Marvel UK Price Variants 16 16

[Get Marwood & I]

1 hour ago, Iron Man 63 said:

Bang! Can anyone make out the stamp? Something Book Exchange, Bolton?

Cor!

The stamp is a new one on me. 

Looks like it ends '...ENNANS' 

 

[Iron Man 63]

5 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Cor!

The stamp is a new one on me. 

Looks like it ends '...ENNANS' 

 

Yes, and it looks like there's 2 or 3 letters before the "ENNAN'S". Definitely a head scratcher.

[Get Marwood & I]

2 minutes ago, Iron Man 63 said:

Yes, and it looks like there's 2 or 3 letters before the "ENNAN'S". Definitely a head scratcher.

Brennans would be a good guess given the area - nowt on Google that I can find though. 

[rakehell]

On 9/19/2020 at 11:48 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

What I have found though – bizarrely - is an eBay listing for the original printing plate of the 20p copy. Here are the pictures from the listing:

Holeee cr*p. That is very veerrry cool. 

[Get Marwood & I]

1 hour ago, rakehell said:

Holeee cr*p. That is very veerrry cool. 

Isn't it just Maud.

Only two examples of the 20p book found to date and one of them is the printing plate! 

[Iron Man 63]

1 hour ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Isn't it just Maud.

Only two examples of the 20p book found to date and one of them is the printing plate! 

I might be hallucinating, but I think there *might* be a copy of this in the collection that I'm slowly getting to grips with. I'll let you know if I find it. I've got it logged in my mind now as "the book with the two Hulks on the cover for 20p (that's 4 shillings in old money)".

[Get Marwood & I]

39 minutes ago, Iron Man 63 said:

I might be hallucinating, but I think there *might* be a copy of this in the collection that I'm slowly getting to grips with. I'll let you know if I find it. I've got it logged in my mind now as "the book with the two Hulks on the cover for 20p (that's 4 shillings in old money)".

Oh, you've ruined it now! 

Let us know if it's there - bound to be more copies squirrelled away 

[Garystar]

On 9/19/2020 at 11:59 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

It begs the question, again, whether others are missing and, of course, I’ve reassessed all the 20p books again and again in recent months. I always look for the patterns though remember, and this one may tell a story – both MSH and MTU both have the two final issues sitting there in 20p covers:

Looking for patterns you’ve touched on one yourself - last/late run issues. MSA 37 last issue, MSH last two issues before pence issues ended. Rawhide Kid was non-distributed for many years but the last issue turned up over here, similarly Sgt Fury non-distributed for years but the last few issues were distributed. What chance Sgt Fury #167 exists in pence, or a couple of those later Rawhides, or last issues of some of the horror reprints? Perhaps worth looking at last few issues of titles ended during the 80s which were otherwise non-distributed. 
Just a thought. 

[Get Marwood & I]

29 minutes ago, Garystar said:

Looking for patterns you’ve touched on one yourself - last/late run issues. MSA 37 last issue, MSH last two issues before pence issues ended. Rawhide Kid was non-distributed for many years but the last issue turned up over here, similarly Sgt Fury non-distributed for years but the last few issues were distributed. What chance Sgt Fury #167 exists in pence, or a couple of those later Rawhides, or last issues of some of the horror reprints? Perhaps worth looking at last few issues of titles ended during the 80s which were otherwise non-distributed. 
Just a thought. 

There's quite a few patterns that I haven't posted about in the 20p bracket actually Gary - suffice to say I have searched relentlessly for the missing issues over many years. That's why I nearly fell on the floor when the MSH #104 turned up at the fair. 

Take ROM #23, the only missing 20p issue. I've got a folder full of images of bulk lots from UK sellers where only #23 is cents, sitting among all 20p surrounding issues. Ditto Sgt Fury 167, Spider-Woman 39, Star Trek 15. 

And as for the last issues - is it any surprise that only RK #151 exists when Red Sonja #15, the next title alphabetically, doesn't?

You can see what happened there can't you. 

Possibly!

[Garystar]

Some strange patterns/thinking with distribution of last issues; Jungle Action, strange Tales and Where Monsters Dwell, generally distributed but last issue not, crypt of Shadows and Vault of Evil no issues distributed bar the last. We also missed last issues of Nova and Invaders (double size) machine man. I’m sure there are more and you’ve exhausted searches, seems odd how many last issues break the distribution pattern. 

[Get Marwood & I]

32 minutes ago, Garystar said:

Some strange patterns/thinking with distribution of last issues; Jungle Action, strange Tales and Where Monsters Dwell, generally distributed but last issue not, crypt of Shadows and Vault of Evil no issues distributed bar the last. We also missed last issues of Nova and Invaders (double size) machine man. I’m sure there are more and you’ve exhausted searches, seems odd how many last issues break the distribution pattern. 

Indeed. Being last issues though, production volumes were often low in most cases so maybe they extended the thought of 'this title don't sell in the US, let's cancel it' to 'so we won't bother with the last UKPV'. Let's face it, the distributors never displayed the slightest concern for ensuring we in the UK got the full run / consecutive issues did they?

My other theory is that they put all the US titles on a dart board each month and....

[Garystar]

I see Duncan McAlpine’s last UK guide has Sgt Fury #167 as distributed scarce in U.K. Does he know or seen something we haven’t or just got this one wrong?

[Get Marwood & I]

3 minutes ago, Garystar said:

I see Duncan McAlpine’s last UK guide has Sgt Fury #167 as distributed scarce in U.K. Does he know or seen something we haven’t or just got this one wrong?

You just caught me Gary - going to be offline for a while after this. Duncan's 'distributed in the UK' doesn't mean a printed UKPV - he means a distributed cents copy. I could go on, but I wouldn't rely on his guide - admirable though much of it is, it's littered with inaccuracies and, in my view, he never makes the distinction between printed UKPVs and the UK distributed cents copies clear enough.

Now, I'm off! 

[Chaykin Stevens]

33 minutes ago, Garystar said:

I see Duncan McAlpine’s last UK guide has Sgt Fury #167 as distributed scarce in U.K. Does he know or seen something we haven’t or just got this one wrong?

GCD has a British pence version of Sgt Fury #167.

Link

[Albert Tatlock]

One thing I have not yet noticed within these hallowed pages is that early in the run of UK distributed Atlas titles, Journey Into Mystery lagged a month behind Astonish, Suspense and Strange Tales.

The first one I bought was JIM # 68, cover dated May 1961, and I purchased along with it, in my local newsagents, Astonish # 20, Suspense # 18 and Strange Tales # 85, all dated June 1961.

This pattern continued until at least the end of 1961, with the JIM cover date always a month behind.

So it is possible that JIM # 58 was shipped along with the June 1960 issues, having literally missed the boat which carried Astonish # 9 and Suspense # 9., both of which were distributed in the UK, but only in cents versions.

I paid no heed to westerns at the time, but it is possible that Gunsmoke Western was also printed too late to go with the May issues, and was shipped along with those of June.

Anyone else buying in 1960 and 1961 notice the anomaly with JIM?

 

[Get Marwood & I]

58 minutes ago, Chaykin Stevens said:

GCD has a British pence version of Sgt Fury #167.

Link

Oh, for s sake! 

See you boys soon 

 

 

 

[Garystar]

2 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Duncan's 'distributed in the UK' doesn't mean a printed UKPV - he means a distributed cents copy.

Agree Duncan has lots of inaccuracies regarding distribution. I know you’re going to educate me better but I don’t (until your next post) believe there were any stamped cents Marvels after distribution shake up August 1974. After this date Marvels were either non-distributed or were UKPV. 

[rakehell]

picked up a nice little lot the other week -

my first Treasury Edition, after many lost bids because I am a chintzy bugger.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 9/22/2020 at 2:20 PM, Antoni Veys said:

One thing I have not yet noticed within these hallowed pages is that early in the run of UK distributed Atlas titles, Journey Into Mystery lagged a month behind Astonish, Suspense and Strange Tales.

The first one I bought was JIM # 68, cover dated May 1961, and I purchased along with it, in my local newsagents, Astonish # 20, Suspense # 18 and Strange Tales # 85, all dated June 1961.

This pattern continued until at least the end of 1961, with the JIM cover date always a month behind.

So it is possible that JIM # 58 was shipped along with the June 1960 issues, having literally missed the boat which carried Astonish # 9 and Suspense # 9., both of which were distributed in the UK, but only in cents versions.

I paid no heed to westerns at the time, but it is possible that Gunsmoke Western was also printed too late to go with the May issues, and was shipped along with those of June.

Anyone else buying in 1960 and 1961 notice the anomaly with JIM?

 

Welcome to the thread Antoni. That's an interesting theory / observation. I'm just in - will respond more fully tomorrow on it (JIM is a funny book in many ways, as it turns out) 

On 9/22/2020 at 3:35 PM, Garystar said:

Agree Duncan has lots of inaccuracies regarding distribution. 

Yes, he does. I've written at length elsewhere on the problems with focussing on distributed and non-distributed data which he seems to do a lot of, often muddying the UKPV waters along the way I feel. 

Quote

I know you’re going to educate me better but I don’t (until your next post) believe there were any stamped cents Marvels after distribution shake up August 1974. After this date Marvels were either non-distributed or were UKPV. 

I make you right on that Gary. Marvel does seem to be the least stamped of all the books in the last quarter of the T&P years - probably because it has so may UKPVs! Odd though considering that DC, who had lots of UKPVs too at the same time, continued to be stamped right up to T&P's demise.

What more do you know / recall of the distribution shake up by the way? That's not an area I've looked too deeply into really. I always tend to focus on what exists, the associated connections and nuances, and then draw conclusions and observations from them.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 9/22/2020 at 2:29 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

On 9/22/2020 at 1:29 PM, Chaykin Stevens said:

GCD has a British pence version of Sgt Fury #167.

Link

Oh, for s sake! 

See you boys soon 

.... joking aside, I'm going to wait until I find a second copy of this book before adding it to the list. Whilst I don't necessarily distrust it, I am wary of images on the GCD which are cropped and which may have been tampered with. Very easy to add that top left corner box to an image like that. So I'll keep looking for a second copy, preferably one in hand. Damn cool though, that, after all this time.