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

[Garystar]

1 hour ago, Malacoda said:

Yup and your April 13th date is looking pretty good. Shaken but not stirred.  Subby #39 was on sale 6/4/71 yet has no stamps, and there definitely were Subby stamps for 37 & 38, but that's the only upset so far. 

There is a subby 39 with T&P stamp on eBayUK now (not sure how to do links on phone) search sub mariner 39 vg+.
This sits correctly with comics released before 13 April having stamps. 

[themagicrobot]

Mr Thorpe said:

Quote

 

I was around buying comics in the late 60's/early 70's.

As I remember, when the 1/- UKPV Marvels appeared, they were sold in all branches of WH Smith and some newsagents. Newsagents were either Marvel UKPV or DC T&P (or didn't sell either). So effectively you got 'Marvel' or 'DC' newsagents, with WH Smith doing Marvels. I only bought DC's so I avoided the 'Marvel' newsagents.

That much is experience and fact, if you accept my memory is correct.

I'd therefore speculate that someone else was distributing the UKPV Marvels (remember they were Curtis by this stage) and T&P were apparently free to import unsold cent priced Marvels and they did. 

 

I agree that it appeared that way for me too. Newsagents in that timeframe tended to have either DCs or Marvels. Conan the Barbarian 2 was cover dated Dec 1970. Decimalisation was Feb 1971 and didn't T&P have dual price stamps for a while? So this comic would have come in as an unsold return from the States at some point in 1971.

 

 

[Albert Tatlock]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!

How did I miss out on this, sold for only £3.50.

1950s Charlton reprints, including Ditko.

Cute little 1/6 sticker, too.

[Get Marwood & I]

8 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!

How did I miss out on this, sold for only £3.50.

1950s Charlton reprints, including Ditko.

Cute little 1/6 sticker, too.

I'd have bought that too. Velly annoying 

[themagicrobot]

I've just purchased this for a fiver. I believe it just contains weedy Brit fare but I like these odd 1950s albums.

The Outer Space one currently for sale features "interesting" Gould Light Spaceman stuff.

Edited May 11, 2021 by themagicrobot

[themagicrobot]

I love how Tales of Dread and Outer Space (and the other GT Ltd albums) have invented their own seal of approval so that parents didn't think their sprogs were buying/being bought  "gasp" Horror comics. 

[Garystar]

29 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

Decimalisation was Feb 1971 and didn't T&P have dual price stamps for a while?

I think marvels only had duel pricing for one month - aug 1970. After that UKPVs were in Sterling, stamps in decimal. 

[themagicrobot]

Just Aug 1970 for dual pricing? Explain? Any images to see if we're talking about the same thing? Marvel UKPVs were in Sterling well into autumn 1971 as has been noted way back in this thread or another, Stamps would only be decimal after Feb 1971.

[Garystar]

9 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

Just Aug 1970 for dual pricing? Explain? Any images to see if we're talking about the same thing? Marvel UKPVs were in Sterling well into autumn 1971 as has been noted way back in this thread or another, Stamps would only be decimal after Feb 1971.

Daredevil #67 VFN (8.0) MARVEL ( Vol 1 1970) 

Leading up to decimalisation 5p and 10p coins were in circulation and I believe many items were duel priced to get people familiar with incoming change. 
Marvel T&P stamps were 5p from this point on. 

[themagicrobot]

Perhaps it depended if Gladys or Ethel was doing the stamping. This comic is cover dated Dec 1970 and priced in sterling.

 

[Garystar]

16 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

Perhaps it depended if Gladys or Ethel was doing the stamping. This comic is cover dated Dec 1970 and priced in sterling.

 

Perhaps because it’s double sized and T&P didn’t have 10p stamp yet??????

just a thought.... just. 

[Albert Tatlock]

1 hour ago, Get Marwood & I said:

I'd have bought that too. Velly annoying

If only you hadn't been so busy compiling, comparing, checking, double checking and generally slaving away. So many stats, so little time.

[Get Marwood & I]

28 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

If only you hadn't been so busy compiling, comparing, checking, double checking and generally slaving away. So many stats, so little time.

I had a bloody stat attack when I sawded it Albert. What was your excuse? Out walking the whippet?

[Get Marwood & I]

22 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

Perhaps it depended if Gladys or Ethel was doing the stamping. This comic is cover dated Dec 1970 and priced in sterling.

 

I know it's not really relevant to anything, but doesn't Daredevil look a tosser out there in the jungle in that suit. Then again, it might be colder than it looks, as Ka-Zar has got his woolly socks on. 

[Albert Tatlock]

1 hour ago, Get Marwood & I said:

What was your excuse?

I just didn't have room for it. Even had to take coal out o't bath to make more room for comics.

[yrag9591]

[yrag9591]

Hi again. I found some more, though not as many as I had hoped. Most of my DC romance comics were bought from US dealers. Also, I think you are unlikely to find many of the romance/humour/etc titles with stamps on after about mid-1960, as they weren’t distributed in the UK. You might find the odd ‘fluke’ though. I think those two Sugar and Spikes fall into that category.

BTW, a couple of corrections to your table. Three Mouseketeers 25 is Aug/Sep 1960 and 26 is Oct/Dec 1960. 

[Get Marwood & I]

21 minutes ago, yrag9591 said:

Hi again. I found some more, though not as many as I had hoped. Most of my DC romance comics were bought from US dealers.

Well what can I say - thank you Gary, those are some brilliant examples you just posted. I love the romance - and that Pat Boone #5! Wonderful stuff 

I've updated the lists and will post the latest versions shortly. 

When you say you bought from US dealers, is the inference that the stamped copies were on US soil - if so, presumably taken back to the States from the UK somehow? I ask because some of the images I captured were on eBay USA, not UK, which is intriguing.

Quote

Also, I think you are unlikely to find many of the romance/humour/etc titles with stamps on after about mid-1960, as they weren’t distributed in the UK. You might find the odd ‘fluke’ though. I think those two Sugar and Spikes fall into that category.

I think you're probably right Gary - when you plot them out, and see the extensive list of 'later' missing issues, that's what your gut tells you. 

Quote

BTW, a couple of corrections to your table. Three Mouseketeers 25 is Aug/Sep 1960 and 26 is Oct/Dec 1960. 

I don't know what I did there? I've amended it, but just to be clear I'm deliberately using the printed cover dates in the documents where the indicias are dual month copies. It's too complicated to plot otherwise.

Again, thanks for sharing your copies which you didn't have to do - I really appreciate it 

[yrag9591]

No, if my copies are stamped then I would have bought them in the UK (not when they first appeared, though - I was only just born).

[Get Marwood & I]

6 hours ago, yrag9591 said:

No, if my copies are stamped then I would have bought them in the UK (not when they first appeared, though - I was only just born).

Ah, I misunderstood what you meant, sorry.

Here are the updated tables - firstly, the table which shows which DC books in the first four stamp cycles should / could exist as 9d stamped copies:

I'll continue to look out for the 'missing' books (noting Gary's point about the later issues for certain titles), and will post updates when I can.

Next up, the example plotting for DC which proves the sequential numbering theory - it's almost impossible to read now from the CGC image, alas, sorry, but I will find a better way of presenting that data at some point (portrait didn't work). The data you see below is based on the plotting of over 2,300 examples now, and the majority of the issues for all the 56 titles in scope are captured. Unlike some other online reference points, I can prove everything posted here from the examples saved in the files - everything is fact based:

From the above, the table showing the earliest known DC stamped examples by cover date:

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed an image 

Here's one more!