The Distribution of US Published Comics in the UK (1959~1982) 15 15

[Malacoda]

On 8/17/2022 at 7:48 PM, themagicrobot said:

In the early days of Wikipedia much of it was vague or downright incorrect. You still need to be careful. On the Wikipedia page for World Distributors it says in the first paragraph

Further down they don't use the word "lone" and say

I think "citation is needed" . Are they just referring to Gold Key comics? If they were the "lone" distributor that implies it includes all the other companies around at the time.

True dat.  The entry for T&P gives their address as "Melton Road, Thurmaston, Oadby, Leicester"  which is a mash up of two different addresses 10 miles apart. 

It says " At first, the company was known for repackaging American comics and pulp magazines for the UK market. Later on, it became a publisher of original material"  but actually, T&P's first original novel was the fabulously titled "Susie Goes to Soho" in June 1947.  Fred didn't start repackaging American magazines for a full year after this.  

It also says that Gilberton 'acquired Thorpe & Porter from Fred Thorpe in the fall of 1959'. It seems like Gilberton became investors at some point, possibly 1962 when Bill Kanter joined T&P to supervise the new Classics Illustrated, but not so sure about 1959. According to the Wikipedia entry, this little tidbit comes from page 315 of "Jones, William B., Jr., Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2002). Second edition, 2011". 

Well, page 315 of the second edition is part of the index for a start and secondly, even the chapter that is about T&P doesn't say Gilberton's bought them, so that must have come from somewhere else. 

So, yes, fully agree....wikipedia is a great start place, but you'd want corroboration before you took anything to the bank. 

[Yorick]

On 8/16/2022 at 12:10 PM, themagicrobot said:

Anyway just thought Len Miller deserved some praise

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/17/2022 at 1:07 AM, Malacoda said:

OK, this is my tight five. 

1st Marvel PV hiatus:
Duration: October 1964 to August 1965
Started because: prior to the 1964 election, the new govt was proposing a new import tax, but as no one knew when the tax would begin or the percentage, and PV’s had to be ordered 3 months in advance, the only way to get ahead of the tax was to flip to stamping in advance (hence the first stamps are still 9d). 
Ended because:  the tax was supposed to be a temporary measure but actually lasted 2 years, so after 7 months of waiting, T&P flipped back to 10d PV’s, which then took 3 months to catch up to cover date. 

2nd Marvel PV hiatus: 
Duration: October to December 1966.
Started because: in the first 6 months of 1966, T&P was headed for bankruptcy and bills were not getting paid.  Marvel reduced supply accordingly, restricting the number of titles (and possibly the volumes of the ones that still got PV’s, though I suspect not). 
Ended because: IND bought T&P and normal business relations were resumed. 

3rd Marvel PV hiatus: 
Duration: November 1967 to March 1969.  
Started because: UK devalued currency. Again, it was not known by how much or when this would be, so T&P went to stamps in advance. During this period, I think T&P enjoyed the flexibility of extra volume (which is why the stamps carry on in tandem with the PV’s afterwards) and during this period they were flipping printers from ECP to WCP, so each cover date month was made up of up to 8 print runs from 2 different suppliers.  This also coincides with the Marvel explosion of new titles and breaking out of ST/TOS/TTA into 6 separate titles.  Bafflingly, they did not automatically put the new titles with the new printer, so they not only had to be launched but then separately migrated to WCP.  It was clearly decided not to add flipping back to PV’s to the chaos. Once all titles were under WCP (after cd Jan 1969), they re-started PV’s which kicked in from cd April 1969.  You can see that this issue related to the printers, because, unlike the 2 previous hiatuses, when PV’s resume, it happens all in the same cover date month: everything that was going to get a PV gets one at the same time, but not based on release date, based on cover date, clearly co-ordinated by the printer. 
 

Thanks Rich! I'll have a read through when I get back - nice to have it all summarised in one place 

[Malacoda]

On 8/22/2022 at 9:48 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Thanks Rich! I'll have a read through when I get back - nice to have it all summarised in one place 

All? 

[Malacoda]

On 8/22/2022 at 9:48 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Thanks Rich! I'll have a read through when I get back

Enjoy your break.  If you're away for a couple of weeks, I may have a stamp numbering theory for you to catch up on, but I imagine by the time you see it, everyone will have already have agreed it's the only possible answer and there will be nothing left for you to do but agree with us all.  

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/23/2022 at 3:06 AM, Malacoda said:

Enjoy your break.  If you're away for a couple of weeks, I may have a stamp numbering theory for you to catch up on, but I imagine by the time you see it, everyone will have already have agreed it's the only possible answer and there will be nothing left for you to do but agree with us all.  

I can wait!

Not sure if this is still on your anecdotal radar Richmond, but the #11 in this otherwise stamped lot seems to have some sticker residue over the price, again indicating that Ethel was having a break when it went through:

https://www.excaliburauctions.com/auction/lot/lot-95---nick-fury-agent-of-shield-lot-15-in-lot--/?lot=20782&so=0&st=fury&sto=0&au=38&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=48&pn=1&g=1

Or that it didn't went through. 

Didn't went through?

What a to-do. 

[Malacoda]

On 8/23/2022 at 10:24 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Not sure if this is still on your anecdotal radar Richmond, but the #11 in this otherwise stamped lot seems to have some sticker residue over the price, again indicating that Ethel was having a break when it went through:

Mmmm.  Indeed.  You mean #13, but yes, I see the oh-so-familiar splotch.   That might actually be the most disputed comic of all time (Paul Gravett had it as ND, Alan Austin thought it was distributed and Duncan thinks it's a stamp.  I think you're on the fence, but definitely not a PV and I think it was ND).  By this point, a sticker could easily be a comic shop sticker.  Dark They Were always put stickers over the US prices. 

The list of comics for which I'd love to find a stamped example is now: 

Hulk 116, 137, 138. 

FF 102

ASM 76, 79, 94, 95. 

Avengers 65, 70, 72

X men 56, 58, 60, 62, 64

DD 54, 58, 59, 62, 69

IM 15, 21, 22

Captain Marvel 13, 21

Subby 17, 20, 23

Surfer 15, 16, 17

Chamber of Darkness 6,7,8

 Monsters on the Prowl 9

Where Monsters Dwell 3,4,5,6,7

Amazing Adventures 3

Astonishing Tales 2,3,4

all between April 1969 and August 1971 cover dates.  Those X men still make think that these were used to make up total consignment volumes. 

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Malacoda

[Get Marwood & I]

Yes, #13 I meant. I kept your list and still look for stamped copies of these every so often, especially when the auction houses pop up original owner collections. The longer the absences go on though....

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:22 PM, Malacoda said:

The list of comics for which I'd love to find a stamped example is now: 

FF 102

Not the best picture, but...

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:22 PM, Malacoda said:

The list of comics for which I'd love to find a stamped example is now: 

X men 56, 58, 60, 62, 44

 

6p sticker on this #62:

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:22 PM, Malacoda said:

The list of comics for which I'd love to find a stamped example is now: 

ASM 76, 79, 94, 95. 

 

[Malacoda]

On 8/24/2022 at 11:29 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Not the best picture, but...

Dude! That finishes off the FF i.e.  we now know that there was a stamp variant for every PV.   This is only the second title completed.  Your No Prize in in the mail. 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:29 PM, Malacoda said:

Dude! That finishes off the FF i.e.  we now know that there was a stamp variant for every PV.   This is only the second title completed.  Your No Prize in in the mail. 

[Malacoda]

On 8/24/2022 at 11:44 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

 

6p sticker on this #62:

 

That sticker really does look like 6p doesn't it?  Surely it must be 5p though?  Unless it was stickered MUCH later.  It does look like there's a T&P stamp underneath it, doesn't it? They weren't 6p for another 2-3 years.  Mind you, we know that comics hung around at T&P for 6 years and more. 

[Malacoda]

On 8/24/2022 at 11:55 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

 

Is it my birthday and nobody told me? 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:50 PM, Malacoda said:

Is it my birthday and nobody told me? 

They're out there, Rich. Bloody things hide for years and then up they pop without a by your leave to confound expectations. See also Harvey 15c variants! 

[Malacoda]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:52 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

They're out there, Rich. Bloody things hide for years and then up they pop without a by your leave to confound expectations. See also Harvey 15c variants! 

Indeed, but I think that fact indicates that the volumes varied . The thing I need to track at some point is the amount of PV's that crop up vs the amount of stamps. If I'm right, the stamps should have a lot more variability (be very interesting if they actually outnumbered the PV's on some titles or in some months). There's a few other projects ahead of that on the priority list though.   Thanks again for these. 

 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/24/2022 at 5:22 PM, Malacoda said:

Indeed, but I think that fact indicates that the volumes varied . The thing I need to track at some point is the amount of PV's that crop up vs the amount of stamps. If I'm right, the stamps should have a lot more variability (be very interesting if they actually outnumbered the PV's on some titles or in some months). There's a few other projects ahead of that on the priority list though. 

I'd be surprised if the stamped cents copies ever outnumbered the UKPVs but I'm often surprised in this hobby. Keep us posted.

On 8/24/2022 at 5:22 PM, Malacoda said:

 Thanks again for these. 

Not a TEE&PEE stamp, but still interesting...

[themagicrobot]

I know stickers don't really count as there is probably a Shilling price beneath but here's a sticker anyway.

And this odd circular price stamp is too obscured by the word balloon to make much sense but it looks awfully like 12 cents to me. Currently for sale by a UK seller.

  

[Garystar]

There a a couple of stamped FF #102 on eBayUK sold, slightly better pics. 


Fantastic Four #102

Fantastic Four #102-106 Marvel Original Comic Books x5 - 1970

(i’ve no stamped copies of your list in my collection but I’ll look in attic at my small box of doubles).