War Zone Trade Of The Century

So a couple of weeks ago I posted up an 'aborted' copy of the War Zone 'Lower East Side Crew e.p.' that I'd picked up. At the end of the post I mentioned that, after owning it for one week, I was sending it off to someone as part of a trade. Well, my side of the deal came in this week. So for anyone who was keen to see what I traded it for, here's the answer...

I traded with someone who had been looking for the aborted press for many years. Someone who has an incredible Revelation collection (which makes mine look amateur) and who just happened to have doubles of two of the most elusive War Zone 7"s out there. So, rather fittingly, I traded my War Zone 7" for two War Zone 7"s...

First up is a third press copy on green vinyl, of which only 200 were made.

The second is the fourth press on clear vinyl. There were apparently 300 of these made. According to the Rev discography, 150 of these were given to the band without sleeves, whilst the rest went nowhere and still reside at RevHQ, apart from a few that got given away over the years. So even though there are more clear than green, the clear is way harder to find.

I actually used to own a clear vinyl copy, but stupidly traded it away in 1997. I've never owned a green copy though. To say I am stoked with this trade would be a huge understatement. I've wanted both of these for so long that it's ridiculous. To pick them up in one go is the stuff of dreams. Here's a couple of pics of the two together, just because I can:

It's funny, but I always felt that my War Zone 7" collection was embarrassing. Well, not any more. It just hit a respectable level. I figure I'll never own another aborted press, and I'm fine with that, but I would like a first press copy at some point. Hopefully I'll find one in less than the 17 years it took me to replace my lost clear copy.