Get Marwood & I

That's a good word. I like that. Canonical or nay, my old Spidey completist self had to have it

@FlyingDonut's after one of these Mark

Imagine there's no variants, diddle-diddle-dum...

Cor, I'd forgotten about them! I had the Lord of The Rings one. Loved it. Thanks for the reminder Triple-B

Drat, members only. Plus I'm not on FB. What's the word there then Stephen? Spill the beans.

Which one is that Stephen - can you post / send me a link?

The GCD is an invaluable, free resource that I use often, and I applaud those that maintain and add to it. But my experience was the same as yours and they also wanted me to crop all my images. I think that is wrong, as it often can look like the copy presented is not a picture of an actual comic rendering it unreliable for research purposes (e.g. JIM #76). You need to see the whole comic. So the combination of insisting on cropped images, the incorrect naming convention (which spreads misinformation) and the fact that I found the actual uploading / submission process so cumbersome anyway, lead me to not contribute further. That's a shame, as I have hundreds of images that they don't, but I don't want to support the cementing of misinformation however well intentioned the owners are. It does spur me on to develop my own website though, for all my research strands, and that reality gets more likely as the days go by now that I am officially unemployed.

Thanks Geoff. Near zero reaction to it though, alas, there and here. Yes, I think that's likely from what I've read. And they were only kids comics don't forget. They have the connections, CGC, so you'd hope so. Matt did say he'd keep an eye out so you never know. Probably too busy grading books though I should imagine. The pence font was indeed in the same format for all of the known US price font issues. The only exception within the date window, albeit a non-price font issue, is the Kid who bucked the trend with this alternate 9d version below (#96): Note the presence of the 9d pence version in this case means the cents copy has a 'non-standard' cents font. Based on previous issues, it should have a bold cents font reversed in white into the cover background as that was the norm (like the #94 has above there). So, again, it could indicate that the pence copy was run first otherwise you'd expect a white bold cents in the background cover and then a run of pence copies with that scratched out and replaced with a 9d circle or similar. Maybe! It's a question I've posed several times, yes, and there is no answer that I'm aware of. Until pence copies were introduced, the cents font was always the same. So it's reasonable to assume that the introduction of the pence priced copies are the reason for the presence of different cents font types which, until then, had never been seen.

It would be cool if you could recreate an entire page - or issue even. There's a challenge for you Reggie

Not at all, sorry if I gave that impression. Read my posts and you'll hopefully see that I always try to support new takes on things and support new members going over old ground. I think I was just fed up this morning when I wrote that, having just read it back. Carry on Geoff!

Hi Geoff, I've spent a lot of time as someone with no direct printing experience debating various printing scenarios and what they could mean on the books I have been researching. Those debates are scattered among the threads I started, like this one, but also in many other members threads. I've lost track of all the scenarios I've illustrated, or tried to illustrate. Many of the best ones, annoyingly, are in threads long since buried. I could again list out a whole series of scenarios now that indicate possible different printing approaches in response to your post. My non-expert assessment however is that the printing approach probably differed day to day, month to month, year to year. The one consistent thing about the printing of books from the 1960's I have found, at least in respect of the finished printed product, is that there is no consistency in evidence. There may have been separate plates for cents and pence. There may have been one plate, etched out, or added to, once it had served its first currency run purpose. I have posted examples where full prices are overprinted by a new one and also where you can see the original price in the background (e.g. Kings Comics / Canadian Charltons). I have posted examples where you can see remnants of original cents prices behind pence prices, e.g. Amazing Spider-Man #5, and I have posted examples where elements of one currency's book appear illogically on the others. There are many scenarios. Often, my layman's analysis has indicated a possible printing order but, again, they can often be taken both ways operationally. So my current position is this: UK Price Variants exist Their existence is almost certainly responsible for, or linked to, some of the cover / pricing / font variations and issues that we see on some early cents books It is unlikely that we will ever know which currency was printed first, whether that was a consistent schedule or whether it varied. My guess would be the latter but either way there is no appetite in the collecting community that I can detect to consider either book differently were an order of printing proven - they all remain part of one sequential print run / request and those that like their particular books do so regardless Everyone involved in the production in the early 1960's is either dead, senile or can't remember so the only people who can add any value are those with direct printing knowledge of the four colour process but even they appear to be hampered by 'not being there' My original research purpose was to identify which comics received the pence treatment and in doing so I've strayed into other areas of analysis. I enjoy speculation, always have, but I think I'm all speculated out on this topic now and have nothing more to add myself until someone hits the jackpot with a definitive explanation. We just need that 85 year old chap from Sparta with the great memory to drop in and....

Hulk like old Tales to Astonish thread. Old Tales to Astonish thread was cool. Featured Hulk. But if someone should start up a new Tales to Astonish thread, and not pay due respect to Hulk, then Hulk will SMASH!

Meanwhile, back at UK Price Variant HQ, some pence related blatherings here:

Now that you mention it, I DO see it, more so on the 77 than the 80. I have a nicer certified 80 and it looks quite a bit bolder that the 77, as does my raw copy of 80. How did the pence copies figure into the picture? If you look at copies of JIM around that time, most have defined boxes in which either the month sits with the issue number above or both number and month sit in the one outlined box, like so: The handful of issues where there is no outlined box, but a rectangleish blob of white (I know all the technical terms you know), sitting in the cover background colour, they all seem to have visually poorly defined months. On #77, the 'FEB' looks like it is supposed to be white text printed within the background blue (like the issue number is), but the white rectangle of the pence copy looks like it has been overprinted and has therefore made the cents copy look fuzzy: Same again on #80, the cents copie's 'MAY' looks like it has the pence copies white rectangle overprinted and, as such, looks indistinct as a result: (Incidentally, the white rectangle was placed on the pence copy to obscure the month as pence copies had them removed in those days to avoid shipping delay confusion - see my pence thread for more on that) My theory is that the months on these two should have been printed as white text on the background colour but, somehow, the pence plate's white rectangle found its way onto the cents copies, possibly indicating that the pence copies were run first (fight!). Just speculation on my part, drawn from all my US Price Font Variations analysis, but fun nonetheless.

I said before, I think they'd make a great book Reggie. Following in the tracks of Ross, revisiting the locations, taking new shots, feeding in your thoughts as you do. I can visualise it, and it would be a thing of beauty. A bit Bridges of Maddison County. Use an old camera if you do, won't you. Get the mood right and it would be a lovely homage to leave behind. Go for it Reggie - it has to be now - your audience will probably all be dead in 20 years.

December 1983 January 1984 November 1983 November 1983

and the other form shows even more different comics, albeit no actual issue numbers shown-- but I bet someone could figure out what images they match up to. that somebody will not be me The Hulk is #289 but I'm pretty sure the ASM is a mock up - there's no cover I'm aware of that looks like that.

I'll try and post something tomorrow Frisco as I'm on my tablet and I need my desktop file pictures....

Have you noticed how 77 and 80 have faint cover months in small white boxes? That'll be the pence copies fault.

I reckon that Amalia Hall's got something to do with it

It's a Mystery alright

I do like the rather clumsy price change attempt there The 12c almost looks like it's behind the logo.