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The Mystery of the Harvey 15c Variants From 1972

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Get Marwood & I

Entry posted by Get Marwood & I ·

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What's that you say? The mystery of the Harvey 15c variants, you say? Never heard of them!

Well, I certainly hadn't until last year when, whilst researching the distribution of Harvey comics in the UK by our old friends L Miller & Co, I happened across a book on eBay proclaiming an unexpected cover price. "Oh", I thought, "I didn't know there were price variants for these?", and I started Googleating. I like to think I'm quite good at Googleating now, after years of scouring online for variants, but I couldn't find anything about them. Not one reference, one comment, one loving blog column - nothing. And not one copy on the GCD either, or in any of the usual comic places (including here). Odd.

More in depth Googling ensued until I finally found one reference in a wonderful book called 'The Harvey Comics Companion' by Mark Arnold, which I duly purchased.

Here's what it had to say, on page 411: "These (Hot Stuff #110, 111 and Little Dot #143) are the only Harvey books known to have these variants":

Companion.jpg.af35fd70b1fcddffbd7362dfcc1a5e99.jpg  401068724_Companionp411.jpg.7afbb039180b354bfffac40a3dc7445a.jpg

"Blimey" I thought, "Only three examples? These are rare", so I started looking for them. Oddly, given the obvious pedigree of Mr Arnold, I soon found quite a few more than the three listed and I thought "Aye, aye, I'm on to something here...."

Fast forward a year or so and not only have I found a whopping 26 examples, but I've also, I think, established why they exist. That doesn't happen often - the what and the why. And happily, given my UK credentials, I think they exist because we - The UK - exist. I'm going to drop Mark Arnold a line shortly, to let him know what more I've found and it will either be a pleasant surprise for him or he's been keeping updates quiet for the next volume of the Harvey Companion (go buy it by the way, it's brilliant). Mark, if you're reading, Hello :hi:

Anyway, Harvey 15c price variants exist for at least 26 books dated between April and October 1972. Amazing really, to be posting this information, in depth, for what appears to be the first time, when the books themselves are 50 years old this very year. Happy Birthday, books.

Here's a nice looking example, with its 20c regular US copy alongside it:

 732594744_WendyTheGoodLittleWitch75(October1972)15cVariant.thumb.jpg.eefb948b1f382dea69b5698ebfb69c60.jpg 960998151_WendyTheGoodLittleWitch75(October1972)20cCopyB.thumb.jpg.9db6c1d1e927e8e0c884d0199ae4e9bd.jpg

Cracking cover, isn't it. And notice how Harvey always chopped the code off?  :)

Read on, if you're interested, for the full fifteen cent variation low down!

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seanfingh

This thread was so cool to view. The detail on the research and the high grade copies both impressed.

I just want you all to know if these were Marvels, they would all be worth 4-5 figures. :flipbait:

 

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Get Marwood & I
On 5/2/2023 at 9:35 PM, seanfingh said:

This thread was so cool to view. The detail on the research and the high grade copies both impressed.

Cheers Sean :)

I did manage to obtain a 15c copy of Audrey #102 in the end in fairly reasonable shape. These books are very hard to come by though, I'm discovering, even over here in the UK where my research indicates they were distributed. You have to take them in whatever grade they come.

PlayfulLittleAudrey102(July1972)15cVariant.thumb.jpg.0d73c5f8edea4761672d0d7a073dbbce.jpg PlayfulLittleAudrey102(July1972)25c.thumb.jpg.70f25a60979d75ca30d724e022e01a5f.jpg

I quite like that cover :grin:

On 5/2/2023 at 9:35 PM, seanfingh said:

I just want you all to know if these were Marvels, they would all be worth 4-5 figures. :flipbait:

 

Indeed. I don't think I'll be making any significant contribution to the retirement fund with these! :bigsmile:

They're fun to chase down though and for me, fun is what it's all about. I mean, when you find a one and six L Miller stamp on a Harvey - the only one I've ever seen in 5 years - the world nearly ends:

1969.02Bunny7LM1-6dStamp(OnlyOneKnown)(2).jpg.7212003b6c30a92a24cea55054513ecf.jpg

Well, it does for me anyway. ROAR! 

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Get Marwood & I

A new one, hooray! :)

As expected, a Spooky #130 has finally graced our presence as a fifteen cee vee. Whoopee!

Here he be, that fifteen cee vee, with his 25c cousin, see? 

Spooky130(May1972)15cVariant.thumb.jpg.6faaffe14587f235260727e0d465bd47.jpg Spooky130(May1972)25c.thumb.jpg.6a6945a36bc6d776e3c63faf0cb0f3a9.jpg

They live with me.

That's a reely good cover, isn't it

                                                                                          policesquad.gif.8c3e402fee08fd8f5fa54ee7894d96e9.gif

 

It completes the Spooky set of three and takes us up to 34 confirmed 15cvs:

2.1.thumb.PNG.cbe915865f882a71792d5fd4b7da971c.PNG

The 15cv and 25c both have a regular indicia by the way so May continues to have a split of regular and variant indicias. More on that another time.

Into the Spooky box he goes....

20230718_141715(2).thumb.jpg.1d52435a4c6f32701145fd95ba3c11a8.jpg 20230902_105042.thumb.jpg.0f55be55a9a4f62748e8caececf500fe.jpg

When the Spooky box will return, nobody knows....

Capture.PNG.448e4841e597be7cad9eb28faf655540.PNG

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AJD

Years from now boardies will remember where they were when Steve announced that he had found a Spooky #130 15c PV. :banana:

Mind you, that's not so hard - "I was in my mom's basement" is the answer to most of those.

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Get Marwood & I
On 9/3/2023 at 9:44 AM, AJD said:

Years from now boardies will remember where they were when Steve announced that he had found a Spooky #130 15c PV. :banana:

Mind you, that's not so hard - "I was in my mom's basement" is the answer to most of those.

True, true....

It really is time you got you're own place Andy :D

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Get Marwood & I
On 9/3/2023 at 6:48 PM, shadroch said:

Did the fifteen-cent variants have the same British price stamps on them? 

A good number of the 15cvs that I have seen have 6p UK price stamps of various descriptions but mostly concentrated around one style. There are some 6p stickered examples too. 

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shadroch
On 9/4/2023 at 12:35 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

A good number of the 15cvs that I have seen have 6p UK price stamps of various descriptions but mostly concentrated around one style. There are some 6p stickered examples too. 

So they ignored the cover price and put their 6P stickers on both? Thats strange.

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Get Marwood & I
On 9/5/2023 at 12:03 AM, shadroch said:

So they ignored the cover price and put their 6P stickers on both? Thats strange.

Not really Shad. Back in the day it was a fairly normal practice to pop a pence price on a cents priced UK distributed book.

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Get Marwood & I

Another Dot just dashed in from a UK seller :)

LittleDot143(May1972)15cVariantCopyB.thumb.jpg.002457ea8b05ca0fde904304a5deaa39.jpg

It has a '6' written in pencil. 6 for 6p, the prevailing UK price of the time. Which is why it's 15c, and not 25c. So it could be priced 6p.

That's my theory, anyway, and it's still holding....

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AJD
On 11/1/2023 at 1:05 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Another Dot just dashed in from a UK seller :)

LittleDot143(May1972)15cVariantCopyB.thumb.jpg.002457ea8b05ca0fde904304a5deaa39.jpg

It has a '6' written in pencil. 6 for 6p, the prevailing UK price of the time. Which is why it's 15c, and not 25c. So it could be priced 6p.

That's my theory, anyway, and it's still holding....

Hmm, if I was back managing intelligence analysts I'd say that we can be sure it's a '6', but have no further information regarding the significance. If it was a price, why not '6p'? I'd file this under 'inconclusive'.

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Get Marwood & I
On 11/5/2023 at 12:35 PM, AJD said:

Hmm, if I was back managing intelligence analysts I'd say that we can be sure it's a '6', but have no further information regarding the significance. If it was a price, why not '6p'? I'd file this under 'inconclusive'.

 YodaWideSad.gif.ebd2b58be1efac74176fef6a292695fe.gif

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Get Marwood & I

Three recent Harvey additions :)

A Blondie, stamped and distributed by L Miller in the UK....

1960.07Blondie139LM6dStamp.thumb.jpg.d9bdbc4ce5983e3eaa98ae445ae954fc.jpg

....a 6p stamped Hot Stuff, to show that 6p was the UK prevailing price for 15c US imports...

1971.03HotStuff1036p.thumb.jpg.c968340628dbaa873ece1f9a7558ce50.jpg

...and a 15 Cent Variant Richie, with a pencilled 6, purchased in the UK:

RichieRich113(April1972)15cVariantCopyB.thumb.jpg.e392e1228569f5b6c1e03fe16dfc2992.jpg

 

I rest my case on the floor :)

 

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Get Marwood & I
On 7/19/2022 at 1:43 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

I have Miller stamped examples for ten out of the twelve titles mentioned in the advert below now (the back cover of the Miller UK title War #5, dated 1961)

Only Dick and Dag missing!

67685400_HarveyLMillerDistribution.thumb.PNG.de767d1e75dc490ac41d58d903252ec2.PNG

Still no new Harvey 15c variants though....

:)

HarveyLMillerDistribution3.PNG.7d9df45237d44dc0d87ae2c749915379.PNG

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