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

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/28/2022 at 2:04 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Nor this unusual 8d one, also on the bay today:

He has a friend!

Good old Tracey 

[Malacoda]

On 2/1/2023 at 7:50 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

He has a friend!

And a cousin

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/8/2023 at 4:22 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

One recent example has both the 10d oblong and shilling circle on it. 

Here's another example with both a 10d oblong and shilling circled stamp battling it out - Tales of Suspense #95 (November 1967):

I spotted it on the bay this morning while looking into one of Richmond's offline queries.

It's also the latest cover dated example that I've seen of a 'Goldstar' stamped comic.

[Redshade]

I've just seen this offering on eBay with one of the comics having an (double) 8d stamp.
I'm not sure if this is pertinent to the discussion or even mildly interesting but do we know where the various price stamps originated?
Perhaps that not all could be distributor stamps and that some of them may have been perpetrated by the retailers?

[Get Marwood & I]

On 2/2/2023 at 11:45 PM, Redshade said:

I've just seen this offering on eBay with one of the comics having an (double) 8d stamp.
I'm not sure if this is pertinent to the discussion or even mildly interesting but do we know where the various price stamps originated?
Perhaps that not all could be distributor stamps and that some of them may have been perpetrated by the retailers?

Cool stamp isn't it, that one. I'd guess retailer as the book is already UK priced and you don't see the stamp that often. 

[Malacoda]

On 2/2/2023 at 11:45 PM, Redshade said:

I'm not sure if this is pertinent to the discussion or even mildly interesting

Classics Illustrated (originating from Bible Stories illustrated) were the mainstay of T&P's output in the 50's and Gilberton's owned T&P in the 60's, so CI are of huge interest to this discussion and may actually reveal some things that Marvel, DC etc don't.  Thanks for posting these.  

This is an interesting bundle in that it mixes US and UK editions. The UK editions are not merely re-priced US editions (like PV's) they are complete reprints because in the 1950's it was illegal to import these publications. You'd therefore expect to see one or the other, but you do sometimes see a mix of cents and pence copies which must indicate that they were collected like we collected Marvel & DC etc. 

[Malacoda]

@Albert Tatlock Hi Albert, could you please check your grimoire of 60's purchases for me?  I'm curious about FF #39.  All the Marvels with June 65 cover dates have '4' stamps at T&P and they're all the old big blotchy stamps.  It's probably the most uniform month there is.  I've never even found one johnny come lately or rando makeweight.  The exception to this is FF #39 which has '8' stamps (and I think a couple of '6's)  and they are ALL the new small neater stamps. These stamps replaced the old big blotchy ones, but not at a stroke (hard to tell when - you get DC's with both kinds of stamp.  Action Comics 325 for example - cd June - has '1' stamps in the new style, but '5' stamps in both the new & old styles, which, if you didn't know DC was chaos would lead you to conclude that they resumed using the old stamps 4 months after they switched to the new ones or that it was a 4 month cutover, neither of which is true, I think).   

The upshot is every June 65 cd Marvel has old blotchy 4 stamps except FF 39 which has all new neat 6 and 8 stamps, and no old blotchy 4's, which leads me to think that FF 39 missed the boat and came later.  Do you have any notes which indicates anything about this issue?

Note:  Duncan McAlpine says  "The Variant UK copies have a 10d ink cover stamp. It's usually a larger size stamp but some #39's have a smaller size stamp."  This would be what you'd think based on just looking at Marvels at the time, but doesn't seem to be true of FF 39 (at least in 2.5 years of looking, I've never found a large stamp and about 2 dozen small ones). 

[Malacoda]

Rare Australian variant. 

[Albert Tatlock]

On 2/3/2023 at 4:03 PM, Malacoda said:

Hi Albert, could you please check your grimoire of 60's purchases for me? 

Wil be delighted to as soon as time permits, probably not this side of the weekend, though.

I will burrow and delve until I have laid hands on my copy, but it will probably be like its comrades.

[Malacoda]

Many thanks, Albert.  Might you have a note in your records from your purchases at the time that says it was a late purchase or might it just be missing from the list of purchases at the time indicating it was not bought for some reason?

[Get Marwood & I]

All the June 1965 FF#39 images I've saved for various reasons are all the later, smaller 10d stamp - I've no examples of the old stamp.

The July 1965 ASM #26 often appears with the 'wrong' smaller stamp too, so that issue may also have had delays:

There are 'correctly' stamped copies out there too though, so it does seem that all the FF#39 may have been uniquely late.

[Malacoda]

On 2/4/2023 at 10:52 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

All the June 1965 FF#39 images I've saved for various reasons are all the later, smaller 10d stamp - I've no examples of the old stamp.

The July 1965 ASM #26 often appears with the 'wrong' smaller stamp too, so that issue may also have had delays:

There are 'correctly' stamped copies out there too though, so it does seem that all the FF#39 may have been uniquely late.

I agree. My theory is that T&P were going to replace the big splotchy stamps with the neater, smaller less intrusive ones (on which I'm sure the ink dried a lot faster - you certainly don't see anything like the same mess on those ones).  The obvious moment to buy all new stamps was when the inevitable price change came, however when it came 3 things happened:  1) it happened fast around the election and 2) it was based on a tax increase that was supposed to be temporary and 3) having to prepare for the increase without a date, T&P went over to cents issues and stamping in advance. 

This meant that there was a huge increase in the amount of comics needing stamping and presumably more Ethels were hired.  They therefore used both the new stamps and the old ones in tandem while they had both Marvel and DC to contend with and then when Marvel went back to PV's, they retired the old blotchy stamps and just used the new ones for DC.  

Marvels are all done with the old stamps but there a number which have both the old & new stamps (e.g.  ASM 26, Avengers 16 & 18, DD 7 and most of the FF's).  The fact that some of the numbers on the old stamps are higher than the numbers on the new stamps tells you that both sets of stamps were in use at the same time. 

The only exception to this is FF 39 which seems to have only the new stamp and the stamp numbers seem way out of sequence, so I think FF 39 may be the only one that rocked up late, but it really looks like it did. 

Now I just need Albert 'Adrian Mole' Tatlock to post his diary entry "Just my luck. Went looking for FF39 yet again...."

 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Malacoda

[Albert Tatlock]

A cents copy with UK price stamp, showing that a few copies at least of early Marvel Silver Age reached our shores outside the regular importation channels.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:05 PM, Albert Tatlock said:

A cents copy with UK price stamp, showing that a few copies at least of early Marvel Silver Age reached our shores outside the regular importation channels.

9d?  That's a Tim Boo Bargain!

[Malacoda]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:05 PM, Albert Tatlock said:

A cents copy with UK price stamp, showing that a few copies at least of early Marvel Silver Age reached our shores outside the regular importation channels.

I always assumed the famous ballast copies were stamped by UK importers or newsagents, so this would be one of those?

That said, I think the first few AF's that were imported by Millers were not PV's.  Steve will set me straight, hopefully.  

[Get Marwood & I]

On 2/6/2023 at 5:37 AM, Malacoda said:

I always assumed the famous ballast copies were stamped by UK importers or newsagents, so this would be one of those?

That said, I think the first few AF's that were imported by Millers were not PV's.  Steve will set me straight, hopefully.  

Right principle Rich, but wrong title - they Millerated the first four issues of Amazing Adventures (10c cover price, Miller indicia) before T&P took over with PVs. Both were part of identifiable, formal distribution arrangements though - Albert's AAF#9 is just a random, unidentifiable stamp. It could've been applied by anyone, and at any time that d's were in vogue really. 

This ToS below has a slightly neater application:

 

As for the famous Tim Boo Ballast copies, who here has ever seen one? How do you prove it - by identifying that it got wet at some point? See also 'makeweight' copies 

Talking of which, I swear that DB served me at the London Fair yesterday. Or his double did. Imagine if Duncan's Double sold me a Double Double. No oldy stamped FF#39s were in attendance though. 

[Malacoda]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:00 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Right principle Rich, but wrong title - they Millerated the first four issues of Amazing Adventures (10c cover price, Miller indicia)

No, right, this is exactly what I meant....they were Miller indicias but not PV's.  We're on the same (inside cover) page. 

[Malacoda]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:00 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

by identifying that it got wet at some point?

Indeed. Even then. I've owned 4 copies of Avengers 96 over the years, every one of them water damaged, and clearly these were not ballast. 

[Malacoda]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:00 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

No oldy stamped FF#39s were in attendance though. 

Bless you for checking.  I think it's interesting that even Duncan picked up on the anomalous stamps on that one.  However, no one lists it as rare, LD or ND so the whole shipment must have rocked up at some point. 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 2/6/2023 at 12:05 PM, Malacoda said:

No, right, this is exactly what I meant....they were Miller indicias but not PV's.  We're on the same (inside cover) page. 

You said AF, which is what Albert posted. Miller didn't do AF, they did AA. And those AA's you just posted are mine