Pence Variants

[Kevin.J]

It's a really low quality scan I found online. It's also a cropped scan. There also appears to be an indentation of the top staple. The nice thing about the UK variants is they don't exhibit Marvel chipping like their US counterparts. All said, I would say mid-grade which is quite good given their scarcity, but hard to know for sure without seeing a higher quality, clearer scan and all the outer edges.

 

Ah, I thought it was yours.

Some Pence issues still have the chipping, heres my FF #1, chipping and all.

 

[Kevin.J]

Heres my TOS #39

 

[pemart1966]

This is obviously a reprint. It has a black and white interior. I assume that the original Tales of Suspense #39 came out when the american version did? This one was printed (I believe) in 1965? Can anyone tell me about the cover price, and what is the american equilavent in price?

 

 

Like all SA keys, the UK variant of TOS 39 came out at least a month before their US counterpart.

 

A question: the CGC label on the pence FF1 says 11/61 so how does one know that it came out at least a month before the North American version?

 

When you say "came out" do you mean physically on the stands or cover date?

[comicwiz]

This is obviously a reprint. It has a black and white interior. I assume that the original Tales of Suspense #39 came out when the american version did? This one was printed (I believe) in 1965? Can anyone tell me about the cover price, and what is the american equilavent in price?

 

 

Like all SA keys, the UK variant of TOS 39 came out at least a month before their US counterpart.

 

A question: the CGC label on the pence FF1 says 11/61 so how does one know that it came out at least a month before the North American version?

 

When you say "came out" do you mean physically on the stands or cover date?

 

That's the same date for the US edition. If you missed it a few pages ago, this post distills it rather well. The other indicator we have to confirm what is already known about the way these were produced is they have no month included beneath the issue number box. Distribution via ocean voyage wasn't always a reliable method to ensure the comics were on the newsstands for the month they were intended by the publisher, so removing the month allowed them to cycle the book within the intended timeframe if the books arrived on time, and perhaps keep them on the stands longer without the perception problem of consumers treating them like yesterdays news.

[Still Only 35c]

From what I've read they were printed at the same time as the U.S. copies on the same presses. Just one of the plates was changed to accommodate the UK price. Bronze Marvels say. "Marvel All Colour Comics" instead of "Marvel Comics Group" at the top, so two plates had to be changed for those. Estimates are that 10% of the print run went for UK editions. So actually they are rarer. Basically a 1 in 10 variant, but that fact is not usually reflected in collector's minds. I like 'em though. Especially if you can find minty copies.

 

Pence copies are part of the first print run but I tend not to collect them, even though they were the distributed, newsstand comics which were available to me as a kid.

 

I'm primarily a BA specialist and simply prefer the look of the 'Marvel Comics Group' banner a lot more than 'Marvel All-Colour Comics' - that's all.

 

So pleased to have stumbled across this thread as I was wondering what the difference between the US and UK editions was. I was particularly interested (and pleased) these issues were from the first print run and essentially variants, similar in availability to something like the 35c price variants (and we all now what happened with them).

 

I recently bought a couple of UK edition Claremont/Byrne X-Men (129 and 133 - see below) off ebay and had them graded, not realising the difference. After reading this thread I went back to look at the census and I was very pleased to find they are both the highest graded UK editions for each issue; 129 only having one other at 6.0 and my 133 being the only UK edition graded. Given the information above about the limited print runs I'm not surprised.

 

I was planning originally planning on selling them and replacing with US editions, but now I'll hold on to them as I tend to think once collectors understand these aren't reprints but actually variants, they may actually become more desirable (like the 35c price variants). They look neat as well.

 

 

[Kevin.J]

From what I've read they were printed at the same time as the U.S. copies on the same presses. Just one of the plates was changed to accommodate the UK price. Bronze Marvels say. "Marvel All Colour Comics" instead of "Marvel Comics Group" at the top, so two plates had to be changed for those. Estimates are that 10% of the print run went for UK editions. So actually they are rarer. Basically a 1 in 10 variant, but that fact is not usually reflected in collector's minds. I like 'em though. Especially if you can find minty copies.

 

Pence copies are part of the first print run but I tend not to collect them, even though they were the distributed, newsstand comics which were available to me as a kid.

 

I'm primarily a BA specialist and simply prefer the look of the 'Marvel Comics Group' banner a lot more than 'Marvel All-Colour Comics' - that's all.

 

So pleased to have stumbled across this thread as I was wondering what the difference between the US and UK editions was. I was particularly interested (and pleased) these issues were from the first print run and essentially variants, similar in availability to something like the 35c price variants (and we all now what happened with them).

 

I recently bought a couple of UK edition Claremont/Byrne X-Men (129 and 133 - see below) off ebay and had them graded, not realising the difference. After reading this thread I went back to look at the census and I was very pleased to find they are both the highest graded UK editions for each issue; 129 only having one other at 6.0 and my 133 being the only UK edition graded. Given the information above about the limited print runs I'm not surprised.

 

I was planning originally planning on selling them and replacing with US editions, but now I'll hold on to them as I tend to think once collectors understand these aren't reprints but actually variants, they may actually become more desirable (like the 35c price variants). They look neat as well.

 

 

 

Nice books

[pemart1966]

This is obviously a reprint. It has a black and white interior. I assume that the original Tales of Suspense #39 came out when the american version did? This one was printed (I believe) in 1965? Can anyone tell me about the cover price, and what is the american equilavent in price?

 

 

Like all SA keys, the UK variant of TOS 39 came out at least a month before their US counterpart.

 

A question: the CGC label on the pence FF1 says 11/61 so how does one know that it came out at least a month before the North American version?

 

When you say "came out" do you mean physically on the stands or cover date?

 

That's the same date for the US edition. If you missed it a few pages ago, this post distills it rather well. The other indicator we have to confirm what is already known about the way these were produced is they have no month included beneath the issue number box. Distribution via ocean voyage wasn't always a reliable method to ensure the comics were on the newsstands for the month they were intended by the publisher, so removing the month allowed them to cycle the book within the intended timeframe if the books arrived on time, and perhaps keep them on the stands longer without the perception problem of consumers treating them like yesterdays news.

 

OK - it must be me...I'm still not understanding conditionfreak's blanket statement that all UK SA Marvel keys appeared on the stands at least a month before their North American counterparts.

 

The 9P FF1 CGC label has 11/61 on it. That information didn't come from the cover (my mistake earlier when I referred to cover date) so the question then is "Did they take if from the bottom of pg 1 or did they assume that as the FF1 North American version has a November 1961 cover date then the UK version must also have the same date?"

 

 

Given conditionfreak's statement, is the CGC label for the FF1 UK version incorrect?

 

 

 

[quicksilver]

That's just an Alan Class reprint comic, not published by Marvel.

 

Weren't the Alan Class ones unlicensed as well Ken ?

I seem to remember hearing that they used to just copy the interior art into black & white, and, in later years, their printing equipment got so bad that some of the Charlton stuff they were re-doing was barely readable - I wonder if Marvel found out what they were doing with their stuff and slapped some kind of injunction on them after a while, cause most of the Marvel stuff was pretty early on in their lifespan I believe.

[comicwiz]

This is obviously a reprint. It has a black and white interior. I assume that the original Tales of Suspense #39 came out when the american version did? This one was printed (I believe) in 1965? Can anyone tell me about the cover price, and what is the american equilavent in price?

 

 

Like all SA keys, the UK variant of TOS 39 came out at least a month before their US counterpart.

 

A question: the CGC label on the pence FF1 says 11/61 so how does one know that it came out at least a month before the North American version?

 

When you say "came out" do you mean physically on the stands or cover date?

 

That's the same date for the US edition. If you missed it a few pages ago, this post distills it rather well. The other indicator we have to confirm what is already known about the way these were produced is they have no month included beneath the issue number box. Distribution via ocean voyage wasn't always a reliable method to ensure the comics were on the newsstands for the month they were intended by the publisher, so removing the month allowed them to cycle the book within the intended timeframe if the books arrived on time, and perhaps keep them on the stands longer without the perception problem of consumers treating them like yesterdays news.

 

OK - it must be me...I'm still not understanding conditionfreak's blanket statement that all UK SA Marvel keys appeared on the stands at least a month before their North American counterparts.

 

The 9P FF1 CGC label has 11/61 on it. That information didn't come from the cover (my mistake earlier when I referred to cover date) so the question then is "Did they take if from the bottom of pg 1 or did they assume that as the FF1 North American version has a November 1961 cover date then the UK version must also have the same date?"

 

 

Given conditionfreak's statement, is the CGC label for the FF1 UK version incorrect?

 

 

 

CGC mostly goes by "published" references, which doesn't always mean the information they put on the label is current or 100% accurate. They have done this for years with Underground Comix - they simply go by the indicia, or whatever reference information they have available to them, even though there are variances in the way certain comics were created or produced, and with more current information coming to light that disproves the month/year stated on the label. What we know for certain is the UK variants had at least a month lead time to their US counterpart for reasons pertaining to logistics and distribution.

[Kevin.J]

That's just an Alan Class reprint comic, not published by Marvel.

 

Weren't the Alan Class ones unlicensed as well Ken ?

I seem to remember hearing that they used to just copy the interior art into black & white, and, in later years, their printing equipment got so bad that some of the Charlton stuff they were re-doing was barely readable - I wonder if Marvel found out what they were doing with their stuff and slapped some kind of injunction on them after a while, cause most of the Marvel stuff was pretty early on in their lifespan I believe.

 

Thats correct, also sometimes these books had DC and Marvel strips in together.

There is a site what I cant remember what makes very interesting reading about some of the practices they employed.

I will have to have a mooch around on google and see if I can find it.

[Ken Aldred]

That's just an Alan Class reprint comic, not published by Marvel.

 

Weren't the Alan Class ones unlicensed as well Ken ?

I seem to remember hearing that they used to just copy the interior art into black & white, and, in later years, their printing equipment got so bad that some of the Charlton stuff they were re-doing was barely readable - I wonder if Marvel found out what they were doing with their stuff and slapped some kind of injunction on them after a while, cause most of the Marvel stuff was pretty early on in their lifespan I believe.

 

I only ever bought a few of them - too preoccupied with more important, quality stuff like DC 100 pagers at the time.

 

Don't really know anything about the background to them. Here's an article for you to read...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Class_Comics

[EwanUK]

"only Alan Class" !!!

 

How can anyone not love Alan Class comics...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EwanUK]

and guess what's in this little gem?

 

 

 

[EwanUK]

.... that's right, the first known reprint of Amazing Fantasy no.15 !

 

try finding this my friends!

 

[Kevin.J]

Its not that no one here likes them, its just that we are trying to educate the difference these and proper Pence copies of Marvel comics

 

[EwanUK]

and my pence copy pride and joy

 

[EwanUK]

the inside with indicia

 

 

BTW "Gareth" was presumably the child who originally owned (and read!) the comic. I was hoping to get one with "Ewan" written inside but haven't succeeded as yet.

 

[Kevin.J]

the inside with indicia

 

 

BTW "Gareth" was presumably the child who originally owned (and read!) the comic. I was hoping to get one with "Ewan" written inside but haven't succeeded as yet.

 

Thats what I am talking about brother

[quicksilver]

the inside with indicia

 

 

BTW "Gareth" was presumably the child who originally owned (and read!) the comic. I was hoping to get one with "Ewan" written inside but haven't succeeded as yet.

 

If you buy mine I'll write Ewan in it for you.

[Kevin.J]

the inside with indicia

 

 

BTW "Gareth" was presumably the child who originally owned (and read!) the comic. I was hoping to get one with "Ewan" written inside but haven't succeeded as yet.

 

If you buy mine I'll write Ewan in it for you.