Grateful Dead

@sykes check your pm. Any other Aussies or international people who want to track their shipment pm me and I'll tell you how. I have shown several people how and it has worked for them. I have not received any notification from anyone but have tracked my parcel from the get go.

#1870, Blue Felt, Box looks great. The artwork on the box looks better than I hoped, really dig the overall vibe. Now listening to 7/3/66 and will compulsively listen in chronological order after avoiding the streams. Feeling a deep sense of contentment in MT. Also great that my wife, a fellow head, was more than cool with this purchase.

Sorry, my post must have come off not as I intended - I do that sometimes. I just meant to point out that I think they meant it when they said they're originals. I'll look for the equivalent materials in the Spring 90 boxes that said those were repros. I do know someone who is a very good friend of one of the original band members for many years. He has told me lots of stories over the years, and even just a good friend would normally get lots, or at least several, tickets to the shows, especially the later year stadium/arena shows. Just think how many were probably allocated to band members, road crew, production staff, venue executives and/or staff, etc. Large numbers of those probably went unused occasionally. The tickets they included are only from a few shows, but I think I saw at least what 10 or 11 different dates there. Let's say that 15 dates were included in all 6500 boxes. That's only 433 (average) per show. You don't think they have in their possession 430 tickets for venues that held over 20,000 (Oakland Coliseum holds over 60,000) ticketable seats? At 4 tickets per person, that's just over 100 people's worth of "extras". That doesn't even include any shows that weren't literally sold out (it looks like there are more tickets for some dates than others), or for which many tickets may have been held out of sale for some reason. 6,500 tickets spread over 9 YEARS of shows (I've seen tickets here range from 1986 thru 1995) is not very many. Edit: I would guess it's a fairly small fraction of the number of original tickets and passes that they have in their possession in the archives.

Here is what is says (I think unchanged since it was originally put up) on the dead.net website about the contents of the Spring 90 TOO box (just a part of it, and my bolding): What's Inside: •144-page paperback book with essays by Nicholas G. Meriwether and Blair Jackson •A portfolio with three art prints by Jessica Dessner • Replica ticket stubs and backstage passes for all eight shows. •8 complete shows on 23 discs •3/14/90 Capital Centre, Landover, MD •3/18/90 Civic Center, Hartford, CT •3/21/90 Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario •3/25/90 Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY •3/28/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY ...

Blue, no damage, but still checking discs. Ticket: 10/30/91 Oakland Pass: 6/9/93 Auburn Hills So, anybody wanna swap passes for an Autzen 22, 1993? The Auburn Hills one looks like http://www.psilo.com/dead/images/passes/b930609.jpg -- one of the (few) ones that actually uses GD imagery in the later years.

wjonjd, your math works, certainly. But let's just say it's a miracle that those extra tickets, which would have been considered basically trash at the time, were kept in archival conditions for decades *before being handed over to an archive*. And that doesn't account for the 6500 backstage passes, which would have been printed up in far smaller numbers to begin with, and numbers presumably far closer to what was actually required. And note that the passes in the 30 Trips box are also in mint condition. So I'm still skeptical. You're right that the promo material for the Spring '90 box specifies that the tix and passes are replicas. Then again, since that's promo material meant to convince people to buy the box, it may have had more careful lawyering on the language. Since everybody getting the email about the 30 Trips box had already paid for it, and nobody was expecting the ticket and pass, I could imagine whoever composed the email not being as careful about the wording. Not that I imagine any intention to mislead, just a hastily written email meant to forestall a bunch of Deadheads impatient for news of the box. I want to stress, for whatever GD organization people might be reading, that if these are repros, I'm not complaining! I'm as happy with a reproduction as I would be with an original. I'm listening to 11/10/67 now. Gawd this is good.

Here's what it says on dead.net about the Formerly the Warlocks box: "This collector’s set comes packaged in a wooden replica of a cigar box (Virginia being a tobacco state dating back to colonial times), and is filled with all sorts of goodies, from a photo-laden historical essay to various pieces of cool memorabilia from the time." Doesn't specify whether the tickets are replicas or originals. But it does say "various pieces of cool memorabilia from the time." Are we assuming that anything in that cigar box actually dates to 1989, physically? I've never assumed that. I kind of think "original" for the 30 Trips swag means the same thing as "from the time" does for the Warlocks box. It's "original" and "from the time" in the sense of being a faithful reproduction of original stuff that actually survives from the time in question...

I went online to find original GD tickets from the 80's or 90's mail order variety (as opposed to ticketmaster), looking for one that had excellent photos of front and back. One of the things I found is that on the back there is some writing, it looks like maybe from a stamp, sometimes in pinkish red ink, sometimes in greenish ink, barely visible because it is placed over the regular wording. Using a strong magnifying glass I could make out some of the words, including "international" and "copyright". The tickets included in the new box have this (at least mine does), but the ones in the '90 box do not. Also, because of counterfeiting problems in the late 80's and 90's, I believe you should be able to see something under an ultraviolet light, but I don't have one. I'd bet my left nut these are originals, as they said they were. As far as the passes, yes there obviously are lot less of these, but also a much higher percentage of all those printed for each show would actually be unallocated. Again, I bet that 6,500 out of 9 years of shows is a very small fraction of the number they actually have in the archive in pristine condition.

The worst sound quality consensus that I get is 81 (for the aud patch) and 82 (for the hiss) as worst sounding shows. But I don't even hear hiss, my ears adjust. I think because I am old enough that I grew up on LPs that frequently had tape hiss. Actually, the presence of tape hiss is a plus in my opinion. It means that the engineer didn't use processing to suppress the hiss (and, almost inevitably, kill the delicate upper harmonics). I just listen through it and the mind/ear cancels it out, although I can understand it would be more of a blemish for folks that grew up with digital audio. So I'll take 1981 as the "worst" quality recording and start there. Thanks for the comments. I'm enjoying reading all the responses to the various shows and look forward to the day, some day, when they deliver the USB set!

I completely agree. My ears always adjust to whatever sound quality issues are in the recording, unless it's truly something unlistenable, which none of these even comes close to being. It never affects my enjoyment of the music, because as you said, I am very quickly immersed in the music itself at which point I am no longer even conscious of sound quality issues - I'm back into that musical space letting it take me where it will. But, yes, the switch to the AUD patches can be jarring. Someone mentioned that for the small patches it's not a big deal at all, and I agree. The only patch I remember lasting longer than a few seconds, or even a minute or so, is the 1981 show which has a substantial amount (about 30 minutes) as an AUD patch. I'm still glad they released this show - what are they gonna do, hold it back forever because they don't have the end except as an AUD. I'm fine with it.

Box #3793 survived “mail innovations” without mishap and has landed safely in the mountains of west Texas. Everything looks just exactly perfect. With extra time to wait and read early reports, I was worried about what I’d find in the shipping box. I couldn’t be more pleased with what was inside (and I’m an artist). The 30 Trips Box was well conceived and has been beautifully executed. I trust those with damaged boxes get their problems corrected promptly. FYI: Red Felt Ticket: Cal Expo 5/27/93 (coincidentally my 50th birthday!) Pass: Charlotte Coliseum 3/22/95 My Grateful Dead Memory: included in the well-made book. BTW: One of the 4 phases of the moon on the top of the box was reported earlier to have “already rubbed off”, but it actually is featureless and represents a New Moon. I know: ENOUGH ALREADY! . . . TO THE MUSIC!

Sorry, I respectfully disagree. Although the wording was ambiguous on the dead.net site regarding the "memorabilia of the time", I do not think they meant to imply "originals" as they definitely did mean to imply with the released news for the current box. Even on the tickets included in the Hampton box, there is no attempt at all made to hide the fact that these are replicas: they each have WORLDWIDETICKETCRAFT.COM printed plainly on the back, a company that did not even exist until 1999. I'm willing to place a friendly wager on this, if you like :) I'm 99% sure of this, but I take back my left nut risk. Still, 99%. Would you like to wager on this?

Looks like we pretty much got the same box. Yours is 30 editions after mine(0580) exactly and has the same pass/ticket. I have noticed the material on the bottom of my box, which looks like the rings of a tree, is already splitting/tearing in spots. That's a small bummer. Off to work... wish I could call in and Trip out. At least I have '66-'71 on my phone already to listen to while earning my pay.

...in the middle of Nevada this beautiful fall afternoon. TICKET: October 30, 1991 Oakland PASS: June 8, 1993 Auburn Hills I'm off to hear October 12, 1984 (closest to present date; that's how I'm doin'em).

I sent a PM to MaryE asking if she could verify if the tickets are originals or reproductions, and asking her to post what she finds here in the comments section. Maybe someone can email Dave L, and ask him also? It is kind of an important piece of information regarding this box.

im going in chronological order...the 66 show blew me away but 67! OMG! This is the real goo as someone says!....just absolutely killer! Would Mr. Lemieux like to explain how none of this early stuff was never released before...saving it for this set?!.. Got a long way to go but my face has melted off already!!!!!

Like Moses Quasar I have started the journey moving in order. Currently jamming the second half of 2-22-69 (prime primal) and now blazing into a dizzying Eleven. Every show featured from the 60's in this set is essential and glorious. The offerings from 67 and 68 are stellar, containing prime Pig and documenting the sonic maturation of the band. 4-15-70 is next, but with work not until Friday night. Hoping for a front to back listening session for that one. Gonna cleanse the pallet with some Van Morrison, Philosopher's Stone and bed. Enjoy the tunes friends.

I just noticed the printing on the bottom (your comment made me look). Started on 1973, still in disc one, and it sounds really nice. Phil and Bob are killing BT Wind right now ... I wanted to start with the early stuff, but I need to wait for my wife to come home. Her enjoyment of the band ends around 1972, and even that is pushing it a little. I gotta save the 66-69 for her. Oh, the record sounds great, except Box of Rain is a flat-out stinker compared against the A side. I get why they used this version, but man, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz zzzzzz I've scanned the record and will be printing out a version on cardstock to fill the lid space. The actual 45 needs to be protected a bit more in a sleeve and jacket.

Boston Monday. I was watching for UPS all day and wasn't feeling great later in day so took a little nap and woke up and voila, it was sitting on my front step! I'm going to listen to this in random order. I started with Worcester 83 as I thought I may have attended this show. Then thinking about it more while driving to work with 83 cranking I realized I was at Worcester shows in 84 ... Not 83. Anyways I thought recording sounded great Had 1975 on today. Great show too and quality also great! Great job dave & team!

Mine showed up today at 2:30 making the last two hours of work very long. Box arrived without any exterior damage, and inside wooden one is mint. Very solid, so it survived the long strange cross country UPS truckin' trip. My (non-miracle) scroll was #3376, and the box has red felt (FWIW). My ticket is #5389 from Oct. 30, 1991 Oakland Coliseum, and the backstage pass is from the May 15, 1993 Silver Bowl. I'd be interested in swapping for any Portland OR tickets or passes, just drop me a PM. Now let the listening (and ripping) begin........

Anyone know what the oldest ticket/pass dates are in any of the boxes?

....middle of Nevada huh? Must be Tonopah or Winnemucca? Where are you?....

jcure : love to trade for 6/21/93 pass - my first and only show. Will update when mine arrives. djmac520 : 10-27-91 If anyone wants to trade that ticket PM me. has 6-21-93 pass (not for trade) and ticket 12-12-94 redemption searcher: I've got 10/30/91 Oakland ticket (only $22.50-boy those were the days) and 8/21/93 Eugene backstage pass. Went to all the '94 Eugene shows, and strangely enough don't even remember them playing there in '93 until I saw this. Saw someone has 5-15-93 Vegas, not only went to that but it was my birthday, so I would trade for that. Was also in 4th row in front of Vince on his b-day on 2-21-95 and would trade for that. TERRAPIN_ROB Has Ticket 10-27-1991 Oakland Coliseum Arena Pass 5-22-1993 Shoreline Amphitheatre tysonupina: Would love the '93 Eugene and 10/27/91 igrateful: has 10-30-91 and Deer Creek '93 pass Automaticslim: 2/21/95 Delta Center Salt Lake City pass ready for trade.12/12/94 Oakland Coliseum General Admission ticket not for trade TheDude77: has ticket: Oct. 27, 1991, Oakland and pass: May 15, 1993, Las Vegas hallstallion2005: has ticket stub: 5/27/93 Cal Expo Sacramento CA and backstage pass: 3/22/95 Coliseum Arena Charlotte NC hatch655: has Ticket from 5/27/93 and Pass from 8/22/93 g1u2i3: has Ticket: 1991-10-31 (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA) and Pass: 1993-06-22 (Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN) BertDert: has Stub: 5/27/93 Sacramento, CA and Pass: 3/22/95 Charlotte, NC Serpent of Dreams: has Ticket: 10/30/91 Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland CA and Pass: 8/21/93 Autzen Stadium, Eugene OR EGroesbeck: has ticket Cal Expo Amphitheatre, May 27, 1993 and Pass 2/20/95 Salt Lake City, UT KYTrips: Ticket was from 10/27/1991 - Oakland Coliseum. Backstage Pass was from 6/21/1993 - Deer Creek Univax: has Ticket May 27 93 Cal Expo / Backstage pass June 13, 93 Freedom Hall Louisville KY. mbarilla: has Ticket 3/26/95 Atlanta and Pass 8/22/93 Eugene, OR Shakespeare: has a ticket for 5/27/93 Cal Expo and a pass for 3/22/95 Charlotte. Anttheknee: has ticket for Oct. 28, 1991 and backstage pass for June 16, 1993. MorningSun: has 10/30/91 ticket; 6/21/93 pass. Diggey: has pass from 5/23/93 shoreline amphitheater and ticket is 12/12/94 Oakland. kindagrae: has ticket 5/27/93 Cal Expo Ampitheatre, Sacramento, CA and Backstage pass: "In Attendance" 3/22/95 Charlotte LetitShine: has ticket for 10/27/1991, Oakland Coliseum. b/s pass for 6/9/1993 Palace of Auburn Hills anatexis22: has ticket 5/27/93 Cal Expo Ampitheatre, Sacramento, CA backstage pass is 3/26/95 The Omni, Atlanta, GA D_MCK : has ticket 10/30/91 Gen Admission Oakland Coliseum Arena Back Stage Pass 8/21/93 Autzen Stadium Eugene Oregon Mr. Jack Straw: has ticket: 10/28/91 and Backstage pass: 8/22/93 chitownrider: has Ticket 10/27/91 Oakland Backstage Pass 6/6/93 Giants Stadium Born Cross Eyed... : ticket: 10/30/91 Oakland Coliseum Arena and backstage pass: 6/19/93 Soldier Field, Chicago IL kevinbrandon: has MAY 27,1993 TICKET and THE BACKSTAGE PASS IS FROM JUNE 15, 1993 Atticstrophic : has Ticket: 10/30/91. and Pass: 2/25/95. brobb: has Ticket from May 27, 1993 Cal Expo and Backstage pass from March 26, 1995 The Omni johnmd750: has 12/12/94 Oakland for ticket, and 2/21/95 Salt Lake for backstage pass. wjonjd: has ticket 10-30-91 and pass for SLC 2/21/95 (NFT, yet) chastason: I'd love to trade for Autzen 93 (of the dates I've seen posted so far). Ticket: 10/30/91 Oakland Pass: 6/9/93 Auburn Hills King Harvest: Received the 8/15/86 Park City ticket (not fielding trade offers currently) and a 5/23/93 Shoreline pass. deadyogi51: has Ticket October 30, 1991 Oakland and Pass June 18, 1993 Soldier Field, Chicago seabird17: has Pass - 3/24/95 and Ticket - 12/12/94 Oakland Coliseum SPACEBROTHER: has Ticket - 12/12/94 Oakland and Pass - 2/21/95 Salt Lake City ccmuzik: has Cal Expo 5/27/93 ticket and a pass from Charlotte 95 (3/22/95). Moses Quasar : has ticket 5/27/93 Cal Expo and pass 8/22/93 Autzen deadheadbrewer: got a ticket for 12/08/94, and a pass for 3/23/95 KayakGuy: has Cal Expo 5/27/93 ticket and pass is for 3/22/95 Charlotte rdevil: has 10-27-91 ticket, 6-11-93 pass Born Cross Eyed: ISO: 10/27/91 show ticket. Will trade my 10/30/91 Oakland TICKET. Wants to keep 6/19/93 Soldier Field Pass. corvette1982: has Pass - 1995-02-21 - Salt Lake City, Utah Ticket - 1994-12-12 - Oakland Coliseum Arena - Oakland, California Dennis Wilmot: has Tix - 10/27/91 - Oakland Col BSP - 6/9/93 - Auburn Hill, Michigan jbxpro: Ticket is 1993-05-27, Cal Expo, Sacramento CA; backstage pass is 1995-03-22, Coliseum Arena, Charlotte NC. mrogers: has Backstage pass for Autzen 8/22/93 and the ticket was Cal Expo 5/27/93. boblopes: has Cal Expo 5/27/93 ticket and pass is for 3/22/95 Charlotte kenco: has Ticket for 5/27/93 Cal Expo & BSP 8/22/93 Autzen akpon9: has Ticket: Oakland Coliseum Oct. 30, 1991 Backstage Pass: Eugene Aug. 21, 1993 skeebe: has Ticket - 1991-10-27 Oakland Coliseum Backstage - 1993-06-11 - Buckeye direwulf: has Backstage pass: 06-18-93 Soldier Field and Ticket: 10-30-91 Oakland Coliseum abrazen: has 3/23/95 Charlotte pass 12/8/94 Oakland ticket WarEagleRK: inserts were the pass for Philly 3/17/95 and the ticket for Oakland 12/8/94 Sixtus_: has Ticket: Cal Expo, 5/27/93 and Backstage Pass: Delta Center 2/19/95 anyone is interested in a swap, PM me... Mojave: has Ticket: October 30, 1991- Oakland Coliseum, Pass: August 22, 1993 Autzen Stadium, Eugene Oregon robshead: has Ticket 10/30/91 Oakland, CA; Backstage Pass 8/22/93 Eugene spascarella: has Ticket 10/27/91 Oakland CA. Backstage pass is 06/08/93 Auburn Hills, MI natas2210: has Ticket Stub: 10/27/91 Oakland Backstage Pass: 5/16/93 Las Vegas Zuckfun: has Ticket stub 10/30/91 Pass- 8/22/93 Open to Trades dedhed76: has Ticket stub 10-30-91 and Pass 8-22-93 jonothan lake: has ticket Oakland Coliseum 28th October, 1991,Backstage pass Eugene, Oregon,22nd August,1993. ottihead: has ticket 10-28-1991 and pass 02-19-1995 brian hahne: has ticket - 5/27/93 General Admission and Backstage pass - 3/22/95 lowspark75: has Ticket: Oct 30, 1991 Oakland and Pass: June 9, 1993 Auburn Hills Alain: has Ticket: October 28, 1991. and Pass: March 23, 1995. Dancin' Rick Chinacat: has Ticket for 10-27-91 Oakland, a show I was at and Pass 6-8-93 Auburn Hills. mjzeee: has Ticket: 10/30/91. Backstage pass: 6/8/93 drshakedown74: has ticket 12/08/1994 Oakland Coliseum Arena,CA backstage pass 03/23/95 Coliseum Arena Charlotte, NC dead tanuki: has ticket 10/27/91 Oakland Coliseum, and pass 6/8/93 Palace of Auburn Hills. Roland Bruynesteyn: has ticket October 30, 1991, bsp February 25 (YEAR?) shawndog: has Ticket: 10-27-1991 and Pass: 5-23-1993 JeffSmith: has Cal Expo 5/27/93 and Pass: Charlotte Coliseum 3/22/95 birdynumnumz: has TICKET: October 30, 1991 Oakland and PASS: June 8, 1993 Auburn Hills ivhs72: has Oct. 30, 1991 Oakland Coliseum, and the backstage pass is from the May 15, 1993 Silver Bowl.

I like that 6/9/93 pass!

Still getting caught up, actually I'm on Page 11 right now...I love when there's this much discussion. But thought I'd go ahead and post since #5539 made it's way to Louisiana yesterday. Box #5539 No Miracle Ticket 10/30/91 Oakland Coliseum Pass 8/22/93 Eugene, OR Blue felt on the interior, sounds like a lot of folks got red, I haven't seen that but I really like the dark blue, goes with the darker exterior of the box. Currently in the middle of the '69 show now, going in order without having previously streamed. Not a surprise I imagine, but that '67 show is the highlight so far. Holy Crap. No quality issues with the box or anything, played the 45..at least the A-side, I'm sticking in chronological order. Worked just fine and sounded great. Cheers.

...on the east side of the Toiyabe Range in the Big Smoky Valley

....this box is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes upon.... #3306. Red felt. Ticket is Oakland Coliseum 10.27.91. #4790. Backstage is Deer Creek 6.21.93. Outside box perfect. Inside box almost perfect. Top left corner has slight peeling, but I'm on it. The 45 "looks" scratched on the Box Of Rain side. Could just be a pressing anomaly. They could have least put a thin felt pad behind it, but I regress. Started with Lindley Meadows...TLEO just started....this box is imposing, but I'm sure I can handle it. This thread is fun as hell.... ....born and raised in The Silver State birdy, and I've never heard of Kingston. Breaking out my Google maps....

I am the mole. Spacebrother for president! coconut you leave the boy's souls alone.

We are pleased to inform you that the beautiful sold out 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN boxed sets are beginning to ship (yep, finally)! In the spirit of the 50th anniversary and giving back to the fans, we've also included a couple of surprises. Along with the aforementioned book and scroll, you will find an (((original Grateful Dead concert ticket and backstage pass from the UCSC Grateful Dead Archives))) included as a token of our appreciation for your patience.

After jumping around a bit upon receipt, today I took the first full/complete show in at once...giddiness subsided but was still present. My observation: 1992 is a very nice show. Bruce is prominent in the mix, you can really hear his sound. Aside from a great Bucket/Althea duo to open, I was very pleasantly surprised by Maggie's Farm; I'm not all that familiar with the song - only heard it a few times but know its a Dylan tune - the way they played it injected a 'Cumberland' vibe to it and it just had an addictive groove. Nice Bird Song follows, it gets fierce in there at one point before Jerry breaks off to lead the climax. Second set Shakedown opener is sweet, lots of Bruce and Jerry play back and forth and Phil's bombs in the opening riffs shake your innards. There is also a good Dark Star in there, and interestingly instead of singing the second verse, they all play it through- melodically - for the most part. I had never heard them do it that way before, instrumentally. Overall a very good listen and I am a sucker for Bruce shows. Happy to have 3 of them in this box.

6397 arrived in TxAll intact in excellent condition. I guess I'm the only one that started at the ends and am working my way to the middle? Listening order 66-95-67-94-68-93-69-92-70-91 Now listening to '91. And... 10/27/91 "5299" on top of ticket and 6/8/93 pass.

Got my box Monday.. but opened tonight. Well done, no glue slip ups, discs seem intact, etc. Love the pink, paisley interior, but nothing spectacular beyond that. Ticket, Magoo's 5/65, backstage pass 11/8/68, no scroll, visine bottle with temper resistant seal broken instead, very weird. In all seriousness.. its not real or solid wood it looks to be veneer, but well done.. I am not going to peel it back, but likely compressed cardboard underneath as its solid and heavy. Still, very well done for a box set w/ discs ~$8 each. Its heavy.. but most of the weight being the CD's themselves, and then the compressed wood product. Its a keeper. One word of advice.. humidity will likely not do this box good, long term. I am really overwhelmed. Its a monster box set, and coming from the first one to call this Boxzilla (yes, that was me).. it has lived up to its name. I think this was a fare value, good deal thing. I don't feel ripped off at all, rather a proud father to a new box set, which I have named, Charlie Miller (like all my children). Next.. ripping and listening.

....I was thinking about throwing out false tix/passes dates as well, but you beat me to the punch. This GG Park show sounds incredible. I could write a thesis on it!....now where is that child born during the MSN?!....

Still nothin'.I'm starting to feel like Moriarty. Instead of starting in with the negative waves,I'll leave you all alone with your goodies. I'm just driving myself crazy reading all this anyway. See ya. Very disappointed....to say the least.

Yea man, you busted me on the tickets/BS Passes. If they predate GDTS, they never existed. Now what to do with that weird visine bottle w/ the tamper resistant seal broken? I guess I will just put a drop or three in my left eye. What did the rest of you do with that? Edit: oh man.. jrf, WTF? Stream a show and feel free to inhale tonight. ..and may your box come with a miracle and many, tamper resistant seal broken Visine bottles included. I am really bummed for you, man. You are a good soul and a great friend here. It hurts us all

....well Jim, you could invite us all over, but only if we all have ten hours to spare. Wait! This box has 72 hours! We are in like Flynn.....

Wow, very cool! It goes without saying that the music presented here is incredible, like a "best of" from each year. I ordered this in the first hour or two it was posted, way back whenever that was. But my scroll number is #6288, so no correlation to when box was ordered. Always wondered how the numbering is determined, must be pretty random, no? Folks are overthinking the ticket and pass thing. They're real! Get a UV light and check for song lyrics on the ticket, that was done a lot starting in the mid to late 80's. My old blacklight is in storage, alas, along with the velvet posters! At any rate, I love the box! It looks great and arrived in fine shape. But the "picky deadhead" part of me has to mention a couple things. I wish Lemieux's liner notes were buttressed with some additional info from folks who were at these shows, a la the Europe box. Do like the newspaper articles and posters that are included, though. Also, I love the info that is on the scroll, very nice, but the scroll itself is long and unwieldy, I don't think I'll be unrolling it much, afraid of damaging it. Arrived at my house in Portland, OR today at 3:20pm Blue felt #6288 Ticket is from 10/27/91 - Oakland Coliseum Arena, GA ticket #5123 Backstage pass is from Auburn Hills - 6/8/93

....reminds me of the time back in '89 (?) when my friend was dropping the drops, then sneezed. I don't remember the next day....good times. Kinda like now. Stronger Than Dirt just showed it's face....

I am out of town. I was doing my nightly skype with the kids when I hear the doorbell ring. My wife takes the IPAD to the door to show me "the box." I will be home on Friday to inspect it myself, but everything looks awesome. I really dig the Skull and Roses on the cover of the book. More than likely, I will do a reverse chronological listen of each show just because I am not familiar with any shows past 1980. Zen on and Happy listening!!

(So circles around the sun intermission music filling up the discs :( Can someone explain how the 3 shows take up 6 blu rays???? Will the intermissions be screened on them too (i.e. all the funky dead visuals and archive footage)?

....no time to dwell on that....I'm writing my thesis....it starts with "A young Jerome Garcia walked into Dana's music store in Menlo Park with a chip on his shoulder...."....take it from there

....Miami Arena 10.26.89....an angry show. Sounds good to me.... ....edit. Miami sounds astounding. I'm talking TOO / Two From The Vault astounding....I may not sleep tonight. Thank God for zzzquil last night.

My Boxilla (#4993) arrived today. I had previously cancelled - but I'm glad I re-ordered. I'm relatively new to the Grateful Dead, but I've been collecting for the last year. This box is AMAZING! The book is awesome, the scroll is cool, and I love looking at the rainbow of CD cases . . . lots of listening to do. I read someone complaining about the CD cases being cheap. I must say I'm quite happy with them. Thanks to the producers for creating such a masterpiece!

Not a bad time to pick up an interest. I do wonder how this collection will stand up in 40 years. I bet its historically important. Probably quite valuable by then provided its intact.

The box is totally cool. Maybe too cool! Teenage daughter asked how much did that cost and does Mom know? Silence. She proceeds to go online and howls. Cost me $20.00 to buy silence.Ticket from 10/27/91 Oakland, Pass 6/8/93 Auburn Hills. Blue interior. No miracle but could care less. OH BOY, THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!!!!!!

....yeah, I know the feeling.....

Sorry, I'm not going to take that bet. You may be right - they may be real. I mean, the pristine condition and the numbers we're talking about do make me skeptical, as I've said...but on the other hand: Your description of the back of the ticket corresponds with the back of my ticket. It's got legal boilerplate, and a red stamp that I can't quite make out. Point is, the ticket *has* a back, while the backs of the repro tix in the other boxes were blank. Moreover, the backing paper on the backstage pass in my 30 Trips box also has stuff on it. A manufacturer's address, complete with fax number (very 1993, not so very 2015). The backs of the passes in the other boxes were blank. Now the backs could be reproductions, too, no reason they couldn't be. But if these are repros, they're more elaborate repros than we've seen before in Dead boxes. This supports an argument that they may be actual authentic non-reproduction things. Which, as I said before, makes me real curious as to their provenance. I wonder if Nicholas Meriwether has a story about them. BTW, I hope Meriwether is feeling appreciated. As a connoisseur of liner notes and owner of every official Dead release except the Europe '72 box (couldn't quite swing it at the time), I have to say he is the best thing to happen to Dead writing in a long time. I love how he introduces what should be just mundane pieces of paper from the archives and tells you what they mean. Like the abandoned ledger he talks about on p. 26. That kind of human detail makes the whole story come alive, even if you've been through it a dozen times with different writers.

Blue felt, ticket is 10/27/91 at the Oakland Coliseum, pass is 6/11/93 at the Buckeye Music Center in Hebron OH. No apparent damage; things have been a little busy today to do a thorough check, that might have to wait until Saturday. Did some streaming, but listening to the '66 CD on the stereo is a big step better. Looking forward to the rest of the box. No "miracle" scroll -- I have to think that there won't be more than what, 25 or so? Have to just say, oh well.

Thank you for the vote of confidence and the kind words, both here and private message. I know EXACTLY what you mean.

I hope you get SOON.I chose standard shipping. Good luck!!!!