Hi everyone, I was in Manchester today and I found the holographic version of the Diamonds and Pearls cover. I've heard that this is rare? Or is it just not common? Were they only released for a certain amount of time or in a specific country?

Just wondering.

Also, after browsing some threads on here I heard people complaining about their hologram fading or not working anymore?

I found my copy in a second hand music store. The hologram still works fine on mine, but I was just thinking that if there is an issue with them fading, what I could do to prevent that happening.

actually it's not rare at all,

I think the rare one is the blue cover pic...

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

I'm still looking for the vinyl of D&P and which is pretty expensive average it's at least 40$ on ebay...

feeluupp said:

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

I'm still looking for the vinyl of D&P and which is pretty expensive average it's at least 40$ on ebay...

Ahh, right. I have the blue one already, I saw like 5 blue copies of D&P at that shop.

But D&P on vinyl being rare strikes me as odd because I always see GB in record stores which was like 12 months before. Something to do with his record deal with Warners maybe? I have to admit I've never seen it before though.

feeluupp said:

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

No. They were both available here in europe. And the one with the hologram cover wasn't rare at all.

the hologram cover was released all over the world - here in NZ and Aus definitely ....

the rarities are the larger hologram labels that were initally used on marketing 'stands' in the record stores - they were about 8"x5" in size from memory (I have a few of them but they arent handy at the moment) - there's been a few of them for sale on Ebay over the years but I have no idea how many were produced... it's the same hologram as on the CD but quite a bit bigger...originally Prince wanted the record covers to have holograms too but the cost was prohibitive and WBs dropped that idea quick smart....

a few years ago an actual 'master' hologram (an original one - not the ones that were mass produced on the silvery labels) was sold on ebay - I really wanted it but didn't have the money at the time - it sold for about a grand I think...might have been a bit cheaper... I don't know if there was just one master hologram produced or if others are around but I've only ever seen one on ebay and it kills me every time I think about a missed opportunity 'cos the hologram would have been much clearer than the cheapo ones on the cds..

[Edited 12/12/14 14:58pm]

[Edited 12/12/14 14:59pm]

[Edited 12/12/14 15:00pm]

I remember rummaging through my step-mom's cd collection as she was the one who introduced me to Prince more or less when i was about 5 or 6 and being fascinated by the holograph and thinking there was nothing cooler. Now, I can't help but chuckle over how unbelievably tacky it is! Especially when you realize the gun mic/taco meat ratio when you move the cover around to show it's full effect.

ludwig said:

feeluupp said:

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

No. They were both available here in europe. And the one with the hologram cover wasn't rare at all.

Then it might be the other way around... The hologram was released in the U.S. I never saw a blue cover of D&P in cd form in the stores, only on vinyl...

i've always wondered if people hate the cover of this album so much *because*
of the hologram. i mean, it was a gimmick, but not a very nice cover imo. now,

the blue 'original' is one of his best covers imo. yet people always mention this

album as having shitty artwork. i don't know, i really like it, always have. but i

must admit, never cared enough about the holographic cover to get a copy.

IstenSzek said:

IstenSzek said:

i've always wondered if people hate the cover of this album so much *because*
of the hologram. i mean, it was a gimmick, but not a very nice cover imo. now,

the blue 'original' is one of his best covers imo. yet people always mention this

album as having shitty artwork. i don't know, i really like it, always have. but i

must admit, never cared enough about the holographic cover to get a copy.

IMHO, It was a gimmick that was very much a product of it's time, what with the cd being the new kid in town so to speak as the new main format and artists and record companies I guess were experminenting with what they could do artwork wise with a significantly smaller canvas to doodle on..as opposed to the oversize vinyl packaging.

The D&P was and is one of his best covers, actually. The hologram was fun.

.

Now, the "lenticular" cover of Planet Earth is just god-awful. The cover was already atrocious, then to add another gimmick on top of that was just . . . bad.

Se7en said:

The D&P was and is one of his best covers, actually. The hologram was fun.

.

Now, the "lenticular" cover of Planet Earth is just god-awful. The cover was already atrocious, then to add another gimmick on top of that was just . . . bad.

WAIT! Are you saying you didn't care much for the innapropriate S&M/Dominatrix corset he wore on the cover??? I commend your courage for speaking up about it! (But on a serious note, I'm totally with you on that. What a ghastly decision that was on his part.)

feeluupp said:

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

I'm still looking for the vinyl of D&P and which is pretty expensive average it's at least 40$ on ebay...

First batch in France was the hologram.
I think I saw the blue one (less expensive to manufacture) 6~12 months after the initial album release.
Price was the same as a regular album CD, so I don't think this first batch was an U.S. import.

Se7en said:

The D&P was and is one of his best covers, actually. The hologram was fun.

I'd say more than fun.

Technically, it was state of the art. The thing is in full color when viewed under the best circumstances (a direct spotlight between you and the cover), for Pete's sake. And the animation (exposure time) is pretty long.

I remember the eye blink... Narcissistic to the bone, but great.

Just to be precise: it's NOT a hologram, it's holographic print. Quite different things...

And as others have said: the US only had the holographic version, in Europe we got a choice of both with neither of them being limited editions.

And I loved the "glittering" CD-single of Diamonds and Pearls, too. I've never seen something like that before.

ludwig said:

And I loved the "glittering" CD-single of Diamonds and Pearls, too. I've never seen something like that before.

Wasn't that Money Don't Matter Tonight? Not sure, but i liked that one too.

feeluupp said:

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

.

Or you know you could actually check first before posting BS.

kygermo said:

IMHO, It was a gimmick that was very much a product of it's time, what with the cd being the new kid in town so to speak as the new main format

.

CDs had overtaken vinyl sales by the end of the 1980s. Which is well-known.

Originally it was released with the holographic cover, but after supplies ran out, they used the blue cover. When I bought my tape in early 1992, it was the blue cover, but felt lucky to get a CD copy with the holographic cover in 2007 for $6.

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And no it has not faded, still looks fine, Prince moves around with Diamond and Pearl.

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I think its like a lot of recent stamp issues that sell out on Day One, but a few months later, some are sold and they come on the market.

.

The Vinyl is another story, all the albums to GB are easy to get here, but anything after that is hard in my opinion (Of course you may all feel differently, but this my experience in New Zealand). Its like all the albums and singles to 1990 are easy to get on vinyl, but 1991 is where it gets hard, all I have from the D and P period is a Thunder Picture disc and a Cream 12 inch maxi single, a couple of Symbol era discs and then its all "Promotional use only, not for sale".

.

Why I say this, is because that starting with D and P, Prince material was not commercially marketed in vinyl beyond 12 inch singles. I have never even seen an original D and P album in Vinyl (Although I have seen Symbol, The Hits and Come).

[Edited 12/13/14 3:24am]

I have both --- and they both reads: "Warner Music Manufacturing Europe/ Made in Germany".

On the release day I bought the blue one,

later the holographic one arrived and I bought that too, and by that time and later it was impossible to buy the blue one.

Therefor I believe the blue one is more rare - at least in Europe = printed in Germany.

IIRC the hologram cover was the most common at first, then slowly replaced by the blue cover (much better IMHO). The hologram cover isn't rare because so many copies were pressed (I even had it on cassette) but there may be more blue covers around by now.

nextedition said:

ludwig said:

And I loved the "glittering" CD-single of Diamonds and Pearls, too. I've never seen something like that before.

Wasn't that Money Don't Matter Tonight? Not sure, but i liked that one too.

Both of them.

http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=2053

http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=2856

ludwig said:

nextedition said:

Wasn't that Money Don't Matter Tonight? Not sure, but i liked that one too.

Both of them.

http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=2053

http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=2856

I totally forgot about them. It was great, creative.
Yay, I have a both in my collection.

Even the Gett Off cover, spelling "Elliott" when updside down.

BartVanHemelen said:

feeluupp said:

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

.

Or you know you could actually check first before posting BS.

The gun mic part is really smudgy on mine at least. I didn't even remember the gun was supposed to be there before I read this thread.

I don't know if my copy's a bit damaged or if the hologram has just faded over the years, but generally I didn't find it to be of that high quality. Some of the ones I got back in the day that were bundled with computer games and computer game magazines were more detailed and not as messy.

Angelsoncrack said:

feeluupp said:

I believe the hologram was the U.S. release and the regular blue cover was international?

I'm still looking for the vinyl of D&P and which is pretty expensive average it's at least 40$ on ebay...

Ahh, right. I have the blue one already, I saw like 5 blue copies of D&P at that shop.

But D&P on vinyl being rare strikes me as odd because I always see GB in record stores which was like 12 months before. Something to do with his record deal with Warners maybe? I have to admit I've never seen it before though.

Vinyl D&P was not released in the USA. It was an import. WB stopped making vinyl in the USA the year D&P was released.

Adorecream said:

Originally it was released with the holographic cover, but after supplies ran out, they used the blue cover.

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Nonsense. BOTH were available at the same time from the start. But the holographic cover was only available for the first run, which of course was a million or so.