Mark, it is possible, no, more than likely, been re-wrapped. I've not seen this one either, not on an MIJ kit anyway. That is a lovely color. Is there fade under the lugs?

EDIT: It is also possible it could have faded from the Red Marine Pearl.

[COLOR="Purple"]I have seen old MIJ's like that...it could certainly be original....in which case it is surely something faded. Cool looking hue, although I can understand where if you expected "chocolate"...you would have been a bit surprised upon opening the box....[/COLOR]

Thanks for the posts! I removed the strainer right after I took the pictures of the one you see posted. Yes, there is a bit of fading, but the original color still has a nice purple hue to it! Can also tell that this is not a re-wrap. I'm not home at the moment, but will take pictures showing the area under the strainer and a lug.

Hi Jaye! Yes, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't "chocolate" when I removed the drum from the box! I first felt it was a rewrap when I saw it on eBay, as the pictures weren't very clear; one of my pet peves! I seriously doubt this is a rewrap, too. More pictures will be posted later this afternoon.

Lavender??

Nice Drum! It sure looks somewhat similar to the purple diamond pearl that's on the Rogers Holiday that Powertone has posted. Because of the dark spots in this one, it looks like crumpled up foil in purple juice. A lot of depth.....nice.

The picture does make it look like crumpled up foil in purple juice! I've just posted some more pictures taken in daylight so everyone can see that the wrap is a bit darker under the lugs and strainer. The wrap does look original and definitely not Red Pearl. It's also obvious that the previous owner chose to polish the hardware while still attached to the shell, as you can see the dried up polish around the lugs and butt. It comes off easily! There's still lots of gunk around the top and bottom when I took the heads off. As with American drums, I'm beginning to think that this was an uncatalogued wrap. More comments?

Yep, originally red marine pearl....

http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=6&now=11

Hey Jonni! I'm not yet convinced it is Red Marine Pearl. The original color is too close to a purple or dark rose. I've attached a picture of a 60's MIJ snare drum I had that was definitely RMP.