Metallica – Ride The Lightning

This is a second french pressage, the first pressing is a version with "printed in france" on back cover

I bought a copy of this from discogs a while back and now I'm a bit worried it's a pirate copy..

Does anyone know the signs to tell if the copy you have is real or not? I'm sure there were a lot of people trying to make some cash from this "rare" green album cover.

Just got a copy for a good price, a little beat up but it’s a legit copy that’s all i care about. The cover art is beautiful when it sits in front of you

For the people who bought this on the day of release, which version came first:
“Printed in France” on back cover, or the version without this marking?

I have both versions, and the “printed in France” is a much warmer colored green compared to the other. Also, the inner sleeves are cut differently (which the pictures under this release already show). Otherwise, the vinyl is identical with the same matrix etchings.

On the french Wikipedia page for this album, it's said that "3000 copies were printed with green"... But it's only wiki
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_the_Lightning

OK, just one thing: I can't believe there were only 400 copies, because when it went out, in 1984, there were copies in each store. And there were A LOT of record stores in those days, believe me!
I bought one of them in Paris for something like 50FF - 7.60€ [!!!] and there were 10 more ex. on the shelf...
So I guess the real number must be around 4.000, not only 400.

Didn’t mean to be such a “jerk” about it. Was in a bad mood that day. I’ve gone over this though and everything matches including The inner sleeve. Both sides are correct with the correct etching on the black inner ring. Made in France. Everything going down that full explanation fits. All I was saying is that it is true that that made 400 though I could easily see this as over the years being actually 420 and not 400. 400 is a round number and it may have just become easier for people to remember or be in their head as “400”. I’ve also seen a ton of these from the late reviews pressings to pay homage to this pressing or perhaps to swindle. I don’t know, but thee are a lot. I’ve never seen another one like the one I got my hands on that matches everything to a tee including the inner sleeve with Same numbers and the cassette number. That’s why there are so many. I’d love to see another one some day on here to compare. I just can’t find one anywhere at all. Youd think of thye we’re making money off making fakes there would be pics galore everywhere of this album with all the checkmarks checked. I’ve seen a lot of pics but they are all of the later printings. I’m no expert so I will leave room to be wrong, but I believe my logic is correct here.

I have one if these 400 and yes, there were only 400. There is a re print and that’s why there seem to be so many more. If anyone can explain how to upload pics I will so people will know what to look for. The made in France, The album and cassette number, the lightning bolts in the right place yadda yadda...: don’t get cranky because you don’t have one.. (those saying there cannot be only 400) again, reprints after the fact to make more money off the “green” mysterious cover. This is the real deal. Red label, Bernett 18026 I believe (not looking at the moment) both sides. Inner sleeve has all words and thanks to the European crew etc etc... the 18026 is even inlaid in the record itself on both sides but have to look very closely.

Did anybody noticed that the stereo channels are reversed compared to other supports or releases ?
Listen to Creeping Death, the first isolated riff from James (0:19) plays on the right, instead of left in other releases.

Pretty boring to read bullshit about that record and cassette.
Stop to believe that only 400 copies exist and yes the green cover cassette is official.