rakehell

I'd always assumed (I know, I know) that this was just part of the printing process, albeit at a slightly later stage. I'm firmly in the 'intent' camp (as opposed to the incamp tent - ha!). If someone in the process had to go back and error-correct, that's still part of the process to my mind. It's a bit like the 6p/8p stickers on the 25c issues from November, 1971. I feel that those are the only 'true' sticker variants because the stickers were an error correction and a late-stage part of the printing process (or a very early part of the distribution process?).

I bid on one of those the other day, but missed out. Admittedly, I bid in a lazy, one-bid-go-do-something-else-get-sidetracked-forget-about-auction kind of way, but I still wanted the thing. Was it you who beat me to that one? I kind of hope it was. Don't want someone else getting one of our UKPPVs.

Nice pence pile! I especially like your X-Men run. Marwood is right about eBay, too. It's where I get all of mine.

Me too. These are the UK editions done by Thorp & Porter in 1962/63 & tough to find in one piece. They only did Dracula, Frankenstein & The Mummy. The Creature story "Creature from the Amazon" is the back-up in Dracula. Don't know what happened to Wolf Man... I'd love to have the original Dell editions of these. Just can't seem to find decent copies for reasonable money. I guess I'm just too chintzy.

Managed to grab these for not very much - Been after decent copies for ages. Now all I need is The Mummy..

This thread has gone very quiet... Been after decent copies of these for a while.

Please, Polly!

poop.

Please pause impending pence price placement comparisons pending prior permission. Ta.

What? No pence variants? Strange Tales 137 UKPPV - 1 copy Strange Tales 138 UKPPV - 5 copies Strange Tales 140 UKPPV - 1 copy Strange Tales 141 UKPPV - 0 copies Strange Tales 143 UKPPV - 1 copy Strange Tales 154 UKPPV - 2 copies Strange Tales 155 UKPPV - 1 copy Strange Tales 156 UKPPV - 1 copy

Thanks for that! I had no idea they messed about with them so much.

Is there a definitive list of all of these sets, including revisions, foreign editions, etc? I've just started to pick these up again (if they're cheap enough!) I've noticed that in the 1976 UK set, the whole card is a sticker, instead of the sticker being die-cut to match the image. Are there any other variations? Were there many foreign editions? I'd love a Mexican set, if such a thing exists.

For added fun, have a look at some non(but still desirable)keys. Sgt Fury 2 = 1 Sgt Fury Annual 1 = 0 Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2 = 3 Fantastic Four 2 = 12 Hulk 2 = 11 Hulk 3 = 14 Hulk 4 = 12 Hulk 5 = 9 Hulk 6 = 16 Strange Tales 101 = 3 Tales of Suspense 40 = 9 Journey into Mystery 84 = 6 Rawhide Kid 17 = 0 The scarcity of books like these is a big part of what keeps me searching...

How much did you miss it by? Just curious.

Ah. I saw something yesterday about you picking up some pencey Westerns at a little con somewhere. If you left it, it must have been expensive. p.s. If I don't reply to your pm until next week, it's only because I'm not paying attention. Drive safe, Velma.

Now you've got me excited. Backstory, please. Looks like a nice copy, too. You got a better shot of that?

That sounds like 90% of my eBay activity. Many a time I've lost out on the deal of the century (or week, at least) 50 bloody pence, or something equally ridiculous. I don't help myself by being a chintzy bugger. And I'm rarely able to actually watch an auction right to the end. Still, I do win a few of 'em. Enough to keep me going at least. I agree. Until you clock it yourself, it doesn't exist. It is. Nowt.

True. Have a look at the census. https://www.cgccomics.com/census/grades_standard.asp?title=X-Men&issue=1&publisher=Marvel+Comics&year=1963&issuedate=9/63 A quick calculation puts the UKPPV at a mere 0.59% of the US copy. I know that the CGC census is not a true reflection of the scarcity of the UKPPVs, for a number of reasons, but it is an indication of the condition of the books out there. Only one unrestored book higher than 7.5. If you've got a particularly nice copy it could be worth more than an equivalent cents copy. The higher grade books of many Silver & Bronze Age UKPPV keys are starting to creep up. Show us a picture.

Cheers Velmsy. All better now. Great bit of research, btw. I agree , it is important. As an expert researcher, you will already know that research is at least 50% revision. Again, I agree. "Let the books tell you" should be an axiom by which we approach all comic book related inquiries.

No probs Velma. You've caught me awake and properly caffeinated. Having said that, I'm buggering off home now. Too hot. I'll re-read this tomorrow & chip in again, if the headache keeps its distance.

uh oh... What's the relation between cover date & printing date? I know they tended to be printed a couple of months ahead of schedule. Would the printers maybe bunch the titles together that were scheduled to have a UKPPV? Has this been discussed already? Probably. That's interesting, but, again, do we know that they were printed in that order? I mean, you're kind of implying that, so I get that you're thinking along the same lines. It just feels like this equation is being read backwards. You're trying to intuit a printing order from the 'on sale' date. Am I getting it? I'll be watching... maybe not at the same time that you're posting, but still...

That's bloody infuriating. I think it's stuff like this that keeps me floating off to search for old Star Wars trading cards on ebay. You spend weeks checking the same dozen or so saved searches for Archie UKPPVs (or that Dell Twilight Zone I missed a few weeks back) with zero results & you get a bit disheartened. I've got this weird callus at the base of my palm that tells me when I've spent too long on ebay. Still 2 more than I have. Well, yeah. I would have thought being first might imply a bit more enthusiasm on Archie's part. But, maybe that's me being too logical. Good point. On my way...

A glaring omission & not like you at all. Seriously, though, it ain't easy getting to the bottom of these rabbit-hole issues. I wish I had more time to research this as well, but work has been a bit full-on of late. The scarcity of the Archie UKPPV issues is a real bugger, as well. They're as rare as rocking horse poop. Greedy. I don't even have one copy. Interesting. I wonder why Archie Comics got there first. Were their sales volumes similar to Marvel/Atlas or DC? Again, interesting. Why 2 distributors? Who did the UK published Archies? Was it T&P? Yes, Velma. All in all, a solid conjecture, I think. Nice work, but I expect nothing less from the likes of you.

I wouldn't say you failed, Dot. I was giggling when I replied. Mind you, I wasn't really awake. Maybe I imagined it....

Sorry Dorothy. To be fair, I was going for something more like , but the reply options are a bit too limited for fully free expression. And I'm usually too busy (lazy) to quote & reply properly. I was just trying to express a little anxiety about you pulling the Pacino out like that. Stern, Dorothy. Very stern.