Free Binder with Issue One!

[jason h]

We all know that the partwork magazines are a bit of a con - "This collection builds into a wonderful library of...." Yada yada.

I have a couple of them now from the 80s that I've since purchased, 'INPUT' and 'The Unexplained'. Both of them are a great read.

Anyone else hang onto theirs and went to the newsagents every Saturday to collect? I could never get into collecting them myself but I really remember the ads on TV.

[rossobantam]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

they always have the 1st issue at "only £1.99"...and in the bottom right corner of the tv screen in small print is the NORMAL selling price...typically £5.99!!


although I do like the look of the one on tv at the moment...makes a model of the solar system

[Heather74]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I started but never finished a collection of wildlife books,think I got to about no.5, the Newsagents stop selling them as I was the only one buying them,just as well at £3.99 a copy it was taking up all my hard earned pocket money leaving me with nothing
My brother Dan started the Joy Of Knowledge collection,but that also never got completed, shame really.

[chillyrose]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I remember I collected "The Secrets of the Gnomes" as a child. It was all folklore stories, and some true facts for kids. You got a free little toy gnome with the first issue.

Does anyone else remember this one?

[Wil]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

Funny, I hadn't even got past the first two words of your post Jason and I knew you were going to say Input and The Unexplained

Trouble with a lot of the ones nowadays is that you need all the parts to finish the model and it's easy to work out that you're going to be spending about £400-£500 on it in the end (if it ever makes it to the end).

About the only ones I ever consider getting are the Marvel superhero figure ones. I don't collect them all, just the ones I like to join my parade of computer shelf tat.

[stevef]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I remember a Blues Collection one which came with a CD each issue, that was OK, you didn't have to buy every issue, you could just wait for the particular artists you liked. But I also remember seeing one about the titanic or something where you ended up building a model of the ship if you bought about 5000 issues.

[yelever]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

My dad did one of these. The carry on collection getting a free dvd with each issue. They stop it after the first 5 or something. My uncle did the inspector morse one as well only to find that the company stopped doing it half way through.

[stevef]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

Saw the carry-on one's being advertised on telly here last night, looked like a lot of dvd's in that collection. I wouldn't ever do the on-going model ones as there is always going to be one issue that you're gonna miss somewhere along the line, or as mentioned, the company pulls the plug on it half way through.

[Mulletino]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I bought a couple of the unexplained ones, the first (I think) came with a floppy plastic record of some German scientist recording voices "from graves". I remember we played the record at a sleepover and none of us would sleep in the room after.

I actually managed to get the almost complete collection years later from a (then) Girlfriend's brother. I think they're still in my folk's loft, but maybe not.

I did find a copy of the unexplained in a charity shop here last year and bought it for old time's sake.

I think there were plenty of these things where I bought issue one and that was it!

[systemaddict]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I still have the complete

The Unexplained
Scandal
Quest
The Great Artists

and in the past had

Images of War
Discovery
Tree of Knowledge

[pedro]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

Must admit I fancied the DC comic one advertised now but haven't found a shop stocking it so far. They do look a bit of a swiz, as others have stated it'll cost you about £300/£400 to collect and some "last" two years almost. I did collect a music one in the 70's (A-Z of Pop or something like that) Think I mananged most of the issues and still had it until my last house move. No takers when advertised so binned.

[davidthomas27]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I had 'The Secret Book of the Gnomes' and 'Dinosaurs'. And my sister collected 'Discovery' and 'Quest'.

[barry21]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I remember the unexplained series as I think I even got quite a few issues.
The murder casebook was another one I seemed to collect but as I never subscribed to these after maybe the 4th issue the newsagent did not stock them any more.I did find some more issues at boot sales etc.
I did subscribe to the Clint Eastwood collection - I thought as he is such an icon of mine I would collect his films as I have a few of them on VHS but not on DVD.
I know it works out expensive to subscribe to a magazine like this but at least I have a library of his films now on DVD which I would not have otherwise, and if I am right the free binder came with issie 2.

[Hillman]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

WARPLANE!!!

Nice pullout centre section every 2 weeks that used as wall paper for a few years much to my parents dispare!

[Palazzo]

Re: Free Binder with Issue One!

I once worked in a branch of WHSmiths and these partworks were a total nightmare to deal with. The problem was that we would stop stocking them after the first seven issues, anybody who wanted to continue collecting them had to place an order with us. My face would drop at the arrival of any new partwork, the teapot collection, Gods of Egypt, Great British Steam Trains, Build the Bismarck and The Mind Body and Spirit collection were completely ridiculous in my opinion. For instance, Gods of Egypt came with a wafer-thin magazine and an extremely tacky, cheaply made look-at-it-and-it-breaks figurine of an Egyptian God at the price of around £7.99 every two weeks.

As a kid though there were a few partworks I did start such as Animal Ark, Find Out More, How My Body Works, Dinosaurs and the stone/rock collection. I never did finish a single one of them, although I did manage to collect enough issues of Dinosaurs to finish the T-Rex model!