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

[Get Marwood & I]

2 minutes ago, yrag9591 said:

I confess, I bought the Mystery In Space Annual. I have never overpaid so much before!

Cool, well done. It was an auction, so you bid it to the level that at least one other person would pay - I don't think it's that bad a price, considering how scarce they are (that said, another one up already if you peek).

[Get Marwood & I]

One of the aspects of this latest wave of UK related research that I wasn't expecting was the 'proof' if you like that the first few pence gaps were likely not now the result of shipping strikes, given the presence of stamped copies for the missing issues and the alignment to the ongoing DC books / stamp cycle.

I've been dabbling away in that area, building on the spreadsheet that @Garystar kindly put together for us. If I take this 'ASM' extract of his table...

....compare it to the first UKPV hiatus gaps on my own Marvel spreadsheet....

...and add my own researched examples, we get this:

From the limited sample, what we can see is:

• No stamped copies found for the UKPVs which exist prior to or immediately after the UKPV gap by either of us (as expected)
• A similar pattern of numbers for each issue
• Some issues appear scarcer than others - ASM #20 for example has only one copy found so far 
• The sequence of the numbers is broadly consistent with our DC 1-9 shipment cycles

Being the first ASM issue (in theory) to be stamped with a 10d, ASM #18 has comparatively few examples. The one I have is interesting in as much as it has been stamped with a 9d then corrected to a 10:

That makes a kind of sense doesn't it, getting the first one wrong. Odd that the 10 stamp is missing the top half number part of the stamp though, to compound the event's mystery.

Most of the copies I have saved in the files are the standard old style 10d version, but towards the end of the sequence I have an issue 26 and 27 with new stamp types on them:

 

 

The latter's '2' stamp seems a bit off compared to the old style 4 stamps of the other examples I have. I plan to do a bit more work on the cross over from old to new stamps by the way and produce some visuals for us to summarise. 

One additional thing that I have done is overlayed the stamped ASM issues to what turns out to be the eighth 1-9 cycle and the early results indicate a misalignment with the cover dates of the plotted DC books (I've recently extended the exercise to the first ten cycles). I need to do a bit more work there but it's looking like the sequential shipping pattern holds true on the Marvels, but the cover dates are several months adrift of the DC books which may indicate a different method for how they came to the UK perhaps. As I say, more work to be done there, including an assessment of the production vs shipping window, to see if the Marvel cover dates sit in cycle slots that are theoretically possible. 

Did that make sense?

Probably not.... 

[Garystar]

Is my spreadsheet wrong? I have sept 65 as UKPV 9d - should that be 10d I’ll have to check. 
my spidey 18 had a 9d stamp. 
good work all coming together. 

[Get Marwood & I]

18 minutes ago, Garystar said:

Is my spreadsheet wrong? I have sept 65 as UKPV 9d - should that be 10d I’ll have to check. 

Yes, I just noticed myself - they're 10d from Sept 65:

Easy slip to make when you're focussing on a different aspect

Quote

my spidey 18 had a 9d stamp. 

It shouldn't though really, should it!?

Should it......?  

This is where the DC overlaying comes in.

Quote

good work all coming together. 

Yes, there's an almighty summary coming soon Gary. So many aspects to capture, so hard to summarise it all in a way that doesn't lose the interest. I have a plan though, for a page over at the Pence Palace 

[OtherEric]

24 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Yes, there's an almighty summary coming soon

[yrag9591]

3 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Cool, well done. It was an auction, so you bid it to the level that at least one other person would pay - I don't think it's that bad a price, considering how scarce they are (that said, another one up already if you peek).

Yes, I noticed. The second one turned up the day after I had won the first one. Not a coincidence!

[Get Marwood & I]

3 minutes ago, yrag9591 said:

Yes, I noticed. The second one turned up the day after I had won the first one. Not a coincidence!

Already up to fifty quid too. Your one looks better. 

[Kevin.J]

5 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure if its my example of #20 your using or if I didnt post it but here is the same one or another one, tough to see the number though  

Also I have a 27 that matches that stamp

 

 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

3 minutes ago, Kevin.J said:

Not sure if its my example of #20 your using or if I didnt post it but here is the same one or another one, tough to see the number though  

It's a different copy. Looks like a five to me, cheers Kevin.

[Garystar]

One of the reasons I struggle to believe stamp numbers were for returns processes is illustrated on this page - seven different Spider-man comics on this page and I struggle to read the number on six of them. 

[rakehell]

20 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Were any of you lot successful?

I was certainly unsuccessful. I only got 20 quid for my Aquaman Annual last year (posted in your DC thread) & it had a Detective 363 in it.

Mind you, I only paid £4.50 for it. 

[Get Marwood & I]

3 hours ago, Garystar said:

One of the reasons I struggle to believe stamp numbers were for returns processes is illustrated on this page - seven different Spider-man comics on this page and I struggle to read the number on six of them. 

Quiet Gary, you'll wake Albert 

You know me - I deal in facts. This exists, that exists, here's the evidence. 

The stamps exist - fact. They're numbered - fact. When plotted, the numbers indicate a natural calendar sequence - fact. But we cannot say that the numbers were used for a returns process - that is speculation in the absence of concrete evidence. It may indeed make operational sense, as Albert has suggested, but it still remains an unproven theory and we have just as many old time collectors saying nay than yay based on their individual recollections. If it was used for that purpose however, one fact we can add is that a very large percentage of extant copies are unreadable. 

All good fun though, as I always say

[Get Marwood & I]

2 hours ago, rakehell said:

I was certainly unsuccessful. I only got 20 quid for my Aquaman Annual last year (posted in your DC thread) & it had a Detective 363 in it.

Mind you, I only paid £4.50 for it. 

Nice profit 

Spoiler

 

[rakehell]

45 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Nice profit 

[Albert Tatlock]

3 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Quiet Gary, you'll wake Albert

I have one eye open and both ears.

Following all this with interest.

 

[Get Marwood & I]

14 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

I have one eye open and both ears.

Following all this with interest.

 

Good to hear / half see. I've been plotting Action Comics across 10 cycles for the last few hours. It don't half take a while....

[Get Marwood & I]

1 hour ago, Get Marwood & I said:

1 hour ago, Albert Tatlock said:

I have one eye open and both ears.

Following all this with interest.

 

Good to hear / half see. I've been plotting Action Comics across 10 cycles for the last few hours. It don't half take a while....

...and it gets tricky to plot when you have old style fives....

....old style unreadables...

...new style ones...

...and new style fives:

Apart from that it's great fun 

[Redshade]

On 11/25/2020 at 3:54 PM, yrag9591 said:

I confess, I bought the Mystery In Space Annual. I have never overpaid so much before!

These annuals have taken off quite a bit in the last few years and if that is what collectors are willing to pay then that is the current "fair price".

I vaguely remember these books but by the time they were issued (1968?) I had pretty much given up on comics preferring to save up my pocket and birthday money to buy Jimi Hendrix and Prog albums.

I have always wondered if the scarcity of these were due to the fact that boys tried to "salvage" the individual comics by taking the books apart.

[Get Marwood & I]

Quick update, the broadly sequential monthly DC pattern that we see in the first four T&P 1-9 cycles goes right out the window by the 8th and 9th cycle. I just want to add another title or two, to beef it up, then I'll post those two cycles along with the Amazing Spider-Man UKPV issue gaps, hopefully tomorrow. Quite illuminating, it is.... 

[Garystar]

On 11/25/2020 at 6:07 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Quote

my spidey 18 had a 9d stamp. 

It shouldn't though really, should it!?

Should it......?  

I think this is a case of US distribution week rather than cover month. November 1965 appears to have preprinted 9d (Kid Colt 119) stamped 10d and stamped 9d. Here's a Strange Tales #126 with a 9d stamp to match my spider-man #18

And a Journey into Mystery 110 with a 10d stamp;

The 9d ones are stamped numbers 4 and 5, the 10d stamped one stamped 6. Not sure if that indicates a progression, probably bigger sample needed.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Garystar