British Pence Variants

[OveraboundingMint]

I saw this from MHC website:

 

 

and was thinking whether this is just merely the British pence issue or is actually as MHC claimed, a British Pence Variant. Could someone confirm on this??

[batmiesta]

Looks to me like a normal British pence copy.

[Spider-Variant]

The growing trend is to call anything with a foreign price a variant. So, when someone lists a pence variant, they are more likely referring to a British edition which happens to have a pence price.

 

Not sure there are many true foreign variants (books that there would be two foreign editions, the regular and the variant), there was a weird pence Hulk #1 on here a few years back, but can't remember the outcome. Don't think it was a foreign variant.

[Ken Aldred]

I saw this from MHC website:

 

 

and was thinking whether this is just merely the British pence issue or is actually as MHC claimed, a British Pence Variant. Could someone confirm on this??

 

I've noticed a lot of these on the website.

 

Just the standard pence copies distributed to the UK, nothing special about them at all, and no reason they should be at double the price of the US version.

[Comicopolis]

I saw this from MHC website:

 

 

and was thinking whether this is just merely the British pence issue or is actually as MHC claimed, a British Pence Variant. Could someone confirm on this??

 

I've noticed a lot of these on the website.

 

Just the standard pence copies distributed to the UK, nothing special about them at all, and no reason they should be at double the price of the US version.

 

Of course they should

[Ken Aldred]

(thumbs u

 

I prefer cent copies, but there are many British collectors who aren't that bothered.

 

I think maybe parity rather than double. Printed at the same time as the US copies, the interiors are exactly the same, no difference apart from the pence / sterling price and the All-Colour Comics banner on the cover.

[comics_ross]

There was a theme about this topic a few weeks ago.

 

You can find some very usefull info here:

http://stlcomics.com/columns/maneevent/I/

[Spider-Variant]

(thumbs u

 

I prefer cent copies, but there are many British collectors who aren't that bothered.

 

I think maybe parity rather than double. Printed at the same time as the US copies, the interiors are exactly the same, no difference apart from the pence / sterling price and the All-Colour Comics banner on the cover.

 

Yes, but the OP's original question was: Is this a variant of the issue you describe above? ie Is there something special/different about this copy that is not like every other book that came down the production process with a pence price on it.

 

The answer so far is "no" and Mile High is following the same nomenclature for this book that 95% of the selling world does: Pence Copy = Foreign Variant. Which IMHO, it not a variant.

 

But alas, I don't make the rules.

[OveraboundingMint]

Thanks everyone for all the replies to verify this. Apparently, people would come to assume this as a variant because of the yellow star but then the 9p is pretty much the standard fare, so unless there are copies of similar 9p in a circular white or other coloured price box, then we can assume this being a variant.

 

Still, i would prefer the much rarer pence issue over the cents, because for one, the print run is only a small percentage of the main, another, being that the design looks great on most of the issues printed in the 70s, making many of the bronze pence issues very artistically more superior to the cents versions. And besides we wouldn't want a copy with a logo that says " still only 25 cents" or something like that.

 

Anyway, I do remember buying a pence issue of the aforementioned issue in the mid 70s during my early childhood, still remember the "marvel all colour comics" label but have no idea how it was disposed or whether it was exactly the same as the scan shown above. I would love to own all the Marvel 70s-1982 pence issues in addition to the easily available non-variant editions.

 

 

 

[OveraboundingMint]

 

I was looking at another site (mycomicshop.com) and see that what was discussed holds true:

 

 

 

[ShieldAgent]

[Ken Aldred]

Still, i would prefer the much rarer pence issue over the cents, because for one, the print run is only a small percentage of the main, another, being that the design looks great on most of the issues printed in the 70s, making many of the bronze pence issues very artistically more superior to the cents versions. And besides we wouldn't want a copy with a logo that says " still only 25 cents" or something like that.

I've always preferred cent copies and their banner design, my thought process being that I'm collecting American books and so it just seems more logical and appropriate to own them priced and looking that way. Maybe partly because I'm British, a pence copy feels a bit ordinary and lacks the sense of mystique I've associated with the US version, ever since I first saw an example as a kid back in the 70s.

[OveraboundingMint]

When i was very young, i used to think the banner "Marvel Comics Group" looks classy, but as i grew older, all the other artistic considerations and the nolstagia behind the pence issues made me feel otherwise now, though some titles look better with the 'all color' banner while others with the 'group' ones.

[nmtg9]

Whereas I am the opposite.

 

I grew up with pence editions and I prefer them now. I know they will never be as collectible as the cents copies but I don't collect for that.

 

Chuckie is just being clever here - there are no pence variants. There are pence editions - as said earlier - printed on the same presses at the same time. The word variant is used by MHC to make people think they are something they are not.

 

A variant is issued by the publisher to encourage multiple purchases and changes are made to the cover in terms of artwork etc.

 

Pence copies do not fit into this category. (In the same way as different US price editions don't). (thumbs u

[OveraboundingMint]

 

Not the commercialized non-lasting short-term cover 'variants' as we have it from the 90s onwards, but rather true collectible 'variants' in the design labels.

[nmtg9]

If you are looking for pence copies contact UK based dealers like FT. They cost less than cents copies generally so you don't pay the premium MHC charge.

[ShieldAgent]

Whereas I am the opposite.

 

I grew up with pence editions and I prefer them now. I know they will never be as collectible as the cents copies but I don't collect for that.

 

Chuckie is just being clever here - there are no pence variants. There are pence editions - as said earlier - printed on the same presses at the same time. The word variant is used by MHC to make people think they are something they are not.

 

A variant is issued by the publisher to encourage multiple purchases and changes are made to the cover in terms of artwork etc.

 

Pence copies do not fit into this category. (In the same way as different US price editions don't). (thumbs u

 

[ShieldAgent]

 

Not the commercialized non-lasting short-term cover 'variants' as we have it from the 90s onwards, but rather true collectible 'variants' in the design labels.

 

 

How special the UK must feel that they were shipped only "variants".

 

 

[Dr. Balls]

In case this wasn't already covered in this thread - Conan 61 is one of the Marvel 30¢ variants - did they test out new pricing in the UK as well?

 

The US version of the 30¢ variant is a starburst in the corner (like the UK one):

 

And here's the regular one:

 

I am fairly sure that even the pence versions had the normal-looking price area, and not the pasted-in-pricing-in-the-starburst-look on their books.

 

[nmtg9]

Interesting notion.

 

I can't imagine they bothered with different prices for UK editions (this was the 70's when Marvel UK was being pushed ahead of the original issues and ASM wasnt sent over here for about 6/7 years).

 

There will be other collectors who would know more than me but in all the years I have loved comics I've never seen the same comic with 2 UK prices on.

 

Neil