After being on a major label for quite a while, Say Anything made the transition back to an indie label, Equal Vision Records, for their latest album, Anarchy, My Dear. The album was pressed on two colors, red limited to 3800 copies and gold limited to 200 copies. Gold was a UK exclusive color only sold through Banquet Records. About half of the red copies were sold in one of the various versions of deluxe box set packages that were limited to 2000 copies available exclusively through Equal Vision’s webstore, so there are only 1800 copies of the record available on its own. On July 6, 2012 an Australian exclusive color was announced, which is on green vinyl and limited to 100 copies. Which brings the total up to an odd 4100 copies of the record.
The deluxe box set packages mentioned above ranged in price from $60 on up to $83, with the added options of a t-shirt or hoodie. The main draw of the deluxe box set was the hand numbered box limited to 2000 copies and a deluxe version exclusive bonus track. Also included in all deluxe box set packages was 3’x5′ flag featuring the album artwork, a stainless steel dogtag of the album logo and a 12″x12″ art print done by Lee Crutchley. Rather than splurge on one of the overpriced deluxe versions you could buy the record on its own for less than $20 from most distros or stores.
About five months after the album’s release I bought the deluxe edition on sale for $25. At that price I figured it was worth it, also because I’m a sucker for alternate artwork and box sets. Upon opening the box set I found out that the flag is cheap and oddly sized. It;s not exactly 3’x5′, it’s something like and 5 feet 1 3/8″, which makes folding the flag back up to fit inside the box a huge and frustrating undertaking. And I know how to properly fold a flag. The dog tag is a lot thicker than I expected and is polished to a finish rather than not being finished. The art print is also very nice, much nicer than I expected. As for the vinyl version, it is in fact the same exact thing you could buy separate from the box set. Same sticker, same insert, some color etc.
Stitches and Grooves 