Metallica — Master of Puppets: How to Identify a First Pressing

• Cover: The cover was conceived jointly by the members of Metallica and manager Peter Mensch and ultimately painted by artist Don Brautigam: a graveyard filled with white crosses bound by strings, with the other ends of the strings controlled by a pair of hands reaching down from a stormy sky glowing orange-red at the horizon.

• Other: The US edition was officially released by Elektra Records on March 3, 1986 — the time baseline for confirming whether a copy is from the earliest batch; the UK edition was released by Music for Nations, though the specific UK release details could not be verified in any accessible source this time.

• Label: The UK label is Music for Nations, which should differ from the US Elektra edition in label design, but the specific label-artwork details could not be found described verbatim in any accessible source this time and is honestly marked as unverified.

• A limited remastered deluxe box set with an expanded tracklist and bonus content was released in 2017, clearly distinct from the 1986 original vinyl's production specification.

discogs.com returned a 403 this time and could not be accessed; the English Wikipedia entry was used instead. That entry does not give the specific catalog numbers for either the US Elektra or UK Music for Nations editions, nor does it cover first-hand manufacturing details such as matrix etchings (e.g. the Masterdisk studio code).

• Read the runout (the smooth area between the last groove and the label) with the disc tilted under a lamp: matrix numbers, stamper codes and mastering initials are the strongest evidence.
• Label details change between pressing plants and years: rim text, logo style, address, "Manufactured by" wording.
• Cover printing shows the plant and era: printer credit, catalog number position, barcode presence.
• Match all three. A first-press disc in a later cover, or the reverse, is common.

Shoot the label straight on in even light, then the runout with the disc tilted so the etched text catches the light (a phone torch from the side works). Add the front and back cover, the spine, and any inner sleeve or insert. The app reads the label and cover; the runout photo is what confirms the pressing.