Comics UK

paw broon wrote:Aye, probably, but I'm old and lots of people collected stamps at one time.
One place you always found ads for stamps was in tha back of comics.

130 DIFFERENT STAMPS
FREE!
Sent stamp for postage. Fascinating stamps from around the world. Absolutely free to everyone asking to see our approvals.


Of course, unclear in the ads, approvals were stamps they sent which you had to decide whether to buy or return. I used to wonder how many kids didn't pay or return them, and what would happen if you didn't.

paw broon wrote: But don't you think that other collections, especially stamps, have, traditionally, been more widely accepted. Over the years I found a classic response to my saying I collected comics, was, "Oh, the Beano, are they worth money?" So many folk, who obviously couldn't understand the hobby, seemed only able to think of it in monetary terms, and that's a bit sad.

I think the main factor in the public's attitude to a hobby is whether or not it's something they associate with childhood. Stamps, coins, records and antiques for example are considered 'normal' things to collect, but comics, SF TV memorabilia, toys, and suchlike are considered 'weird' because Joe Public thinks the only pleasure derived from them is solely childish if not for investment.

Raven wrote:

paw broon wrote:Aye, probably, but I'm old and lots of people collected stamps at one time.
One place you always found ads for stamps was in tha back of comics.

130 DIFFERENT STAMPS
FREE!
Sent stamp for postage. Fascinating stamps from around the world. Absolutely free to everyone asking to see our approvals.


Of course, unclear in the ads, approvals were stamps they sent which you had to decide whether to buy or return. I used to wonder how many kids didn't pay or return them, and what would happen if you didn't.

Many years ago I sent off for one of these free stamp sets and I put my grans address , I got a big clump on the head from her and made to send back the approvals with a note from her giving them the riot act and not to send any more

Bethanys grandad wrote: Many years ago I sent off for one of these free stamp sets and I put my grans address , I got a big clump on the head from her and made to send back the approvals with a note from her giving them the riot act and not to send any more

How big was the packet that came - what kind of volume of approvals? Did they include return postage? And, if you hadn't returned them, would your gran have received a visit after dark from the stamp police...?

I hope she let you keep the free ones, anyway.

"That grandson of mine, always got his head stuck in a stamp!"

Raven wrote:

Bethanys grandad wrote: Many years ago I sent off for one of these free stamp sets and I put my grans address , I got a big clump on the head from her and made to send back the approvals with a note from her giving them the riot act and not to send any more

How big was the packet that came - what kind of volume of approvals? Did they include return postage? And, if you hadn't returned them, would your gran have received a visit after dark from the stamp police...?

I hope she let you keep the free ones, anyway.

"That grandson of mine, always got his head stuck in a stamp!"

It was a long time ago late sixties , trying to remember I think the free album was smaller than a picture card album , some stickers of flags and some common stamps I think the approvals were a small book of stamps with a price next to them

Is there an inherent desire to go back to that time when you were a child and was overawed by comics? A bit like annuals at xmas. You want to grasp that wonderful period when you actually believed in Father Christmas and the world was a lovely place to be. Even now, I still retain some glimmer of excitement for Christmas; I have no children, but there's something at the back of my mind that recalls how I felt as a child - magic! It's the same with comics - I remember how I felt when I first read them. It's a feeling of which I can't let go. I collect comics now that I never read as a child but, subconsciously, wonder how I would have regarded them as a child. As for monetary value... nah, never entered my head. I collect and never sell.

If in your younger days you had an ipad or a playstation maybe you would have less collective things to focus on although there would I expect be something to be nostalgic about.Collecting can start at anytime ,some people probably bought a small souvenir from each holiday place they visited and thus started a collection.Although not a collection as such on one holiday we saw one of those squash penny machines and now have a few flattened pennies from different resorts.I don't think the love of the past can necessarily only start from your childhood.I would love to go back in time and wander into some victorian toy shop and look around at what they had for sale.With regard to comics I would love to go back into a 50s newspaper shop buying UK and US comiics with the knowledge I have now.

As a child, it was only when I reached around 150 comics that I realised that I had a collection. Most of my comics were bought by Grandad and also Dad. So they are especially important to keep.

When in the '80s I filled up all the holes in my collection, with the final hard-to-find issues completed from eBay in 2003, I then lost interest in keeping the later issues that I had bought and in the second hand issues. I then sold these, keeping the core of the collection. Those original issues, which I have since re-read so many times I will keep forever now.

It's nice to see that one of the nephews (now 9) is interested in comics, though not the other 3 – he's collected around 100 Beano/Specials/Annual's now. Of course he's not really interested in reading the older issues – only in getting the newer ones (I gave him a few older ones too as a 'novelty'. I wonder if he will carry on his collection in later years Only time will tell!

I collected comics simply because I enjoy reading them

If I had a time machine I would like to have alook around the 60s especially (the 'primitive' technology of the time matters not a jot) and making a beeline for pristine copies of the comics out then would be one of my first ports of call........

Today even if I spend a small fortune I cannot obtain a copy of Whizzer and Chips as pristine and non- yellowed as the first one I bought for sixpence in old money in 1969.

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:If I had a time machine I would like to have alook around the 60s especially (the 'primitive' technology of the time matters not a jot) and making a beeline for pristine copies of the comics out then would be one of my first ports of call........

Today even if I spend a small fortune I cannot obtain a copy of Whizzer and Chips as pristine and non- yellowed as the first one I bought for sixpence in old money in 1969.

Depends how they've been looked after. I sold a nice condition Whizzer and Chips a few years ago, and recently bought a load of Scorcher comics in excellent condition. So it's still possible, Rab.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_448y6kVhntg/S ... chips1.jpg

somewhere, there is a pristine copy of what you want... believe it. I have been amazed so many times. How such ancient issues have been maintained is a wonder. We're not talking Egyptian Pyramids and Temples... near mint editions of almost any comic ever published is still available... but then, how much is in your wallet?

OK guys I believe you......have a great festive day by the way!

Same as George said- I still enjoy reading them!

to retain an element of the past that in which you rejoiced as a child. As with music, you will attach yourself to those melodies that evokes the past. We're all sentimental animals that try to recreate a specific point in time when we were the most happiest... perversely, sometimes the saddest moments as well... we're very complicated beings.