• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Convince Me To Keep This Book
2 2

32 posts in this topic

I recently purchased this book for a very reasonable price, and I was quite anxious for it to arrive. My excitement was considerably dampened when I realize that I had purchased a Pence copy. The seller was definitely not at fault. It was my own lack of attentiveness and yes, I'll admit it, greed that led to this situation.

This is the first Pence copy that I have had in my collection. Part of me wants to sell it, so I can get an American copy. Part of me says, "You know, this is just going to sit in your collection for years, and you probably won't even remember that you have it six months from now."

I am willing to admit that I am more than a little bit anal (which I believe is true for almost all collectors), and I just can't decide whether this is something that is going to bother me. Not "keeping me awake at nights pacing the floor" level of bother, but rather, "this will always be stuck in the back of my mind" level of bother.

How do the rest of you deal with this? I know that some of you say, "It's the same book, so what's the difference?" I also know others that would say, "Yes, it's the same book, but it's not really the same, you know?"

Right now, I can't look at this book without seeing 9d in the price circle. Yes, it's a very minuscule portion of the cover, but I'm just being honest. Unless I sell it immediately, it will just be placed in a box between my FF #8 and FF #10 and stored away, where it will be looked at occasionally (which means, once every couple of years to only when I have to move or reorder my collection). My feeling, right now, is as time passes, this will be something that will become less bothersome to me. But I also know that there is a stickler inside me that will say, "You know, this doesn't match the rest of your Fantastic Four run."

What would you do if you were in my situation?

 

FF9A.thumb.jpg.7fe62d2d432f5eb2c57bffa6bb0aca23.jpg     FF9B.thumb.jpg.c37644b83796b558457549ec316ab1b7.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly when I started trying to put runs of comics together I thought that I would only go for comics with the American prices on but the then I got multiple early issues with pence on and I just thought can I really justify selling the book just because it has that price and in the end it grew on me the comics I mean I have fantastic four 49 with 10d written on instead of 12c but how I see it is there still the same book they where published the same time and by the same publisher it’s just one was intended for somewhere else to be sold to the other and it just adds some history to it 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

do we have a definite answer on whether these early SA marvels were contemporaneously printed with the US ones? I know they say that was the case in the 70s, but these? I actually find a lack of a month more visually disturbing than the different price

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have always wondered if the European copies were valued as much as the American versions of a given book. It IS the same book. But in my mind, they don't really "count" for some reason. Like I wouldn't seek one out. I REALLY feel the same way about Italian or Argentinian copies. The artwork isn't even the same. I think I have seen copies of Bat 227 that say "Batman and Superman" on the header and the artwork is wonky. It's a turn off.

I suppose it's because I'm American and think that our copies are the measuring stick against which foreign copies are measured. But then I think "Well, if I had an opportunity to buy the Canadian version of Bat 1 with a .15 cent cover price, would I feel the same way?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

I have always wondered if the European copies were valued as much as the American versions of a given book. It IS the same book. But in my mind, they don't really "count" for some reason. Like I wouldn't seek one out. I REALLY feel the same way about Italian or Argentinian copies. The artwork isn't even the same. I think I have seen copies of Bat 227 that say "Batman and Superman" on the header and the artwork is wonky. It's a turn off.

I suppose it's because I'm American and think that our copies are the measuring stick against which foreign copies are measured. But then I think "Well, if I had an opportunity to buy the Canadian version of Bat 1 with a .15 cent cover price, would I feel the same way?

the european copies are reprints other than the british ones, which folks have said were printed contemporaneously with the u.s. ones and shipped to the UK. with that said, forever the uk ones were looked down on. now folks are pushing them for being less common than u.s. ones, but so far I have not seen higher prices for them. for reasons that I don't fully understand, the contemporaneous canadian copies didn't have this stigma or at least nobody really spoke about them until the 2000s and they are priced at a premium. the pence copies have always been out and about. i have a decent # just from fishing through u.s. dollar boxes over the years, at least from the 70s and late 60s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, the blob said:

do we have a definite answer on whether these early SA marvels were contemporaneously printed with the US ones? I know they say that was the case in the 70s, but these? I actually find a lack of a month more visually disturbing than the different price

Yes, they were. Definitely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Randall Ries said:

I think I have seen copies of Bat 227 that say "Batman and Superman" on the header and the artwork is wonky.

No, you haven't. Those issues that (may) reprint parts of Batman 227 are some other number of some other title from some other publisher in some other country.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, the blob said:

the european copies are reprints other than the british ones, which folks have said were printed contemporaneously with the u.s. ones and shipped to the UK. with that said, forever the uk ones were looked down on. now folks are pushing them for being less common than u.s. ones, but so far I have not seen higher prices for them. for reasons that I don't fully understand, the contemporaneous canadian copies didn't have this stigma or at least nobody really spoke about them until the 2000s and they are priced at a premium. the pence copies have always been out and about. i have a decent # just from fishing through u.s. dollar boxes over the years, at least from the 70s and late 60s.

So, does the UK comic books have an "economy" similar to the North American "economy"? In other words, do they value the Pence books per a given issue (like say Bat 227) higher than we do Pence books in trading and selling circumstances?

I think the only Canadian book I have noticed is the GA Bat#3 at a .15 cent cover price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Lazyboy said:

No, you haven't. Those issues that (may) reprint parts of Batman 227 are some other number of some other title from some other publisher in some other country.

Well, I have seen some sort of simile of it. The artwork was a poor copy of the Adams artwork. See. I don't KNOW something. So I am ASKING about it. So I can UNDERSTAND it better. Get off my , you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One option would be to hold onto it until you find a nice cents copy you like and then sell it...that way, if the price for an FF #9 goes up by the time you find your cents copy you should be able to sell your pence copy for more than you paid...

This is, of course, assuming a "rising tide lifts all boats" and both cents and pence copies increase equally in value relative to today's price. :smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, silverseeker said:

One option would be to hold onto it until you find a nice cents copy you like and then sell it...that way, if the price for an FF #9 goes up by the time you find your cents copy you should be able to sell your pence copy for more than you paid...

This is, of course, assuming a "rising tide lifts all boats" and both cents and pence copies increase equally in value relative to today's price. :smile:

Probably the best way to split the difference in this case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
2 2