Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Talk here about just about anything associated with British comics or story papers and the industry that does not fit in any other forum.
There are separate fora open to registered members for discussing specific comics, artists, websites etc.

Moderators: Al, AndyB

Kashgar
Guru
Posts: 2781
Joined: 09 Nov 2006, 14:15

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Kashgar »

As an extension to this thread it would be interesting to know which free gift was the most generous in that it was 'a gift that kept on giving'. In other words which gift, presumably a set of cards for an album or similar, was given over the most extended number of weeks. I have a feeling Derek might have a candidate for this one, at least certainly where D C Thomson were concerned.

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Phoenix »

Perhaps the DCT free gift that best fulfils Ray's criteria would be the Football Team Cards, which were issued in fours over a period of sixteen weeks between April 1 1933 and July 15 1933 with Adventure, The Rover, The Wizard and The Skipper. The big prize on offer was a match football to all children who were able to send in a full set. It was, however, extremely difficult to achieve this because although there were plenty of batches of four, which naturally encouraged swapping at school, there were a handful of cards that rarely appeared, and one, Bradford Park Avenue, that hardly ever appeared. This information was given to me in 2002 or thereabouts by the late Les Youdell, who collected these cards while still at school but didn't get the Bradford card, and therefore the full set, until he was in his fifties. Inevitably it cost him a king's ransom. The picture of this card in my Free Gifts In The Big Five is a scan of Les's scan of his actual card.

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by philcom55 »

Not so much free gifts but I remember some very generous prizes offered in competitions (though I never won any myself). These included a life-size Dalek, oil portraits by Ron Embleton - and one time the editor of Boys' World supposedly wanted to give away a real B52 bomber (but Odhams soon put a stop to that!).

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Phoenix »

philcom55 wrote:a life-size Dalek
I may well have mentioned this before but there is one in Joe Macari's (extremely expensive) classic car showroom in Wandsworth. I imagine that if we were to ask nicely we might be allowed to get up close, but probably not close enough to touch given the risk of extermination. There are a couple of decent pubs more or less opposite though, the Gardeners and the Earl Spencer, in which our Maserati fantasies can safely be indulged.

Kashgar
Guru
Posts: 2781
Joined: 09 Nov 2006, 14:15

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Kashgar »

Phoenix wrote:Perhaps the DCT free gift that best fulfils Ray's criteria would be the Football Team Cards, which were issued in fours over a period of sixteen weeks between April 1 1933 and July 15 1933 with Adventure, The Rover, The Wizard and The Skipper. The big prize on offer was a match football to all children who were able to send in a full set. It was, however, extremely difficult to achieve this because although there were plenty of batches of four, which naturally encouraged swapping at school, there were a handful of cards that rarely appeared, and one, Bradford Park Avenue, that hardly ever appeared. This information was given to me in 2002 or thereabouts by the late Les Youdell, who collected these cards while still at school but didn't get the Bradford card, and therefore the full set, until he was in his fifties. Inevitably it cost him a king's ransom. The picture of this card in my Free Gifts In The Big Five is a scan of Les's scan of his actual card.
Thanks for that Derek. Does anyone know if there is an online site that is devoted to comic free gifts? If not, and using Derek's superlative tome on the Thomson's boys' papers as a model, it would seem to be a resource that could and should be created.

User avatar
Michael Anden
Posts: 301
Joined: 08 May 2014, 18:23

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Michael Anden »

Kashgar wrote:
Phoenix wrote:Perhaps the DCT free gift that best fulfils Ray's criteria would be the Football Team Cards, which were issued in fours over a period of sixteen weeks between April 1 1933 and July 15 1933 with Adventure, The Rover, The Wizard and The Skipper. The big prize on offer was a match football to all children who were able to send in a full set. It was, however, extremely difficult to achieve this because although there were plenty of batches of four, which naturally encouraged swapping at school, there were a handful of cards that rarely appeared, and one, Bradford Park Avenue, that hardly ever appeared. This information was given to me in 2002 or thereabouts by the late Les Youdell, who collected these cards while still at school but didn't get the Bradford card, and therefore the full set, until he was in his fifties. Inevitably it cost him a king's ransom. The picture of this card in my Free Gifts In The Big Five is a scan of Les's scan of his actual card.
Thanks for that Derek. Does anyone know if there is an online site that is devoted to comic free gifts? If not, and using Derek's superlative tome on the Thomson's boys' papers as a model, it would seem to be a resource that could and should be created.
Haven't been able to find any comic gift-centric sites, but here's one dedicated to one of my personal faves- rub down transfers, which includes an extensive free gift section that includes cereal giveaways, etc, but also quite a few from comics: http://www.action-transfers.com/html/a_a/browse.shtml#

User avatar
TwoHeadedBoy
Posts: 636
Joined: 16 Feb 2012, 00:41
Location: Liverpool

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by TwoHeadedBoy »

I remember getting a 12ft. balloon with the Beano one summer in the nineties, that was a bit mad. Lasted almost a year as well.

The Beano was also responsible for starting an obsession of mine that must've cost a fair bit over the years when they gave away a packet of Pogs on the cover - likewise when Buster had a free Mini Boglin.
http://twoheadedthingies.blogspot.co.uk/ - My comics blog, mostly lesser-known UK stuff from the 1980s and 1990s

User avatar
Adam Eterno
Posts: 1471
Joined: 05 Dec 2014, 01:05
Location: Southampton/London
Contact:

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Adam Eterno »

I've just been reminded of a generous free gift from The Modern Boy in 1928. They gave away 5 inch metal train models which probably would have been great gifts at the time and should have lasted for ages!
Attachments
modern boy (300x225).jpg
mod boy (468x640) (219x300).jpg

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Phoenix »

Adam Eterno wrote:a generous free gift from The Modern Boy in 1928. They gave away 5 inch metal train models
Yes, the first one was King George V on 11 February, and the second, on 18 February, was a Canadian National Engine. The following week they gave away a Schneider Cup Seaplane. The Royal Scot was given away on 21 July that same year. They were to return to this theme in 1932 with an improvement. On 13 February 1932 they gave away an aeroplane, and the following week they provided the mechanism it required to make it work.

User avatar
Adam Eterno
Posts: 1471
Joined: 05 Dec 2014, 01:05
Location: Southampton/London
Contact:

Re: Most generous ever free gift in a comic?

Post by Adam Eterno »

Phoenix wrote:
Adam Eterno wrote:a generous free gift from The Modern Boy in 1928. They gave away 5 inch metal train models
Yes, the first one was King George V on 11 February, and the second, on 18 February, was a Canadian National Engine. The following week they gave away a Schneider Cup Seaplane. The Royal Scot was given away on 21 July that same year. They were to return to this theme in 1932 with an improvement. On 13 February 1932 they gave away an aeroplane, and the following week they provided the mechanism it required to make it work.
New York Central Railway's "20th CENTURY Limited" America's most famous train was given away on 28/7/28 and the Flying Scotsman was the following week.
Attachments
Modern Boy.jpg

Post Reply