Redshade

These annuals have taken off quite a bit in the last few years and if that is what collectors are willing to pay then that is the current "fair price". I vaguely remember these books but by the time they were issued (1968?) I had pretty much given up on comics preferring to save up my pocket and birthday money to buy Jimi Hendrix and Prog albums. I have always wondered if the scarcity of these were due to the fact that boys tried to "salvage" the individual comics by taking the books apart.

Yes, I believe that the medical term for it is "Generally Pissed Off With Everything All The Time". It's an affliction that we crabby old men have to put up with. Chin up and all that Steve.

I can see that now that you point it out. I had stopped buying comics in 68/69 so never saw any of these in the wild.

I think that they were called Mark Jewellers Inserts. They are now a collectable variant in their own right. Marwood knows a lot about these. I expect he'll be here shortly.

See, I aren't going senile, my memory is as good as as as...

I vaguely remember buying some comics years ago from an Irish (Rep of) seller. I can't remember the exact prices and the comics are long gone but I do recall that the price stickers all had the "All tax and duty paid" blurb.

I'm puzzled that D McA of all people should refer to this as a "Pence variant".

Not withstanding the esteemed research here by Marwood, Albert et al which has a certain fascination and is commendable in its own right I simply as yet do not believe that the random box of comics that newsagents received each delivery cycle were returnable. This is not my memory of the 60s UK distribution of US comics which was pretty slapdash to say the least . The fact that these comics arrived out of sequence (or not at all) precludes that idea for me and I simply do not believe it to have been logistically possible to itemise individual US comics in such a way as to facilitate returns. I would love to see copies of newsagent/distributor SOR agreements or (pre-printed?) order forms or consignment notes/manifests etc. And there is that blasted elephant that keeps up its incessant trumpeting; why only nine and not twelve numbers?

Hi comiczguy2. This thread is about the UK Price Variants which were produced in the US for the UK market EXACTLY the same as the US editions (right down to the indicias and ads). The ones you have will be UK reprints and will have UK publishers and printers in the indicia as well as UK ads.

Morning Steve. I've been following this thread and it is all a bit too esoteric for my few remaining brain cells. I remember only asking the newsagent why there were missing issue numbers and being told that they could not order specific US comics and had to make do with what they were sent. At the time I had no knowledge of, or interest in, the price stamps' numerical rotation. Sorry.

This definitely nails it down to late 1964 or more probably 1965 looking at some of those songs. Nice one. If you contact Duncan McAlpine of the GB Price Guide I'm sure that he would be more than happy to alter his info and in all likelihood would give you a namecheck. info@comicpriceguide.co.uk

The Beatles and Kinks ads could certainly put these a year or two later than the guide suggests. Any chance of photos? I cannot recollect any post decimal issues but the point is moot as far as my memories go. I stopped buying comics in about 1968/9 preferring instead to save up for "prog" albums.

You have a mixture of two series there Albert. There was a first series of five issues (the ones with the roundel in the top left) c1960 and a later series of four issues c1962 according to McAlpine's guide. .

But please be aware that there are no graders in London. All comics are forwarded on to the US and back.

The return shipping/insurance is not a linear progression. I think that the minimum charge when I started sending to another slabbing company from the UK was $60 plus for one or two comics which was not really financially viable so I found that sending batches of ten being $120 return postage was much more viable. I have always found that sending comics direct to slabbing companies was the best alternative as any "middle man" would add on their own charges.

I agree that US publishers would have sold the comics outright as a bulk lot to T&P. There would have been no record of individual titles or issues . I am still not convinced that T&P would shoulder the whole financial weight on their own and sell to retailers SOR. If they bought "as is" then that is how they would have been traded down the chain.

G2 a, ii "Full issue by issue details" are just not viable in the hit and miss world of UK distribution of US comics where individual issues (not being listed individualyl on retailers' order forms) could not be accounted for thus. They must have been outside of the SOR conditions. G2. Copies are purchased from the publisher by the retailer, on a sale or return basis, either direct or via the distribution chain (typically distributor and/or wholesaler) You will need to ensure all records required to support the retail sale claim are available for audit. This will include: Full details of the exact numbers claimed as unsold or returned copies (including undelivered, lost or stolen copies) for every issue in the audit period. Full issue by issue details of all financial records and contracts with distributors, wholesalers and retailers, with specific regard to normal and recognised trade terms. These must be reconcilable to the distribution and returns records on an issue specific basis and to the average net retail sales claim.

I found this from the current ABC site. Requirement 1 (b) states that back issues are exempt from the SOR process. I assume that this rule also applied in the 60s. The US imports were not available to be ordered every week or month using the distributor's order forms as these were sporadic in their arrival in the UK and therefore were back issues (I assume). I also doubt very much that the comics would have been sold SOR to the UK distributors by DC. Atlas, Charlton etc.

Whilst not agreeing with a lot of the theories and proposals within this T&P debate I find it fascinating to read, and commend Albert and Marwood on their expertise and erudition. Please continue to research and debate these subjects for the enjoyment and wonder that we followers achieve by reading your views and beliefs. I too, Garystar, cannot convince myself that the newsagents would understand or even adhere to a system as supposedly sophisticated as the one outlined by Albert here. And the fact that T&P stamp numbers only went from one to nine and not twelve is perplexing. Our paperboy used to deliver our daily papers and comics and various magazines every day/week without fail because they were ordered by us from the newsagent. I'm guessing here that the above mentioned periodicals were ordered by the vendor from the wholesaler or distributor on an SOR basis. . I cannot now more than 50 years later recall specific conversations that the precocious little oik inquisitive child that I was had with with Messrs Hartley Newsagents and Tobacconists but I do remember querying why certain American comics never arrived and why, when they did, were certain issues missing. And the lifelong impression that I have to this day was that they could not order specific titles and had to accept the random batch that was delivered every week (or month). This recollection ties in with the logistics of the comics being sent over to UK distributors by the US publishers as being totally arbitrary due to their not knowing which comics would be returned/remainded for any particular title or issue number and this casual method being passed on to the retail outlets. So I can fully appreciate that my Victor and Dad's Daily Mail and Mum's Womens Realm were ordered on a SOR basis I cannot see how this system could have applied to the haphazard distribution methods of American comics.

Or T&P font? Please Albert post more, you seem to be a few years older than me, and so all memories and reminiscences are welcomed. It's such a shame that your uncle and his contemporaries aren't around anymore. What tales they could tell.

You're sure that these were US import comics? If so I stand corrected. It certainly was not something that I or my friends came across.

Evening Albert. I did my comic foraging in the West Riding in the 60s and do not recall seeing this triangular sale price stamp at all. Any comics that were looking tired or dog eared after sitting in the racks for months on end were thrown into a box on the floor with a reduced price written in biro. They were obviously the least popular titles so one was never able to get a bargain on the more sought-after comics.

I remember buying US comics as an eight/nine/ten/eleven year old in 1962 to 1966 at various outlets such as School bring and buy sales and Church fetes and Charity stalls and a lot of them were obviously second hand used comics, but I never saw title stripped comics anywhere. Not in the UK anyway. It just did not happen.

I think that you are over thinking things here mate. Newsagents that I frequented in the 60s never had the option of returning unsold stock of US comics. They were sent a box of random comics every week and put them out in the racks. I remember seeing the same comics on display week after week unsold.. I also remember complaining to my local newsagent that the US comics were out of sequence and complaining that I had missed an issue of Action Comics or Superman. They pointed me to the box of unsold Richie Rich and Caspar the Ghost etc.

Perhaps some shenanigans going on "off piste".