Monkees Colgems Singles Picture Sleeve Variations East Coast West Coast

USA
Colgems Singles
Picture Sleeve Variations

RCA Pressing Plants:

Rockaway, NJ
Indianapolis, IN
Hollywood, CA

Thumb Tabs

These have a notch cut on either side
of the top of the picture sleeve.

These can be found on either A or B side,
but not both on the exact same sleeve.

For example, this has s a notch cut out
on the "Daydream Believer" A-side.

And this one has a notch cut out on the
"Goin' Down" B-side.

The sleeves with the thumb tabs were manufactured by Bert-Co of Los Angeles
and mostly distributed with the records produced at the Hollywood pressing plant.

I can confirm that the sleeves with the less common thumb tab used
on the first 8 singles shipped with the records pressed at the Hollywood pressing plant.

There were a few records, such as "I'm A Believer" that were only sold with this
thumb tab picture sleeve. It is speculated that perhaps Queen Litho was unable
to meet the scheduling demands so only Bert-Co was used.

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Straight-Cut

These have no notch cuts
and are cut straight across the top.

The sleeves with the straight-cut top were manufactured by
Queens Litho of Edison, NJ and Indianapolis, IN and and were distributed
with the records produced at the Rockaway and Indianapolis pressing plants.

Starting with "D. W. Washburn" only one type of sleeve was produced
and it's possible RCA just decided to use only one manufacturer
and then distribute those sleeves nationally.

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Each record and
known Picture Sleeve types:

Last Train To Clarksville

Type 1 (B&W glossy)

Straight-cut