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

[Get Marwood & I]

Anyone heard from @Kevin.J lately?

[Get Marwood & I]

Another stamp competition:

[Get Marwood & I]

Another DC title 'first' added, courtesy of the bay:

 

 

 

[Malacoda]

2 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Another stamp competition:

That is an astonishing crease in that comic.  That must have been a printing error, which might be the reason for the sixpence re-price. 

[Get Marwood & I]

1 minute ago, Malacoda said:

That is an astonishing crease in that comic.  That must have been a printing error, which might be the reason for the sixpence re-price. 

Nice if the stamp had crossed over it....

[Malacoda]

3 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Nicely done Rich 

Thanks.  It always seemed weird to me that Dez Skinn launched his great Marvel Revolution with Daredevil, Dracula, Conan, Shang-Chi, Skull the Slayer & Godzilla. Then you realise he was just working with whatever was left. 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 6/12/2021 at 1:18 PM, Malacoda said:

Thanks.  It always seemed weird to me that Dez Skinn launched his great Marvel Revolution with Daredevil, Dracula, Conan, Shang-Chi, Skull the Slayer & Godzilla. Then you realise he was just working with whatever was left. 

Yes. Hung on by the skinn of his teeth. 

[Malacoda]

Going price for a US Marvel was 1/-. at this point.  Going price for a normal length book was NEVER 2/-.  So how do we explain this.....

[Get Marwood & I]

33 minutes ago, Malacoda said:

Going price for a US Marvel was 1/-. at this point.  Going price for a normal length book was NEVER 2/-.  So how do we explain this.....

Operator error.

[David Buck]

2 hours ago, Malacoda said:

Going price for a US Marvel was 1/-. at this point.  Going price for a normal length book was NEVER 2/-.  So how do we explain this.....

 

Hey Kids!, for an Extra shilling we won't stamp it on his bulbous forehead!

[Malacoda]

4 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Operator error.

That was my thought, given that there were a couple of 2/- comics that month which would have required stamping on all copies (i.e. there would have been cents copies with the PV's and cents copies with the cents copies), so the 2/- stamp would have been to hand. 

More interesting thought:  given that it's taken me a month to find one of these (whereas I found 214 other PV+CS comics relatively easily) and that there were correctly priced PV's of Hulk 115 presumably either previously or simultaneously released, do we think that maybe the whole batch were accidentally stamped 2/- meaning virtually no one bought one of the cents copies, which is why they are so tough to find now?  

Incidentally, the body count for these 28 months now stands at: 

CS only & CS+PV & ND = 87%

PV only = 13%. 

I draw ever closer to saying that there was a CS for every PV and that the deal between T&P and Marvel changed either due to Cadence or Sparta or both. 

[nmtg9]

22 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Anyone heard from @Kevin.J lately?

No, haven't heard from Kevin for a few months now actually. 

[Get Marwood & I]

23 minutes ago, nmtg9 said:

No, haven't heard from Kevin for a few months now actually. 

Hope he's OK 

[Get Marwood & I]

9 hours ago, Malacoda said:

That was my thought, given that there were a couple of 2/- comics that month which would have required stamping on all copies (i.e. there would have been cents copies with the PV's and cents copies with the cents copies), so the 2/- stamp would have been to hand. 

More interesting thought:  given that it's taken me a month to find one of these (whereas I found 214 other PV+CS comics relatively easily) and that there were correctly priced PV's of Hulk 115 presumably either previously or simultaneously released, do we think that maybe the whole batch were accidentally stamped 2/- meaning virtually no one bought one of the cents copies, which is why they are so tough to find now?  

Could be. We'll have to find a few more examples to see. None out there in the usual places I look.

9 hours ago, Malacoda said:

Incidentally, the body count for these 28 months now stands at: 

CS only & CS+PV & ND = 87%

PV only = 13%. 

I draw ever closer to saying that there was a CS for every PV and that the deal between T&P and Marvel changed either due to Cadence or Sparta or both. 

Keep going Rich, this is cool information to gather. Post a missing list maybe, of the current unstamped PVs - we could all look out for them then...

[Malacoda]

16 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Could be. We'll have to find a few more examples to see. None out there in the usual places I look.

Keep going Rich, this is cool information to gather. Post a missing list maybe, of the current unstamped PVs - we could all look out for them then...

OK Gents,  here's the seek & destroy list.  If anyone has any scans or copies in their collection of the titles below with cover stamps, please ping up a scan: 

Thor 164, 169.  
Hulk 116, 137, 138.
FF 91, 102, 109.
ASM 76, 79, 88, 94 95
Avengers 65, 69, 70, 72, 86, 87, 89 
Xmen 56, 58, 60, 62, 64 
DD 54, 58, 59, 62, 69 
IM 15, 21, 22 
Captain Marvel 13, 14, 21
Subby 17, 20, 22, 23, 32
Surfer 15, 16, 17 
Chamber of Darkness 6,7,8
Monsters on the Prowl 9, 10, 11 
Where Monsters Dwell 3,4,5,6,7
Amazing Adventures 3
Astonishing Tales 2,3,4 

Bearing in mind that we're talking about a 28 month period with up to 23 titles per month, that's a pretty skinny list. Each time I search for the main titles (Thor to Subby) I usually find one or two more, but the last 6 haven't moved for a month, so definite bonus points if you have any of those. 

Thanks again to Gary for his help with this. 

Also, I've called Cap 117 as Non D, but happy to be proven wrong.  If this does exist, it's only as a CS, so it's not part of the CS+PV list above.  There's only ever about 3 or 4 of these on ebay in the UK, which suggests to me they were all brought in by dealers. 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Malacoda

[Get Marwood & I]

10 hours ago, Malacoda said:

OK Gents,  here's the seek & destroy list.  If anyone has any scans or copies in their collection of the titles below with cover stamps, please ping up a scan: 

Thor 164, 169.  
Hulk 116, 137, 138.
FF 91, 102, 109.
ASM 76, 79, 88, 94 95
Avengers 65, 69, 70, 72, 86, 87, 89 
Xmen 56, 58, 60, 62, 64 
DD 54, 58, 59, 62, 69 
IM 15, 21, 22 
Captain Marvel 13, 14, 21
Subby 17, 20, 22, 23, 32
Surfer 15, 16, 17 
Chamber of Darkness 6,7,8
Monsters on the Prowl 9, 10, 11 
Where Monsters Dwell 3,4,5,6,7
Amazing Adventures 3
Astonishing Tales 2,3,4 

Bearing in mind that we're talking about a 28 month period with up to 23 titles per month, that's a pretty skinny list. Each time I search for the main titles (Thor to Subby) I usually find one or two more, but the last 6 haven't moved for a month, so definite bonus points if you have any of those. 

Thanks again to Gary for his help with this. 

Also, I've called Cap 117 as Non D, but happy to be proven wrong.  If this does exist, it's only as a CS, so it's not part of the CS+PV list above.  There's only ever about 3 or 4 of these on ebay in the UK, which suggests to me they were all brought in by dealers. 

 

 

I had a check this morning Rich, to see if I could find any on the list, but drew a blank. Where you see multiples of the same issue unstamped, your gut starts to tell you how unlikely it is that there will be one. But I've learned to resist that feeling as, more often than not, one copy will dutifully appear one day - usually, just after you've announced that it never will. 

One thing I have found when checking online is that you tend to see the same stock recycled over and over, and that can convince you that a given copy may not exist. Then, you go to a fair, a new dealer is there, with fresh stock, and there one is. I am never surprised anymore by the appearance of a book that has stubbornly refused to show itself for years. So it will be interesting to see how long your list stays as it is. I'll paste a copy into my book, and keep an eye out on my travels.

[Malacoda]

4 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

 

I had a check this morning Rich, to see if I could find any on the list, but drew a blank. Where you see multiples of the same issue unstamped, your gut starts to tell you how unlikely it is that there will be one. But I've learned to resist that feeling as, more often than not, one copy will dutifully appear one day - usually, just after you've announced that it never will. 

One thing I have found when checking online is that you tend to see the same stock recycled over and over, and that can convince you that a given copy may not exist. Then, you go to a fair, a new dealer is there, with fresh stock, and there one is. I am never surprised anymore by the appearance of a book that has stubbornly refused to show itself for years. So it will be interesting to see how long your list stays as it is. I'll paste a copy into my book, and keep an eye out on my travels.

That 117 looks like a 'Seaside Special'.  Great catch, though. 

Just for clarity, I don't think these are ones that won't turn up.  I think they will. Certainly the MU ones, maybe not the horror ones. 
I think this is also interesting (for me, anyway), in that it doesn’t change from IND to Curtis.  I’ve always wanted to know if T&P’s deal was with Marvel directly or via IND.  Everything suggests to me it was direct and the fact that this strange 28 month period of both CS and PV went straight through the handover from IND to Curtis without changing lends weight to that.  Well, I’m not sure it lends any weight to it, but if it had ceased abruptly when IND handed over to Curtis, that would certainly have confirmed the opposite.

To your point about stock being recycled, indeed.  As you know, I started this project a year ago then had to park it and then resumed. It's amazing how many comics are still on sale a year later (with the same picture!) or on sale again with a different vendor making it look like more available than it is. 
 

[Get Marwood & I]

34 minutes ago, Malacoda said:

That 117 looks like a 'Seaside Special'.  Great catch, though. 

34 minutes ago, Malacoda said:

Just for clarity, I don't think these are ones that won't turn up.  I think they will. Certainly the MU ones, maybe not the horror ones. 
I think this is also interesting (for me, anyway), in that it doesn’t change from IND to Curtis.  I’ve always wanted to know if T&P’s deal was with Marvel directly or via IND.  Everything suggests to me it was direct and the fact that this strange 28 month period of both CS and PV went straight through the handover from IND to Curtis without changing lends weight to that.  Well, I’m not sure it lends any weight to it, but if it had ceased abruptly when IND handed over to Curtis, that would certainly have confirmed the opposite.

Keep digging...

Quote

To your point about stock being recycled, indeed.  As you know, I started this project a year ago then had to park it and then resumed. It's amazing how many comics are still on sale a year later (with the same picture!) or on sale again with a different vendor making it look like more available than it is. 
 

Indeed. I had, I think, four examples of one particular DC stamped book in the files recently - all seemingly different images - but all the same book when you zoomed in! Sometimes you see a book in an auction house lot turn up later on eBay too. That's happened to me a few times. I did some posts somewhere about books that have been relisted on eBay for about five years. I wonder sometimes whether the owners have died. There's one Kid Colt book that I swear I'm going to buy one day just to get the damn thing off the screen...

[Garystar]

On 6/14/2021 at 1:38 AM, Malacoda said:

Thor 164, 169.  
Hulk 116, 137, 138.
FF 91, 102, 109.
ASM 76, 79, 88, 94 95
Avengers 65, 69, 70, 72, 86, 87, 89 
Xmen 56, 58, 60, 62, 64 
DD 54, 58, 59, 62, 69 
IM 15, 21, 22 
Captain Marvel 13, 14, 21
Subby 17, 20, 22, 23, 32
Surfer 15, 16, 17 
Chamber of Darkness 6,7,8
Monsters on the Prowl 9, 10, 11 
Where Monsters Dwell 3,4,5,6,7
Amazing Adventures 3
Astonishing Tales 2,3,4 

Checked mine - all cents or pence, none stamped. 

[Malacoda]

10 hours ago, Garystar said:

Checked mine - all cents or pence, none stamped. 

Thanks for checking, Gary.  I think these stragglers are going to be a real slow burn.  

But I have a new question for everyone about this PV+CS question. I looked at the timing and had a real lightbulb moment.  I will return after I've thought it through (and ramped everyone up to almost unbearable levels of tension, obviously.....)