Bruce Springsteen "Santa Claus / Santa Claus" 7-inch gold disc

[eddy_wehbe]

I just saw this auction on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/311811517439
I've seen this item a couple of years ago, not sure if it's the same copy relisted.

I think the seller is Yosuke Ono. For those who don't know him, Yosuke was one of biggest Springsteen collectors in the world. He sold his amazing collection seven years ago.

Maybe Atsushi can answer my question. Do you know if this item is genuine?

The seller wrote:

One of the rarest Japanese GOLD metal acetate single.
I've heard of only 10 copies made.
noisy / chemical reaction

I'm not sure what to make out of it. Yosuke is a highly respected collector, but this disc seems very devious. I also noticed that one of the items that the seller is listing is 100% fake: http://www.ebay.com/itm/311811547469
And why on earth would they use a U.S. label in Japan?

Let me know what you think.

[manattop]

Hi Eddy,
I've known its existence for long, probably since 1980's. I do believe this seven-inch disc is bogus and fully agree with your speculation. Back in 1980's, certain Japanese bootleggers produced several bootleg acetates in a small quantity such as 10 or 25 copies, including those listed on brucespringsteen.it (http://www.brucespringsteen.it/DB/detre ... LPLATATC71, http://www.brucespringsteen.it/DB/detre ... de=LPLIL81, and http://www.brucespringsteen.it/DB/detre ... LPLID1V121). This gold disc is most likely their another acetate artifact. It was their common practice to use acetate and press discs in a small number for enhancing the rarity. The seller (probably Mr. Ono) seems very careful not to use any word referring to "official" or "legitimate" on the item description, which suggests that he knows what he is putting on auction.
Atsushi

[eddy_wehbe]

Thank you Atsushi. It's much clearer now.