MoFi Might Die Sooner Than Later Unless They Make Some Significant Changes 

I agree completely! As the art director/designer for Impex Records, I have always pushed for greater presentation on expensive records. Thanks to Abey Fonn and our partners at Elusive Disc, we keep getting closer and closer to the ideal I seek. We may not make the kind of profits as Mo-Fi and Analogue Productions do (and there's something to say for that from a purely business point of view), we never regret the high effort and cost we put into our projects. Thank you for bringing up how important the packaging is to heighten and add value to the physical interaction between a music fan and the luxe LP releases they love.

Packaging is extremely important - vinyl is physical and it’s part of the experience. Hell, I choose a lot of vinyl simply for the cover art.

MoFi was relevant when it was really one of the only sources available for great recordings. Today we have 2-gigabit internet and lossless files, so there isn't a need anymore to seek out things like MoFi anymore. It had its day...

Please never NEVER put ads on a record jacket! I art directed Hard Rock Cafe CD compilations and I screamed and cried and stomped my foot to keep ads off of it! PS: I love righteously angry Michael!

Do NOT apologize for speaking your mind on your own channel! At least for me,that´s why i´m here,to hear your thoughts and reviews! Other than that i can´t comment on this particular release but do not apologize for speaking out,you do that on behalf of many of us i´m quite sure. Everyone won´t agree and maybe you´ll catch some flak ,but that´s just how it goes sometimes. Keep up your good work,both in praising and criticism! It´s too much money involved to stay silent when one isn´t satiesfied! Cheers.

I agree with you, Michael. They present us with products that impart an attitude of either laziness or arrogance. But, as you mentioned, they are living in a competitive world. They should remember that.

RU-vid videos shifts new releases more than any thing. So Michael and the other reviewers have the potential to move markets by simply reviewing fewer MOFi discs until they change their offering and pricing. They should give more airtime to more consumer friendly audiophile labels.

You are absolutely right, Michael. It also annoys me a lot when someone tries to sell a semi-finished product to customers as a complete product. However, it annoys me even more when Analogue Production sells an ugly box of UHQR for $50 or something like that.

You have hit the point! There is nothing to replace the vinyl experience from cover to vinyl. 👍

To me, the sleeves and gatefolds for vinyl it is a part of the whole experience. Great ones like those from Verve-Impulse Jazz and VMP are just fantastic and can lift the entire thing into a different tier of quality. Then you look at Blue Note and Speakers Corner for the price and theyre just great value for what you pay. MOFI needs to up their game.

We are buying the entire product experience when we indulge in vinyl. Having an ad inside a bare bones cardboard jacket for any record above 50 euros is like buying a slap to my face.

I'm very confused by this video. You are upset for the way MFSL has been making jackets since the 70's but ERC charging 10x the price with shapie touch up's is not a problem?

Hold their feet to the fire, Michael! Even 55 years ago, the look, the feel, even the smell of the jackets were integral to my appreciation of the artistic statement that is a great release. I don't mind advertisements per se (even Analogue Productions have upcoming titles included in their releases) but I want top-flight jackets and inserts.

The original Eye In The Sky has gold embossing, so beautiful. I do own the Mo Fi new version which I just purchased, major disappointment. I found an original mint copy of this album, which is still easily available. I paid 5.00 The Mo-Fi cost me 100.00

I 100% agree with you. The high end vinyl labels are pushing quality aside to meet demand. It’s not just MOFI.

When Italy play in 1982 the final of football worldcup I was fifteen and at the end Italy won. All people celebrate victory. I put my new copy of Eye In The sky on turntable and I listen this magic album at heavy volume in the night.

I completely agree with you. Mofi is in cash grab mode. They did the same thing on Eric Clapton Unplugged. I live in Chicago and was at Axpona a month or so ago, and Mofi had this huge sales area and they were charging huge prices for very low selling albums. They were pushing a bunch of crap on the attendees. I am sad to say they, as you mentioned, don't care any more and are in "we will sell it anyway," mode. Great video and thank you for saying what a lot of us are thinking.

i was just at the grocery store and what used to cost me 18$ now costs 48$ .... and a tank of gas went from 30$ to 90$ .... unless you are financially successful or merely rich... i suspect over the next 2 years of recession/depression the vinyl fad will fade because they will have priced 80% of the population out of the "new audiophile pressing market" ... unfortunately vinyl will suffer while the public struggles to get to work and home and pay for food to keep their family alive....

It’s all about perceived value. Mofi’s is taking a massive hit.

I couldn’t agree with you more. A month ago I ordered MOFI The Young Rascals- Groovin’. It took them over 2 weeks to ship when it was stated they had it in stock. When it arrived, it was Alan Parsons Project Eye in the sky! They shipped the wrong album! I emailed them twice nearly a week ago and they will not respond. Even though the APP album is wonderful, it is not what I ordered. I guess I have no recourse other than to file a dispute with my credit card company. I’ve about had it with MOFI. The complete lack of customer service is mind boggling and at best, rude. I had a similar problem back in February when I ordered Cyndi Lauper She’s so unusual. It took over a month to get the album when it was in stock. The emails I sent, the replies were condescending to say the least. What an obnoxious company. I’ve reached the end of my tether with them.

Good call Michael. The cover and packaging are extremely important. The best quality products will be about the total package, not just part of the package. Thanks for being a strong voice on this particular release - you have called it honestly, hopefully you will be heard.

I wrote to Chad at Acoustic Sounds in the late 90s when he was selling two 45s in a single cover, not a gatefold. When Music Matters started selling their releases in beautiful thick gatefold covers with photos, it made Chad’s releases look remarkably inferior. In the letter, I told Chad if he wanted to be the best, he had a ways to go to approach MM’s standard. Soon after that Acoustic Sounds started issuing their releases in beautiful gatefolds. I doubt my letter had anything to do with it- probably pure coincidence, but Chad ultimately got the message and has consistently issued superior jackets since.

I just looked at my Speaker’s Corner Eye in the Sky and it’s not even gatefold but it sounds like a dream . I do support your your approach in any case

That jacket looks like my old Mexican pressing from the 80s. My country was going through an ugly economic crisis at the time, so records had to be cheaper, with the consequent loss in terms of quality. Definitely not expected in a supposedly premium release. I really enjoy your videos, Michael!

I am glad you brought this up. The packaging is low rate but I wonder if it’s due to the fact they are rushing to get product promised to the market. Give the people a good quality vinyl and they may over look the weaknesses of the packaging. My feeling are they are probably cutting costs somewhere or applying the better quality sleeves, jackets to their new One Steps not the boxed ones. I have bought some VMP titles and they are top notch. A lot of good points here.

I agree, if you’re going to charge premium prices this should extend to the quality of the jackets. The other thing that burns me are ultra expensive releases that include no extras, such as inserts. Would love to see them get more creative - e.g. including 8x10 glossy photos, maybe even a half dozen signed versions that get thrown in; mini posters; inserts with essays and other info specific to the album.

Hi Michael, I bought the Eye In The Sky today at one of my local stores ( That's almost a miracle here in Germany ). This was surely not because of the cover. I absolutely agree with you on that topic. The original pressings of eye in the sky come with an embossed and gold-foiled cover art. Mofi offers none of that. I think it's even worse with their one-step titles - here in Germany you pay 170-200 Euros for one of those copies and you don't even get a proper cover, just a lousy piece of cardboard depicting the cover art. If I compare that to AP's UHQR product for example...well...does mofi really think their product is competitive in this topic?

Totally agree with you Michael! As a record collector, the complete package, a top notch sounding record, plus a beautiful piece of artwork (the record jacket) has always been important to me! I noticed that your Eye In The Sky record jacket had a damaged, banged up left corner too. No doubt that this was due to the inadequate shipping mailer. Unacceptable!

Very interesting. I love your videos and opinions. Appreciate you sharing this. I like MOFI’s SACD packaging and gold CD releases. Vinyl may be a different story. ;)

I agree , Michael ! 100% correct ! It's like they are getting lazy on the product and charging more :(

Aspects of a vinyl reissue in order of importance for me: 1. Source audio 2. Mastering 3. Pressing 4. Jacket quality It would have to be a really bad cover to be more important than 1-3. If a label is going to skimp anywhere, I'd prefer it be the cover, rather than 1-3. Having said that, if it's being presented and priced as a top-notch, world-class reissue, it should have an awesome jacket, too.

I’m glad someone has finally called Mofi out on this issue. It’s the same with the One Steps, it’s 2 lps in a box with virtually no extra’s. Here in the U.K. they cost £180 each. I’m really hoping they put some extra booklets or photos/prints in the upcoming Thriller One Step.

Yep, I've seen this nonsense from many companies, including a few I've worked for, where just to make a tiny bit more profit, they cut corners on things that only cost pennies, but give the customer significantly less value, thus deterring future purchases. It's short sighted decisions like that that kill companies.

Spot on Michael!!! Packaging quality is extremely important especially at this price level. I have further issues with MoFi not staying true to the original manufacturer's outer jacket by continuing to place their branding 'stripe' along the top and by using their own MoFi label on the vinyl record instead of keeping with the original manufacturer's release as is done by Analogue Productions, Sam Records, Impex, and other forward thinking companies. You have the audience to bring this quality issue to their doorstep. Let's hope Mobile Fidelity Labs starts looking at the quality their competition is producing.

I don’t always agree with you Michael, but on this topic I have to say that you are right. Be careful with MoFi/Music Direct as positive criticism doesn’t sit well with them. I was banned from buying their product from their website after voicing my opinion about their packaging and shipping. Their attitude was “we don’t care about you being a customer for years as we have many other customers.”

Totally understand where you are coming from Michael! Especially compared to like you say: Vinyl Me Please and something like the Tone Poet series with the wonderful jackets and extensive, beautiful photos and liner notes. It’s not acceptable at all.

I agree with you 💯! I'm a art director and seeing poor quality artwork is such a turnoff no matter the price. I just got back into Vinyl at the beginning of the pandemic, and to me, the artwork is just as important as the sound. So if one or the other is poor, I won't buy the record. Keep voicing your opinion, without it, change won't happen👊🏻🙏🏻🎶

I agree with you. The problem is: I am afraid MoFi would raise their prices even higher for better quality packaging. What is totally crazy about this is MoFi's parent company Music Direct know how to do this right. Music Direct prints a stunning high quality glossy yearly catalog which comes out at year end and is is like Audio Porn. I see it out at audiophiles listening room like you would a coffee table book in the Living Room. It is telling that they will do that to try to sell you a product. Once they have gotten you to pay for a MoFi LP their interest in presenting you with a quality experience seems to extend to the LP only.

Sadly, all you say is true. So many labels put out sub par stuff knowing people will gobble it up. I really hate it when you can clearly tell that they simply blew up the CD artwork to album size. Its all grainy and looks like crap. Sadly, that is a side effect of the vinyl craze. People won't stop and be selective, and let the companies take a hit in their pocketbook until they wake up.

Yupp, totally agree. The packaging for vinyl is important. This is a physical medium and size and quality of the jackets are part of the reason we kept on buying vinyl. Yes the sound is also important, but high res steaming has something going for it, so the vinyl sellers need to keep their act together to keep the interest.

hey michael...cover art and packaging is very important to me...it can almost 'flavor' the way i hear the music inside...only two things that could help a situation like this...people just don't buy the album, or people send their copies back, demanding a better cover....if enough people react, then mo-fi has to act...great video my friend...peace...rocky

yeah VMP has really impressed me with some of their work

Hello Michael! I could not agree more. MOFI is one of my favorite labels but Impex, Analogue Productions and BN bring it all together. Don't forget MOFI, it comes down to Art. It's a visual as well as audio medium. I hope you get a response (I hope we all do).

I agree. There are several MoFi "coming soon" releases that I've decided not to buy. My confidence in them has dropped considerably especially when there are better companies now. The arrogance is not back up by the quality.

Well said Michael MOFI need to hear / see this video. I total agree with everything you said. Being an ex professional photographer your comment about Kodak & Polaroid is very pertinent to the position MOFI could find themselves in very quickly, if they do not up there game as you stated “There is a lot of sharks swimming in this vinyl pool at the moment” ATB Graham.

You are absolutely right, it’s to easy fo MOFI. Old style, not looking into the needs for the market nowadays. Markets are moving fast and they need to do something about it. I also wanted to get into some of the announced releases but is it worth the steep asking price if you compare to the competition. Very good video Michael, as always, keep them coming!

I am totally with you Michael. 85 EUR for that record is crazy. I just bought the stereo edition of Coltrane's Blue Train from the Tone Poet series: two heavenly sounding discs with a beautiful high gloss tip-on jacket, accompanied by a booklet full of high resolution photos and interesting stories. All that for around 60 EUR. I am new to this hobby but I am not tempted to buy a MFSL release as long as there are such gems out there from Blue Note, Analogue Productions, Verve/Impulse etc.

I couldn't agree more.. You are so precise and before you unfolded the issue, I knew exactly what you were about to say in the whole video.... I was lucky I saw the vinyl at a friend's house and I was instantly put off from buying it... Some companies have to start respecting the people who pay rediculous prices for their products if they want to keep them

Michael, I'd like to suggest that it would be more helpful if you could describe more about why you find it so bad. You lightly touch on what MoFi COULD do to make it spectacular (e.g. gold foiling), but you're saying it's bad for a high-priced release. You have it in hand, in 3-dimensions. You can feel it, smell, etc. We can't. Can you give us a greater sense of why it's not just merely okay, but bad?

Very valid comments. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Great video. You are absolutely right. I agree. For that kind of money we can expect more for the total product. This is a disgrace of a product they deliver at the moment

Love this, excellent job Michael. This is the freedom bestowed on someone who actually buys the product. Most big-time reviewers, and I'm thinking of one in particular, wouldn't dare criticize a major label because they would be afraid the free-record gravy train would dry up.

You are not wrong sir, regardless of one's spot on the globe. Thanks for your comments.

Great video Michael…. I totally agree with your thoughts and opinions on this topic. I am relatively new to vinyl again. When I was getting back into it, I was told, you have to invest into Mofi pressings. My very first exposure to them was the blood sweat and tears one step. That pressing absolutely blew my mind!!!!! That is one of the best sounding pressings I have heard period. Then I got the Muddy Waters Folk Singer. Which, in my opinion is one of the greatest album ever. I compared that to my AP 45rpm version for $60 and I was not that impressed. Then it got worse with the EC Unplugged. The photo they used for the front is matte and so blurry. It is really bad. Plus their version of a jacket is horrible. There is so much more room for improvement. When I look at my AP album jacket it is so beautiful and sturdy great images and tons of info about the album. Not to mention no seam splits…. Look what Chad does with his UHQR SERIES. Now that is top of the line all the way!!!! You get the actual jacket and it is $25 less. Chad is absolutely killing it over there. Also, they have way more titles and so much of it is in stock most of the time…… you can tell that Chas would do this for free because he care so much about the music and the whole experience of owning vinyl. Where Mofi is a production line and just spitting out records without any thought or care behind it. Mofi used to be the good standard the pinnacle, the bench mark to which everyone else espied to be like. One of my favorite quotes is from Lee Iacocca “You either lead, follow or get out of the way” Come on Mofi, dust yourself off and get back to what made you the king of the hill…. Take back the crown and the throne. Let’s hope with their new pressing plane coming in 2023 and all these new titles and genera’s they are saying they will be doing, it will happen?

Thanks for this! You have a respected voice in the vinyl community and I really think this could actually spark some change at MoFi. I appreciate you.

I concur. I’m a huge mobile fidelity fan. Even have some tshirts. I feel their packaging is not what it could be and especially at the vinyl pricing. I also get many of their digital product and amazed at how the the font is not straight and the photo quality feels like a copy of a copy. I would love to seem them freshen up the packaging to the next level.

You are 100% correct. Why do we need a gatefold advertising Mo-Fi products and turntables.....we already know about the company? It would be like Rolex or Mercedes-Benz stuffing flyers of their other product lines....if you know the brand, you do not need to be reinforced on its other products, it can be almost insulting to the consumer......much like going into a fine steak house and being explained or reaffirmed that you ordered you steak medium rare and not medium.

This gave me flashbacks to architecture school pin-up critiques that could be brutal sometimes -but I totally agree. They need to step it up.

I agree packing is very important. I like to look packing while I listen, it’s part of the overall experience of listening to vinyl. The look and the feel are so important. I completely agree with you.

I must say in the last few months I’ve been getting bored with videos for new releases etc etc but Michael this I enjoyed and totally agree with you 👍👍 For the money being shared with expect a far better product and as you say other companies do it exceedingly well -hope to see more content like this as this was one of your best for a long time!!

I agree with you regarding the stunning quality of VMP. But.. unfortunately when their package finally arrives at my doorsteps it is seldom the gatefold/jackets isn’t damaged.. guess bad luck! Perhaps their shipping packaging is improved over the course of time.. Great topic Michael! Shame on you mofi ;)

I so agree with you! So many poorly manufactured records these days...And the prices!!! I have an ever expanding black list of manufacturers. I am putting so many new issues in my wish list to buy in a few years to see if some better pressings come around instead of buying the current junk that comes out of Optimal, MPO, CZ media and the like...Greed and disrespect for the customer and the products. Where is the pride for a job well done! No QC whatsoever...Sad.

This is a very fair assessment. VMP has been really great at upping their jacket game. The PIR Anthology Box set are all stunners with custom matched vinyl to boot.

I agree with you Michael. I actually have a reissue of this exact album with a gold foil inlay on the cover. I picked it up a few months back. If we, as consumers, make our displeasure know to the company they have two choices, make changes or watch others pass them by.

It's good to hear how well VMP is doing. I subscribed for years. I dropped my subscriptions last year only because I could not keep up with the listening. I'm old.

I totally agree with you, I bought a $49.99 album and after $9.89 shipping it was nearly $60.00! But analogue productions has free shipping after $49.00. Guess where I'm going!!

My longstanding gripe with MoFi is really through RTI. Nearly everything (**EVERYTHING**) MoFi that I’ve bought in the last three years has been completely dish warped. Every One Step, every SuperVinyl, every standard MoFi release. For these prices it shouldn’t even be a concern. I’m looking forward to their new pressing plant so they can cut ties with RTI.

I purchase Mofi albums on a regular basis. I like what they do on a musical basis. I especially like the One Steps. I appreciate your points on the covers and advertisement materials. It would be nice if they upped their game. They push SACD’s as well as vinyl. I don’t know how well those sell. That product never took off in a big way, though it has been available since the late 1990 ‘s. Mofi should stick to vinyl with the improvements that you note.

The most honest and free speech feedback I have seen/ heard, in this community; I am totally with you Michael💪. This accounts in a larger scale too, but let's start here, in a open respectful discussion. Great work Michael, thanks, Toby

Agee with you 100% .. for the price we are paying the artwork on the jacket and overall production are all part of the overall packaging we are paying a premium for .. it’s not good when a company starts taking advantage of loyal customers

The last Mofi's i bought were the Dire Straits titles. Not interested in any of the One-Steps musically so far, and the latest titles don't appeal to be. Craft is doing great stuff, in a single pocket tip-on for 33 rpm, which is my preferred format. My biggest pet peeve is that Blue Note doesn't put the Classic Series records in a decent jacket. Mofi's biggest sin in ruining every piece of album artwork with their stupid banner, and not using the original record label graphics on the centre labels, substituting their own logos. Mofi has to really be a definitive vinyl version of the title for me to consider buying it, and overlooking all the things they do that I feel are extremely poor choices.

Thank you for this great video; the packaging or the expensive releases should always have superior color reproduction on covers, of photos and more. With the prices so high, why not?

I bought Eye In The Sky in the UK in 1982 and, honestly, the photos aren't any better on my copy than on your Mobile Fidelity one.

Twenty Thousand Subscribers 20,000 and growing. Congratulations Michael 🎂🎉🍻

I absolutely agree. I'd also love to see MoFi try to market to a younger generation. Like you said, even Music On Vinyl seems to recognize this. I saw they reissued some old Chapterhouse that I guarantee MoFi wouldn't touch in a million years. Since the 2010's Shoegaze has had quite the revival with young music fans. They could even still stick with mainstream material if they wanted to, and still appeal to some young people. I'd quite like to see a remaster of something like 21 by Adele. Unfortunately, MoFi seems all too content to live in the past forever, and squeak by on their name alone. They should really be willing to consider some releases from within the past 20 years. There are some absolute classics that have come out since then

I agree completely, Michael. With a physical product like records, the whole package does matter. Look at what Sam Records are doing - re-creating flip back jackets and sourcing original photographs. Their product ends up feeling much more superior to Mofi, and yet can cost half as much!

Your point is so on the money and I totally agree. Love your shows very educational cheers and thanks for taking the time to put them together. Have a good one.

Loved the tetra pack analogy! Perfect. You voice the feelings of many who feel that for the money they pay they deserve a product that delivers on quality -- not only musical quality.

100% agree. Thank you for speaking this truth, publicly. Now, can you ask VMP to improve those shitty mailers they ship with? 🙏🏻

I totally agree with you Michael! 🥰🙌🤗♥️ A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever John Keats

Thanks for your candid appraisal of MoFi’s poor product presentation especially for the premium prices. Shame on them.

I love your passion Michael, I feel exactly as you. This has always been an issue with MoFi & it defiantly comes across like let the peasants eat the crumbs we throw at them. These records are expensive by any measure, most people have to live within a budget forced to pick & choose carefully. The last thing you want your customer to feel is regret in spending his hard earned money on the product you sold them. You could never say this about Chad as he would never put out some of the things many other's seem to have no problem doing. Things are hot now but the day of reckoning with regards to the economy are soon to change things drastically. As they say in marketing, The best customer is the one you already have. The wheel turns MoFi, try to show more appreciation to the loyal customers that supported you. You may own the company but ultimately the customer is the true boss in the end.

I heard the inner sleeve advertisement is gone. People are saying its not in Local Hero release. It needs to go

I’m still waiting on my replacement copy of Eagles Desperado One Step. Mofi sent me two copies of LP No 1. (Missing LP No 2.) also the individual sleeves were damaged. I have 3 pending orders in with MoFi at the moment - and they’ve not shipped an order I placed 14 months ago. Pretty upsetting given what paid to them over the years. Not feeling very valued as a customer.

You go Michael!! I love MOFI, but we should always be demanding better value for our $.. records are so expensive already, we should at least get what we are paying for

You know you are right! We pay a lot of money for these albums and with the hype and waiting so long for the release dates only to be disappointed! MOFI has been doing these substandard albums all the while going up in price! As a professional photographer more than 35 years, I have demanded quality and expect it and anything less is insulting! I feel ya!

Yes I believe that these companies only get it half right because of how good the materials are these days. And if they matched the high quality materials with high quality ideas, input and execution they would be amazing products. Imagine if all those companies in the 60s 70s 80s 90s would of had the same high quality materials that are used these days as standard. They made great products with thin as paper vinyl and cardboard from cereal boxes back then on the whole.

I wasn't convinced of your complaint until you bring up the $80 price tag. For that price the cover should at least replicate the original, and certainly shouldn't be of lower quality. Acoustic Sounds' releases are less than half that price, and have amazing packaging.

I agree Michael. When purchasing a high end archival record it should be presented as such. The recent Eric Clapton release has an awful blurry picture as well. If this is the end, I hope the CSN couch album comes out soon. Really want this one and hope the quality is there.

You remind me of a friend I had in Lahr, Schwartzwald in the 80's when I was stationed there, and the many discussions we had on music, while drinking good German beer and listening to records. One I remember was also about MOFI, but on their "Gold cd's"...cheers....

Couldn't agree more Michael! Mofi packaging efforts on non one step is abysmal. I buy most my albums from Analogue Productions, enough said!

All true - welcome to America. CD packages need a big rethinking now because those of us buying them most likely want and experience better than streaming.

I vwas dissapointed with the Bill Evens 'You Must Believe In Spring' edition. Such a great record, such a flimsy jacket.

I have a Canadian OG of "Eye in the Sky" I guess they couldn't access the original negatives used for the photos?? Your experience in advertising gives you a keen eye for the marketing end of things, Michael. They should hire you ... but doubt they could afford you. 😉

A large part of why I prefer to buy vintage records is the jacket. The printing quality, the sheen, the coated, or the matte finish of them. I like the feel of the old cardboard. I also like the cheap quality and bad printing on foreign bootleg pressings. They are illegal copies, and using whatever resources they have to create a record for a market where it was illegal to have western music. Cheaper quality on expensive modern pressings just smells of bean counters saving $0.25 on an album

Therapy session! 😆 I do agree with you. Look at what Blue Note has been able to do with the Tone Poets - quality all around at a reasonable price.

I agree 100% Packaging is everything to the hobby of collecting vinyl. I got my copy of Eye In The Sky a few weeks ago and it sounds good but like you I was extremely disappointed in the packaging. I was expecting more for $65.00. I knew this one was coming so I passed on the Speakers Corner version. Now I wonder if I should have bought that version and saved some money.

Must add though, the Eye in the Sky Mofi 2x 45rpm sounds absolutely stunning.

I've had many releases come with seam splits also with the one step in the big boxes had a few seam splits

I just got the Stevie Nicks 24k tour live album 2 disc beautiful blue splatter vinyl with gold foil on jacket and even all text on both sleeves is gold foil ! Less than $50. Excellent presentation worthy of the queen herself 👍🏻