Some
time ago I wrote about my ambition to collect THE BEANO and THE DANDY from the
first issues of 1970 till the last newsprint numbers of 1988, and have them
bound in half-year hard-cover volumes. Well, the mission has been accomplished
and I am now the proud owner of the World’s most nicely packaged complete collection
of the two comics from the period :)
I
went for the best condition I could lay my hands on. Many of the comics are in
pristine condition and have their pink flyers or free gifts intact, and the
bound volume packaging ensures they will remain that way for many years to come.
I prefer half-year format to complete years because in
the thinner volumes the centre pages of the comics open flat and one can fully appreciate
the beauty of strips like The Bash Street Kids and Corporal
Clott.
The books
have white covers with reproduction of the first issue of the volume on the
front and that of the last one on the back. Spines are made of artificial
leather. Each volume comes with a dustjacket with reproductions and text on the
front, the back and the spine. They look great on the shelf and I can conveniently
find any issue that I want in a matter of seconds!
In
the process of collecting these long runs of the two titles, I also picked up a
beautifully preserved complete set of HOOT and the first two years of NUTTY, so
I had them bound in the same format.
I will now wait until I have the time to
read them all, or until someone reads this post and offers me a lot of money
for this massive and unique collection. Don’t be shy to contact me if you have serious
thoughts :)
