Albert Tatlock

I was hoping it might be this one, still, you can't win 'em all.

They have been prodded into action, here is the reply: Hello Thank you for your email. Yes, this is being looked into at the moment. Extra comics will be added to this lot. Regards Vanessa

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/britishtoyauctions/catalogue-id-bta10141/lot-baf07e37-db61-4492-8033-afba00a6981a Somebody needs to do their homework. And did we ever find out who was applying these 8p, and similar stamps?

And how many kids thumbed past this in the racks, and put it back, as it was obviously overpriced at a tanner.

Nice pair of legs on the Witch, as she looks on aghast at the manspreading of the alpha males in the foreground. Jack Kirby signature pose.

Snap!

Nobody back them even dreamed that decades in the future these trivia would come to the attention of a bunch whose focus on minutiae would put a trainspotter to shame.

My yellowing parchment scrolls go back only as far as 1966 (AD, lest any confusion arise). The earliest FF purchase that I still retain that I can definitely identify as new from the shops was # 59, in June 1967, although I bought many issues, including # 1, 5 and 7 new at the time of issue, and probably more that I have forgotten. Alas, I disposed of my first and second collections for a pittance and later, owing to shortage of funds, preferred to buy secondhand, and therefore cheaper copies. But I did, when I returned to my senses, source my favourite titles as soon as they appeared, even at the eye-watering price of 9d and later 10d. Among them was FF, then Marvel's flagship, as I could not bear the though of my collection lapsing into incompleteness. My copy of # 39 is below, bearing the tiddler sized stamp. I cannot guarantee that it is the original copy that found its way into my hoard, as given the chance, I was always eager to upgrade, and whether the copy was cents or pence was at the time a matter of supreme indifference. I can say, however, that # 39 was not in any shorter supply that the other issues surrounding it. Good luck finding a copy with a stamp more to your liking, there must be a few out there.

Hands off! My clogs are still unpopped, my perch is still occupied, and I have no plans regarding daisies..

A cents copy with UK price stamp, showing that a few copies at least of early Marvel Silver Age reached our shores outside the regular importation channels.

Wil be delighted to as soon as time permits, probably not this side of the weekend, though. I will burrow and delve until I have laid hands on my copy, but it will probably be like its comrades.

Hail Hydra! Immortal Hydra! Erase a stamp and two more will take its place!

Another FF # 57, with a 1/- circle stamp that is difficult to spot, and a Little Audrey 1/9 that is difficult to miss.

It fizzled out, sadly. The big bloke bottled (translation for Stateside readers: The bad guy blinked first). So no blood was spilt, although if it had been, I hope that Gold Senior would have had the presence of mind to hold the affected part over the gutter, so that nothing dripped onto the comics.

It was indeed Miller's. Excerpts below courtesy of the scribbling sibling, Ralph, younger brother and henchman-in-chief of David Gold of fond memory. Published by Robson Books in 1997. No doubt where the aforementioned Steve Holland got his info.

Yes, he liked to get his finger in as much as possible.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64163755 Yep, whatever comic-related secrets he held have been taken to the grave. A common comment at times like this is 'we shall not see his like again'. Amen to that.

The old year will be next year's good old days.

I don't have anything surviving in written form before 1966, but the first two I bought were Mystery In Space # 64 and Strange Adventures # 124, each at the full price of 9d, a severe dent in my pocket money, from the newsagent at the bottom of the street. Before that, I had only seen the black & white reprints, plus of course the output of DC Thomson et al.

Must be right. Stamp looks like a 1, so probably arrived with the batch cover dated January 1960. It took a couple of months to travel from whatever part of Uncle Sam's land it was originally for sale in to the docks, so it has let the Scarlet Speedster down a little. I never saw one of these at the time, in spite of trawling the second hand shops and markets for literally years, so we will have to put it down as an anomaly.

Big letdown. Not a UKPV in sight, I thought they were going to segue into Rod Stewart playing with his train set. Fiona Bruce wears her years well, though. Watch out, Tina Turner, you have competition.

The 10 obviously refers to the condition, 10.0 Gem Mint.

Certainly did. Not bad, laying out tuppence to get a bob, or even a tanner which is what the street hawkers would ask you for.

Anything to oblige, old chap. From an article by Steve Holland in issue 39 of The Illustrated Comic Journal (Spring/Summer 2002).

If the resupply of the newsagents, etc, was carried out by a T & P rep using his own initiative, then the number on the stamp would be an indication to the rep, not to the shop proprietor. There would be an incentive for the newsagent to keep his shelves clear of slow-moving stock. The more old material removed, the more room there would be for fresh stock, and as it was all SOR, the shopkeeper would be charged only for the difference between new stock added and old stock subtracted. A win-win situation, except for the avid collector vainly trying to fill gaps more than a couple of months or so in the past. I trawled all my local newsagents when I first started collecting, and was over the moon when I found a back issue that had somehow escaped the periodic weeding-out. However, I do remember my uncle having comics and magazines bundled up ready for return, as it saved time. There would be some shopkeepers, maybe, who would rather let the salesman perform this chore.