D C Thomson free gifts - the 1960's

[Hen Broon]

Hi Alanultron5,yes i have most Sparky comic free gifts but i don't think i would have bid against you for the Sparky comic gifts as i don't bid against mon-ell we have exchanged many e-mail he has a great collection and knowledge about comics and some great ideas for the future he is someone to respect in the comic collecting world and also a good guy

[Lew Stringer]

Victor , Hornet and Hotspur comics free gifts 1964

Interesting to see that Hornet gun-type gift. Somewhere at the bottom of my big box of free gifts I have the main section of that but the arrow/ammo bit was lost long ago. It must have been the first free gift I had, as 1964 was the first year I read comics and the only other two comics I had then were Dandy and Beano, which of course didn't have gifts that year.

[alanultron5]

Hen! I hope you can put up a few photos of Sparky gifts when Ray starts listing 1965 gifts! I have never been able to post photos since I joined- heaven knows why not! It just never takes when I try! The `Sparky` free gifts are the only one's I will bid very high on! The most expensive for me was at Langley salesrooms auctions where I went to almost £400 for the 1970 `Flicker Pics`. Do you know Phil Shrimpton Hen? He produced the superb "Jump Froggy Jump" article regarding collecting Dandy & Beano gifts; Phil has gifts from those two comics from the late 1930s!

Back to the thread, and when Ray/Kashgar does Sparky 1965 gifts, i'll put up what Television and other promotions that DCT aided the comics launch with.

[alanultron5]

All I knew about `Mon El` was that he was supposedly based in Canada. It was just my luck that he was buying when a few Sparky free gifts came on E.Bay! Wrong of me to see him as a rival then-but I was just so keen to get any of the gifts from Sparky, I got a bit miffed when he beat me. But, he's as much right as I or anyone to go after them!

Be nice if he was a fan of Sparky though!

Hen, your Sparky gifts. Did you ever track down -either the `Flying Snorter` the rasping Balloon (Similar to issue No 1s Balloon)free with issue 140 (23rd Sept 1967) or the `Sky Squeaker` with issue 315 (i think) from Jan 1971? I ask, as in my quest for Sparky gifts-I have never seen those two yet!

[Hen Broon]

Alanultron5 i will post some photos when Kashgar lists 1965 gifts i have most Sparky gifts the ones i am looking for are #501 - 24.08.74 and some of the Lucky Dip Gifts given away in #502 - 31.08.74 funny how its the later ones i am having problems getting i have seen a couple of #501 comics for sale with Red Racketty ( free gift from #3 - 06.02.65 )
as it's free gift so mabe it is the free gift for #501 also unless you or someone else on forum know different ?
Do you want me to post photos of #140 & #315 or wait till Kasher has listed the 1967 & 1971 list of free gifts ?
I will try and PM you but had no luck sending photos in a PM

[Phoenix]

I...../..... had no luck sending photos in a PM

I've tried to do that before now. I don't think it's possible.

[Kashgar]

Free Gifts 1965

In 1965 Thomson's published 673 issues across 13 juvenile titles which between them gave away 26 gifts * (see Bimbo listing). Five of the thirteen titles were giftless including all four comic titles and Rover & Wizard.

Bunty

No 402(25/9/65) The Twinkle Ring
No 403(2/10/65) Super Autograph Book

Hotspur

No 311(2/10/65) The Lightning Glider
No 312((9/10/65) Five stand-up figures of Famous Footballers
No 313(16/10/65) Five stand-up figures of Famous Footballers

Judy

No 263(23/1/65) The Blue Fire Ring
No 264(30/1/65) Pop-Bead Bracelet

[Kashgar]

Victor

No 204(16/1/65) 8 stand-up portraits of Famous Footballers
No 205(23/1/65) 8 stand-up portraits of Famous Footballers
No 206(30/1/65) 4 stand-up portraits of Famous Footballers

Bimbo

No 207(27/2/65) Tip-Top Tiddleywinks
No 208(6/3/65) Bimbo's Magic Blackboard
No 232(21/8/65) Bimbo's Patch-a-Picture Book + stickers * I think there may have been more stickers given away the following week but can find no evidence for this. It would certainly be unusual for Thomson's to give away a single gift though.

[Kashgar]

Diana

No 105(20/2/65) The Mermaid Ring
No 106(27/2/65) My Own Day by Day Book
No 140(23/10/65) The Sunset Ring
No 141(30/10/65) Mini-Manicure Set

Hornet

No 75(13/2/65) Top Teams/Players of Today + Yesterday Wallet + 4 photos
No 76(20/2/65)-78(6/3/65) 3x4 photos for wallet

Right Alan, here you go at last

Sparky

No 1(23/1/65) The Flying Snorter
No 2(30/1/65) The Big Bang
No 3(6/2/65) The Red Racketty
No 35(18/9/65) Squeezy Wheezy
No 36(25/9/65) The Sparky Spin-Din

[alanultron5]

Hen! Please post those images soon as! I'd love to see them!

Now! As Ray has put up the debut of `Sparky` and it's gifts I have this data!

The Launch of `Sparky` in Jan 65 must have been DCT's most expensive comic launch up to that point in time! Why?

Thirty seconds of television adverts across the ITV regions between 4.45 - 5.55 pm (Childrens TV) On Jan 13, 14, 21 & 28. At that time rates for advertising on Childrens TV slots were £30.000 per 30 seconds (Up to July 1968 when it increased to £50.000 per 30 secs) So Sparky launched with £120.000 of TV ads!

Cost of sending full card adverts and `solicitation` leaflets to major Newsagents throughout U.K.

Also, Thomsons put 4 page `flyer` ads in Dandy & Beano. A full coloured hand inset leaflet in Bimbo. There were Large ads in Topper & Beezer. Full page ads in Hotspur. Victor, Hornet, Bunty, Judy, Red Letter, Family Star weekly, Secrets & Peoples Friend.

Lastly, half page ads in Sunday Post, Weekly News and Peoples Journal.

If that wasn't the most expensive launch in DCT history to then - what was?

[alanultron5]

Hen! The `Red Racketty` That seller made mistake! He had issue No 3s gift (Red Raketty) with issue 501. I checked with him and he apologised! I bought it though!

[alanultron5]

The launch of Sparky (Sat 16th Jan 1965) was also the same day that `T.V 21` comic launched- that too had telly ads!

This was no coincidence, as Leo Baxendale in his book stated that when `Wham` was about to launch on 21st June 1964 he found out that Thomsons knew about it and paid for telly ads for their comics that day! He never said which-and I can;t find any record of DCT free gifts in their comics that date! Might Kashgar know what DCT comics (Outside the juvenile titles he listed in 64) might have given gifts 21 June?

Anyhow, its obvious that Thomsons tried this tactic against TV 21, which in retrospect I think a foolish move! Certainly, early on, TV21 was by far the higher profile comic- almost everyone in our school talked about it! TV 21 must have outsold Sparky early on. But, as with the Tortoise and the Hare, Sparky outlasted TV21. My feeling is the Captain Scarlett strip helped to `lessen` TV21 appeal. I don't think it appealed to kids anywhere as much as `Thunderbirds`

Wandred slightly off subject - but my point is, that if DCT had not been trying to compete directly with City publications; might Sparky have gotten healthier sales in 1965-66?

Finally, it looks like either `Bunty` or `Bimbo` will be free gift champions! really showering readers with them!

[Hen Broon]

Photos of 1965 Boys comic free gifts

[Hen Broon]

Some photos of 1965 Girls & Bimbo comic free gifts

[Lew Stringer]

The launch of Sparky (Sat 16th Jan 1965) was also the same day that `T.V 21` comic launched- that too had telly ads!

This was no coincidence, as Leo Baxendale in his book stated that when `Wham` was about to launch on 21st June 1964 he found out that Thomsons knew about it and paid for telly ads for their comics that day! He never said which-and I can;t find any record of DCT free gifts in their comics that date! Might Kashgar know what DCT comics (Outside the juvenile titles he listed in 64) might have given gifts 21 June?

If it helps to narrow it down, Wham! No.1, although cover dated 20th June 1964, was launched on Monday 15th June.

No.2 was published on Monday 22nd June. Here's the ad for it from the Daily Mirror:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_448y6kVhntg/S ... ham_ad.jpg