Here is an Image of the 1st Printing Trips Festival Poster for Richmond, Canada 1967. Although not an official "Trips Festival" poster, for 1966, this poster I do believe is one of the most beautiful psychedelic poster ever created. Unfortunately, there are only 2-3 known real ones. Printed on thick Stock, this poster will not bend easily. I obtained this from Bob Masse's best friend, Rob Frith, in Canada, about 6 years ago. Rob obtained it directly from Bob Masse. This was Masse's personal copy from his personal collection. These were made PRIOR to the show, for PROMOTION purposes. I have only seen one of these besides this one, and it was in "shattered" condition. Like a wet rag practically. I believe it was restored after I acquired it and resold it for $2500. Besides that one, this one featured here is the only other 1st Print I know of in existence, although I have heard of one other, from Rob Frith, when I first obtained this. Rob told me he had only seen one other one in his 25 years collecting in Vancouver.

   The 1967 Trips Festival poster from Richmond, Canada. I believe this to be the most beautiful psychedelic image for a poster that has ever been designed.
   There are only 3 known examples of this poster, that are genuine 1st Prints, for promotion, prior to the show.
   There are over a dozen examples of the thin paper 2nd printing that was sold AT the show as a "Souvenier" poster. These are much more fragile and the image is actually slightly clearer, or cleaner.
   How do I know the difference between a 1st and a 2nd print?
   Well, I have told this story to a dozen people so far, but some people actually refuse to listen, but i'll tell the story again, here, so everyone can verify for themselves.
   When I first contacted Rob Frith in Canada, I bought an entire Trips Festival collection from him. In this collection there was a Trips Canada 1966 PNE Garden Poster, a handbill, a Trips Festival 1967 Richmond and  another different Trips Festival Masse poster, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Print Handbills for Richmond. 
   At the time, I owned a Trips Festival Masse 1967 Richmond Poster which I THOUGHT was a 1st print. It was the thin paper fragile one. When I recieved the Richmond poster from Rob, I thought he screwed me somehow and maybe sent me a 2nd because it was different in a few real important ways.
   I was upset and contacted Rob right away. I told him I already had a real first print, so I was going to sell this one he just sent me.
   I got an e-mail back with something that went like this, "Josh, whatever you do DO NOT sell that poster. If you want, you can return it and i'll refund your money. That poster is a real 1st print, and there are only a couple of them known." He told me how he obtained it directly from Masse and it was Masse's personal copy, his only one.
   I asked him "how do you know this?"
   I was told, Rob has known Masse for 30+ years, up in Canada. Rob explained to me that he bought it from Bob about 15 years ago, and that was 5 years ago, so about 20 years ago, Rob bought it from Bob Masse. Rob claimed Bob knew at the time, but has a weaker memory now, and doesn't remember so well. But Rob DOES remember, and Masse told him a long time ago, about how these were done prior to the show for Promotion and how the thin paper 2nd print were sold at the show. That makes sense because there are way more of the thin paper 2nds than the thick heavy stock paper 1st prints.
   Anyone who wants to verify this, only has to contact Rob Frith of Neptune Records in Vancouver. Rob will tell you the whole story.
   Unfortunately, there are some very serious collectors who have these 2nd prints in their collection, and refuse to believe they are 2nd prints. Either they refuse to believe it or they ignore it because it would not be in their interest to disclose it.
   The 1st print is slightly more PINK, on the border and the 2nd Prints are slightly more ORANGE on the border. Sometimes it can be impossible to tell looking at the image on a photo. There is more grainyness in the image in the 1st Print, the 2nd Print is glossy coated and clearer in it's print quality. In some ways, the 2nd is slightly more attractive, because of the glossy coat and the clearer image in the middle. I believe the reason it turned out this way, was after the 1st print's were done, they felt they could be improved in quality just a little. I am only guessing though.
   If you ever decided to buy one of these and someone claims it is a 1st print, you may want to contact Rob Frith first, so you know the whole story. I have found that there are NO collectors out there who know this other than Rob Frith. He would be the expert on this piece.

I took this picture to illustrate the studiness of a True 1st Print. It does not bend completely. A 2nd print on thin paper would completely droop over the sides. The 1st print is on thicker paper.

This Poster is listed on a very well known website and represented as a 1st Print, since everything displayed on the site is supposed to be considered 1st prints. I even told the owner of the site, about the information I have, but it was ignored, so I'm presenting this for comparison, for the more serious collectors out there. These are far more common than true 1st Printings.

Here is a pic of the common type of damage that will occur with a thin 2nd printing. This poster used for the example is a little more faded that the one displayed above, however, it is also the same 2nd Printing.

Top (2) are 1st Print Handbills Bottom Left 2nd print Handbill Bottom Right 3rd Print Handbill