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The Distribution of US Published Comics in the UK (1959~1982)
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5,830 posts in this topic

Drat. In that case I was overcharged back in 1977. I'll see about a refund tomorrow when I can remember where I actually bought the comic from.

PS: I need to check out this from Al's Wiki page  "In 2001 Milgrom was fired from Marvel Comics when it was discovered he added hidden slanderous comments against then Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras on page 28 of the comic book, Universe X Special Spidey." 

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7 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

Drat. In that case I was overcharged back in 1977. I'll see about a refund tomorrow when I can remember where I actually bought the comic from.

PS: I need to check out this from Al's Wiki page  "In 2001 Milgrom was fired from Marvel Comics when it was discovered he added hidden slanderous comments against then Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras on page 28 of the comic book, Universe X Special Spidey." 

It's true - I had one of each type:

1140269920_SPIDEYREG.thumb.JPG.51dc5492e6ef83ed0382c78e1e3d6120.JPG1022882051_SPIDEYDFW.thumb.JPG.6c87b327ba3f70b6f7d5399b3d44c0b2.JPG1716259900_SPIDEYDFRED.thumb.JPG.ea0c133acc6eb7619fa7639ed5f11339.JPG

 

24b.thumb.jpg.eb0114cb32f27c393d66f3b988c21a1f.jpg

My printer wasn't very good back in them days...

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No doubt you produced a similar image yonks ago but this is the first time I recall seeing a dual price stamp like this particular one. Especially as by the time this comic reached our shores and was placed on sale we would have been using decimal currency for a full year. Ethel strikes again?

 

Superman 246.jpg

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7 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

No doubt you produced a similar image yonks ago but this is the first time I recall seeing a dual price stamp like this particular one. Especially as by the time this comic reached our shores and was placed on sale we would have been using decimal currency for a full year. Ethel strikes again?

1917057684_Superman246crop.jpg.0593569995fd45c93a3299b4759c9405.jpg  1388448857_1970.09Superboy168DualTPStampcrop.jpg.7a32f7a945dd60cb66ed420ab7dcf81c.jpg

Cor, that's cool, good find Robot. I've not seen that one before :headbang:

It's a full year after the 5p / one Shilling ones I've posted. I don't know about you but I'm beginning to really like Ethel :grin:

 

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20 hours ago, OtherEric said:

:popcorn:

 

                                                                                                              43679073_DarthSidious.gif.87b1dc7e4bdf41ae0c7c81c4c4875108.gif

 

Capture.thumb.PNG.64cb0b16fc1c6c03f5c916797f82aef9.PNG

:D

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Wow!

Here is a My Girl Pearl # 7, listed at £600. What a snip!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MY-GIRL-PEARL-7-Atlas-1960-THE-RAREST-MARVEL-PENCE-VARIANT-only-2-known-copies-/154280513603?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3Dad485be4a39c4f4195643bd2f002e6ad%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D313374335272%26itm%3D154280513603%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2045573&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=9LfxkClykTojBUPcgn1lD4cEogw%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

Think I'll but it before anyone else spots it.

Wait a mo, here it is again:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MY-GIRL-PEARL-7-Atlas-1960-THE-RAREST-MARVEL-PENCE-VARIANT-only-2-known-copies/402643651633?hash=item5dbf6e8c31:g:-zwAAOSwK1df9o1f

And because I placed it on my watch list, I can get a discount of 50%, bringing it down to (only) £200.

The cents version is slightly cheaper.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marvel-MY-GIRL-PEARL-7-1960-Stan-Goldberg-Cover-/114535674644?hash=item1aaadbb314%3Ag%3A1V4AAOSwl5hfuFgF&nma=true&si=9LfxkClykTojBUPcgn1lD4cEogw%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Seriously, though, supply may be short, but demand for these must be low, too.

Anyone have an idea of a market value? I would say £30-ish. The corresponding pre-hero Marvels, with Kirby, Ditko et al struggle to get into 3 figures in medium grade.

I picked up my copy in the late 1960s, but I have to say I have never come across another one.

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2 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Wow!

Here is a My Girl Pearl # 7, listed at £600. What a snip!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MY-GIRL-PEARL-7-Atlas-1960-THE-RAREST-MARVEL-PENCE-VARIANT-only-2-known-copies-/154280513603?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3Dad485be4a39c4f4195643bd2f002e6ad%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D313374335272%26itm%3D154280513603%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2045573&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=9LfxkClykTojBUPcgn1lD4cEogw%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

Think I'll but it before anyone else spots it.

Wait a mo, here it is again:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MY-GIRL-PEARL-7-Atlas-1960-THE-RAREST-MARVEL-PENCE-VARIANT-only-2-known-copies/402643651633?hash=item5dbf6e8c31:g:-zwAAOSwK1df9o1f

And because I placed it on my watch list, I can get a discount of 50%, bringing it down to (only) £200.

The cents version is slightly cheaper.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marvel-MY-GIRL-PEARL-7-1960-Stan-Goldberg-Cover-/114535674644?hash=item1aaadbb314%3Ag%3A1V4AAOSwl5hfuFgF&nma=true&si=9LfxkClykTojBUPcgn1lD4cEogw%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Seriously, though, supply may be short, but demand for these must be low, too.

Anyone have an idea of a market value? I would say £30-ish. The corresponding pre-hero Marvels, with Kirby, Ditko et al struggle to get into 3 figures in medium grade.

I picked up my copy in the late 1960s, but I have to say I have never come across another one.

Yeah I cant see a lot of demand for this, certainly not at anything close to this price.

I would be more interested if it was the only issue of the series I needed but I think I only have 2 issues, so not a title I am actively looking for, unless very cheap.

 

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On 1/21/2021 at 9:19 PM, Albert Tatlock said:

Seriously, though, supply may be short, but demand for these must be low, too.

Anyone have an idea of a market value? I would say £30-ish. The corresponding pre-hero Marvels, with Kirby, Ditko et al struggle to get into 3 figures in medium grade.

I picked up my copy in the late 1960s, but I have to say I have never come across another one.

If you check the eBay description you'll see that I get a mention Albert.

The seller used to be a member here and once posted a picture of an L Miller Gunsmoke Western which I picked up on and ran with. I always hoped he would return as I enjoyed his interactions in the early days of my joining - he was one of the few people that supported me after a rocky start.

I posted my copy of My Girl Pearl in my Marvel UKPV thread early on and noted how scarce it was. Since then, I have seen about four copies. So it is a very scarce book but, as I always say, scarcity does not always lead to value and shouldn't, in my view, be artificially created. I've often been accused of 'pimping UKPVs up' for profit which is incorrect. I do not buy and sell to make a profit and post here for the love of research, not monetary gain. In fact, I've made so little from my knowledge that the more entrepreneurial among us would likely think me a fool. 

So MGP#7, yes, is a comparatively rare book. If money were no object, you could likely buy a hundred AF#15's before you'd amass two copies of it. But it's not a popular title or character and pence copies for these books remain particularly unloved. Ewan understands its significance of course so I don't begrudge him testing the water. But the reality is that even with competing buyers alerted, a copy on eBay in an auction format would be lucky to break twenty quid.

I love it because it is early, singular, illogical, outside the circle, US Price Font Variant indicative, and has the most fabulous indicia. 

7.thumb.jpg.155193f4c9a644e5a076636c1be2dd3c.jpg 1369608716_MyGirlPearl79dTP-IAug60.thumb.jpg.a202351efe337e281b58114928d4558d.jpg

 

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A Sinister Tales arrived in today's post. Once again the rest of the family didn't share my excitement as I ripped open the envelope. I can never recall what treasure I may have purchased on a random whim days earlier which all adds to the anticipation.

PS: Wouldn't it be great to know exactly how many UK price variants were printed. This particular comic has our price variants and 12 cents issues with T&P stamps also available  it seems.

 

Sinister Tales 106.jpg

ASM 72 UK.jpg

ASM 72 again.jpg

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2 hours ago, themagicrobot said:

A Sinister Tales arrived in today's post. Once again the rest of the family didn't share my excitement as I ripped open the envelope. I can never recall what treasure I may have purchased on a random whim days earlier which all adds to the anticipation.

Nice set. I had a few of the Spidey Class books - here's another comparison set (no UKPV for #69 alas):

69.thumb.jpg.058b8e6c55ab6b78ae4372d67b99b080.jpg 1347140248_ST101.thumb.JPG.d00f684b4901420f6e5825764235638f.JPG

2 hours ago, themagicrobot said:

PS: Wouldn't it be great to know exactly how many UK price variants were printed. 

It Chorleywood. Anything between 5 and 10% of the cents run seems to be the guiding belief. Nobody knows for sure though, and it probably changed as they gained popularity anyway. 

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I know it is becoming folklore that UK price variants made up 5% to 10% of total production. I think I may have put that guestimate myself into a fanzine in the 1970s just based on the sizes of the two countries.

I was particularly puzzling if ASM 72 might be slightly more common in the UK as it would have had the (whatever that number was of) regular UK price variants plus 12 cent copies sold here at the time too. Or did they for some reason publish less than the usual number of UK price variants and the regular order had to be topped up with cents versions. Speculation speculation.

As for Alan Class comics here Ka-Zar seems to be one second further in time than the ASM cover. I didn't know he and the Sabretooth could fly/climb skyscrapers.

ASM 57.jpg

Astounding 66.jpg

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1960s DC covers are often so eye-catching that they deserve putting in a frame. I don't mind the ink stamps but I highly dislike price stickers. I ruined too many comics until I realised there was no point even attempting to remove them. (And here is another comic sporting a decimal price years after original publication).

Batman 215 T&P stamp.jpg

Batman 215.jpg

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18 hours ago, themagicrobot said:

I didn't know he and the Sabretooth could fly/climb skyscrapers.

They went to the same school and studied the same course as Daredevil ('how to jump around skyscrapers all the time and not plummet to your death') :D

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19 hours ago, themagicrobot said:

I know it is becoming folklore that UK price variants made up 5% to 10% of total production. I think I may have put that guestimate myself into a fanzine in the 1970s just based on the sizes of the two countries.

So it's your fault... :taptaptap:

Tread carefully Robot. You can get in a lot of trouble around here for posting print ratio theories based on country size  :wink:

Quote

I was particularly puzzling if ASM 72 might be slightly more common in the UK as it would have had the (whatever that number was of) regular UK price variants plus 12 cent copies sold here at the time too. Or did they for some reason publish less than the usual number of UK price variants and the regular order had to be topped up with cents versions. Speculation speculation.

I've not detected anything concrete myself, no, although I have seen a few T&P stamped #72's in my time - made more noticeable due to the stamp positioning, probably. I'm sure I upgraded my cents copy because of it, back in the day.

Quote

As for Alan Class comics here Ka-Zar seems to be one second further in time than the ASM cover

Jesting aside, I quite like some of these cosmetic differences between the originals and UK reprint titles. Good spot Robot :)

1.jpg.134c6d73131341985f821e7f3b89ac65.jpg2.jpg.a11862013d1ed8e21f56ea7637103478.jpg

Different Spidey head position too...

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On 1/12/2021 at 6:17 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

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:

853160036_1974.04Sorcery69pstamp.thumb.jpg.1169711095b2dd4ef019f3ef68bfcb2a.jpg

Spotted two more Sorcerys on the bay with 8p stamps:

s-l1600.thumb.jpg.cbdb564a905669e308eff91d8708e374.jpg

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