For sale is Golden Earring's The Hole, originally released in 1986 by 21 Records, distributed by ATCO Records, as a promotional copy with a gold stamp on the back cover. According to the liner notes, the record was mastered by Greg Calbi. In the dead wax between the labels and the last tracks is stamped "Sterling" along with a large "S" with a smaller "r" and "c" inside its coils, followed by the matrix numbers A-1/A-1, signifying that it was mastered at Sterling Sound, N.Y.C. before the first stamper was used to make this album at Specialty Records Corporation's pressing plant located in Olyphant, Pennsylvania. These are hallmarks of state-of-the-art engineering, sought after by collectors and music lovers for their superior sound quality. I bought this record used, professionally cleaned it on my VPI HW-17 machine, then put it into a MFSL archival inner sleeve. This preserves the integrity of the vinyl and any insert(s) or original inner sleeve(s) that may have come with the release. The original inner sleeve is graded as Near Mint. The lyric insert is Near Mint. The vinyl is visually graded as VG+ because of some very faint surface scratches on Side One. I'm play grading it as Near Mint. The cover is graded as Excellent because of corner blunts, faint ring wear and a saw cut in the spine. The spine has color loss from this saw-cut. It's been played only on Audiophile equipment since I bought it and still has a lot of life yet. This is the best copy of this record that I have ever seen or heard. I think that you would be hard pressed to find a promotional copy like this one, especially with all the inserts intact. This would make a great addition to anyone's collection. I have a lot more Rock and Roll albums, as well as records of all genres, in my Ebay Store. Please take a look. They're predominately Near Mint. Thanks for viewing my listing.

   I've been collecting records for about 50 years now and have always cleaned them and put them away carefully in plastic inner sleeves. Over the years I've used Dust Bugs, Disc Washers and have finally invested in a professional VPI record cleaning machine. Now that I'm retiring, I'm selling my very esoteric collection. I'm not a professional grader of records, but will use record guides, as well as my personal experiences as a basis of my grading all records. Since grading is subjective, I will be conservative. I offer discounts for multiple sales. Photos are of the actual item for sale, not a stock photo. Please review all descriptions and photos because I do not accept returns. Thank you for looking!