This appears to be Strange Tales #5 (1980s series). I seem to recall issues in this series being Sparta books, printed at World Color Press in Sparta, Illinois. I don't believe there was more than one print site for this issue, or for any Sparta book. It's my understanding that interiors were printed on newsprint, and covers were printed on coated stock, all at one plant (covers and interiors were bound together after press, in a bindery area, I believe also at the same plant).

I have to make assumptions about international distribution, but recall that, ca. the late 1970s, comics published in the UK still tended to have b&w interiors. It's my understanding that American comics, with color interiors, were prized by comics fans in the UK. Ca. the late 1970s, we start seeing Sparta books with a UK price (and no other price). My conclusion would be that these comics were printed in Sparta, Ill., shipped to one or more distributors in the UK, and distributed there.

At some point in the 1980s, we stop seeing comics with a sole UK price, and start seeing what you have illustrated, direct-sales comics with US, Canadian, and UK prices, all on the same copy. My conclusion would be that each issue was still being printed at a single North American location (in the 1980s, Sparta for the cheapest comics, Ronald's in Canada for upscale comics) with US, Canadian, and UK prices, and that an appropriate portion of each production run continued to be shipped to the UK distributor(s).

Probably so (much less costly, I'm sure, than air freight).Could be. Even with its late '70s UK price variants, Marvel often drew a slash through the barcode, apparently making those issues nonreturnable through Curtis. I don't really know why DC would have put UK prices on both newsstand and direct comics—could they have had newsstand AND direct distribution deals in the UK? I don't know.Indeed, and I don't believe Curtis was ever involved in overseas distribution, just as Curtis was not involved in direct distribution nor (AFAIK) were they involved in Whitman-style bagged distribution. As for UK B&Ws, they seem to have existed at least as far back as the 1950s (I believe some of the original Marvelman [later Miracleman] stories date from this period), so it's reasonable to assume that they were mass-market (i.e., newsstand) distributed before the advent of comics shops. And it seems a reasonable possibility that reliable, scheduled import of US comics might have come about as a result of the comics-shop movement that grew during the '70s; the UK-priced US Marvels might well have been a response to that.

Foreign language editions are friggin' awesome. Let me know if you have anything with Daredevil, Power Pack, or ROM.

The comments about the cost of shipping overseas back then?

Everything back then was cheaper and affordable, because ot was a totally different kind of economy.

Today, we do not print comics in the US, but in CANADA, because it is cheaper there. The paper is cheaper there, because it is grown there. Labor to make the paper and print them is cheaper in Canada (no nimimum wage laws and high taxes).

Gasoline was cheap as well, and transportation methods used by shippers.

Today, shipping overseas is very expensive due to fuel costs, taxes and duties. Shipping from Canada to the US is still affordable, as most postage and shipping expenses domestically. Still, magazine subscriptions and like items, like comics, have very low shipping costs right now (BULK RATES, MEDIA MAIL, BOUND PRINTED MATTER, etc) but this is probably going to change soon enough, making magazines and subscriptions muh more expensive. Don't be surprised to see subscriptions END!!!!

---

Join the store on FACEBOOK!



* All items must be returned prior to refund at your expense. Return shipping not refunded.

I'm not sure if this helps, but at one-time DC and Marvel subscription issues did not have a bar code in the field. It was left as a blank white box.

---

"Head to the future,
Run from the past,
Hide from the mirror,
And live in a glass,
What dreams forget the whiskey remembers" (Eric Church/Marv Green)

Ten bucks the blank UPC version came from this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1ST-ISSUE-OF-3-AMALGAM-COMICS-JLX-DOCTOR-STRANGEFATE-LEGENDS-OF-THE-DARK-CLAW-/321042192771?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4abf9b1983&nma=true&si=NPTcQYtXp0RA8ei0OmgZlDAtK8g%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I'm guessing they are reprints of sorts, the same as the DC reprints with the DC Universe UPC box are reprints (which were coming out around the same time).

So they're basically saying the Amalgam blank barcodes are variants printed to go in the multipacks just like the Star Wars issues. I have more than one so that also makes it less likely they were a printing opps. So that means submit them as Variant B's, Amalgam Multipack Cover or another caption wording of your preference?

---

Bamf!!! Photobucket Pages

I'll wait for an approver or two to chime in since I'm not sure of the exact wording they would prefer for the caption and if there's gonna be a bunch of people dropping by to vote no without the decency to take a minute to tell you why so you can make changes if needed then let it happen here where I want lose any sleep over guessing what someone's not liking.

---

Bamf!!! Photobucket Pages

I think the gist so far is they're seperate and possibly later printings. We just haven't nailed down exactly wether the multipack printings occured a few weeks later at a seperate location or significantly later enough to count as a second or later printing without that distinction being made internally.

I'm not sure I really trust any of the internal information with the dialogue and commentary pages written intentionally to pretend these issues were part of ongoing series already in existence. Any grain of truth mixed into a soup of intentional deceptions would be tainted anyway.

Almost makes you look forward to a few years from now when everything goes digital only and we start worrying about download and upload dates.

---

Bamf!!! Photobucket Pages