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I bought a used copy of R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi online. Everything's fine, except on the album cover I noticed the word "Hi-Fi" is missing — it just says New Adventures in (see below).

No picture of the album I found online has the same mistake, and I could find no other references to the missing Hi-Fi. The word wasn't simply erased either, since the text alignment is actually different. The booklet seems genuine too.

Now of course this isn't a grave issue, but it's one that has me curious. Is this a known misprint, and if so, what's its history? May it have been deliberate?

Album cover with a word missing Closeup of the disc itself

vvye
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  • Check the matrix on the disc, this sounds like it could be an imported bootleg. – Rocky Bennett Feb 05 '17 at 17:10
  • It matches the matrix number mentioned here, so it seems genuine. – vvye Feb 05 '17 at 18:40
  • Does the matrix match this? https://img.discogs.com/wclz3G5Wcz9M1sW5hIaF-WSayCU=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2519241-1318788792.jpeg.jpg Is it exactly the same? – Magnilex Feb 06 '17 at 18:50
  • Interestingly enough, it doesn't! The writing on the back matches the one on the page I linked to, but the text on the front suggests it's from Mexico instead. I've added another picture up there. – vvye Feb 06 '17 at 22:58
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    Well, at least one more person thinks it is a misprint: http://www.ebay.com/itm/R-E-M-NEW-ADVENTURES-IN-HI-FI-MISPRINTED-CD-COVER-SUPER-RARE-COLLECTIBLE-ITEM-/152414959469?hash=item237ca3b76d To me, the matrix seems legit, and could be a rare mexican misprint. In this case, it must have been withdrawn by warner, because otherwise it really should exist on Discogs, which it doesn't. The catalog number as seen by the matrix seems legit too, what is the catalog number on the cover? – Magnilex Feb 07 '17 at 21:40
  • @Magnilex It's CX 46320-2, the same as on the matrix. Thanks for the interesting link by the way - I wonder if it really has the potential to sell for that much. – vvye Feb 08 '17 at 19:52
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    @vvye I don't think so. Anyway it's an interesting item. R.E.M. is one of my favourite bands, and I own well over 100 records with them, but I never heard of this one. It would be nice if we could confirm this to be a misprint. – Magnilex Feb 08 '17 at 20:06
  • Maybe you could add it on Discogs, it could be useful for other people. – Bebs Feb 11 '17 at 11:57
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    I used to own this CD. I bought it when I lived in Mexico. It's a curious misprint. – Arturo Ruiz Jun 23 '18 at 13:37

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