Just wanted to give a heads up to ebayers. Lately a couple Russian sellers are selling what looks to be 1st press cd versions of Possessed - Seven Churches (1985 Combat, Made in Japan). These apparently look almost identical to the original versions, even have the same matrix (437).

The two sellers who have these that I've come across are voivor and tiridka. tiridka is honest about it, he lists them as a Russian repress but voivor seems to be trying to pass them off as originals. I've asked tiridka to identify how you could tell the difference but he does not seem to know.

I posted a pic of the original version and a link to a pic of the boot version in the next post.

After looking at some pics online, I think the best way to tell is the matrix. The original matrix looks like it not printed on but was stamped right into the disc, looks like what might have been done back in 1985. The boot version looks like it was printed on, looks a lot newer and with much bolder numbers than the original.

I found a good close-up of the original version matrix. You can see that it looks stamped rather than printed, the font is fine, and it reads properly from the front of the disc. The boot version matrix is printed on, has a much bolder font, and reads from the back of the disc.

Original version:


Link to bootleg version:
http://s357.beta.photobucket.com/user/davepjm/media/possessedboot.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Hope this helps.