Toybox Records

I don't remember when exactly, but at some point last year a lot of grown men got very upset at not being able to buy a toy monkey. Super 7 put up a Gorilla Biscuits boxset for order, containing a blue vinyl pressing of the self-titled GB 7" and a gorilla toy. I tried to buy one but failed. I'm not going to pretend that I wasn't disappointed, but I accepted it, didn't whinge and moved on with life.

A few months later and I got the chance to pick one up for cost price, which I couldn't really turn down.

I have to say, the box is pretty cool. But the record looks a little cheap, mainly due to the plain looking labels.

And it doesn't have a sleeve. There is a folded up poster, but I'm not sure whether this is supposed to act as a cover or whether it is just supposed to be a poster.

And then a few weeks after I picked this thing up, another one went up for order at RevHQ. A 'second pressing' purple box was made and again I couldn't say no.

This one is kinda the same yet kinda different. This one opens in a different way. Rather than open like a book, it's a slipcase style to reveal the toy inside.

This one comes WITH a purple vinyl pressing of the GB 7", which (unlike the blue version) has a more typical style sleeve.

The sleeve itself is a booklet which contains a bunch of photos and some blurb about the record from various people involved in its release.

As I mentioned, the purple box comes WITH a 7". I'm emphasising this because it doesn't actually fit inside the box. Well, the record fits inside, but the sleeve is too big. So a bit of a major cock up.

And I think this is how I feel about both of these things. They both feel like a missed opportunity. The blue one doesn't have a proper cover, and the labels look too plain. And the purple record doesn't actually fit in the box. So slightly underwhelming really.