In 1991, the Soviet bootleg label Antrop released its own version of Magical Mystery Tour. This edition combined the album with Yellow Submarine, though the two records were later separated and sold individually.
Cover art comparison
The cover, originally created by Peter Max with a photo from the MMT film, was completely redrawn. Nikolay Kibalchich did an excellent job with recreating original font in Cyrillic and overall style.
Back sleeve
Magical Mystery Tour was merged with Yellow Submarine (like Revolver with Sgt. Pepper’s before), so their tracklists are both inside a gatefold.
Like other Antrop releases, the audio was copied from the 1987 CD. Track names were translated into Russian—sometimes loosely. For example, “Baby You’re a Rich Man” became “Baby, You’re Such an Interesting Person” (was corrected to «Baby, You’re Such a Busy Person» on the back on 1994 single LP).
By the way, Soviet people misheard Strawberry Fields Forever and sometimes called it Bulldozer (from the line in the song “nothing is real,” which sounds similar to the russian expression “na fig izryl” [Why did you dig that up?]). Read full article USSR misheard Beatles lyrics: documented cases.
A Russian comic book booklet comparison
This bootleg stood out for including a fully localized Russian-language comic. The booklet was smaller than the original—about 7 inches—and the illustrations, while close to the originals, had subtle differences.
When asked why they recreated the comic entirely, designer Nikolai Kibalchich explained:“There was no rush back then. For us, it was a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun.”
Interestingly, the name “Wendy Winters” in the illustrations was mistranscribed as “Wendy Wuaners,” though the text used the correct name almost everywhere. On page 4, panels 25–30 were printed out of order, and there are a few minor typos scattered throughout.
Variations
Due to demand AnTrop issued Magical Mystery Tour separately as a single LP, but in a much more limited run . Instead of designing a new cover from scratch, the original double set’s gatefold sleeve was simply cut in half. The relevant portion—with Magical Mystery Tour—was used as the standalone sleeve, and a “STEREO” label plus the correct catalog number were added to the upper-right corner on the back. The vinyl itself was produced at the former Melodiya plant in Riga (Latvia), which after 1990 operated under the name RITONIS—short for Riga Tonis (“Riga Sound”)
Collectors have also flagged handmade single sleeves: these were typically simply cut in half from the gatefolds, pasted together with visible tape, and made from thick paper—not cardboard.
Differences in color and tint can help identify the real thing: the authentic covers feature rich, deep tones and a bright lemon-yellow background. In contrast, counterfeits tend to have faded, flat colors and a dirty yellow backdrop. Even the label design provides clues—many fakes retain the double album’s labels
© 2024 Artur Netsvetaev, interviews with Nikolai Kibalchich, Yuri Trifonov.
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