some other info about vinyl....
Usually pressed by Compression Moulding which allows the label to be an integral part of the pressing itself. This process also requires that there be extra material which spills out the sides of the press, therefore this extra material is routinely ground up and re-used. Because vinyl does not re-heat and re-cool to a smooth, glossy surface, the excessive use of re-grind mixed in with Virgin Vinyl can account for the inherently noisy surface of even unplayed Mint examples of the cheap pressings that some record companies used. Noise can be seen AND HEARD by looking at and/or playing the un-grooved surface of the lead-in and lead-out areas. If this area looks or sounds grainy, then the grooves will also have some of this grainy background sound. The stampers used for the compression moulding process will start to break down after only 1,000 pressings because they are forced to expand and contract when heated by steam at the start of the pressing cycle and then cooled to solidify the record. Some companies routinely overused their stampers.
The 90's is I think the first time I recall seeing one of the gold presses.