Paul McCartney and his record label, Capitol Records, are teasing the soon-to-be announced McCartney III collection by sending a surprise gift to fans. According to numerous reports, people that pre-ordered McCartney's recent Flaming Pie deluxe box set were mailed a special pouch featuring only the word “McCartney” with three dice — all with the number three all around.

According to sources, McCartney's long rumored McCartney III collection will be announced this week and is set for release on December 11th.

McCartney biographer Christopher Sanford maintains that it was McCartney above all the other Beatles that was open to push the creative boundaries within the group — something McCartney more than proved with the release of 1980's synth-based McCartney II album “Paul was way more 'out there' than John Lennon was. In '66, '67 when they were doing Revolver — and of course, Sgt. Pepper — it was Paul who was coming into the studio with tape loops and saying 'Let's put on these sounds like seagulls shrieking.' And John looked at him (laughs) and said, 'Well, what's that?' George Harrison was the straightest guy in the world when it came to pop music. He had no time for anything left-field — other than the occasional experimentation with his sitar. He liked good old-fashioned pop songs. So, Paul was the guy who was saying, 'Y'know, we can take this to a new direction.'”

AUDIO: CHRISTOPHER SANFORD ON PAUL MCCARTNEY BEING THE AVANT GARDE BEATLE