Power Records 4 4

[OtherEric]

So, saw a post by @Number 6, and it reminded me of these.  One of my best-remembered comics from when I was a kid was a Power Records LP, with two Spider-Man stories; one with Man-Wolf and another with Dragon Man.  I probably listened to that and read the comic 20 times growing up; it was just amazing.  I wish I still had it; I should track down a copy.

When I went looking, I couldn't find a thread for these, and couldn't even find a lot of references.  So I decided to start one.  Anybody else have any of these?

[OtherEric]

I do have a couple of the smaller editions, picked up when I was putting together my run of Neal Adams Batman stories:

[Number 6]

Uh-oh. 
 

As an alternative to the crazy money that’s being thrown at 9.8s, keys, semi-keys and wannabe keys, I’ve been trying to quietly chase high-grade copies of these for the last year hoping I could slip under the radar. 
 

But it’s been slow going so I thought I’d risk the exposure and post the WTB as the PR-27 is the one I want the most in high-grade as it’s one of the 5 I had as a kid. 
 

Hopefully the “it’s a non-traditional format/distribution” mentality that causes magazines to be largely ignored plus the lack of any real keys will mean I won’t have to compete with deep-pocket drunken spenders anytime soon,   
 

I had 5 of the comic-sized Power Record Comics:  PR-13 Fantastic Four: The Way It Began, PR-27 Batman: Stacked Cards, PR-33 Superman: The Man From Krypton, PR-45 Star Trek: Dinosaur Planet, and PR 42 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 
 

I think the FF, Superman and Batman were the ones I listened to the most, followed by the 20,000 Leagues. As into Star Trek as I was, I didn’t listen to that one much, I don’t think it was especially good. 
 

Here’s the current raw copy of PR-27 I have now. It was sealed and I unsealed it to submit to CGC only to find that it had stains on the corners:

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Number 6

[Number 6]

When I get a chance, I’ll post up pictures of the CGC and raw copies I have now. 
 

I’ve also been slowly trying to compile information on the variations as neither Overstreet nor CGC seems to pay them much mind, and frankly CGC gets the publishing information wrong. And because I believe there’s probably a priority as to which variant appears first. When I feel I have a good grasp on it I’ll post what I’ve found...unless someone knows all this already and wants to post it here to save me the trouble. 

[Number 6]

Right now I’m focused on the comic-sized sets that have the PR numbering system. 
 

There’s also the larger size book and record sets. The early releases have the Power Records logo but have a BR numbering system.
 

I think I only had 1 of these as a kid, BR 513 Star Trek.  (I think the Black Hole one I had was by Buena Vista) Unlike PR-45 I remember liking this one a lot as a kid and listening to repeatedly. 
 

Here’s my current sealed copy along with 2 of the Power Record LPs:

The last one I’m pretty sure has Gray Morrow art on the front and has to variations for the back:  the one like mine and one with a word ballon above each character with a title of one of the stories. 
 

The second record is interesting because while Peter Pan repackaged those stories a number of different ways, this is the only version that lists writing credits for the stories. 

[OtherEric]

2 hours ago, Number 6 said:

When I get a chance, I’ll post up pictures of the CGC and raw copies I have now. 
 

I’ve also been slowly trying to compile information on the variations as neither Overstreet nor CGC seems to pay them much mind, and frankly CGC gets the publishing information wrong. And because I believe there’s probably a priority as to which variant appears first. When I feel I have a good grasp on it I’ll post what I’ve found...unless someone knows all this already and wants to post it here to save me the trouble. 

I would love to see any information and scans you have.  I've seen some variations but don't really know which are which.

[porcupine48]

I have a small pile,including the Spidey you mention above-full size lp version,but if I start trying to think where they all are-some are in the mag boxes,the 7' ones and others are in various milk crates.

I love them!

I believe I just saw a Star Wars Ekoks one a few days ago,I'll try to get a pic.

I really dig the cassette read alongs too,I just put an Untold Legends of the Dark Knight set last year,lucked into #3 and the seller kindly threw in the number two I needed as a bonus! (Cassettes that is,I've had the mini comics for a while-the tapes were the challenge)

[Garystar]

I believe I have all the Marvel superhero ones;

Edited November 17, 2022 by Garystar

[batmiesta]

But you have everything.  Never seen the Conan one before. 

[Number 6]

8 hours ago, batmiesta said:

But you have everything.  Never seen the Conan one before. 

The Conan one is interesting because it is one of the only two Marvel Power Record Comics to have original content (the other being PR-24 Spider-Man: Invasion of the Dragon Man)

The content from the Conan issue was later reprinted in the regular Conan the Barbarian comics series, issue #116. (the Spider-Man wasn’t reprinted in the regular comic series, probably because the art and story weren’t really up to snuff for that)

The Conan issue is the only one to have it’s own unique back cover artwork featuring Neal Adams art. (edit: PR-30 also has a unique back cover, though it's a group shot, whereas the PR-31 is Conan-specific)
 

Only the Conan issue and PR-30 Batman: Robin meets the Man-Bat have a single 9.8 on the census at this point. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Number 6

[Number 6]

Here's the CGC copies of Power Record Comics I have right now:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Number 6

[Brock]

I have a few of these, but probably the less collected ones - Space:1999, Planet of the Apes, Tomb of Dracula, Curse of the Werewolf.

I did list a few Superman books on eBay recently (pictured), but haven't had any takers. It's definitely a specialized audience.

[OtherEric]

A dollar bin find from a couple years ago, still has the record:

[B2D327]

I still have a copy of the Conan with the 45 rpm 7” record along with some sealed Star Treks that were issued by another company that coincide with the motion picture. 
‘Funny how cgc treats them by noting “record not included” but a copy of Spidey 238 gets a green label if it’s missing tatooz 

[Number 6]

1 hour ago, B2D327 said:

I still have a copy of the Conan with the 45 rpm 7” record along with some sealed Star Treks that were issued by another company that coincide with the motion picture. 
‘Funny how cgc treats them by noting “record not included” but a copy of Spidey 238 gets a green label if it’s missing tatooz 

If the Star Trek ones were produced by Peter Pan Records, it’s the same publisher/company. 
 

Power Records was an imprint Peter Pan when they started doing the comic book-size books (they were doing 7” square storybooks with records prior to the comics and that’s what they returned to when they abandoned the comic-size format)

They dropped the Power Record logo with their 1978 releases starting with PR-33.  I don’t why they made that move though I could speculate.  

Even though they no longer have the Power Records logo they still continue the PR/BR numbering system used with Power Records sets so I still consider them Power Records sets. 
 

The only Star Trek book-and-record sets done by another company was by Buena Vista that was the actual adaptations of movies with photos.

[Number 6]

1 hour ago, B2D327 said:

‘Funny how cgc treats them by noting “record not included” but a copy of Spidey 238 gets a green label if it’s missing tatooz 

I would have to ask CGC to get their actual answer but suspect the reason it’s different than the tatooz is because while the record is included in the comic and they are two parts of a whole, the record isn’t actually attached to the comic and therefore technically it’s separate. 

I’m guessing that having the record inside the comic may cause complications with encapsulating but I don’t know that for a fact, just seems the most likely explanation.

I know in doing some research on record collecting it was recommended that the best way to preserve the sleeves is to store the records and sleeves separate otherwise the sleeve develops a circular indentation and surface wear over time  It’s possible that CGC thinks that the record sealed with the comic could damage the comic  

(I suspect the 9.0 grades on my PR-29 and PR-30 may be due to a crescent shaped bend to the back cover sleeve from having the record stored in the comic....but without graders notes that’s just a guess)

I wonder too that if they were to encapsulate the record with the book the would have to provide a grade for the record since it’s a separate item and records have their own grading criteria.  And since CGC isn’t in the business of evaluating records perhaps they just choose to acknowledge it on the label but not deal with it  

 

[Number 6]

Just got this in the mail at the end of the week.

Seller listed two sealed copies of this in a lot, one clearly had too many bends and stresses, but the other copy looked like it might be nice enough to send in for grading.  

Unfortunately, the seller decided to reuse and Amazon and Walmart bubble mailer to ship these without any type of protective packing inside.  The Walmart mailer used inside the Amazon mailer is exactly the same size and the books so the seller really had to force the books inside resulting in wear to the corners and possible the bending to the bottom left corner of the back cover.

It still has some nice attributes:  most of the sealed '79 Star Trek releases the shrink wrap pulls so tight it causes major bowing to the book and a hard crease where the record is on the back cover.  This copy is mostly flat and while there is an indent on the back from the record, there isn't a hard crease.

Hard to say if the stresses where there before or caused by the sellers poor packing.  It's "good enough" for my raw collection, it's definitely in better shape than my PR-46 (which I need to upgrade),  but sadly not a candidate for grading...which is disappointing since this is one of the books I had as a kid. 

[Cosmic_Shel]

Loved these as a kid.  Here are the ones I have.

[Garystar]

Failed to upload Manthing image in my previous post. Here’s two other versions of the Hulk book/record, I don’t recall having any of the other Marvel Power records by Peter Pan,I know there is a Spider-Man dragon man one, are there any I need to search for?;

Edited March 15, 2021 by Garystar

[Number 6]

54 minutes ago, Cosmic Shel said:

Loved these as a kid.  Here are the ones I have.

Wow!  Those are some super-sharp copies!