I just remembered somthing I meant to post here....
I came across a copy of this last week at the boot fair, and sure enough, it was not embossed!
Smooth as a baker's bun.
In fact, the print didn't seem as good either (I'm confident it was alegit copy too), but the black colour of the hand was a very dark greyish colour as opposed to a true black, and the other colours didn't seem as vibrant.
As to how many of the first run were embossed, or if the whole of the run was, and any re-issues or re-presses were the unembossed ones, who knows?
I'd always known it was there, it's just that this is one of those titles that never really captures the record collector's attention enough to examine or discuss... very popular album, and, I suppose, considered ordinary.
It's because of this that I wondered, as I've never looked at others when I've seen them out and about, and just assumed that all copies are embossed.
Just seemed an expensive thing for the record company to keep up, especially given how many they had to make.... so it just occurred to me when I was looking at it yesterday that maybe they didn't!
If anyone has a copy, without embossed cover (The front being completely smooth, without textured black print on the hand, and the raised orange lines under: "Side 1", and "Side 2" on the back) I'd be interested to know.
Maybe it's about time this title had a little more attention?