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

[Get Marwood & I]

Its not a T&P is it...

Give me some time....

[Albert Tatlock]

On 1/5/2021 at 8:42 PM, themagicrobot said:

I am the same, I don't collect American comics but I have quite a few (thousand) I have acquired over the years. 

PS: Here is how not to store/sell your comics

 

 

What a mess! Why don't you keep your place tidy like what I do? Reckon I should have flogged it all off on ebay in about 470 years, by which time the current restrictions should be relaxed a little and I can start buying again.

[themagicrobot]

Albert at least you have the space to spread things out. Are those boxes catalogued so you know what is in each one? Or not? I was going to ask if you could check if  my memory was correct and 1967 Marvel King sized annuals cost 1/9d. I recall going to the newsagents with my half a crown pocket money and suddenly finding I could buy two normal comics or just the one annual. Just found these images though. Later Tower comics went up to 1/9 too it seems.

[Albert Tatlock]

1 hour ago, themagicrobot said:

Are those boxes catalogued so you know what is in each one? Or not?

They should all be, but I have lost my list. I am laboriously going through them and listing them again, deciding what can be ditched and which are precious nuggets.

1967 was when I was doing my paper round, and had a full shop to choose from, so I should remember which mags cost what back then, but those brain cells have been overwritten long ago, I fear. They now appear to be imprinted with long-forgotten bands miming on TOTP, under the lecherous gaze of a cigar-chomping DJ. Wonder what happened to him?

[themagicrobot]

My boxes are neat and tidy but only 3 are catalogued.

Today I am mostly reading Iron Man

 

[Get Marwood & I]

@Mr Thorpe you might like this one - a 'cancelled price' copy of a South African kind:

The original price was 8 1/2 cents and that has been cancelled by a special stamp...

....to be replaced by a 6 cents one:

Interesting too to see how far Harveys got around the world - CNA are still going I believe 

[Albert Tatlock]

Here is what looks like a Miller stamp.

She'd do on the left, but I don't fancy yours much.

[Get Marwood & I]

Oh, I don't know Albert. Three arms could do a lot for you I think, know worra mean? I'll try anything once. Or thrice, in this case. 

The 9d there is a regular, and is going to be in one of my glut of forthcoming posts. I've been studying the unbranded 6d and 9d stamps and the unbranded 10d and later decimals. I'm as sure as I can be that they are Millers and T&Ps respectively, based on dates, issues, comparisons to printed equivalents etc. There may be a pretty chart to show, you know.

 

[Get Marwood & I]

Evening 

Still waiting for the Monolith to sod off so I can flood the joint with pence blathery:

Do you think it will ever go? 

I don't think I've mentioned Red Circle Comics at all in the thread so far, probably due to the fact that this is the only book I've seen to date that gives a hint of UK participation:

I tell you, if I sit on my backside in front of the computer much longer looking for other copies, I'll have a red circle myself, ah ha ha ha ha ha 

Anyroad, the later Red Circle efforts from 1983 have three issues with UK printed prices on them. Here's The Mighty Crusaders #1 and 2 with '50p in the UK' prices:

The remaining issues are US/Canadian only.

And here is the sole UK priced Fly:

Whoops, sorry, wrong fly. Here it is:

Just those three as far as I can see. Not a Comet, Thunder Bunny or Blue Ribbon in sight. 

Blue Ribbon always sounded a bit tame to me for a comic title. Now Lancelot Strong, that's a name to strike fear. But Blue Ribbon? 

"Mum, I'm just popping to the corner shop to pick up the latest issue of Blue Ribbon"

"Ok Dear. I worry about that boy....."

 

[themagicrobot]

I never saw any Red Circle comics on a T&P spinner rack, and god knows I spun a few of those in my time. But I do have some circa  1973/1974 Red Circle Sorcery comics in my collection. (Tried at the time but couldn't give them away...no one had heard of them...) I believe I bought them on my saturday visits to London...possibly Soho back in the day.

 

[themagicrobot]

One day I'll post something appropriate to the title of this thread. Until then, don't get Sick. It was a poor man's Cracked which was a poor man's Mad. Sick was however the only magazine I've ever seen that got cheaper as the years went by.

 

[Get Marwood & I]

59 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

I never saw any Red Circle comics on a T&P spinner rack, and god knows I spun a few of those in my time. But I do have some circa  1973/1974 Red Circle Sorcery comics in my collection. (Tried at the time but couldn't give them away...no one had heard of them...) I believe I bought them on my saturday visits to London...possibly Soho back in the day.

Those were the days.  The old Forbidden Planet, the little shop hidden down the alley whose name I can never remember (not the one on your poster), Comic Showcase, Comicana, Gosh. All within a walk of each other. Good record shops too. Oh for a Tardis....

56 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

One day I'll post something appropriate to the title of this thread. 

Well I haven't for ages, so I wouldn't worry too much about it 

[Kevin.J]

2 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Those were the days.  The old Forbidden Planet, the little shop hidden down the alley whose name I can never remember (not the one on your poster), Comic Showcase, Comicana, Gosh. All within a walk of each other. Good record shops too. Oh for a Tardis....

Well I haven't for ages, so I wouldn't worry too much about it 

My little shop down the alley was called Timeslip, it was a great shop, it was in the red light district of the day, a strange place for kids buying comics

It was eventually absorbed and ruined by FP at some point and all the lovely back issues were replaced with modern drek, toys, cards etc, just killed it  

[Get Marwood & I]

10 hours ago, Kevin.J said:

My little shop down the alley was called Timeslip, it was a great shop, it was in the red light district of the day, a strange place for kids buying comics

It was eventually absorbed and ruined by FP at some point and all the lovely back issues were replaced with modern drek, toys, cards etc, just killed it  

FP jumped locations a few times. I can remember when it had proper comics and also buying my first Dr Who fanzine there which set me off contributing artwork. The area of Denmark Street off the Charing Cross Road was a wonderful place back then in the early eighties. I'd walk around the Centre Point building and cut across to Comicana. I wish I could remember the name of the little shop down the alley - looking just now at an old map (it's all been redeveloped now) it might have been along St Giles Square or Denmark Place somewhere but I just can't find anything about it. I can just remember coming out of FP, turning left and it was down a small alley. Maybe the memory is cheating to a degree. 

I know it's silly and nostalgia driven, but I wish I could just go back one day to that time and do that circuit again. Not necessarily to snap up books that are now worth a mint, but just to feel that feeling again. And of course, look to see if there were any pence Charltons, Archies, Kings and Gold Keys, all of which I would have ignored back in the day. 

FP is a cold, clean, efficient business now isn't it. Nothing remotely charming about it. 

[Get Marwood & I]

I've just added this copy to my list of T&P stamped, pre-UKPV Charltons, which is building up nicely:

What a cracking cover that is - really colourful. Love it 

[Mr Thorpe]

On 1/14/2021 at 9:34 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

 I wish I could remember the name of the little shop down the alley - looking just now at an old map (it's all been redeveloped now) it might have been along St Giles Square or Denmark Place somewhere but I just can't find anything about it. I can just remember coming out of FP, turning left and it was down a small alley. Maybe the memory is cheating to a degree. 

I know it's silly and nostalgia driven, but I wish I could just go back one day to that time and do that circuit again.

 

In my callow youth, in the late 1970's and 1980's, I was a regular visitor to Leicester Sq and its environs, doing the 'comic rounds'. I also remember that shop in Denmark Place. Wasn't it called 'LTS'? I don't think I ever knew what LTS actually stood for. There were two people running the shop. The older guy, who was behind the scenes and a younger bloke who seemed to be permanently grumpy.

[Get Marwood & I]

15 minutes ago, Mr Thorpe said:

In my callow youth, in the late 1970's and 1980's, I was a regular visitor to Leicester Sq and its environs, doing the 'comic rounds'. I also remember that shop in Denmark Place. Wasn't it called 'LTS'? I don't think I ever knew what LTS actually stood for. There were two people running the shop. The older guy, who was behind the scenes and a younger bloke who seemed to be permanently grumpy.

The grumpiness fits Mr T.  You always had to leave your bag at the desk. I sold them all my Doctor Who memorabilia over a series of Saturday trips and thought that might excuse me. It didn't. LTS probably stood for "leave, the satchel" (at the desk)

[Mr Thorpe]

Your 'receipt' for your bag was half of a playing card. The other half was clothespegged on to your bag. I never bought much in there and Mr Grumpy was none too pleased if you'd wasted his time without buying anything and just wanted your bag back!

I seem to recall FP ran a 'bag exchange programme' as well, when they first opened.

[Get Marwood & I]

8 minutes ago, Mr Thorpe said:

Your 'receipt' for your bag was half of a playing card. The other half was clothespegged on to your bag. I never bought much in there and Mr Grumpy was none too pleased if you'd wasted his time without buying anything and just wanted your bag back!

I seem to recall FP ran a 'bag exchange programme' as well, when they first opened.

Yeah. I tried to swap a Woolworths for a Pollards once but they were having none of it. 

[themagicrobot]

Here's a question I don't know the answer to and I guess it matters not in the great scheme of things but what was the month/year when the T&P stamp became less in-your-face and shrank to the point that you needed to search for it on busy covers?