The Beatles Mono Collection BM1 Box Set #0129 of 1000

$

1,800

This is a very nice condition 1982 Beatles Mono Collection limited edition boxed set, which included the 1981 mono repressings of the Beatles' UK catalog.  The Please Please Me LP in this box is a very nice 1964 4th pressing with the fold back cover (not a 1981 repressing).  The rest are pressings ranging from November 1980 thru November 1981.  This box didn't have the limited edition certificate, but I've included a reproduction of one.  Please see the photos and detailed information below for condition:

* BM1 Box #0129   Box Grading - VG- Box rear has been nicely repaired with black faux leather

* Please Please Me (PMC-1202)   (4th pressing - summer 1963-Jan 1964) (NOT 1981 REPRESSING)         XEX 421-1N 1 11 GTO   KT tax code  [tube cut]         XEX 422-1N 4 11 GTH  [tube cut]   Record Grading: VG-  Record has some noticeable scratches.   Sleeve Grading: EX  The cover is quite gorgeous and is laminated with fold back edges.

* With the Beatles (PMC-1206)   (4th Pressing - April 1981 - Inner Sleeve dated 4/81)         XEX 447-7N 3 10 1 0  3  [tube cut]         XEX 448-7N 9 17  2  [tube cut]   Record Grading: VG+  Record has some faint marks   Sleeve Grading: VG+  approx 2 inch split at top of jacket. Slight glue separation at top of the jacket opening.

* A Hard Day's Night (PMC-1230)   (4th pressing - March 1981 - inner sleeve dated 3/81)         XEX 481-3N 8 5  [tube cut]         XEX 482-3N 10 3  [tube cut]   Record Grading: NM or M-  Record is near mint.   Sleeve Grading: VG+  Cover is very nice with a JEM Records Imports sticker on it.

* Beatles for Sale (PMC-1240)   (2nd pressing - June 1981 - Inner Sleeve 6/81)          XEX 503-5 1 3 HTM  [solid-state cut]          XEX 504-3N 28 12  [tube cut]   Record Grading: NM or M-  Record is near mint.   Sleeve Grading: EXC  Sleeve has small bottom split and slight right bottom corner bend.

*  Help! (PMC-1255)   (5th pressing - inner sleeve dated 9/81)         XEX 549-3 1  5 HTM  [solid-state cut]         XEX 550-2 16  5  [tube cut]   Record Grading: NM or M-  Record is near mint - nice and quiet   Sleeve Grading: VG+  Creases upper right and slight upper left of cover. All 4 corners bumped

* Rubber Soul (PMC-1267)   (4th pressing - inner sleeve dated 9/81)         XEX 579-6 1 7 HTM  [solid-state cut]         XEX 580-5 14 13  [tube cut]   Record Grading: NM or M-  Record is near mint   Sleeve Grading: G+  Wear all around and creases upper left and lower right.

* Revolver (PMC-7009)   (4th pressing - November 1980 - inner sleeve dated 11/80)         XEX 605-2 13 5 5  [tube cut]         XEX 606-3 5 3  [tube cut]   Record Grading: NM or M-  Record is near mint.   Sleeve Grading: VG+  Light wear but very nice

* Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (PMC-7027)   (5th pressing - May 1981 - inner sleeve dated 5/81)         XEX 637-1 6 5  [tube cut]         XEX 638-1 19 2  [tube cut]   Record Grading: EX  Very nice condition   Sleeve Grading: VG  Very good shape from corner to corner with barely noticeable 1/8" split at top & 4 square corners. Also included is the cutout sheet.

* The Beatles (PMC-7067/8)   (3rd pressing - November 1981 - Inner Sleeves 10/81 and 11/81)          XEX 709-2 3 14  [tube cut]          XEX 710-2 1 16  [tube cut]          XEX 711-4 2 16  [solid-state cut]          XEX 712-2 1 18  [tube cut]   Record Grading: NM-  Records are clean, glossy, near mint minus   Sleeve Grading: NM-  Poster & 4 Postcards - sleeve has a few slight barely noticeable spine pinches 

* Yellow Submarine (PMC-7070)   (2nd pressing - July 1981 - Inner Sleeve 7/81)          XEX 715-1 3 3  [tube cut]          XEX 716-2 1 5  [tube cut]   Record Grading: EX   Sleeve Grading: VG+  Has sticker on cover "The Beatles Shop 31 Mathew Street, Liverpool. 2."

The story behind this boxed set:
EMI re-issued the Beatles' mono catalog in 1981 with a reported 10,000 copies of each being pressed and made available individually for sale.  The pressings Please Please me through Sgt Pepper received a retro-variation of the yellow and black Parlophone label and The Beatles [White Album] and Yellow Submarine were on slightly varied Apple labels. These 1981 pressings were all pressed on lighter vinyl than the 1960's originals and the outer sleeves are not laminated and do not have the cover flaps glued to the back.
Realizing collectors would want a mono set to match the BC-13 blue stereo box, Barry Tenenbaum contracted with EMI's export division to produce 1000 black limited edition Mono Collection boxed sets which were given the designation "BM1".  Barry was the owner of record importer/seller LSR Records (Lord Sitar Records) and distributer Dutch East India Trading Co.  [All purchases for the BM1 set were made through LSR and not Dutch East India.]  EMI reserved 1,000 complete sets of mono LP's for his BM1 release.
Original BC-13 blue Stereo box manufacturer, The London Fancy Box Company, was contracted to produce the black Mono boxes.  After approving a prototype, pallets with containers of 15 each of the empty numbered BM1 boxes were shipped to Barry in Long Island, New York.  At the request of EMI export manager Norman Bates, there were three #0001 boxes made.  He kept one which was ultimately stolen during a party at his house, an associate in the EMI Exports division kept the second one which was sold in November 2023, and the third was shipped to Barry in the U.S. along with the rest of the empty boxes.  The boxes contained a numbered certificate of authenticity, although there have been confirmed boxes without the cards.
Within the boxed sets, 10 of the Beatles' mono LP's, Please Please Me through Yellow Submarine were assembled, using the 1981 pressings. A Collection of Beatles Oldies was not repressed in 1981/1982. The Yellow Submarine album, included in the set, is the only original UK mono Beatles LP without a dedicated mono mix. The mono album is simply a fold-down (two stereo channels combined into one) of the stereo mix. Magical Mystery Tour was not included in the set as it was not originally issued as an LP in the UK. The last two Beatles albums Abbey Road, and Let It Be were also not included as they never received a mono LP release in the UK.
Beginning somewhere around August 1982, the sets were sold by LSR Records... boxes #11-50 were $250, #51-100 were $200 and the remainder were $150.  Unable to purchase all 1,000 sets of EMI's reserved LP's at one time, Barry bought and assembled them as demand dictated.  He confirmed that eventually demand dried up and less than 500 sets were ultimately sold, leaving many pallets of empty boxes in his warehouse.  When his 3 year warehouse lease expired, Barry had nowhere to store them and the building owner discarded dozens of the pallets.  Barry did keep a small quantity of the empty boxes and has sold them throughout the years, possibly being the reason some did not contain limited edition certificates.
As sales slowed, EMI still had at least 500 sets of the LP's reserved for Barry so they decided to offload the remaining stock by creating another box... the RED Mono Collection box with the designation "BM-10".  As with the Blue and Black boxes, this Red box was manufactured by The London Fancy Box Company, however this time as needed and in quantities fewer than their minimum requirement (as a favor to EMI in view of the business they gave them).  A total of somewhere in the 700's were ultimately manufactured.  This box did not have a limited edition number and was initially sold in the U.K., but were eventually exported to other U.S. sellers as well.
All sides in these boxed sets are not original 1960's tube cuts. A big clue to later cuts is that Harry Moss did not initial lacquers "HTM" until around the mid 1970s, which would be solid-state cuts. He also didn't necessarily initial all sides when cutting an entire album.
It is estimated a combined total of approximately 1,200 of the Mono Collection boxed sets were produced:  BM1 Black less than 500 & BM-10 Red 700-some.
I've read reports that some black boxes didn't include the certificate, which my have been the case with this #129 (as opposed to the certificate being lost).  Example: Michael Hockinson February 22, 2013 at 7:58 pm  "My copy of the (black) mono box is #616. It did not come with a certificate. Did this happen to anyone else? Is there a picture out there of what the certificate looks like?"  Also: Calarts September 16, 2016 at 5:27 am  "I own a 1982 The Beatles collection in mono — black box set. My set did not come with a certificate."