies pressed, for example "IV-20 000", ie. 4th pressing, 20.000 copies. For some reason there exist several variants of many of the pressing numbers. For example for "IV" there are currently four variants.
These pressing codes are still missing: II, VI, VII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV and XVI. The issue listed here after the 17th issue, XVII, is currently the latest. It is possible that the two (apparently early) 'Srebrna' (silver) issues are in fact "II" pressings but the code is just not printed on the labels.
The second part of the code indicates (what's thought to be) the number of copies pressed. "Arrival" was probably one of the biggest sellers at the time in Yugoslavia and it appears a batch of 10 or 20.000 copies was pressed with short intervals in the first years. By the 8th pressing (VIII) over 100.000 copies had been sold. By the fifteenth (XV) pressing the number had been reduced to 3.000 per pressing. The latest pressings seem to have been made in the 80s.
2) Sales emblem
Most issues have an emblem (award) on sleeve front indicating increasing sales: The 'true' first issue has no emblem, followed by 'Srebrna' (silver), 'Zlatna' (gold), 'Dijamantina' (diamond) and "Platinasta" (platinum). The shape and placement of the emblem on sleeve front varies.
3) Colour of labels
Several label colours were used. Blue on the first issue was immediately changed to plum red, followed by red on several pressings. White colour first appears on the fourth (IV) pressing and also appears on many later pressings. There's no data on label colour for pressings VI to XI. Light blue is used on several later issues. XVII pressing has orange labels.
Other observations:
Rear sleeve is identical on all issues, except the placement of the RTB logo and the text that accompanies it, varies slightly. All apparently have the RTB logo and Cat# LP 55~5636, along with the Polar logo and Cat# POLS 272. I believe the Polar data is only there because of the copied artwork, of the original Swedish LP. The RTB data 'moving around' on the sleeve between pressings suggests it was added on top of the original design for each pressing. All labels, except the XVII issue, do state "Polar 272" on the labels.
All issues apparently come with the standard 'printed' inner sleeve, group photo on one side and lyrics on the other side. I couldn't detect a difference with inners in any of the releases from images. Not all releases mention or picture the inner sleeve, but no release has a mention that they didn't come with it (or that they came in a generic inner).
All images of the A-side label have a typo in the first track: "WHWN I KISSED...".
All early issues (up to pressing V; with blue, plum red or red labels) have the Cat# on labels as "LP 55~5636". All issues with white labels have "LP 55 5636" on the labels.
Three sets of matrices have been submitted, the first with "171176" (17 Nov 1976), the second with "11277" (1 Dec 1977, more likely than 11 Feb 1977), and the third with "18777" (18 July 1977). These apparently indicate the date of mastering. The first was used until the 15th pressing (XV) with "4 x ZLATNA". From the "5X ZLATNA" issue (still marked as 15th, XV) onwards the second was used. This is why all issues with the pressing code II until XV (from "SREBRNA" to "4 x ZLATNA") should be marked with 'Repress'. "Arrival" (XV pressing with "5X ZLATNA"), is the first to use the second matrix "11277", it is a 'Reissue'. All later issues (with "11277" matrices), from other XV issues (with "DIJAMANTNA") to XVII (and beyond) should be marked with both 'Reissue' and 'Repress'.
The only submitted issue with "18777", "Arrival", doesn't quite fit in this scheme. "18777" suggests it's the latest of the three. If so, the pressing code "IV" appears to be too low or 'too early.' Two "ZLATNA" emblems and white label colour do fit with "IV", however. Matrices have "I/3000" instead of "I/5000", the only submitted issue where "I/3000" appears. Based on the scheme, "18777" makes this a 'Reissue', but as this is a unique set of matrices, it is not a 'Repress'. The appearance of this sub suggests this scheme is incomplete if not incorrect. It might be that during the "IV" pressing the demand for the album was at its highest, which is why an additional master was needed. Other issues with "18777" are likely to exist since many pressing codes haven't been submitted yet.
The above 'date' codes are sometimes followed by "I/5000", but as it stays the same regardless of the pressing code (except for the one issue, above), it apparently has nothing to do with the number of copies pressed.
The submitted release years are unreliable and don't seem to be based on anything except the matrices ("171176" or "11277"). Since we know that the first matrix was used all the way to XV pressing, it is unfathomable that RTB would have taken fifteen pressings and put them for sale during November and December 1976. We can fairly safely assume that the first pressing got on the market during 1976 - but very little beyond that. If no other proof is presented, all (except that first issue) should have the release year removed.
Although it's not possible to date the releases based on the identifiers, it is possible to place them in roughly chronological order, used below.
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