themagicrobot

I recall in the classified ads of an old comic fanzine there was a car for sale and said something along these lines ”Mini van. It has a 1000cc engine and likes Batman comics” well it amused me at the time else I wouldn’t still remember it

This is tatty but one of those with the interesting back cover. It confirms the connection between Alan's company and his father-in-laws Streamline Publications. So it seems to me that established connections between London and the States were passed to Alan. But I wonder why they wanted old Class comics. Hadn't they kept any themselves and needed them back to copy from for future reprints? And did they get much of any of the other stuff they were asking for? And who was the collector of this stuff all those years ago? I don't think it would have been Alan himself. Is there a large collection still to surface?

I dunno. Fantasy Masterpieces 11 makes me laugh now we've reached 2023. Time seems to have expanded and to many of us here any comics produced within the last 30 years are classed as/totally dismissed as "modern". That silver age comic of 1967 talks of the golden age of comics from the distant past. What do we have within its pages? A reprinted story from Strange Tales that was a mere 5 years old. A 12 year old Black Knight story. A 13 year old Submariner one. The Torch and Captain America stories were the oldest reprints at 27 and 25 years. They were all from yesterday to any adult living in 1967. But they were new and wonderful to those of us living in the UK where Marvel comics began just 7 years earlier. They were as old and exotic to me at the time as an issue of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday from Victorian times.

Looking for something really out there??

Someone told me there are these new-fangled things called "computers" that they actually use to create comics in the C21st. No big sheets of paper or ink (or skill) required. New-fangled they may be but these "computers" are too old-fashioned for the kids. They use phones to (not) read comics. Back in the day even fanzines were must-buys. I'll let you know if I ever find a portal that leads to a better time and place.

Grumpy old men dept. I've been sorting through some old paperwork. I found an invoice for my father's first brand new car in 1965. It was a 850cc red Mini (named Speedy) and cost precisely £400 with no part exchange. (He'd taken the bus to work for the previous year to save up!) £400 in 1965 is the equivalent of £6000 today. But the cheapest new car in the UK is £12000 now. So looking at a number of items I calculate we are paying twice as much for everything than we ought to be. And what a mere five years ago were worthless Alan Class comics are selling today for almost as much as a car once cost. Ever feel you're currently living in an alternate reality?

It looks like the last few visitors to this thread must be off on their summer holidays. When I first started buying comics they cost 10d. This was a perfect price point as it meant I got three comics each week for my 2/6 pocket money. I almost had a nervous breakdown when prices increased to 1/- and my allowance didn't increase. Fifty years later I almost had a nineteenth nervous breakdown when I realised comics had reached the heady sum of 85/- each.

There are loads of Marvel UK comics.

Another one of yours? My Pows! were defaced by the newsagent writing the house number on the top edge of the covers but it never occurred to me to tell him to stop doing it.

ETHEL WINS! I always did wonder what her surname was.

It was merely to compensate for the previous comic that she almost missed.

Good idea. I took 1000 to Tesco where they have a charity book table. The vultures circled and were looking the values of the titles up on eBay whilst I was unloading them from a shopping trolly. The only thing is sorting out which ones are kid-friendly. Ironically it is the kid-friendly Superman family stuff I'm keeping and the Tits and Gore stuff that I'm disposing of. Funny world innit when so many comics produced in the last 40 years aren't suitable for children.

Too late. Its gone back on the heap. This is what 2000 comics looks like. Approx 5000 "New 52" dreck and anything that said "Image" or "Valiant" in the top left corner are to be burnt at a Nov 5th party along with an effigy wearing a Batman mask. Still another 5000 to sort and then with one bound I shall be free.

I have a Superman 132 that was once owned by Steve. Does that help? No stamp alas but I suspect the comic has lived in the UK for many years. Possibly since 1959?

Don't knock the gorillas. Some of my favourite comics were Angel and the Ape. Sam was related to Gorilla Grodd. Angel was the sister of Dumb Bunny of Inferior Five fame.

Can't remember if I already posted this image or not. Another 6d stamp. What a bargain, even back in those days.

Here's the previous issue showing the correct price. A poor quality image but all I can find at short notice.

This comic is coverdated December 1972. The UK changed from £sd to decimal coinage in February 1971. Thorpe and Porter had been ink stamping decimal prices on DCs since 1970. In 1971 comics were 5p. By December 1972 they were 6p. So why on earth does this comic display 2/- ????

In this mad world where people can identify as male or female or even identify as a cat then 1/62 and 1/63 can mean whatever you want it to mean. 42 is the answer to the question of what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Tesla said 3 is a magic number. And be careful never to shout “Kimota!” out loud.

So now what? you ask. If you want a character with a massive run that should increase in value then Batman seems the obvious choice. If you want something difficult to track down and completely worthless then Charlton's Battlefield Action. Or stick with the "insect" theme? Blue Beetle, The Fly, Ant Man? The Astonishing Moth? Getting a full run of Big Jolt comics might be feasible as there was only ever one issue published

@universal soldier It's a good job you didn't attempt to collect every comic Spider-Man ever appeared in as that would take five lifetimes and include Daredevil No 1 and even something like this:-

Here is another couple of comics with 6d stamps. Second hand book stalls sold comics for 6d each for years but most didn't bother stamping prices on them. They weren't even smart enough to notice that 80 page Giants were thicker than the others, and still sold them to me at the same price. Popular Book Centre loved to deface comics with ugly big ink stamps though.

This Fantastic Four bears a 6d ink stamp that looks remarkably similar to L. Miller 6d stamps from a few years earlier. PS: Was Fantastic Four 31 (and other Marvels dated October 1964) the final time that the indicia mentioned Thorpe and Porter?

I use Whakoom but I seem to be in a minority of one. Of course it is still a work in progress and I have many more boxes to open yet, but going through my stuff is half the fun. I catalogue what I aim to keep and discard the dreck. My, I'm amazed how much dreck I am uncovering. I once bought a big collection of stuff I didn't really want just to help out a friend who needed a financial boost at the time.

I particularly like the UK price variants that proclaim "Marvel All-Colour comics" to differentiate them from the numerous Marvel UK reprint series also on sale at that time.