Thoughts On Collecting Silver Age U.K. Editions

[workhorse71-migration]

I've seen a few higher grade CGC U.K. Edition Silver Age books appearing on various auction sites lately and wondered what people's thoughts were regarding their collectability and long-term investment potential. Having never bought a U.K. book in any shape or form I have no frame of reference and would appreciate any input the forum can offer. Thanks!

[jimm94]

Great question. IMO, pence copy Marvel SA are not given enough respect. They are not reprints. They were manufactured at the same time as their North American counterparts. The contents, including ads, are identical. The only difference is the price logo. You'd think the variant collectors would be all over these, but they aren't.

 

That said, there is very little collector interest in them either here or abroad. Most collectors in Europe don't even want them. Buy them if you want to have an affordable alternative to a high grade copy or want to pick up lower grade readers. However, don't buy them with investment potential or desirability in mind.

[workhorse71-migration]

Thanks for your comments. I'll be curious to see what others have to say.

[goldust40]

Speaking as a Brit dealer (12 years) and collector (30+ years), I'd have to say that Jim has pretty much summed it up neatly.

 

Pence copies differ from their U.S. brethren in three ways: the price, if it's been printed on (as opposed to stamped by Thorpe and Porter distributors), the absence of a date (as these books were invariably sent by sea freight, taking three months to arrive) and the indicia, which had an extra bit at the bottom that denoted the U.K. distributor.

 

Even though they made up 2% of the print run and were indeed printed at the same time on the same press as cents copies, demand in the U.K. and the rest of Europe is considerably lower than for cents copies. I assume it's because they're not thought of as authentic, and also because the market is dominated by the U.S. (which is fair enough).

 

Check GPA or Heritage for comparative evidence. Hopefully one day they may be reconsidered as "export variants" for the completist collector, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

[skybolt]

The only pence copy I own is a 3.0 Tales of Suspense #39.

[goldust40]

The only pence copy I own is a 3.0 Tales of Suspense #39.

 

Interesting book to own - I was tempted recently to buy a 4.5 pence copy of that book as the cents version is impossible to find for less than FMV (And this one was a fair bit less). Let it go, but I may change my mind - there are exceptions to every rule.....

[Norrin_Radd]

 

Here is an interesting article I found while researching dealers.

 

"MARVEL PENCE PRICE VARIANTS" by Ian J. Pengilley

 

 

 

BTW - I am looking for the UK Classics Illustrated #158 (Dr. No.).

[steelcity]

Although I don't particularly like pence plate Marvels - as much for the lack of the month indicator as the pence price itself - I find the small pence stamps on some DC books less of an issue. At least these books are total originals with just an extra stamp, maybe not much more of a problem than an arrival date stamp.

[goldust40]

Although I don't particularly like pence plate Marvels - as much for the lack of the month indicator as the pence price itself - I find the small pence stamps on some DC books less of an issue. At least these books are total originals with just an extra stamp, maybe not much more of a problem than an arrival date stamp.

 

I agree - the early '60s pence stamps were unfortunately large, often smudged blobs with "6d" just about legible in the middle. The late 60s/70s pence stamps however are small, light and generally unobtrusive.

[WEBHEAD]

I'd tend to disagree Here's one I just picked up a few months ago.

 

 

 

WEBHEAD

collecting since 1960

[Guest]

Everyone is pretty much on the money with the feelings, and opinions here...and the denomination of those thoughts are dollar's.

As a UK based collector, I have seen plenty of great book's with pence on the cover, and the initial reaction is always the same, that it doesn't look/feel like a cents copy.

Marvel and DC are both American companies, and yes on the balance of things it's an American hobby...there's no Stirling translated Overstreet that I'm aware of. So to accept a UK priced book you essentially accepting a slightly lesser product.

Don't get me wrong, they certainly have their place, it's just that it's no an equal footing with $US originals.

On the other side of the coin, comics printed here are in a separate category to the above mentioned books. An early copy of 2000AD is highly collectable, and when you can get them in condition fetch solid prices. With their only limiting factor being their lack of exposure to the US market, and essentally the main body of collecting community.

[Mister Trent]

At one time I had a near-complete collection of Silver Age Marvels, representing a combination of cents & pence copies. In all honesty, I was never fussed either way. My main focus was on the art and stories. Minor differences, relating to a small price mechanical and the absence of a date, seemed incredibly trivial.

 

Nowadays, my collecting interests lie in original artwork. I sold all the comic-books years ago and replaced them with reprint editions - which are fine for my needs. I like to actually handle, read and look at the artwork for the books - not have them encapsulated, with only the covers to look at. That strikes me as kind of sad . . .

 

My CAF Galleries at:

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=1865

[-cryptkeeper-]

several years ago, i had a lot of marvel pence copies, spidey and ff for most , and some cents copies with big pence stamp (who really killed books), i sold them all and bought cents copy, except my ff 12,

BTW mister trent, really gallery thanks to share , i love your ingels hof cover

[esquirecomics]

Great question. IMO, pence copy Marvel SA are not given enough respect. They are not reprints. They were manufactured at the same time as their North American counterparts. The contents, including ads, are identical. The only difference is the price logo. You'd think the variant collectors would be all over these, but they aren't.

 

That said, there is very little collector interest in them either here or abroad. Most collectors in Europe don't even want them. Buy them if you want to have an affordable alternative to a high grade copy or want to pick up lower grade readers. However, don't buy them with investment potential or desirability in mind.

 

I agree fully, they do not receive the respect they deserve. I think a time will come where the investment potential does exist, and since that time is not now, it is the best time to buy!

[Anfield Fox]

I personally like the term "Pence Price Variant" as that is essentially what they are. I don't like the term "UK Edition" as that suggests they are reprints.

 

That STL article which i read a while back is right on the money.

 

My personal opinion is that on low-mid-grade readers there is little if no difference at all between the two. However when you are putting down serious cash on a very expensive book then that is where you would want the cents copy.

 

With that said if i was offered a high grade pence copy or a mid-grade cents copy then it wouldn't take me a second to reach for the pence copy.

 

To sum up, Pence good! Invest money in Pence!!

[Earl Davis]

'We' DC collectors are fortunate as (with a few exceptions) DC pence variants were only printed between Feb 1978 and Nov 1981 so there are only a few hundred to get in the full set.

I am collecting a full set of DC's from this period including variants and have found it fairly easy to find most of the Cents copies. Finding the Whitman variants is a little harder and the Pence price variants a little harder still.

Almost as soon as the Pence variants ended the Canadian price variants started.

 

I am interested in the Marvel Pence variants as well but with a full set running into a few thousand and extending back into the more expensive Silver period the compulsion to try for a full set is not as compelling.

 

Earl.

Full Set collector

[glasgap]

I generally stay away from pence copies based on advice given to me early on in my collecting life. But I have bought a couple because they looked good and the price was right e.g. FF112 for $50.

[Earl Davis]

Beautiful!