Get Marwood & I

I think so, I'll try and find them tonight and explain further. Off out now.

What qualifies you to question me? That is just as rhetorical as I assume your question was. Devilment I guess. Nice use of white text there. Very clever @Lazyboy I was going to list out my thoughts on newsstands based on my own experience collecting and researching them for years, but I'm not sure I can face the humourless rebuttal lectures that will follow. @GM8 seems to be doing fine in the meantime.

I had my entire ASM run in double Mylite2's with triple backing boards. The first Mylite2 was cut to the size of the book, then that was placed against three backing boards and popped into a second Mylite2. That way, no part of the comic rested against a board. It cost a fortune, but I have to say they looked fantastic. I kept them that way when I sold them and all my customers were delighted with them. They really enhanced the look of the book. I even made customised labels for the variants and insert copies, with the label on the front of the inner Mylite2. Occasionally, I see one of my old books at the London fair and on Ebay. 'One of mine' I think wistfully. Slabs are ok, but they don't make a book look good in my humble opinion. You can't beat a lovely raw in a mylar.

Not saying anything you've said above is wrong, but what qualifies you to say it? Out of interest.

Cheers @ADAMANTIUM The fairs are always fun, even though they're on the wain. I'm still waiting for that elusive 'new dealer' with tons of old pence westerns to show up. Where is that bloke? I mean, it's not too much to ask is it after 40 bloody years? ?

Yowser! How many gazillions did that cost you Elmer?

"After centuries of imprisonment, I'm free -- Free to CRUSH the World!" "This boat seems as good a place as any to start. Excuse me miss"

"So, what shall we do today?" I asked Marwood this morning. "Look for Pence Comics at the London Comic Fair?", he said. "Oh, go on then" I replied. So off we went. The day was uncommonly sunny for Englandville, as we boarded the train to Baker Street... ....which alas was not looking it's best on arrival. I nice spot in the park was found.... Along with a Ronnie Bag of Horror. Disgusting habit, and I shouldn't do so much of it if I was you. As is often the case, Mr Friendly Crow popped by for a morsel or two. I like to think that MFC is the same bird who has been visiting me all my life. Marwood thinks I'm pathetic though and says I need to grow a pair. Mr Pidge is less successful on the morsel picking front, and leaves with the right hump. As is his wont. The gardens are in their usual splendid bloom And the Dexter Beef Burgers continue to entice at the Marylebone Market..... Maybe on the way back. The stroll through the backstreets reveals the wonderful nooks and crannies and super architecture. Especially on high. I consider my waistline, but beige was never my colour. Marwood makes a phallic joke about the Post Office Tower. The smutty bastard. Misnomer anyone? Ah, lizards2's favourite street in Blighty! He doesn't pop by much lately. Always decorating. I miss his lizard brain ramblings... Now that's a nice building Marwood. Marwood? Marwood?! What a head. Are people who live in mews' amusing do you think? Do they listen to Muse on their Sony Walkmans? And I wonder what sound their cats make......? Shut up. Avengers tower! The inner sanctum... It's a little known fact that the chameleon circuit in the Tardis is not broken at all.... Ah, we've arrived. A healthy queue. In a recent survey it was found that 93% of comic fair attendees failed to wash for at least 2 days prior to the event. Extend to 5 days without soap and water, and the figure drops to 87%. Unless a cat has died, I'm behind the guy in the 2% category bracket. Good lord. While we wait, some Scandinavian tourists remark "Look - a Shtar Vaws Conwention". As the young lassie attaches my arm band, I'm reminded of the time that the early £5 entry fee was first introduced. Some chap barged straight past the organiser (Mr Conboy, he of Comics International Destruction fame) chased after him earnestly demanding his fiver. "I've been coming here for 30 years mate! I'm not paying to get in now!" he roared. We all smiled in admiration as he proceeded to ignore Conboy and shop for free. Look closely and you'll see an Amazing Fantasy 15, Graded at 6.0 with married pages. £25,000 Englandville Pounds and it's mine. I kid you not.... Comics, comics, and more comics... Here come the gerls Old Englandville Comics go sadly unattended... I saw this Man From Uncle book and just had to take a picture for you all. I do like the Man From Uncle. Shame about the £6 sticker... The spoils! Also, and going off tangent a bit, the discerning Morlar fans will know of my fondness for The Omen and Lee Remick. So I couldn't leave this still behind for only £2.50: One of the most beautiful women who ever lived... Watched a good film with Mr Peck in it yesterday. The Scarlet and The Black. Watch it if you can....Life affirming. And here up close, a few purchases. Thorpe & Porter! Thorpe & Porter! All in all, a fun day out. Marwood is back under sedation Chin chin!

Excellent, thanks @Derrico - I suspected they'd be Treasury Editions. Thanks for posting the pictures. I didn't include them in my research as I was concentrating on 'regular comic sized' books. Now I see them though, I think I may as well have a go at documenting them too. I had all the Spidey ones back in the day, pence and cents, so may have a few scans already somewhere. Anyway, stay in touch, as it's always nice to talk to people without any cents

Afternoon Pence Friends! I picked this book up today at the London Comic Fair (see my Marvel Pence Thread for more on that shortly). Nothing special about it really, but I noticed that the guy who set the printing plates for the pence pricing may have had one too many sherbets that day... He shoots - he misses! I luv yu, hic

Sorry, what did you say?

Trim trimmeny, trim trimmeny, trim trim charoo. What's the verdict on the musings thus far @telerites ?

Oh, weren't you? Bugger. I guess I fought the Borg and the, Borg won.

In this new enlightened age, with professional grading companies and a wealth of online information, who but a fool would trim a book with the intent to defraud anyway? If it has value, there's a good chance it will end up graded and any trimming discovered. If I see a book on ebay and are unsure about trimming, I avoid it. If I buy a book from any source, having decided myself there is no trimming from scans and photos etc, and then through CGC submission find that it is, then why was I happy before the discovery? This book looks great! (Sorry, it's been trimmed). This book is the work of Satan's backside! We're all musing here, and I like to muse with the best of them, but how can a tatty looking universal graded 2.5 AF 15 command a higher price than a clean 6.0 with a PLOD due to the top edge having a millimeter cleanly removed? When I watch the antiques roadshow with my pipe and slippers on they talk about how getting paintings, furniture, cars and watches restored will increase insurance value, eye appeal and desirability. Why do we all poop our pants when someone cuts half a millimeter of overhang from a comic?

Newsstands, directs, Canadians, pence copies, mark jewelers, Australians, pizzazz inserts, misprints...... Comics are brilliant full stop. Collect what you love and love that others collect differently. We're all in the same restaurant, just eating different puddings ?

I respectfully disagree @Logan510. Modern newsstands exist in tiny numbers and scarcity will always influence the price that those interested in them will be prepared to pay. I'm with you on Mark Jewelers though. They absolutely rock and people will pay a premium for them too.

I'm with you @valiantman If you collect comics, and love all their quirks and variations, then the rare modern newsstands are a collectors treat. Try and find an Amazing Spider-Man #694 in newsstand if you can. Whether the bar code mucks up the aesthetics or not is a separate thing. Rarity is the key with modern newsstands. And those that want them will pay a premium. You're not alone buddy, newsstands rock

Yes. I agree. And I like your avatar @*paull* I feel sure that if I was confronted by it on a dark night I would likely have to change my pants double quick.

I was kidding of course. Numbering is important to us completists. Or ex-completists in my case. All the tinkering used to drive me nuts. I'll have to check, but when I sold my brothers Hulks for him I could never work out the numbering there either. I seem to recall it didn't add up at all when it was reset. I long for the old days of one issue of Spider-Man Comics Weekly every week (obviously) for 800 years. No variants, no gimmicks. Just one good comic every week. Until I discovered they were reprints that is, and the world fell in.

Never overlook a @bababooey post @Dutch74. He knows his Spidey onions so he does. I think any number with a minus in front of it, or a point behind it should be considered an extension of that number. So -1 is an extension of #1. 700.1 is an extension of 700. So they should not be counted as issue numbers in their own right. The Scarlet Spider should be included, if Superior is. Both cover Spidey real time continuity with an alternate lead in Parkers absence. But it's all a load of tripe at the end of the day, and beneath our dignity to quibble over ?

Ah, good. And what fun you will have, when the comicanaing commences. I had a wonderful time with comics for the seven months I had between jobs. Wonderful.

Well said @rjpb I've forgotten what else I was going to say on the subject now, but if anyone's interested, the last Doctor Who was marvellous.

You say it like it's a bad thing liz

Hi @telerites First up, good luck with the radiation treatments. I've added you to tonights prayer list and I hope everything goes well for you. There's nothing wrong at all with your thoughts here in my view. If you get flack, then just rise above it. Yours is a well positioned, well argued post. When I was a kid, I had a Beatles poster in my bedroom for years. It moved around from wall to wall to the point where there were loads of pin holes on the perimeter. So one day I cut an inch off each side and it looked as good as new. Nothing was lost - just blue background border. There are probably many old comics that were trimmed for the same reason, with no malice, or intent to deceive at a future date. It's what kids do (did). I may be wrong here, I often am, but there seems to be an opinion that it is difficult to tell if an AF 15 has been trimmed on the right edge. Many say it often looks as such, but hasn't been touched. So it can be a fine line between distinguishing trimmed books from naturally cut books. When noted by CGC or one of the other companies, the impact on the book is devastating. And yet, it's still the same comic, just with a tiny bit less of it in evidence. If I had two AF 15s and one had a 1mm edge trim, nice and neat, the other a crude full length 'natural' tear, then the tear book gets a Universal label and, financially, becomes immeasurably more desirable than it's neat trimmed cousin. I think this is nonsense. But one thing I have learned is that you cannot change the way people feel. They hate trimming, and nothing will change that however illogical the premise. I once sold a Canadian ASM Annual #1 on Ebay. It was about a VG+. I bought it from a reputable dealer. We were all happy. The buyer then contacted me in a state of apoplexy - he had got it graded and CGC noted a 'small amount of colour touch'. I never saw it, nor did the buyer, nor did the dealer who sold it to me. So the book, and everyone involved's day was devastated by a pin of ink, invisible to the naked eye. And on a book on which such an addition would make zero difference visually. So I think we should all be a little more forgiving of trimming and the like. I have more to say, but Doctor Who is on shortly and it's the last one. So I may return later, with further ramblings on this