Get Marwood & I

On 10/5/2021 at 7:44 PM, Tghutcn said:

Thanks Marwood I’m hoping to have a 100 all together by the end of the year I’ve noticed dc are harder to find for pence 

Where are you based? I can't recall if you've ever said. 

69 Marvel and one DC!

Keep it up Tghutcn 

Oh I don't know. You'd be surprised what people with a sense of fun, history and imagination would do

Rather than amend the opening entry, which is my usual approach to updating my journal entries, here are the above mentioned data tables which have advanced somewhat since I created them back in October 2020.

Firstly, a new, hopefully self-explanatory table which shows which DC books in the first four stamp cycles should / could exist as 9d stamped copies:

Next up, the plotting tables for DC which prove the sequential numbering theory - they're almost impossible to read now from the CGC images, alas, sorry, but I will find a better way of presenting that data at some point (portrait didn't work). The data you see below is based on the plotting of over 2,300 examples now, and the majority of the issues for all the 56 titles in scope are captured. Unlike some other online reference points, I can prove everything posted here from the examples saved in the files - everything is fact based:

I have extended the plotting for selected titles all the way up to the 20th cycle at which point the sequencing begins to unravel. A post for another day!

Finally, from the above table, the section showing the earliest known DC stamped examples by cover date:

The discussion thread has moved on somewhat from my original premise and is no longer a 'brief' review of the early UK distribution period - have a peek here if you're at a loose end one day...

I'm speaking from experience, having collected, completed and then sold a full ASM run. I've posted my feelings about this many times in different threads and there are many aspects to consider. Money, space, desire, age, personal circumstances, changing focus - they all play a part and everyone is different, everyone will reach different conclusions which may or may not work for them in the long run.

But there is one other notable element that I have encountered myself and that is the sensation that comes over you when the goal is almost complete. I have experienced this three times in my collecting life - that phase, as you near the finishing line, where your thoughts turn to selling or stopping or changing course. There must be some psychological process where the act of completing a task has the affect of lessening your interest in it. Once the thrill of the chase is over, what replaces that thrill? If you did complete the full run somehow,  what would you do - dig it out once a year and look proudly on it? What is the point of ownership?

In this phase, it is easy to convince yourself of the merits of a particlar downsizing path as you have largely lost the thrill of the acquisition. And you can easily forget the value of the sheer effort involved in putting the run together in the first place. It's why phrases like "you never know what you've got until it's gone" exist.

My advice is this - complete and keep the ASM #1-200 run as the monument to the achievement. That's where all the best stuff is. That is where Spider-Man really exists, in those Ditko, Romita and Andru panels. And that is where the future value largely sits. Sell everything else other than those books that mean something to you and invest the funds in comic books that you love and which are not hampered by having to fit a run or set or goal. Books that don't break anything, should you sell them. That way freedom lays. Sell ASM #1-200 and you will likely regret it. You've put in a lot of time and effort in to build the set - at least keep the best of it. 

6 hours ago, rjpb said:

It would appear that both UK price stamps on that ASM are second hand prices, initially 5p for a book that had a shilling price for the UK variant, and then later a 3p sale price, which would differentiate it from an American edition with a distributor stamp for a UK price, which as you say was generally reserved for books where there was no UK price variant. 

Indeed. The salient point is that such a stamped book is not a UK Copy, or a Pence Copy, or a UK Variant. It's a US Copy, distributed in the UK. 

Rotten isn't it, that day when you decide to stop the weekly new comic shop. Lots of us have been there though Etriew, so don't feel too bad. Things change and it's just too expensive now for some of us to carry on collecting in the way we did back in the day when things were more manageable. I miss the chats with my comic shop guys more than the comics themselves - those largely unattractive, expensive moderns with their bazillion variants made it quite easy to stop actually - but it just didn't feel right to keep going back without buying anything. And I agree with your digital sentiments - comics are a physical thing, or nothing. 

I liked your video with the nephews by the way - typical of kids to be as interested in popping the bubble wrap as the comics inside isn't it 

Good luck with your comic exploits in the future, in whatever form they take.

1 hour ago, AJD said:

AJD - bringing up irrelevant shyte on the boards since 2008.

I've more than doubled your shyte quotient - and in half the time! 

13 minutes ago, AJD said:

Hi Steve - dunno if this is a "find" but there's a UK Charlton in this photo that doesn't seem to be on your list: E-Man #1 (I think that's the number). And maybe the Black Fury is a UK edition with a price change for Oz, though it could also be a US -- > AU price change.

Thanks for thinking of me Andy

The E-Man (June 74) is one of the later issues which are all dual priced:

And the Black Furious looks like a sticker, but it is well outside the UKPV date window anyway.

He won't be happy....

2 hours ago, Duffman_Comics said:

I would not be surprised if a UKPV of "Caroline Kennedy" did not exist. Pre 22 November 1963, what possible interest did the pommie comics readers have in the youngest daughter of John F Kennedy?

A relatively simple marketing decision.

You may be right Duff. But there are a few titles that I would question producing UKPVs for, and yet they exist. Maybe it was a blanket policy driven only by dates - if there was a US copy between them, then a corresponding supply of UK copies were run. Maybe they gave no thought at all as to the suitability of content. Only time will tell. One shots tend to turn up less I have found and, in this instance, as you say, it's difficult to imagine many people either buying a copy in the first place, let alone preserving one. 

On 7/7/2020 at 10:15 PM, Mr Thorpe said:

The final 6 'fills'! I've now gone through my entire Charlton collection.

Billy the Kid #31 Nov 1961

Fightin' Airforce #32 May 1962

Fightin' Airforce #40 Sept 1963

Hunk #4  March 1962

My Little Margie #39  December 1961

Wyatt Earp #41 Apr 1962

Thanks Mr T.

Again, great to see these further copies finally surface. Only 300 or so to go!

8 hours ago, Duffman_Comics said:

I know this is all about Charlton's UK pence editions, but a delightful by-product is the discovery of oddball comics I never knew existed, e.g. Caroline Kennedy  one shot..

This is a valuable Public Service and I take this opportunity to salute you

Cheers Duff. The Kennedy one shot is one of only three titles - if you can call a one shot a title - for which I've yet to find a UKPV. They become a bit mythical after a while, these continually absent books. 

2 hours ago, Frisco Larson said:

Ok cool, so my memory still works! For giggles I checked eBay earlier this morning and around 10 copies of this issues were listed, split roughly in half by font variant. No priceless copies up or in completed auctions, so it IS tougher to find. Is this the only issue you can remember to not have a price? 

Yup. The no price copy is very scarce. I've only seen 3 copies so far. I class it as a printing error though - bit of a stretch to call the complete absence of any price at all a variation in font 

1 hour ago, Frisco Larson said:

Steve, 

    I seem to recall discussing with you that in addition to the font variants on TTA #16, that there also exist copies that have no price at all. I have one that I'll attach. I HAVE seen others but this version seems to be the most rare of the three, by my experience. If you've stated this already and I just didn't see it, my apologies for that. Btw, thanks for all you do in your research!!! I'm intrigued by all of this!!!  

Cheers Frisco - I have indeed covered the no price version somewhere but can't lay my hands on it just at the moment. All my threads cross over so Gawd knows where it is 

3 hours ago, Mr Thorpe said:

I've just trawled through the last of my Charlton Romance comics and can offer another 5 on your missing list.

Cor, they're such nice copies Mr T, thanks. First dibs my way if you ever sell up, ok? 

3 hours ago, Mr Thorpe said:

As a matter of interest, I bought most of these in the late 70's/early 80's and I'm pretty sure they were part of a warehouse find as I seem to recall multiple copies of some issues, all in very nice nick but a bit musty (just the way we like them!). Was this a Len Miller warehouse clearance? Anyone know?

It's not something I've heard of before, no. I understand that Charltons were quite regional in their distribution, and missed many areas. The warehouse find makes sense though as there are a rump of copies that constantly turn up.

Really nice to see some of these books in pence finally 

7 minutes ago, Mr Thorpe said:

Hi Steve,

I've gone through a few of my Charltons and found 5 'fills' for you.

You're my new best friend Mr T 

I like Batman v Superman. 

I've been sad faced 

On 2/21/2020 at 7:49 PM, Harry Lime said:

I do care for I but not Marwood (or is it the other way round?)

It doesn't matter really Harry. They're both idiots. 

4 hours ago, JollyComics said:

I didn't expect this!!  Great Lakes are where I live!

She could live round the corner. Difficult to spot though as she often wears a hat and dark glasses. 

Big Bertha

5 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

We stopped in at a Mcd's when we were on a trip, and they had a special on 20 piece mcnuggets.  My wife and I figured we'd split it and give the rest to the dog.  We all got sick, including the dog.  

From McNugget to must plug it 

1 hour ago, porcupine48 said:

Makes fapping glide along!

Spread the love 

Girth graduate

Lard lover

2 hours ago, oakman29 said:

I am amazed at the brilliance of your knowledge, you are a wealth of information. 

 

.... none of which is interesting 

45 minutes ago, Gnasher said:

.His contribution has been invaluable. 

...to insomniacs across the globe.

45 minutes ago, Gnasher said:

It's a shame no one likes him 

That's not true! 

OK, it's true