Get Marwood & I

They do, it's based in the Red Light District area of Soho. I took some books there once and came back with an aching ring. Sorry, the books came back with Newton Rings. I always get them mixed up. Sorry.

We were all new to flippin comics once... Flippin comics. Get on your flippin nerves.

Cheers redsox! I'll add them to the files / list. That Punisher cover's a cracker isn't it

The thrill is still there for me. I absolutely love finding new books on my wants list. I'm probably the only fool in the world collecting beaten up pence Charltons and I love it. I found some hitherto unknown pence Gold Keys recently and nearly pooped my pants. The issue for me is that all the places where I might find these things sadly no longer exist. If it wasn't for ebay, one shop and the London Fair, I'd be in trouble. I have ups and downs but, by and large, the thrill of comics - the look, smell, touch, fragility, nostalgia element - and all those things associated with finding and cataloguing them - still very much exists for me. And I doubt it will ever cease until I croak. And I couldn't give a monkeys uncle for slabs, 9.9's, pressing, blah blah blah.

Now that is a great avatar / profile picture combination @Commissioner Gordon

That's the spirit! Come on liz, go into bat.

...still attached to the dog knowing them.....

There aren't any Australian AF15 price variants of course but I take your point. Congratulations on 42k Shadroch - everyone seems to want a prize lately. I'm pleased to say that yours is a copy of Dazzler #7. Pence copy

I love that the applauding sheep are the selected picture

Who knew that Commissioner Gordon collected pre-hero Marvels! "Damn right I do!"

4.5 Blue. Bound to be a twist

Just to clarify, we're talking about genuine first printing price variants here, not reprints / repackaged books. Same presses, same place, same time (notwithstanding the order of production debate). Would a pence AF15 not interest you Shad?

Give it time.... In what way Shadroch? Expand on that please. It's the point of the thread...

As an Englishman, I think I would feel the same if the roles were reversed. Comics are indeed one of the great American art forms and they exist to satisfy the home audience. The books sent to the UK, Canada and Australia are small (but important) subsets which wouldn't exist if the US books had not been created. The subject can be emotive - I remember prickling slightly many years ago when a new Doctor Who episode was going to air in the US first. Outrageous! I thought

Cheers bc I like the idea that someone reads the OPG, reads that bit and says "what?". Then they start Googleating and.....

That Steve Cranch idiot from the looks of it

SPACE ADVENTURES! (Not to be confused with 'Adventures in Space', 'Space War' or 'Kevin Spacey') "The Ugly One", starring Bababooey (not shown) "I Am From Earth", starring a massive bloke in a tight yellow all in one suit who's looking a little too pleased with himself. "The Moon Trap", starring a bloke having what looks like a Moon crap. ...Report...From...Space.... "Hello? Hello, is that you Canaveral? Oh, thank God! It's Dave here - Dave Shepard. You couldn't pop back by any chance could you...?" "Now, Earthman...You will be tested...If you succeed, you live...If you fail....This is JUDGEMENT DAY" "OK, shoot" "Are you ready?" "Yes" "All strapped in and comfortable?" "Yep" "OK, then we shall begin. Question One: Who won the FA Cup in....." "And he's coming up on the outside but Russia is pushing hard but our man in the US is having none of it and - wait for it - waaait....OH EM GEE, and THERE HE GOES! The US satellite is now neck and neck and taking the fight to the Russian - WAIT! WAIT! He's IN THE LEAD, OUR U.S. BOY IS IN THE LEAD!......" Alone on this strange planet, they had to subdue this demon or PERISH! "Oh, Jesus you guys gave me a fright! Phew! Sorry, but we don't get many visitors around these parts lately. Anyway, where are my manners - I'm Barry, the 'Beast of Bardo'. Welcome, welcome" "Barry?" "Barry!" "What Dave, what?" "The Amazing Duplicator is playing up again. It just pumped out an Ambassador From Earth? I typed in 'Hot Chick from Zardoz Prime'" "It pumped out a what?" "I dunno, it just says 'Ambassador From Earth' on the print out" "Poxy thing's always breaking down. Have you tried turning it on and off again Dave?" "Good shout, I'll give that a go" "Captain Langley, what is it?" "It's where the CIA are based isn't it Ann? Why?" "Oh, I don't know. These things just pop into my head sometimes you know?" "I do Ann. And, if I may say, a very pretty head it is too" "Why Captain, are you hitting on me?" "Come on Ann, you know I've always had a soft spot for you" Do you ever get fed up with the world we live in? Olsen did... and he left it, never to return! But then he had to make..."The Trip Back" "I can't fing believe it. Sixty millions miles out and I then I remember I left me wallet behind. That's my fing life in a nutshell isn't it. "Ooh, look, Olsen's back with his tail between his legs, just like we said he would be". I'm going to look a right fing idiot. BOLLOCKS!" "....they have radio receivers instead of minds!" "Yes, yes, just drink this... I believe you!" "click, whirr, Britain's number one! And in with a bullet it's Frankie Goes to Hollywood with Relax..." Later.... Ring Ring. Ring Ring. "Hello? Hello, is that Robot Invasion Central? It's Robot Invader Two. My receiver is playing up again. I keep getting the Top 40 on it. It's going to give the game away at this rate" "Roger that Robot Invader Two. We'll get right on it" "The puny people of your world cannot stop us, Earth enemy we will DESTROY YOUR PLANET!" "Is that a fact? Well, what if I pulled one of these levers here? What then?" "Wha-hey. No. No, leave those levers alone. They - they are... not important" "Are you sure about that?" "Leave them. Leave the levers...." "Are you really sure...?" "Look LEAVE THE FING LEVERS ALONE ALRIGHT! Ten years I've been waiting for this promotion. Ten years! Take over Earth and get promotion, that's what they said. Leave the fing levers alone!" SPACE ADVENTURES! (Not to be confused with 'Adventures in Space', 'Space War' or 'Dave from Accounts')

Go get me some liz, and be quick about it.

Congratulations to our three FOTY winners - or as I like to call them, the 'B Team' - all have made great, solid contributions down the years - well done guys! @Bosco685 @Bomber-Bob @BlowUpTheMoon And congratulations to all the registry set winners too - some enviable stuff in there!

Morning If you pop over to my Australian Price Variant thread you'll see that a chap called Joseph Italiano has emerged and made the claim that first wave of Australian Price Variants were printed first - prior to the US copies - to ensure that they got on the ship in time for the long journey to OZ. A quote from his website reads as follows: "The Australian Price Variant (APV) books were collated first, before any other editions. This was so the lag time between US editions release and Australian edition release would be reduced. As soon as these books were printed, they were shipped, while the regular US editions were yet to be completed. We are unsure how much time difference there was between the editions, but in any case, they can be identified as the first of the print run. After about a year of this practice, Alternate Worlds broke the news about APV's" Joseph has also put forward a view that has been discussed many times down the years for pence copies, that the Australian books have a greater depth of colour when compared to US priced copies, consistent with being printed first. In respect of pence copies, during recent email discussions with Matt Nelson of CGC, he advised me that CGC graders had found that UK Price Variants often displayed different ink saturation, page quality and overall ageing effects when contrasted with the US editions. Though there is no known direct evidence that it is so, this could imply they were printed elsewhere, or indeed first. So if it were to be proven that any of the three known Price Variants of US original books - UK, Canadian and Australian - were printed first, before their US counterparts, whether in sequence in one complete run or an hour / day / week apart, would it matter? In a discussion with some like minded friends I put forward the following view: "I don't think we'll ever prove what came first for the early Marvels. It's too long ago for a Joseph Italiano figure to emerge now with info about printing practices in the early 1960's. And even if they did, it would likely be from an ageing memory and, therefore, questionable. More importantly, the US market appear to have little to no interest in it. Even if it were definitively proven the pence copies came first, they likely 'wouldn't care'. Here's how I feel about it. If the pence books were, say, run first to get them on the ship and, then, the US copies either later that day, the next day or even a week later, the totality would still represent the one whole print run. You can get too anal about it - if they printed half the books on Monday and the other half Wednesday, that doesn't mean Wednesday's copies are second printings. One copy has to be first, one has to be last. It may be one continuous run, or it may be staggered over runs because the paper run out. Or the machine broke. The covers were done separately anyway, so we don't know how that factors into it either - maybe the covers were printed first, but the interiors all at the same time? Who knows. The key thing is - you can prove something, but it doesn't mean that the largest audience will give a damn. We may give a damn. But our US cousins will probably not, in the main. I like facts. This happened first, this second, here's the evidence. It doesn't mean it has to be important. And I think it isn't to the majority. No US dealer / collector will ever hold his cents priced AF15 in his hands and view it less favourably because he hears it was printed an hour / day / week later than the pence copy. It doesn't say 'second printing' on the cents indicia. So it was made 'at the same time' regardless of what we prove. Fascinating isn't it." So, you'll see that even though I'm known for my pence leanings, I say it probably "wouldn't matter". For the record, I have zero interest in the financial aspects / implications of the print run order. I'm interested in the implications for history, facts, how people feel etc, and thought it might make an interesting discussion. What do you guys think?

Arch tried to help () but the limitations of the current board gallery software as it stands makes the task of adding 5,000 images in the order / format I want too onerous alas. Back to the drawing board...

We've get our first ever mention (to my knowledge) in Overstreet #49, courtesy of my input into Jon McClure's market report! I still check often for new copies, but to no avail. And still no regular $1.99 Thor #19 newsstand? Bonkers.

The first ever mention of L Miller copies in Overstreet, courtesy of my input into Jon McClure's market report! Yay!

Here's the extract from Jon McClure's Overstreet #49 market report (I gave him the latest issue details): You have to get the report in well in advance, hence it being two short. Nice to see this information fleshed out in the guide