Michael Jackson — Thriller: How to Identify a First Pressing

• Cover: The cover shows Jackson wearing a white suit belonging to photographer Dick Zimmerman, with an open shirt; the gatefold's inner photo reveals a tiger cub at his feet.
• Cover: According to photographer Zimmerman's recollection, Jackson deliberately kept the tiger cub away from his face during the shoot, worried about being scratched.
• Other: The album was originally scheduled for release before Christmas, then pushed back to the following January so the production team could finish more tracks; but because copies had leaked to radio stations early, the label decided to rush-release it on November 29, 1982, through Epic Records — this 'rush release' is useful background for dating the earliest production batch of the album.

• An expanded edition, 'Thriller: Special Edition', was released on October 16, 2001; a 'Thriller 25' anniversary edition (with Jackson himself serving as executive producer) followed on February 2008; and for the 40th anniversary in November 2022, a surround-sound mix was released for streaming — all clearly later repackagings/remixes than the 1982 original vinyl.

discogs.com returned a 403 this time and could not be accessed; the English Wikipedia entry was used instead. That entry does not give a specific catalog number or label/matrix details.

• 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.