Comics UK

pink panther and shiver and shake holiday specials from 1977.

I bought No. 257 of Sparky, and the 6/2/1965 issue of the Big One.

Yesterday in Deptford flea market I picked up 60 odd copies of Lion and Thunder and Valiant and Lion from 1974 and some Valiants from 1970. 50p each. Also got 1978 Beezer Summer Special and a Tom & Jerry Summer Special for 50p each. Went to the ephemera fair today and picked up 60 Alan Class reprints from the 60s for £5 each all in superb condition. Some rare titles among them including Outer Space, Weird Planets and Tales of the Supernatural.

On the way home on the Jubilee line who should be a fellow passenger but Doctor Strange who's mystic powers had obviously failed him forcing him to use public transport - or he could have been an ordinary Joe dressed as Doc Strange going the comic con in docklands. Nice young lady with him in a black leather cat suit.

Did that lady have red hair? If so she might have been cosplaying Black Widow. And if the hair was white, she could be Black Cat.

I think she had brown hair but I was paying more attention to her unzipped top.

I won a wrapper of a chewy bar and, gadzooks, had an issue of a Beano thrown in with it

By the way, does anyone possess the original chewy bar from 1977... uneaten? These kind of gifts, I imagine, are really hard to find although I did notice that a lollipop from an issue of Beano 1978 was on offer... unfortunately, its contents had seeped on to the pages to which it was attached. Still, a heck of a find!

geoff42 wrote:By the way, does anyone possess the original chewy bar from 1977... uneaten? These kind of gifts, I imagine, are really hard to find although I did notice that a lollipop from an issue of Beano 1978 was on offer... unfortunately, its contents had seeped on to the pages to which it was attached. Still, a heck of a find!

Since I began collecting comics in 1974 I've kept all of the gifts that came with them as they appeared so, for instance, I have all of the edible gifts given away with the Beano for the last forty years. I don't keep them with the actual comics themselves, of course, instead they are kept in temp controlled Tupperware boxes and all are suitably labelled as to their comic of origin. By this method virtually all of the gifts have remained in what appears to be 'edible' condition.

I've been away for a few days so some interesting arrivals when I returned and some more on their way.

I returned to find Vulcan #2 with it's free gift so only need #3 now. I also received a very interesting pair of books (Vol 1 & 2) from 1847 entitled "The comic history of England" by GILBERT ABBOTT A'BECKETT (great name) and illustrated by John Leech. They look fascinating and for £1 + postage I couldn't resist!

Also won Cor #1, Monster Fun #1 with free gift and Cracker #3 with free gift which should be with me shortly.

Currently reading the set of Crunch comics I bought last week and although only on #3, I'm really enjoying them!

I almost forgot as it arrived the day I left but I also received a copy of the excellent "Free Gifts In The Big Five" courtesy of our very own Phoenix which looks brilliant! I've referred to it 3 times already and look forward to having a spare few hours to go through it in detail. Thanks Phoenix!

I recently got the following new comics that have just come out:

Thunderbirds Are Go
Transformers
Cartoon Network Magazine
DC Super Heroes: The Flash

Wow, Kashgar, your edible free gifts from the Beano, I imagine, are in great shape. Nice one. Now, in these times, I can understand a careful collector. But from the seventies, not so. What I would like to know is this: back in the seventies, when comic collection wasn't a big thing, what made you preserve such things?

I still have my Joe 90 identity card issued with the first issue of Joe 90 in 1968 plus every issue of the comic. I started collecting in 1965. My excessive sweet tooth, which is still around today, precluding me from saving any edible gifts.

stevezodiac wrote:I still have my Joe 90 identity card issued with the first issue of Joe 90 in 1968 plus every issue of the comic. I started collecting in 1965. My excessive sweet tooth, which is still around today, precluding me from saving any edible gifts.

Indeed. Collecting has been around for decades:
http://youtu.be/rgS9Bq2E3ew

geoff42 wrote:Wow, Kashgar, your edible free gifts from the Beano, I imagine, are in great shape. Nice one. Now, in these times, I can understand a careful collector. But from the seventies, not so. What I would like to know is this: back in the seventies, when comic collection wasn't a big thing, what made you preserve such things?

I was in my late teens when I began to collect as a collector and it seemed reasonable to keep everything that was issued with any particular comic in as pristine a shape as possible. Obviously I had no idea at the time that I would still be getting the Beano every week over forty years later and have amassed a mountain of free gifts, both edible and not, in the process. Same applies to all the other comic titles I placed an order for with the newsagent in June 1974. Collecting comics as they are published is a brilliant way of amassing a collection of items in pristine condition although it does take patience and perseverance.