Marvel UK Price Variants 16 16

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/6/2022 at 9:09 PM, Yorick said:

That seller wants serious moola for the hundreds of plates they pulled from the recycle bin.  I was looking through the inventory to see if there was anything I couldn't live without... nah.

everytime I think I've found something interesting for you to look at, you've already posted about it YEARS ago.

I know. I really need to get a life, Yorick. 

[paqart]

These just arrived from the UK. This was one of my favorite sets of comics when I was a kid in the 70's. Not sure my opinion is the same today but I still like this group.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/8/2022 at 1:16 AM, paqart said:

These just arrived from the UK. This was one of my favorite sets of comics when I was a kid in the 70's. Not sure my opinion is the same today but I still like this group.

Nice. You seem to be a recent convert to the pence copies, Paq. Have you noticed how the love of one type of variation eventually leads to another? You start with a newsstand, move on to a US price variant, then before you know it....

I think there are two types of comic collector. Those that love comics, but are indifferent to variations, and those that love comics but who are enchanted by variations. For some - the majority, I would say - they will love a comic whether it's a newsstand or direct. That aspect doesn't matter to them. Then there are the likes of us.

Anything different has always floated my boat. Newsstands, directs, MJIs - or other insert types - price variants, printing errors, double covers and so on. A second dimension of collecting fantasticness on top of an already fantastic starting point.

Yes, comics are fing fantastic, and differences, for me, are the icing on the cake.

[paqart]

On 12/8/2022 at 4:40 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Nice. You seem to be a recent convert to the pence copies, Paq. Have you noticed how the love of one type of variation eventually leads to another? You start with a newsstand, move on to a US price variant, then before you know it....

I think there are two types of comic collector. Those that love comics, but are indifferent to variations, and those that love comics but who are enchanted by variations. For some - the majority, I would say - they will love a comic whether it's a newsstand or direct. That aspect doesn't matter to them. Then there are the likes of us.

Anything different has always floated my boat. Newsstands, directs, MJIs - or other insert types - price variants, printing errors, double covers and so on. A second dimension of collecting fantasticness on top of an already fantastic starting point.

Yes, comics are fing fantastic, and differences, for me, are the icing on the cake.

I agree. My first "variant" that I know of in my collection was a first printing of the Berni Wrightson book "A Look Back". I don't have it any longer but as I recall, 45 copies were printed with a few missing pages and the rest of the run was normal. Also, I think it was signed and numbered but I forget the edition size. More recently, I started with newsstands because, after reading an article by Ben Nobel, I discovered that I owned only 2 newsstand edition comics, both from around 1990. I was so surprised that I had so few that I started looking for more.

I soon realized that newsstand editions were very difficult to locate. At first, I bought keys from the 80's and 90's, like the first McFarlane ASM issues, the first Gambit in X-Men (#266), and Teen Titans #2. However, although these issues were less common than their direct counterparts (usually 1:30 listings or so), I soon encountered the much rarer post 2000 newsstands. Those tended to be 1:100 if I could find them at all. Some, like Marvel's new launches of ASM, FF, and Hulk in 1999 were more like 1:50.

After whetting my appetite on those, I discovered your article about the 1999-2000 Marvel price variants. Those are very hard to find but very satisfying when found. I haven't got anywhere close to a full set but I am still looking.

I started getting Canadian price variants after realizing how much less common they are than US newsstands from the same era. Frankly, finding 80's and 90's keys was too easy to be fun until I switched gears to Canadians. 

I picked up a Daredevil at a flea market that had a Mark Jeweler's insert, the first in my collection. That got me curious about those, so I started seeking them out too. Like Canadians, finding a Jeweler's insert, though not easy, is extremely difficult to find in high grade. It is as if canadian and military comic book owners don't treat their comics very well on average, though there are some exceptions. I lucked out with a short run of 1979-1980 Avengers in high grade, all of which had Jeweler's inserts. One was the first Taskmaster on the cover issue.

UK editions took a little while to warm to. The first one I was offered was an old Atom at a convention in Connecticut. Instead, I bought a nice copy of Hulk #101. Now, I wish I'd gone for the Atom. The first one I bought was an Avengers #93, which led to getting the rest of the Kree-Skrull war in UK editions. Now that I know more about them, I hope to get UK editions for the bronze and silver age comics on my want list.

I also keep an eye out for Marvel's 30/35 cent variants and DC's Canadian priced issues. The 35 cent variants are pretty well known and very expensive on averge. For that reason, I've only got 30 cent variants so far.

One thing about all of the variants is that they are particularly difficult to find in high grade. For the most part, I won't buy anything printed after 1990 in less than an 8.0 grade, or less than 7.0 for anything back to about 1965 but I have been tempted to go lower on some occasions due to rarity (and actually broke the rule a couple of times for that reason, like on the newsstand Daredevil #111 or the $2.29 price variant of FF #24).

The fun is in the hunt but not just for the sake of rarity. To me, the keys are the "big game" and the rest are the parakeets. That said, I've gotten fixated on a couple of series after discovering how tough they are to fill. For newsstands, the one I most want a complete set of is Catwoman (2002) 1-84. I have about half of it but still haven't even seen newsstand editions of most of the run, including #1`and #3. For Canadians, I want the full Alan Moore Swamp Thing run (getting close on that). For UK Editions, I want the full UK set of Avengers, all the way back to #1 if I can afford it. I'm not even close to that yet but am working on it. I would also like a UK set of Captain Marvel and Warlock.

Attached is my favorite variant pair from my collection, the US and Canadian editions of Walt Disney's Vacation Parade #1, which features one of Carl Barks' better and longest story efforts. They aren't the most valuable comics I've picked up, but they have one of my all-time favorite stories and I rarely see GA Canadians like this.

Always appreciate your comments, thanks!

Edited December 9, 2022 by paqart

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/9/2022 at 4:33 AM, paqart said:

Always appreciate your comments, thanks!

You're welcome Paq. I like reading your posts too, as you're clearly a natural collector. Comics can be a personal thing, and I sometimes like to let them tell me their own story. Anyone can read a reference book, or Google someone else's work, but I like the people whose natural curiosity leads them here and there, and who aren't afraid to discuss and develop their understanding and interests as they go along. 

I took delivery of a parcel of old Charlton romance comics yesterday. They managed to answer a long standing UK distribution question for me, just through the composition and history of the issues. The smell, look and feel of them....there's nothing like it. It was the best couple of hours I've spent in a long time, scanning them, cataloguing them and giving them their own customised labels. Before I started, their existence had barely registered in the comic collecting community. Two more issues, and I pass 600 UK price variants. Most wouldn't understand - they're Charlton, after all - but I find them utterly enchanting and the hunt thrilling. 

Keep going my friend!

I did a write up on Charlton Canadian Price Variants for Ben, by the way - it's buried somewhere on that site of his, if you can find it 

[Still Only 35c]

On 12/9/2022 at 3:33 PM, paqart said:

For UK Editions, I want the full UK set of Avengers, all the way back to #1 if I can afford it. I'm not even close to that yet but am working on it. I would also like a UK set of Captain Marvel and Warlock.

A very warm welcome to the fold @paqart and the hunt for these very elusive variants of some of our favourite books. As I've mentioned on this thread previously, it's certainly high time these books get the recognition they deserve especially given how difficult it is to find UK price variants in high grade. Fortunately, I've been extremely lucky of late hunting down some of these books (even more so, given I'm live the other side of the world from my birth place) and have been sharing in the Hey buddy, can you spare a grade? part of the these very chat boards.

if you want yet another challenge, you should also look at the Australian price variants too, as they are another as yet undiscovered vein to tap into.

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by Every Day A Story
Added link

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/9/2022 at 11:14 AM, Every Day A Story said:

if you want yet another challenge, you should also look at the Australian price variants too

Never heard of them 

[WNY]

@Get Marwood & I been reading your stuff for a while. Was quite happy to get this SA key in pence! 
 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/9/2023 at 4:15 AM, WNY said:

@Get Marwood & I been reading your stuff for a while. Was quite happy to get this SA key in pence! 
 

 

Welcome to the thread, WNY 

That's a beautiful looking thing, isn't it.

I love the variety of those early, tiny 9ds buried in the massive original 10c price circles:

Why they couldn't have made them three times the size is anyone's guess. Maybe the typesetter hadn't upgraded his number kit 

Anyway, that's a cracking addition to your pence collection. Keep it going!

[OtherEric]

On 1/8/2023 at 11:34 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Welcome to the thread, WNY 

That's a beautiful looking thing, isn't it.

I love the variety of those early, tiny 9ds buried in the massive original 10c price circles:

Why they couldn't have made them three times the size is anyone's guess. Maybe the typesetter hadn't upgraded his number kit.

The only reason I can think of (other than laziness) is to make it clear at a glance which is which so they get sent the right place.  But if that was the case I would have expected something similar to continue, and it really didn't.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/9/2023 at 4:55 PM, OtherEric said:

The only reason I can think of (other than laziness) is to make it clear at a glance which is which so they get sent the right place.  But if that was the case I would have expected something similar to continue, and it really didn't.

I doubt they thought too much about it in those early days of pence related run interruptions.

"Got any of those 9d slugs left Dave?"

"Only this weirdy little one"

"That'll do"

[gadzukes]

On 1/9/2023 at 12:15 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

I doubt they thought too much about it in those early days of pence related run interruptions.

"Got any of those 9d slugs left Dave?"

"Only this weirdy little one"

"That'll do"

How cool would it be if the 9d slugs were the same size & font as the US font.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/9/2023 at 8:28 PM, gadzukes said:

How cool would it be if the 9d slugs were the same size & font as the US font.

Exactly. Massive sodding great nine dees is what we need. Someone get photoshopping!

Spoiler

 

 

[paqart]

Here is my latest UK pence edition, Avengers #100. This is the highest graded UK edition for this issue, the only one in this grade, and the next highest grade is 7.0.

 

[Yorick]

On 1/9/2023 at 12:37 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Massive sodding great nine dees is what we need.

Go big or go home! 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/22/2023 at 2:12 AM, Yorick said:

Go big or go home! 

Sorry Yozza, but I'm going to have to reprice that one 

Inflation, you see....

[paqart]

On 1/22/2023 at 5:00 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Sorry Yozza, but I'm going to have to reprice that one 

Inflation, you see....

Is this real or Photoshop?

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/23/2023 at 2:03 AM, paqart said:

Is this real or Photoshop?

 

[Qalyar]

Well, these aren't Silver Age, but there doesn't seem to be a separate thread for Bronze pence copies.

Some general corner wear (#2 is particularly bad, as you can see from the UL corner visible here) and a couple of these have folded LR corner tips that I've cunningly concealed by photographing them this way. And, of course, one book had to have a pretty bad stacking curl, and that had to be #6... but I think it's correctable; there's no evident color breaking.

This is, in general, a fairly attractive run of better-than-midgrade books, which are miles better than most of the pence copies I've seen from this title.

[rakehell]

On 3/14/2023 at 2:55 PM, Qalyar said:

This is, in general, a fairly attractive run of better-than-midgrade books, which are miles better than most of the pence copies I've seen from this title.

Also especially nice as it's one of the few instances where you can collect an entire run in UKPPV.