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

[Albert Tatlock]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:31 AM, themagicrobot said:

That was where I purchased X-Men No 1 and early Fantastic Fours.

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,

But to be young was very heaven!

[Garystar]

Never say never as Mr Marwood always tells us. I've been following this issue for best part of 50 years and never seen one pass through T&P hands before;

SIlver Surfer # 10 Nov 1969 VF 15c Marvel Comics John Bucema Art | eBay

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Garystar

[themagicrobot]

Well spotted Gary. I was beginning to think the only copy available with a 1/- price was Alan's. I think this cover looks better as you see the full cosmic surfboard.

Edited July 14, 2023 by themagicrobot

[Garystar]

On 7/14/2023 at 4:12 PM, themagicrobot said:

I think this cover looks better as you see the full cosmic surfboard.

True, but I always liked the (Ditko designed) side boxes, they made marvels stand out a mile on shelves and spinners. 

[themagicrobot]

Hmm. I wonder when they discontinued that top left box? 20 years ago? In more recent times it is only used "ironically". Note the MMMS stamp rather than the Comic Code stamp.

[Garystar]

On 7/14/2023 at 6:32 PM, themagicrobot said:

Hmm. I wonder when they discontinued that top left box? 20 years ago? In more recent times it is only used "ironically". Note the MMMS stamp rather than the Comic Code stamp.

The box first disappeared in oct/nov 1971 with price rise from 15c to 25c and with the two/one month page count increase. Went to a circle but the box has reappeared for long periods. 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 7/14/2023 at 3:54 PM, Garystar said:

Never say never as Mr Marwood always tells us. I've been following this issue for best part of 50 years and never seen one pass through T&P hands before;

SIlver Surfer # 10 Nov 1969 VF 15c Marvel Comics John Bucema Art | eBay

 

Rich will love that if he ever logs in again.

[Malacoda]

On 7/14/2023 at 3:54 PM, Garystar said:

Never say never as Mr Marwood always tells us. I've been following this issue for best part of 50 years and never seen one pass through T&P hands before;

SIlver Surfer # 10 Nov 1969 VF 15c Marvel Comics John Bucema Art | eBay

 

Holy. Freaking. spoon. 

Wow. It exists. I take it we agree that the fact that, between us, we have looked at thousands of copies of this and this is the only stampey we've ever seen indicates that they weren't distributed and this is a lone ranger that rocked up after the event? 

Still. Blimey.   I take it based on the bidder profile that it wasn't you that won it but I wish you had.  This clearly belongs with you. 

 

 

Note: I have no idea why they substituted spoon for the word I actually used, but I really like it. 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Malacoda

[Malacoda]

In a similar vein, this was one of my 'jasmine' moments this week.  This TTA 55 has the 9d PV stricken out and a 10d stamp Etheled onto it....

 

However, the gap between this issue rolling off the press at ECP with 9d printed on it and the restamping at 10d was at the very least 9 months, so this must have been on some sort of adventure.  You'd therefore think it was a one off that fell behind the radiator or a return that was cunningly re-stamped and sent to a more high-selling region, however......have a look at friend Duncan's recollections....

Could be a total coincidence, but it's interesting that he singles out that one issue as having been in short supply and this rando could indicate that a batch missed the boat and rocked up many months later.  Does anyone who was around then or collecting in the decade after have any memory of TTA 55 being particularly scarce? 

[Garystar]

On 7/15/2023 at 12:56 AM, Malacoda said:

Holy. Freaking. spoon. 

Wow. It exists. I take it we agree that the fact that, between us, we have looked at thousands of copies of this and this is the only stampey we've ever seen indicates that they weren't distributed and this is a lone ranger that rocked up after the event? 

Still. Blimey.   I take it based on the bidder profile that it wasn't you that won it but I wish you had.  This clearly belongs with you. 

 

 

Note: I have no idea why they substituted spoon for the word I actually used, but I really like it. 

Not me that bought it, seller seemed to have some interesting stuff so I looked through their listings present and sold. 
Not sure how this exists, even in UK collections of stamps and UKPVs #10 is always unstamped cents. T&P wouldn’t have just imported one or two copies would they? Unless it fell into a batch of another title?

[Get Marwood & I]

Did you see this lot on the bay Richmond:

• 133 - 5p T&P stamp
• 134 - 5p T&P stamp
• 135 - 5p T&P stamp
• 136 - 5p T&P stamp
• 137 - Massive 'Rodneys' style 4p marker pen 
• 139 - 5p T&P stamp

[Malacoda]

On 7/15/2023 at 8:02 AM, Garystar said:

T&P wouldn’t have just imported one or two copies would they? Unless it fell into a batch of another title?

My money would be on makeweights.  Up to March 1969, T&P got a set skim of every title, be it PV or stamp, hiatus or not, but after April 69 it becomes a blend of PV & stamp, stamped only cents copies and non D, so making up the T&P order total was clearly more complicated. I have no trouble believing some crates got topped off with whatever was lying around. 

[Malacoda]

On 7/15/2023 at 11:43 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Did you see this lot on the bay Richmond:

I didn't. Many thanks.  Once again, stampies of everything except 137.   Even when someone has a run of stampies, 137 is always either a PV or an unstamped cents copy, often with something like your Rodney's 4 written across it or a sticker.....

  I tend nowadays to fall into the camp that everything turns up sooner or later, but some things are so resolutely not there, so determinedly not there, it's like they're daring you to find them. 

 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 7/15/2023 at 1:07 PM, Malacoda said:

I tend nowadays to fall into the camp that everything turns up sooner or later, but some things are so resolutely not there, so determinedly not there, it's like they're daring you to find them. 

Yup. It can take a long, long time before you give in to the never say never philosophy. When 'in scope' books turn up after years and years and years of relentless, fruitless searching, you finally give in to it. There have been a few books that spring to mind that I've privately labelled as "this cannot exist" only to be proven wrong. I love it when it happens though. You start to build a pattern where the same book shows in the UK, always in the standard version, in group shots and OO collections, over and over again. You tentatively mark that tracking sheet - this one missed the (insert variation) cut. Then it turns up with a wry smile on its face. Ner-ner-de-ner-ner. It's brilliant when you find it yourself of course, but a massive pain in the arse when someone else does who spent 15 minutes looking for it to your eight years. It can go like that though. Sometimes the effort is rewarded, sometimes not.

[Albert Tatlock]

On 7/15/2023 at 1:12 AM, Malacoda said:

However, the gap between this issue rolling off the press at ECP with 9d printed on it and the restamping at 10d was at the very least 9 months, so this must have been on some sort of adventure.  You'd therefore think it was a one off that fell behind the radiator or a return that was cunningly re-stamped and sent to a more high-selling region, however......have a look at friend Duncan's recollections....

My recollection is that TTA # 55 was neither more nor less common than the surrounding issues.

This 9d UKPV was probably routinely returned unsold by a retailer, and languished in T & P's warehouse until someone decided to send out a batch for a second bite at the cherry.

[themagicrobot]

If you want the satisfaction of owning every single comic produced by a Publisher it helps to choose one that didn't issue all that many books. Hampshire Distributors Ltd only managed two so I am the proud (?) owner of the full run. Kirby put a lot of work into these but we must assume sales were poor. The second issue of Days of the Mob was never issued (or completely drawn) but did appear in book form along with the first issue 10 years ago.

In the States In the Days of the Mob was released a month before Spirit World. Perhaps Thorpe and Porter belatedly received theirs the other way round as Days of the Mob is stamped at a higher price than Spirit World displays. That magazine cheerfully warned us that the world would end in 1983.

 

  

 

 

[Malacoda]

Not sure I've seen this one?  Note the little D after the shilling price.  Also, comics didn't cost 1/- for another 15 months, so this looks like a comic from before the 2nd hiatus that rocked up during the third one. But then, as it's not a T&P stamp, it could be, you know, anything. 

 

 

[yrag9591]

On 7/15/2023 at 7:06 PM, themagicrobot said:

If you want the satisfaction of owning every single comic produced by a Publisher it helps to choose one that didn't issue all that many books. Hampshire Distributors Ltd only managed two so I am the proud (?) owner of the full run. Kirby put a lot of work into these but we must assume sales were poor. The second issue of Days of the Mob was never issued (or completely drawn) but did appear in book form along with the first issue 10 years ago.

In the States In the Days of the Mob was released a month before Spirit World. Perhaps Thorpe and Porter belatedly received theirs the other way round as Days of the Mob is stamped at a higher price than Spirit World displays. That magazine cheerfully warned us that the world would end in 1983.

 

  

 

 

I have always thought of those two as DC publications. Mike’s Amazing Comics thinks so too. 

[OtherEric]

On 7/16/2023 at 9:49 AM, yrag9591 said:

I have always thought of those two as DC publications. Mike’s Amazing Comics thinks so too. 

They are DC, but it is the complete output of that particular imprint.

[themagicrobot]

Yes, I'm aware that they are DCs but it seems they wanted to keep some clear water between their usual output and this (failed?) experiment. I wonder what the background to them is. Was the chance to do something completely different the lure that led Jack to DC from his decade at Marvel? Or was it something he had been working on in his spare time (?) that he pitched to DC? I assume it was creator-owned? By 1971 comics were no longer just for kids. You would have thought that DC would want a share of the growing black and white magazine market. They could have produced more adult (Batman or Spectre for example) material free from comic code restrictions. 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by themagicrobot