Marvel UK Price Variants 16 16

[Redshade]

I received the new Overstreet today (51st ed) and saw this in a 4 page pullout  advertisement. The cat, as they say, is truly out of the bag :

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/23/2021 at 4:26 PM, Redshade said:

I received the new Overstreet today (51st ed) and saw this in a 4 page pullout  advertisement. The cat, as they say, is truly out of the bag :

Indeed. All those pence copies owned by 9d....

I wonder how many pence Adventure into Fear 19s they've been offered?

[Albert Tatlock]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:35 AM, nmtg9 said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333979228005 

And here is another one........

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363105786881?hash=item548aca9c01:g:--8AAOSw0LlfXzI4

It is 6.5, but it LOOKS LIKE an 8.0.

I reckon I should buy it and send along a couple of tenners wrapped around a bundle of stage money.

That will be fine and dandy, because it will LOOK LIKE 75k.

Wish me luck.

[Albert Tatlock]

On 8/23/2021 at 4:26 PM, Redshade said:

The cat, as they say, is truly out of the bag :

Probably wants to pay half cents price and sell at double cents price.

[Albert Tatlock]

Most of the early Suspense I uploaded were courtesy of JM Heal of Weston-super-Mare, who sold off a magnificent collection in 1967, DC and Marvel, and maybe others that I was not interested in at the time.

He signed all his copies on the back top margin, as shown.

Wonder whether anyone else here has inherited any more of his stuff.

Duncan sold a few early Green Lanterns from JMH's collection some months ago, but they were a bit knocked about, so had probably passed through several hands in the interim.

[nmtg9]

On 8/23/2021 at 5:17 PM, Albert Tatlock said:

And here is another one........

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363105786881?hash=item548aca9c01:g:--8AAOSw0LlfXzI4

It is 6.5, but it LOOKS LIKE an 8.0.

I reckon I should buy it and send along a couple of tenners wrapped around a bundle of stage money.

That will be fine and dandy, because it will LOOK LIKE 75k.

Wish me luck.

Typical Darryl. Who cares what he thinks it looks like. It isn't and never will be. 

Don't even bother sending stage money, just send a tenner saying it looks like a £100000.

[Garystar]

On 8/24/2021 at 6:16 AM, nmtg9 said:

Who cares what he thinks it looks like. It isn't and never will be. 

He could always crack it out and get Euro Grader to give it an 8.0. 

There is yet another pence FF #1 on eBay, £8.5k,seems more common than pence #2;

Fantastic Four #1 First Appearance And Origin Of The FF4) Pence

[Waylander]

On 8/19/2021 at 6:28 PM, Redshade said:

 

If the comics were printed with a UK price then they would have come across as paid for goods in the storage holds. This would be true of all the commercial deals between the US producers and the UK purchasers.

Any comics coming across as "ballast" (if indeed this actually happened) would have been outside of these contracts.

 

You are more than likely correct and if so, I live to learn. The ship ballast was a theory that had been banded about ever since I started reading comics a long time ago, but after the silver age. I have never researched the subject in detail, although looking at the size of cargo ships, it would have taken a lot of comics to have been deemed ballast, so l will have to concede it is more than likely incorrect 

It is more likely the treatment of the books once they reached the UK being the reason for many being lower grades. I remember trading comics in schools, bundles at a time, reading comics in dentist and doctors waiting rooms, which were just thrown about like magazines are today.  

[nmtg9]

First time I think I heard the ballast story was in Duncan's process guide from 1989, so the idea has been around for a long time. 

[Albert Tatlock]

On 8/25/2021 at 6:10 AM, nmtg9 said:

First time I think I heard the ballast story was in Duncan's process guide from 1989, so the idea has been around for a long time. 

Just read an excellent book, scan attached.

It debunks many long-cherished scientific and mathematical theories which the author identifies as having outlived their usefulness.

Write to the publishers and demand the inclusion of the ballast theory in the next edition.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Albert Tatlock
scan added.

[Redshade]

On 8/24/2021 at 9:59 AM, Waylander said:

 I have never researched the subject in detail, although looking at the size of cargo ships, it would have taken a lot of comics to have been deemed ballast, so l will have to concede it is more than likely incorrect 

Hi Waylander.
I am not claiming to be an absolute arbiter on the idea. Ships using water as ballast ever since mechanical pumps were invented seems to be the accepted time and labour efficient way of going about this operation. I am more than happy to be shown to be incorrect in my musings. It is my opinion only that it seems to have been an unlikely scenario.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Redshade
Typo.

[Albert Tatlock]

On 8/25/2021 at 7:26 PM, Redshade said:

Hi Waylander.
I am not claiming to be an absolute arbiter on the idea. Ships using water as ballast ever since mechanical pumps were invented seems to be the accepted time and labour efficient way of going about this operation. I am more than happy to be shown to be incorrect in my musings. In is my opinion only that it seems to have been an unlikely scenario.

Who would use newsprint type paper as ballast material? It is nowhere dense enough to be effective.

[Pantodude]

It’s cool when these books find their way back home.  

Edited August 30, 2021 by Pantodude

[gadzukes]

I was just looking at Census data and thought I'd post current UK totals.

Xmen 1 almost looks common compared to some of the others.

 

Current Census totals for Marvel - Blue + SS "early" mega UK Keys (rarest to most common) (as of SEPT 1 2021)

Sgt Fury 1 = ...... 15

FF 5 =.................15

TOS 39 =............18

TTA 27 =............ 19

FF 4 =.................26

FF 1 =.................25

JIM 83 =............. 27

ST 110 =.............29

HULK 1 =........... 39

AF 15 =...............52

DD 1 =................64

ASM 1 =..............65

AVEN 1 =............68

AVEN 4 =............80

XMen 1 =............82

[Pantodude]

On 9/1/2021 at 11:15 AM, gadzukes said:

I was just looking at Census data and thought I'd post current UK totals.

Xmen 1 almost looks common compared to some of the others.

 

Current Census totals for Marvel - Blue + SS "early" mega UK Keys (rarest to most common) (as of SEPT 1 2021)

Sgt Fury 1 = ...... 15

FF 5 =.................15

TOS 39 =............18

TTA 27 =............ 19

FF 4 =.................26

FF 1 =.................25

JIM 83 =............. 27

ST 110 =.............29

HULK 1 =........... 39

AF 15 =...............52

DD 1 =................64

ASM 1 =..............65

AVEN 1 =............68

AVEN 4 =............80

XMen 1 =............82

Cool.  It's amazing that these are NOT totals for any particular grade of an issue -- these are THE total slabs for the entire issue.   Folks don't expect SA books, even early SA books, to be less common than GA books for good reason, but all of the UKPVs in your list are a lot less common than most GA keys.  This is why I hope UKPVs are at least respected by whomever comes across them, even if they aren't keen on the variant.   

[gadzukes]

On 9/1/2021 at 12:07 PM, Pantodude said:

Cool.  It's amazing that these are NOT totals for any particular grade of an issue -- these are THE total slabs for the entire issue.   Folks don't expect SA books, even early SA books, to be less common than GA books for good reason, but all of the UKPVs in your list are a lot less common than most GA keys.  This is why I hope UKPVs are at least respected by whomever comes across them, even if they aren't keen on the variant.   

I agree with everything you said.

Also, with the craze for "high grade" Newstand copies of Copper/Modern comics..... collectors should take a step back and realize that "high grade" UK copies are truly the rarest of the rare.

Edited September 1, 2021 by gadzukes

[Kevin.J]

On 9/1/2021 at 5:31 PM, gadzukes said:

I agree with everything you said.

Also, with the craze for "high grade" Newstand copies of Copper/Modern comics..... collectors should take a step back and realize that "high grade" UK copies are truly the rarest of the rare.

I do agree, but sending books off to the US from the UK is not a major priority for a lot of collectors, I have never seen many really HG of many Pence copies of the keys though.

 

[Pantodude]

On 9/1/2021 at 4:21 PM, Kevin.J said:

I do agree, but sending books off to the US from the UK is not a major priority for a lot of collectors, I have never seen many really HG of many Pence copies of the keys though.

 

Could be UK folks were less inclined to slab with CGC across the Atlantic, but the census numbers are telling.   Practically all of the SA keys, early but also late SA, top off at a much lower “highest” grade than the corresponding cents version.  If higher UKPVs existed, you would expect that at least some owners would have opted to take advantage of whatever benefit there is to slabbing, particularly in connection with a planned sale, but also storage/display.  But after all these years, there are still ZERO submissions to CGC in the highest grades of practically all the SA keys!  Not even one.  

Edited September 1, 2021 by Pantodude

[gadzukes]

On 9/1/2021 at 4:21 PM, Kevin.J said:

I do agree, but sending books off to the US from the UK is not a major priority for a lot of collectors, I have never seen many really HG of many Pence copies of the keys though.

 

(I'd try to get some of those if I were you........ or are they squirrelled away in collections never to come out again?)

[Albert Tatlock]

On 9/1/2021 at 9:56 PM, gadzukes said:

are they squirrelled away in collections never to come out again?

The old fella with the scythe is patiently working away at unsquirreling them.