Firehose Test Press

fIREHOSE. Heard of 'em? Probably not if you're under 30! I don't know much about them either, which is odd since I have been listening to them for about 18 years. I became aware of fIREHOSE because they had a song ('Brave Captain') feature on a Santa Cruz skateboard video about 18-20 years ago. Following this, my friend bought the album 'Ragin' Full On' on vinyl and I taped it from him. Several years later I bought it for myself. A great album and one which I have never got bored or tired of. Last week I bid on a test press on eBay. I was the only bidder and won it for the listing price of $9.99, which I was pretty happy with.
Unlike a lot of "older" test pressings which came in plain paper dust sleeves, this one has a sleeve and a couple of cool features...

A close up of the sticker on the sleeve says, which says "1986 SST Records" (I couldn't get it to come out well on the camera)

A message on the dust sleeve, which reads "Special Treat Firehose Test", which makes me wonder if this was given to someone as a gift at some point:

Hand written label, where someone seems to have had trouble writing the word "Firehose":

There was also a piece of paper inside with proofs of the label art. What's cool here is that someone has written "black ink with pink field" at the top:

And here's the regular version of the record with the proof next to it. It seems the idea of the black ink and pink label was accepted by whoever makes decisions on these things:

Overall, I am stoked. A good bargain.