1975
Born To Run / E.C. Was Here (by Eric Clapton) (album selections) (AFRTS P-15541 RL 13-6)
Extremely rare disc manufactured and distributed by the US military's "Armed Forces Radio And Television Service" for library rental at overseas Army bases. Side One features five songs off Springsteen’s "Born To Run" LP ("Thunder Road", "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", "Night", "Born To Run" and "Meeting Across The River"), while Side Two contains tracks from Eric Clapton’s 1975 live album "E. C. Was Here". Disc carries brown "AFRTS" labels and came in a plain protective sleeve.

1978
Last American Hero From Asbury Park, N.J. (CBS/SONY YAPC 95)
Japan-only promotional release; issued to promote Bruce's fourth LP "Darkness On The Edge Of Town", though strangely including tracks from his first three albums only. Black-and-white picture sleeve (no obi) contains an insert with Japanese song lyric translations; disc carries special white "Sample" labels. Limited to probably less than 100 copies, this is one of the rarest Springsteen items ever. Featured tracks: It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City / Blinded By The Light / Spirit In The Night / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) / New York City Serenade / Thunder Road / Born To Run / She's The One / Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out / Jungleland.

U.K. (by U.K.) / Darkness On The Edge Of Town (album selections) (AFRTS P-17647/P-17648 RL 25-8)
Extremely rare disc manufactured and distributed by the US military's "Armed Forces Radio And Television Service" for library rental at overseas Army bases. Side Two features five songs off Springsteen’s "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" LP ("Badlands", "The Promised Land", "Factory", "Prove It All Night" and "Darkness On The Edge Of Town"), while Side One contains tracks from the 1978 album "U.K." by a prog rock "supergroup" of the same name. Disc carries white/blue/red "AFRTS" labels and came in a plain protective sleeve.

1980
Bruce Springsteen - 3-LP Box Set
Special repackaging of the first three albums in a nice picture box; released in Australia (CBS S3BP220504), New Zealand (CBS S3BP220504) and the UK (CBS 66353). It is of particular note that CBS Australia even issued a super-rare promotional version of this set that was limited to just 50 copies (with 40 shipped to selected radio stations and the remaining 10 sent to media personalities), containing what are the only white label pressings of the included LP's that ever were manufactured in that country, and featuring a "Sample Record Not For Sale" stamp on the back of the box (however, such promo-stamped boxes also circulate with standard stock albums inside them). The more common UK edition, meanwhile, originally came with a horizontal wrapper misspelling "The Wild, The Innocent And The East Street Shuffle".

Bruce Springsteen Sampler (COL CDN-57)
Canada-only red label promotional release compiling 10 tracks from Bruce's first five albums. Issued in a white die-cut cardboard sleeve. Featured tracks: Born To Run / The River / Prove It All Night / Blinded By The Light / Cadillac Ranch / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) / Hungry Heart / Spirit In The Night / Candy's Room / Thunder Road.

1981
Bruce Springsteen As Requested Around The World (COL AS 978)
US-only promotional release; issued to celebrate the conclusion of Bruce's triumphant "River" world tour. Unique picture sleeve featuring an alphabetical index listing all cities covered throughout the tour on rear. Red labels on disc. Misprinted copies exist with wrong labels for the 1981 Blue Öyster Cult LP "Fire Of Unknown Origin" on Side Two (although discs are pressed correctly). Not to be confused with the bootleg LP of the same title; also to be avoided is a shoddy counterfeit CD containing exactly the same studio tracks mastered straight from the vinyl. Featured tracks: Sherry Darling / The River / Cadillac Ranch / Hungry Heart / Out In The Street / Born To Run / Badlands / Prove It All Night / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).

1982
Bruce Springsteen Retrospective - 4-LP Box Set (BOKKLUBBEN NYE BØKER; no individual catalogue number)
Limited edition of probably no more than a few hundred copies; issued exclusively for Norwegian book club "Bokklubben Nye Bøker", and originally available to its members only by mail order. Blue-tinted box features the "Born To Run" front sleeve shot alongside small cover photo insets of the LP's included, which are Dutch pressings of Bruce's first four albums with standard packaging and catalogue numbers. The club was offering the set in both January and April of 1982; these days, however, it's extremely difficult to locate.

1984
Bruce Springsteen Complete - 6-LP Box Set (SCANDINAVIAN MUSIC 003 217)
Mail order-only release; issued exclusively for the "Scandinavian Music Club (SMC)" in Sweden. Box sports a unique "River"-era live shot on the lid and contains standard Dutch pressings of the first six albums. This set was available on the cassette format as well, with the box of course being considerably smaller. In 1986, the "SMC" also offered an updated, yet identically packaged 7-LP version (same catalogue number) which additionally included "Born In The U.S.A."; either variant is very rare.

Born In The U.S.A. / Voice Of America (by Little Steven) (album selections) (AFRTS P-?????)
Extremely rare disc manufactured and distributed by the US military's "Armed Forces Radio And Television Service" for library rental at overseas Army bases. Side One features four songs off Springsteen’s "Born In The U.S.A." LP ("Born In The U.S.A.", "Cover Me", "Darlington County" and "No Surrender"), while Side Two contains four tracks from Little Steven’s second solo album, "Voice Of America". Disc carries white/blue/red "AFRTS" labels and came in a plain protective sleeve.

1986
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live / 1975-85
Promotional 8-track single LP sampler for the “Live / 1975-85” box set; issued in Canada (COL 12CDN 324), Holland (CBS SAMP 1104), Spain (CBS SAMP LP 1104; with yellow labels), and the US (COL CAS 2543), where some examples contained a photocopied Columbia promo letter aimed at selected media personalities. All four versions came in overall identical picture sleeves which depict the empty stage/footlights as seen on the back of the regular box. The Dutch issue is of particular interest because it was a numbered edition bearing a large gold sticker on the front sleeve, and also included the full lyric booklet. Featured tracks: Fire / Raise Your Hand / Hungry Heart / Cadillac Ranch / Born In The U.S.A. / The River / War / Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (all live).

The "Live" / The Legend Comes Alive (CBS/SONY XDAP 93156)
Japan-only promotional release compiling 10 tracks from the "Live / 1975-85" box set. Superb colour picture sleeve (no obi) sports a neatly tinted reproduction of Aaron Rapoport's "stylish" 1984 Bruce portrait (erroneously credited to domestic photographer Hideo Canno); rear features a misprint of "Spring Steen". Red labels marked "For Promotion Only". It is of note that initial copies (which contained a folded black-and-white promo insert) had an incorrect song sequence for Side Two on both the back cover and label, listing "Thunder Road" as track 1 and "Born To Run" as track 3 instead of vice versa; an error that was later rectified with an overlay sleeve sticker and a newly printed label. Although a stellar collectable, this appears to be the most common of all Japanese Springsteen vinyl promos. Also issued as a super-rare cassette. Featured tracks: Born In The U.S.A. / Seeds / Cover Me / Bobby Jean / No Surrender / Born To Run / War / Thunder Road / Hungry Heart / Because The Night (all live).

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live (CBS 70.015)
Unusual single LP sampler compiling 10 tracks from "Live / 1975-85"; unique to Argentina and very rare. Colour picture sleeve with red title lettering (as used for the regular CD box sets) on front; both the back cover and labels feature Spanish song title translations. Also issued as a cassette, which is even harder to locate. Featured tracks: Thunder Road / Cover Me / I’m On Fire / Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out / Hungry Heart / Born To Run / Born In The U.S.A. / War / Darlington County / Because The Night (all live).

Ao Vivo (CBS/SUPER LUXO 177127/1-464061)
Brazil-only release compiling 10 tracks from the "Live / 1975-85" set; also released as a less common cassette and, five years later, on CD as well. Full-colour picture sleeve. Disc carries orange/yellow labels misspelling "Couver Me"; spoken intro omitted from "The River". Promotional copies (featuring a circular gold stamp on the rear sleeve) do also exist with same packaging and catalogue number. Featured tracks: Thunder Road / War / Born In The U.S.A. / The River / Born To Run / Hungry Heart / Darkness On The Edge Of Town / Cover Me / I'm On Fire / Jersey Girl (all live).

En Vivo (CBS CS-10624)
Same tracks and overall packaging as "Ao Vivo", but this Venezuelan pressing is much rarer and was not reissued on CD. Disc has red labels with Spanish song title translations.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live / 1975-85 (AFRTS P-23957 RL 50-6)
Extremely rare single LP sampler manufactured and distributed by the US military's "Armed Forces Radio And Television Service" for library rental at overseas Army bases. Disc carries white/red/blue "AFRTS" labels and came in a plain protective sleeve. Featured tracks: Fire / Raise Your Hand / Hungry Heart / Cadillac Ranch / Born In The U.S.A. / The River (all live).

1988
The Bruce Springsteen Collection - 6-LP Box Set (CBS 465920 1)
Extremely rare Australia-only release; also issued on the CD and cassette formats (465920 2 and 465920 4, respectively) which are equally difficult to find. Box features a transparent hard plastic lid with paper inlay depicting a unique colour illustration of the American flag and title graphics, and includes Australian pressings of the first four albums (with "Born To Run" coming in a single, non-gatefold sleeve) plus "Born In The U.S.A." and "Tunnel Of Love"; accompanied by a 4-page insert.

1990
Collected Works Of Bruce Springsteen - 7-LP Box Set (CBS LSP 980636 1)
Very scarce UK-only release comprising the first seven albums in a massive blue textured box with embossed gold lettering. The set was also issued on the CD and cassette formats (LSP 980636 2 and CSP 980636 4, respectively).

1991
Two Originals - 2-LP Set incl. Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (CBS 468310 1)
Holland-only budget reissue of Springsteen's first two albums (featuring red labels and individual catalogue numbers) in paper picture sleeves with original artworks, housed inside a special blue cardboard outer cover that included an insert promoting the CBS "Nice Price" catalogue. Also issued as a 2-CD set (468310 2) with Austrian-pressed discs.