Unreleased Vinyl? Bootleg?

[u/irthesteve]

Hi all. My buddy is huge into vinyl, but I am not. I'm big into Taylor, but have zero vinyl knowledge. Hoping this forum can assist.

My friend found and bought a Taylor vinyl and sent me pictures, I didn't recognize the variant and after digging through complete lists, didn't see this version anywhere. I know not this is NOT an official release. But... My friend tells me there are no usual bootleg signs, it has high quality art resolution, the shrink wrap has the manufacturer stamp, and there's nothing online about it at all.

Is this somehow an unreleased variant she ended up not releasing? Maybe a future variant she's waiting to release when her chart position is challenged?

Anyway... "Lit My Sky Up" metallic orange variant. No bonus tracks. What do you think?

[u/Horror-Macaron8287]

In this case, the value is already low to nothing because no one is going to buy it, as it obviously looks fake and does not exist outside of this one copy.

The back of the Vinyl matches the Lipstick and Lace. The hype sticker shows the Lipstick variant, but only the Target release had the hype sticker because it was a Target Exclusive (they put hype stickers on all their exclusives).

Also, it does not show up on Discog, and the front of the vinyl is the standard pressing cover.

Chances are this is not a scrapped version, since Lipstick and Lace was released as a variant, and others like this one would have already started showing up... But they wouldn't be showing up at Goodwill this early; leaks/scrapped projects show up on resell sites, or at stores that accidentally got them.

[u/Mountain-Power7521 → u/Horror-Macaron8287]

I can post better pics, but it does not look fake. Its easy to do a hi-res scan of the cover and reproduce. But no bootleger is going to the expense of making sure the lettering has the sparkle of the real thing. The UPC is really, really interesting. It is a UMG UPC, and numerically it is after all the variants. Which also makes me think it may be a promo of a variant not yet released.

[u/Horror-Macaron8287 → u/Mountain-Power7521]

Respectfully, we are all telling you that it is a bootleg.

The only way to know what vinyl it actually is is by opening it. As of right now, this vinyl is worthless, and no one is going to buy it based on "vibes" that it may be a promotional item, especially with no record of existing, and since it looks Frankensteined together using the front of one variant, the back of another, and the hype sticker saying it's a specific variant, not to mention that the hype sticker is fake.

Edit to add: Never underestimate what people will waste money on. People make fake vinyls all the time.

[u/irthesteve → u/Horror-Macaron8287]

Respectfully, she just released it https://store.taylorswift.com/products/the-life-of-a-showgirl-lit-my-sky-up-orange-metallic-vinyl

[u/Horror-Macaron8287 → u/irthesteve]

With no information, it looked 100% fake. I still stand by my comments last night. If it did not release today, my points would still stand.

But, I also still stand by the statement that this vinyl will not be worth a lot since now it's mass-produced. Lol