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A Record Collector's Guide


Rocket from the Crypt

Scream, Dracula, Scream!

Headhunter HED-054 LP, released 1995 (U.S.)

Interscope INTD-92596 CD / INTSD-92596-4 Cassette, released 1995 (U.S.)

Elemental ELM34CD / ELM34MC Cassette, released 1995 (UK)

Virgin 841430 2/724384143022 CD, released 1995 (Europe)

Interscope INTSD-92596 CD, released 1995 (Canada)

Interscope MVCP-5/INTD-92596 CD, released 1996 (Japan)

Interscope INTD-92596 2xCD, released 1996 (Australia)

Elemental ELMDMM34, released 2008/2016 (UK)

This album is important. It means something. Rocket's real major label debut (though the vinyl was released on Headhunter). This was the record that really extended the reach of Rocket from the Crypt and made the band the global force that it became. The brief spell of Rocket-mania that spread across the UK was sparked by the singles from the album. "On a Rope" ended up being the most successful of those.

The pressing situation was easy. Or...well...I thought it was. All original copies that have made public appearances have been on black vinyl, but rumor has it that there were 10 (TEN!) pressed on black & white swirled vinyl. I have never seen one, nor do I know of anyone who has seen one. I'm not fully convinced that these were for real, despite the in-the-know source of the rumor.

Also, it turns out there were two different original Headhunter pressings. Not sure how this came about, but there are two distinct sets of trail-off wax matrix codes:

  • HED-054 A-1 F/W GSV / HED-054 B-1 F/W GSV
  • ST-IN-950419 A DMM SP 1-1 / ST-IN-950420 A DMM SP 1-1
I had no idea until 2018 sometime. I had the latter one for many years without knowing there were two variants. Presumably, the difference is the direct metal master method was used in pressing the latter ones (hence, the DMM). The prices for the two fall roughly into the same range.

In 2008, Elemental re-released this album as a direct metal master on 200g vinyl. Then, they put a huge price tag on it. It was limited to 500 numbered copies, and seems more affordable now than it was when it came out, but it has become much harder to find.

Elemental repeated this exercise in 2016, on 180g vinyl (not numbered). This one is currently as expensive as the numbered 2008 version, which makes little sence to me, but what can you do...I report what the market tells me.

Version Value ($) Scarcity Price Trending
HED-054 Black (HED-054 Matrix) 35-45 3 Stable
HED-054 Black (ST-IN DMM Matrix) 30-40 3 Stable
ELMDMM34 Black (200g, Numbered) 30-40 5 Stable
ELMDMM34 Black (180g) 30-40 4 Stable
Insert
HED-054
ELMDMM34 (200g - 2008)
ELMDMM34 (180g - 2016)
Rumors Black & White swirled vinyl version. If you have one, please let me know.

This page was last updated on December 29, 2019.

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Scarcity Score Definition
10 Near impossible: Fewer than 50 copies or publicly sold every few years
8-9 Very rare: 50-199 copies or publicly sold 1-2 times per year
6-7 Rare: 200-499 copies or publicly sold a few times a year
4-5 Medium: 500-999 copies or publicly sold ~10 times a year
1-3 Common: 1000+ copies, readily available, or publicly sold 20+ times a year

Estimated values are based on recent auction results or online sales. Commercial use of images on this site is not permitted. Non-commercial use of images permitted, with attribution to Pette Discographies. All images copyright their respective owners.