There's a bundle of new bootleg vinyl releases around, rock and metal are mainstays, don't see that many Zeppelin releases but the industry is still there. Ebay and Discogs are awash with them although the latter tends to close the listings and labels down frequently and plenty of dealers at record fairs still. I should add these are traditional boots, not grey market radio shows that are flooding the markets these days.

Its been getting slower and slower getting Yahoo auction stuff delivered, guess there are fewer and fewer flights leaving Japan - it's about 3 weeks to the UK currently once shipped, based on my experiences. Picked up some real bargains mind in that time as Blind Faith had a sale, prices more or less back to normal now.

Yes, I use the Buyee service to buy from the auction site - works fine but they declare full shipping value so for anything over $25, I generally expect to get charged VAT @ 20% plus a handling fee once it arrives in England so often there's no saving on using the regular providers who charge more but help avoid the fees. I actually bought 2 copies of the box set talked about above, separately, and they both came in under the threshold for VAT/fees so happy days - this is when they were $25. Sometimes there are items sold at big discounts which even with the VAT and fees paid are way way cheaper than the usual suppliers. Also Buyee offer registered airmail which is half the cost of EMS for small orders so this is a saving over some other suppliers and Japan Post is excellent.

Re: the 15CD set. It was initially sold at the lower price as a New Year introductory deal in the Blind Faith shop and online at Japan Yahoo auctions. The auction site said at a set date in early January the price would double or sooner if the special deal allocation was sold out. I don't think there was a second pressing but wouldn't be surprised to see one now given the quantity sold.

Bit of a mystery the numbers as they use the same numbering system as us Westerners and most of the world in general......useful in Japanese shops and websites as at least you can identify the price! It's not a sticker covering the number by any chance? I remember the Divinity release shipped like that way back but it told you in English to remove it!