Albert Tatlock

Thorpe & Porter recycled their unsold stock periodically, usually at reduced prices. The triangular stamp on this was found on comics alongside the regular 9d and 10d versions, usually on issues 2 or 3 years out of date. I had thought they tailed off about 1966/67, but have recently noticed a couple from 1971. In theory, there is a chance they could turn up on anything from 1959 onwards. Anyone want to do the spadework on gathering a full set? There could be even more than the 3021 or so Marvel UKPVs, as they appeared on anything T & P distributed.

Thanks, I would put them on the other board if I only knew how to shift them across.......???

The triangular stamp on this was found on comics alongside the regular 9d and 10d versions, usually on issues 2 or 3 years out of date. I had thought they tailed off about 1966/67, but have recently noticed a couple from 1971. In theory, there is a chance they could turn up on anything from 1959 onwards. Anyone want to do the spadework on gathering a full set? There could be even more than the 3021 or so Marvel UKPVs, as they appeared on anything t & P distributed.

These stamps, I think, are those T & P put on recycled unsold stock. Most, but not all, were at reduced prices. Will upload a couple of examples.

Cents copy of FF # 2 with what looks like a Thorpe & Porter 10d stamp. Bought from a local newsagent in 1965 or 1966. Only just noticed it is a cents. Did T & P recycle unsold Marvels from USA as well as Dcs?

IW reprint with what looks like a Miller stamp.

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/warren-and-wignall-ltd/catalogue-id-srwar10238/lot-e610b916-c400-4bde-b69f-ac4900d2eda1 This lot was estimated at £50/£100, and may have gone for that kind of figure were it not for Werewolf By Night # 32 (9p version, excellent condition, approx VFN) lurking unsuspected therein. However, just 1 day before the sale, after having only the picture of the cardboard box with the top 2 mags showing, the auction house added the other scans, and WBN # 32 lurked no longer. I was the only bidder in the room and another bid or two would have sent me home empty handed. I hoped against hope that no-one else had inspected the contents, but obviously a rival had got his fingers dusty. Miseed this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Werewolf-By-Night-31-32-34-1st-Appearance-Of-Moon-Night-Marvel-Comics-Bronze-Age-/114331897621?hash=item1a9eb64f15%3Ag%3AvfUAAOSwHX9fJFbM&nma=true&si=507ur%2FvaBShw7thFIZ2AWYgH0Yw%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/warren-and-wignall-ltd/catalogue-id-srwar10238/lot-e610b916-c400-4bde-b69f-ac4900d2eda1 This lot was estimated at £50/£100, and may have gone for that kind of figure were it not for Werewolf By Night # 32 (9p version, excellent condition, approx VFN) lurking unsuspected therein. However, just 1 day before the sale, after having only the picture of the cardboard box with the top 2 mags showing, the auction house added the other scans, and WBN # 32 lurked no longer. I was the only bidder in the room and another bid or two would have sent me home empty handed. I hoped against hope that no-one else had inspected the contents, but obviously a rival had got his fingers dusty.

Thank you. I should have put in a bit higher bid for the Atom lots as well - the 3 Showcase were there. But I think the best value for money was the Flash bundle - No 123 was there, in tip top shape. All you have to do is win the lottery and you will scoop these up next time around. Keep risking your quid. It was indeed an original owner collection, spoke to him after the sale. First question obviously was 'have you got any more?', alas the response was in the negative. Oh, and they had the cheek to charge a fiver for the catalogue, most of which was Meccano and Dinky toys, etc. Room was full of sad old codgers trying to recapture their childhood, not a bit like us, eh? At least viewing and bidding was live. Fed up of not being able to see the stuff up close. It has been a long, long time since i saw such quality stuff in such condition. The publicity it will no doubt generate may tempt some coffin dodgers to cash in.

I invested in lots 591, 593, 594 and 596, setting me back some £2700. I would have like to have gone for the FF and Spiderman, as many would have upgraded my own copies, but the prices were a bit over my budget. This auction house charges 17 and a half %Buyer's Premium (21% with VAT), not as bad as some. I met the vendor after the sale, and he was unaware of the dded Buyers' Premium, but he declared himself happy with the outcome. Total realised was roughly 40K, out of which he can expect 27K or so, but, as usual, the auctioneers did not rush to bring the 2 commissions they charge to the attention of the vendor, preferring to tuck it away in the small print.

Another anomaly in distribution dates was that Amazing Adventures # 6 arrived before # 5. At that time, the cover date on the latest available DCs was 3 months or so behind real-world time, and the Atlas/Marvel titles roughly kept pace with the calendar. On browsing in my local papershop in late September 1961, I unearthed Amazing Adventures # 6, dated November, a situation I had not come across before. I pointed this out to the newsagent, but for some unaccountable reason he did not consider the matter worthy of further investigation. Issue # 5 arrived at a nearby shop about 3 weeks later, in line with expectations, and order was restored to the Universe.

Just returned from this auction: https://www.hartleysauctions.co.uk/sales/toy-collectors-sales/ag031020/view-lot/611/ Many early pence copies, great shape, but great prices too. FF 1 and Spiderman 1 both fetched 5 figures.

Possibly T & P were caught on the hop, not having received anything from Atlas before. Anyway, I do remember seeing Suspense 9 several times at secondhand outlets during the early to mid 1960s. It was, if anything, more frequently found than Suspense 10. The first few months of Atlas importation were very sketchy, though, and the quantities available did not increase until the summer of 1961, but they were still scarce compared with DC. The Superman and Batman titles swamped everything else, but a few of the mystery titles were very difficult to find, you had to be quick. My local newsagent did not receive copies of every title, just a random selection, so I had to comb the whole area to fill the gaps, and even then had to rely on street markets and secondhand dealers, plus swapping with other kids, to build up a decent collection.

The Buyer's Premium charged by the auction houses is a long-running scandal. Excalibur add 31% to the hammer price, but the vendor gets not a penny of it, and also pays Excalibur 20% of the hammer price. So, the buyer has paid a total of £17,030 for the AF 15. The vendor receives £10.400, and Excalibur pocket £6,630. Nice work for an outlay of zero, they take no risk at all. Another disturbing facet is that the auction houses try to conceal the additional commission they take from the vendor, by referring to the hammer price as though it were the total sale price, which it clearly is not. Many items are consigned to auction following bereavements, when the vendors are at their most vulnerable, especially if they are elderly. There are a few honourable firms who charge no Buyers Premium, or only a reasonable amount, but these are becoming few and far between, and the industry norm is now about 30%. If they were honest, the auctioneers would inform their their vendors that they charge 2 commissions, and that the vendor should expect only about 55-60% of the total amount paid by the buyer. Not holding my breath, though.

Astonish # 9 and Suspense # 9., were definitely available in England. I was not collecting early enough to find them on the newsstands, but I had copies of both, and so did a few other local collectors. I still have the copy of Suspense 9 that i bought in the summer of 1967 from JM Heal of Weston-super-Mare. This was before any large scale purchases by UK collectors from US sources. His copies were signed in the top margin of the back cover and I still have many of them. During the mid 1960s I came across both of them more than once, although they were definitely scarce, but then, so were all the 1960 Atlas issues. A couple of stray issues could turn up anywhere, but the May 1960 Astonish and Suspense were about in the sort of quantities that the corresponding no. 10s were, so i am sure that they would have been available at the newsagents at the time. How about this for a hypothesis... these 2 issues were shipped before it was realised that the customer (T & P) wanted a UK price printing, or maybe it was already too late to alter the printing plates for the cover (the covers were printed in advance of the interior, remember). This was then corrected the following month, by which time the May JIM was also ready and went on sale alongside the June issues. Suspense 11 never turned up, though, nor Astonish 12 and 13, either pence or cents, but I do have JM Heal's copy of Suspense 12, also purchased in 1967. It is inevitably a cents cover. Any copies of this issue which reached these shores must have been few and far between, and unlikely to have been part of any official distribution, as it as not until I attended Phil Seuling's July Comic Convention 1n 1974 that I was able to fill the late 1960 gaps.

One thing I have not yet noticed within these hallowed pages is that early in the run of UK distributed Atlas titles, Journey Into Mystery lagged a month behind Astonish, Suspense and Strange Tales. The first one I bought was JIM # 68, cover dated May 1961, and I purchased along with it, in my local newsagents, Astonish # 20, Suspense # 18 and Strange Tales # 85, all dated June 1961. This pattern continued until at least the end of 1961, with the JIM cover date always a month behind. So it is possible that JIM # 58 was shipped along with the June 1960 issues, having literally missed the boat which carried Astonish # 9 and Suspense # 9., both of which were distributed in the UK, but only in cents versions. I paid no heed to westerns at the time, but it is possible that Gunsmoke Western was also printed too late to go with the May issues, and was shipped along with those of June. Anyone else buying in 1960 and 1961 notice the anomaly with JIM?