UK Version of Comics - more/less desirable?

[KilbaneMills]

No matter what the case SHOULD be the fact remains that UK editions are worth half to three quarters what US editions do. If you don't agree I'd happily trade you UK editions for US editions straight up.

 

Will they be in the same grade?

Hey Brian, you're still collecting the pences then?

 

Hi. I still buy them now and then. I basically just buy art now. When I sell my comics I sell the U.S counterpart and keep the pence copy for my collection. They are much harder to find in grade and I find the color strike tends to be better (deeper /richer colors) than those of the U.S. copies.

Yeah, the theory is that the pence copies may have been printed first and so often had stringer inks than the cents. Don't know if it's true but your experience seems to back that up.

 

So, if I may summarize:

 

1) The pence versions are currently valued at up to around 60-80% (depending on issue and condition of course) of its US counterpart

 

2) Among the general collecting public (excluding variant and foreign focused collectors), the US versions are considered to be "the real deal", while the pence versions are regarded (rightly or wrongly so) to be some sort of "variant"

 

3) Both "versions" of the comic are printed in the US, specifically geared at the relevant market. The only difference (in terms of content / appearance) is the price label

 

4) While not confirmed, it may be, that the pence versions are printed prior to the cents version. What seems to be confirmed, is that the printing of pence versions look sharper

 

5) The pence version is definitely scarcer, expecially in high grades

 

Now, realizing that this is a tough, and probably volatile subject, do you guys think, that in time the value of the pence copies will match, or even surpass, its US counterpart?

 

Personally, I feel that this should be the case. Here's why:

 

- In an age of slabbing, I feel that the scarcity of back issue comics is diminishing. Aside from issues which have not been submitted for any given reason, the issues which have been graded, will in effect always be preserved in the current condition.

 

- I feel the market is in a position, where most of the collectors looking for issues they are willing to pay a premium for, will already have acquired them. So they might be looking for something "new" to collect

 

- Obviously the lower print run of the pence versions

 

- I have a few keys in pence, so I hope that they will rise in value

 

 

What do you think?

 

[gaz973]

No matter what the case SHOULD be the fact remains that UK editions are worth half to three quarters what US editions do. If you don't agree I'd happily trade you UK editions for US editions straight up.

 

Will they be in the same grade?

Hey Brian, you're still collecting the pences then?

 

Hi. I still buy them now and then. I basically just buy art now. When I sell my comics I sell the U.S counterpart and keep the pence copy for my collection. They are much harder to find in grade and I find the color strike tends to be better (deeper /richer colors) than those of the U.S. copies.

Yeah, the theory is that the pence copies may have been printed first and so often had stringer inks than the cents. Don't know if it's true but your experience seems to back that up.

 

So, if I may summarize:

 

1) The pence versions are currently valued at up to around 60-80% (depending on issue and condition of course) of its US counterpart

 

2) Among the general collecting public (excluding variant and foreign focused collectors), the US versions are considered to be "the real deal", while the pence versions are regarded (rightly or wrongly so) to be some sort of "variant"

 

3) Both "versions" of the comic are printed in the US, specifically geared at the relevant market. The only difference (in terms of content / appearance) is the price label

 

4) While not confirmed, it may be, that the pence versions are printed prior to the cents version. What seems to be confirmed, is that the printing of pence versions look sharper

 

5) The pence version is definitely scarcer, expecially in high grades

 

Now, realizing that this is a tough, and probably volatile subject, do you guys think, that in time the value of the pence copies will match, or even surpass, its US counterpart?

 

Personally, I feel that this should be the case. Here's why:

 

- In an age of slabbing, I feel that the scarcity of back issue comics is diminishing. Aside from issues which have not been submitted for any given reason, the issues which have been graded, will in effect always be preserved in the current condition.

 

- I feel the market is in a position, where most of the collectors looking for issues they are willing to pay a premium for, will already have acquired them. So they might be looking for something "new" to collect

 

- Obviously the lower print run of the pence versions

 

- I have a few keys in pence, so I hope that they will rise in value

 

 

What do you think?

 

1) In my opinion, that is pretty accurate.

 

2) I think that more collectors are aware of the true nature of pence copies but I'm sure that there are a lot who still are under the impression that they are reprints or something.

 

3) Yes, both versions were printed in the US for the relevant market. Apart from the obvious difference in the price on the cover. The UK versions of Marvel pence copies had "Marvel All-Colour Comics" on the header at the top of the cover instead of "Marvel Comics Group" as the cetns versions had.

 

4) Yes there has been considerable debate about the oence copies having been printed first which has not been confirmed. It isn't a confirmed fact that pence copies look sharper but it is a trend in the opinions of some (including myself) that they often though certainly not always seem to have sharper and deeper colours than cents copies.

 

5) Yes, pence copies are far scarcer, especially in high grade. This is not just because of the far lower print runs but also because the UK was behind the US on developing a "collecting mentality" toward comics so the UK versions have in many cases not been looked after as well as their cents counterparts which was further compounded by them being seen as less valuable.

 

I'm hopeful that pence copies will keep on their upward trend in desirability and keep on catching up in value but I doubt they will ever catch up to the full value of cents copies. While there are more collectors who are interested in collecting rarer versions, the majority are happy to collect the one that they are familiar with and prefer the uniformity of having all of the same version.

[Waylander]

No matter what the case SHOULD be the fact remains that UK editions are worth half to three quarters what US editions do. If you don't agree I'd happily trade you UK editions for US editions straight up.

 

Will they be in the same grade?

Hey Brian, you're still collecting the pences then?

 

Hi. I still buy them now and then. I basically just buy art now. When I sell my comics I sell the U.S counterpart and keep the pence copy for my collection. They are much harder to find in grade and I find the color strike tends to be better (deeper /richer colors) than those of the U.S. copies.

Yeah, the theory is that the pence copies may have been printed first and so often had stringer inks than the cents. Don't know if it's true but your experience seems to back that up.

 

So, if I may summarize:

 

1) The pence versions are currently valued at up to around 60-80% (depending on issue and condition of course) of its US counterpart

 

2) Among the general collecting public (excluding variant and foreign focused collectors), the US versions are considered to be "the real deal", while the pence versions are regarded (rightly or wrongly so) to be some sort of "variant"

 

3) Both "versions" of the comic are printed in the US, specifically geared at the relevant market. The only difference (in terms of content / appearance) is the price label

 

4) While not confirmed, it may be, that the pence versions are printed prior to the cents version. What seems to be confirmed, is that the printing of pence versions look sharper

 

5) The pence version is definitely scarcer, expecially in high grades

 

Now, realizing that this is a tough, and probably volatile subject, do you guys think, that in time the value of the pence copies will match, or even surpass, its US counterpart?

 

Personally, I feel that this should be the case. Here's why:

 

- In an age of slabbing, I feel that the scarcity of back issue comics is diminishing. Aside from issues which have not been submitted for any given reason, the issues which have been graded, will in effect always be preserved in the current condition.

 

- I feel the market is in a position, where most of the collectors looking for issues they are willing to pay a premium for, will already have acquired them. So they might be looking for something "new" to collect

 

- Obviously the lower print run of the pence versions

 

- I have a few keys in pence, so I hope that they will rise in value

 

 

What do you think?

 

1) In my opinion, that is pretty accurate.

 

2) I think that more collectors are aware of the true nature of pence copies but I'm sure that there are a lot who still are under the impression that they are reprints or something.

 

3) Yes, both versions were printed in the US for the relevant market. Apart from the obvious difference in the price on the cover. The UK versions of Marvel pence copies had "Marvel All-Colour Comics" on the header at the top of the cover instead of "Marvel Comics Group" as the cetns versions had.

 

4) Yes there has been considerable debate about the oence copies having been printed first which has not been confirmed. It isn't a confirmed fact that pence copies look sharper but it is a trend in the opinions of some (including myself) that they often though certainly not always seem to have sharper and deeper colours than cents copies.

 

5) Yes, pence copies are far scarcer, especially in high grade. This is not just because of the far lower print runs but also because the UK was behind the US on developing a "collecting mentality" toward comics so the UK versions have in many cases not been looked after as well as their cents counterparts which was further compounded by them being seen as less valuable.

 

I'm hopeful that pence copies will keep on their upward trend in desirability and keep on catching up in value but I doubt they will ever catch up to the full value of cents copies. While there are more collectors who are interested in collecting rarer versions, the majority are happy to collect the one that they are familiar with and prefer the uniformity of having all of the same version.

 

Concerning point 5, the method of shipping the comics ot the UK ( see as ship ballast) was one of the reasons there a few high grade pence copies.

[gaz973]

No matter what the case SHOULD be the fact remains that UK editions are worth half to three quarters what US editions do. If you don't agree I'd happily trade you UK editions for US editions straight up.

 

Will they be in the same grade?

Hey Brian, you're still collecting the pences then?

 

Hi. I still buy them now and then. I basically just buy art now. When I sell my comics I sell the U.S counterpart and keep the pence copy for my collection. They are much harder to find in grade and I find the color strike tends to be better (deeper /richer colors) than those of the U.S. copies.

Yeah, the theory is that the pence copies may have been printed first and so often had stringer inks than the cents. Don't know if it's true but your experience seems to back that up.

 

So, if I may summarize:

 

1) The pence versions are currently valued at up to around 60-80% (depending on issue and condition of course) of its US counterpart

 

2) Among the general collecting public (excluding variant and foreign focused collectors), the US versions are considered to be "the real deal", while the pence versions are regarded (rightly or wrongly so) to be some sort of "variant"

 

3) Both "versions" of the comic are printed in the US, specifically geared at the relevant market. The only difference (in terms of content / appearance) is the price label

 

4) While not confirmed, it may be, that the pence versions are printed prior to the cents version. What seems to be confirmed, is that the printing of pence versions look sharper

 

5) The pence version is definitely scarcer, expecially in high grades

 

Now, realizing that this is a tough, and probably volatile subject, do you guys think, that in time the value of the pence copies will match, or even surpass, its US counterpart?

 

Personally, I feel that this should be the case. Here's why:

 

- In an age of slabbing, I feel that the scarcity of back issue comics is diminishing. Aside from issues which have not been submitted for any given reason, the issues which have been graded, will in effect always be preserved in the current condition.

 

- I feel the market is in a position, where most of the collectors looking for issues they are willing to pay a premium for, will already have acquired them. So they might be looking for something "new" to collect

 

- Obviously the lower print run of the pence versions

 

- I have a few keys in pence, so I hope that they will rise in value

 

 

What do you think?

 

1) In my opinion, that is pretty accurate.

 

2) I think that more collectors are aware of the true nature of pence copies but I'm sure that there are a lot who still are under the impression that they are reprints or something.

 

3) Yes, both versions were printed in the US for the relevant market. Apart from the obvious difference in the price on the cover. The UK versions of Marvel pence copies had "Marvel All-Colour Comics" on the header at the top of the cover instead of "Marvel Comics Group" as the cetns versions had.

 

4) Yes there has been considerable debate about the oence copies having been printed first which has not been confirmed. It isn't a confirmed fact that pence copies look sharper but it is a trend in the opinions of some (including myself) that they often though certainly not always seem to have sharper and deeper colours than cents copies.

 

5) Yes, pence copies are far scarcer, especially in high grade. This is not just because of the far lower print runs but also because the UK was behind the US on developing a "collecting mentality" toward comics so the UK versions have in many cases not been looked after as well as their cents counterparts which was further compounded by them being seen as less valuable.

 

I'm hopeful that pence copies will keep on their upward trend in desirability and keep on catching up in value but I doubt they will ever catch up to the full value of cents copies. While there are more collectors who are interested in collecting rarer versions, the majority are happy to collect the one that they are familiar with and prefer the uniformity of having all of the same version.

 

Concerning point 5, the method of shipping the comics ot the UK ( see as ship ballast) was one of the reasons there a few high grade pence copies.

(thumbs u

[r100comics]

 

I was looking through some old UK dealer catalogues from the late 90's and every book listed was a Pence copy by default and it was easier to indicate when a copy was Cents (and price them higher).

 

Being in the UK, I was only ever looking for Cents copies which I considered to be the "authentic" ones.

 

I've always thought the Pence copies were worth around a third to a half of the Cents copies but understand they are collected in the U.S. now which is pushing their value up a little. They'll never have parity though imo.

[rjpb]

It's entirely possible that a particular Marvel Key pence copy in a particular grade could sell for above cents copy GPA at auction, due to relative scarcity of the book in grade, as all it would take is two buyers willing to pay a premium for a book they've been chasing. I don't see it happening across the board though.

 

I can also see where pence copies of low/midgrade SA non-keys might sell at times for more than their U.S. counterparts, the kind of books that sell for $5 - $20 everyday on ebay. A pence enthusiast might pay more just to pick up a copy, as the premium wouldn't be very significant in terms of real dollars.

[Key_Avenger]

It's entirely possible that a particular Marvel Key pence copy in a particular grade could sell for above cents copy GPA at auction, due to relative scarcity of the book in grade, as all it would take is two buyers willing to pay a premium for a book they've been chasing. I don't see it happening across the board though.

 

I can also see where pence copies of low/midgrade SA non-keys might sell at times for more than their U.S. counterparts, the kind of books that sell for $5 - $20 everyday on ebay. A pence enthusiast might pay more just to pick up a copy, as the premium wouldn't be very significant in terms of real dollars.

 

 

Completely agree...I am a focused pence collector, I will pay cents price for an avengers 1 cgc 8.0 in pence for example because their are just so few key silver age marvels in pence in cgc 8.0 or above. If anyone has any for sale please pm me

[thunsicker]

I have no doubt that there are people willing to pay cents price for pence versions of comics. But the fact remains that they don't have to. Let's take the Avengers 1 mentioned above. There have been four sales of pence copies of Avengers #1 in 6.0 or above in GPA. They went for 85%, 74%, 76% and 52% of what similarly graded examples in cents went for. Look at other comics and you will see the same thing.

 

That said the margin between the two does seem to be narrowing...

[Eggman]

I love pence copies. It's fun looking for them (which can be very hard), they're much rarer, satisfies the itch for something new, and IMHO has an appreciation in price potential.

 

Some dealers on the board might remember me as I'm always asking when I go to a convention for them.

 

With that said, I think some folks are a little skewed. To wit:

 

Fantastic Four #3 CGC

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FANTASTIC-FOUR-3-CGC-4-0-1ST-COSTUMES-U-K-EDITION-/121352634518?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=pERrlcc1o6pgvPym7wt4ZESnEOw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

I met this dealer at a CA convention recently. Great display rack. He said they put a premium because of their rarity. 20-25%? I should have asked them if the purchase pence books with a similar high premium for the same reason....

 

Stange Tales #101 CGC

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321424763377?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

I chatted with the guy via email. Nice dude. His pricing is way out of whack IMHO, though. Around 75%? He cited rarity as well.

 

(Dislosure: I really want that FF#3 to match my #2 and #4 pence CGC copies).

 

- Eggman

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

Pence copies are dumb and stinky.

 

Who wants all those extraneous Us being tossed around and whatnot?

 

And whoever heard of a price called "1 slash dash??" What the hell is that??

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

game set match, and i am out, enjoy dodging, and out of context troll attempts, no real answer or debate.

 

Good grief, are you for real?

 

Yes, unfortunately.

 

Anyone who disagrees with CBT is "trolling" him, though he certainly maintains the right to disagree with everyone else.

[Whizzer]

From the perspective of a UK collector, I think it's worth mentioning the effect that the Internet had on this subject.

 

Collecting US comics in the UK during the 70's and early 80's was a labour of love, (with emphasis on the labour). It was very difficult to purchase consecutive issues or build runs. A stack of books would mysteriously appear at the local newsagents shop at random intervals and it was generally pot luck as to what would be in there, so I would buy as many books as my meager pocket money would allow. This meant my fledgling collection was made up of random copies of Marvel's DC's and Charlton's.

 

I was aware that there was a difference between cents and pence copies but I really didn't care at the time. I was just happy to have even restricted access to this stuff.

 

As another boardie has said, the few UK mail order dealers stocked mainly pence copies so it wasn't really an option to even buy back issue cents copies and I certainly wasn't going to risk sending off to a US dealer using an already out of date stock list and waiting 6 weeks for delivery.

 

But come the Internet and suddenly a computer and credit card gave you full, real time access to US dealer inventories. That was the moment IMHO that pence copies became less desirable to UK collectors. Or should that be 2p?

[gaz973]

Pence copies are dumb and stinky.

 

Who wants all those extraneous Us being tossed around and whatnot?

 

And whoever heard of a price called "1 slash dash??" What the hell is that??

 

Yo mama's dumb and stinky.

[gaz973]

game set match, and i am out, enjoy dodging, and out of context troll attempts, no real answer or debate.

 

Good grief, are you for real?

 

Yes, unfortunately.

 

Anyone who disagrees with CBT is "trolling" him, though he certainly maintains the right to disagree with everyone else.

I felt my brain cells committing suicide as I tried reasoning with him.

[gaz973]

From the perspective of a UK collector, I think it's worth mentioning the effect that the Internet had on this subject.

 

Collecting US comics in the UK during the 70's and early 80's was a labour of love, (with emphasis on the labour). It was very difficult to purchase consecutive issues or build runs. A stack of books would mysteriously appear at the local newsagents shop at random intervals and it was generally pot luck as to what would be in there, so I would buy as many books as my meager pocket money would allow. This meant my fledgling collection was made up of random copies of Marvel's DC's and Charlton's.

 

I was aware that there was a difference between cents and pence copies but I really didn't care at the time. I was just happy to have even restricted access to this stuff.

 

As another boardie has said, the few UK mail order dealers stocked mainly pence copies so it wasn't really an option to even buy back issue cents copies and I certainly wasn't going to risk sending off to a US dealer using an already out of date stock list and waiting 6 weeks for delivery.

 

But come the Internet and suddenly a computer and credit card gave you full, real time access to US dealer inventories. That was the moment IMHO that pence copies became less desirable to UK collectors. Or should that be 2p?

That is a very good point, Phil. Cents copies in the UK were quite few and far between pre-Internet.

[Silver Surfer]

I almost bought that ST this morning but went with some other issues.

[porcupine48]

I almost bought that ST this morning but went with some other issues.

Was wondering when I'd see you here Peter!

(and the other issues are great,but you should have gotten the ST as well )

[Ken Aldred]

 

... and have your buddies agree with you, all while not actually discussing the point.

 

Hardly collusion. Quite a few of us here bought these books from UK newsagents in the 70s - much the same experiences, same insights, developed independently.

[Tony S]

This question of "are pence copies worth the same as US editions?" always reminds me of the question "are men naturally monogamous?".

 

The short answer to both questions is NO. But with both, the direct question isn't the REAL question. The REAL question is being asked - whether it's by a woman about the sexuality of men to some self help columnist or about pence editions of comics by some collector on the boards - is "shouldn't they be?"

 

The best answer to the man question I've heard was by Marilyn Vos Savant - the columnist that writes "Ask Marilyn" a column in the Parade magazine.For any UK members, the Parade is a popular weekly Sunday newspaper supplement in the USA. Marilyn said "Probably not, but that doesn't mean they cannot or should not try", She in one sentence answered both the direct and the unstated question.

 

Pence copies do not routinely sell for as much money as the US editions. Never have. The British and Irish collectors that are on my mailing list prefer US editions. That said, in my own personal observation pence editions have slowly gained in acceptance. In the 1980's imo they sold for around 1/2 of US editions. As others have noted, they now often times bring 2/3.

 

The dealers on flea bay that market their pence editions as rarer and more valuable are just trying to make a big score. Perhaps someday in the future pence editions will attain price parity with US editions, IDK. But that day is not here now, nor does it look to be just around the corner.

 

 

[quicksilver]

That is a very good point, Phil. Cents copies in the UK were quite few and far between pre-Internet.

I remember the thrill of finding cents Defenders issue on a market stall in the seventies.

 

Darryl of silver acre once asked me why I made a distinction between cents and pence as he didn't - simply because customers wanted to know I said.