Fantastic Four Collecting Thread! 33 33

[Straw-Man]

[KirbyJack]

Tomazooma Time, twerps!

[MattTheDuck]

For some reason, I remember this was a hard issue to find.  I think I had all the issues I collected below this one before an LCS finally had a copy.  This starts a run of FF books in my collection where the quality goes up noticeably.

 

[Jasonmorris1000000]

[WernerVonDoom]

11/68

[Jasonmorris1000000]

[AJLewandoski]

Today's purchases to try and fill in the holes from 1-35 since those seem like the hardest to find 

[Sarg]

On 6/13/2021 at 2:15 PM, Straw-Man said:

Kirby/Sinnott. 'Nuff said.

[Sarg]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:34 PM, Pantodude said:

Possibly the only item with "collector's item" on the cover that's turned out to be an actual collector's item.

[Straw-Man]

nice.  i so love #11.

[Kevin76]

Picked this up from Bob, Just got it today. Est. grade 5.5 

 

[KirbyJack]

[namisgr]

A day late.

 

And a week late.  

Edited June 20, 2021 by namisgr

[namisgr]

On 6/17/2021 at 8:46 PM, Venomous72 said:

Random question: what determined when a store or newsstand would receive a shipment of the books in the 60s-70s (say FF books for the sake of this thread)?

For example, on the FF5 I grabbed it has a date stamp of July 1962, but I have seen several copies with April stamps.

Was this kind of thing based on geographical location as to when they get books?

this is an intensely nerdy question I realize….

New comics typically arrived for sale about 3 months before the cover publication date.  Marvel and DC would have titles on regular schedules, so that about a quarter of the titles would invariably be shipped and available week 1, another quarter always in week 2, etc.  My recollection is that Hulk and Thor were in the first batch every month.  In my neck of the woods at the time (Southern New Jersey and then Philadelphia), new books would arrive on Wednesdays.  In 1981 when we lived in California and I returned to buying and reading comics regularly after a five year hiatus, there was the same timing to monthly distribution.

If a comic hadn't sold by the cover date, it was a candidate to have all or the top third of the cover ripped off and returned to the distributor as unsold for a refund.  Then at a local flea market some semi-unscrupulous comic sellers would sell the books with the top third or all of the front cover missing for the half price of ten cents or three for a quarter, which when I first started reading and collecting was a great, cheap way to buy recent back issues.

Edited June 20, 2021 by namisgr

[Straw-Man]

[Venomous72]

3 hours ago, namisgr said:

New comics typically arrived for sale about 3 months before the cover publication date.  Marvel and DC would have titles on regular schedules, so that about a quarter of the titles would invariably be shipped and available week 1, another quarter always in week 2, etc.  My recollection is that Hulk and Thor were in the first batch every month.  In my neck of the woods at the time (Southern New Jersey and then Philadelphia), new books would arrive on Wednesdays.  In 1981 when we lived in California and I returned to buying and reading comics regularly after a five year hiatus, there was the same timing to monthly distribution.

If a comic hadn't sold by the cover date, it was a candidate to have all or the top third of the cover ripped off and returned to the distributor as unsold for a refund.  Then at a local flea market some semi-unscrupulous comic sellers would sell the books with the top third or all of the front cover missing for the half price of ten cents or three for a quarter, which when I first started reading and collecting was a great, cheap way to buy recent back issues.

Great info!  From the other thread you had mentioned this July 1962 stamp was likely a return date stamp, which makes sense.  So would some retailers mark the return date on the book, instead of the arrival date, when they actually received it so they knew what the shelf life would be?

I am assuming that is how return stamps worked, this is my first time actually seeing one

[KirbyJack]

[namisgr]

I don't know.  Most date stamps and written dates are arrival dates made at the point of sale, as they're typically 2 to 3 months ahead of the publication date.

[Jasonmorris1000000]

[MattTheDuck]