| IPC / Fleetway. IPC Media was formed in 1963 from an amalgamation of various publishing interests, including Fleetway publications (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetway). After that date they produced football-related items under both names, hence they are combined here. Perhaps best known in the late 1960s and 70s as the publishers of Shoot magazine, and of great comics and annuals, including Lion, Scorcher, Tiger etc.. IPC is still going today, though unfortunately full of today's typical hype (see IPC website). |
| 1967/68 | |||||||||||||
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Lion and
Champion Album of Soccer Stars.
Sheets of small black and white stickers included in the Lion and
Champion comic of the time. The stickers, 110 in total, could be cut out
and placed into the album. Number in set: 110 Checklists: Set checklist and Team checklist |
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| Roy Race
Album of Football Club Badges.
Sheets of small black and white stickers included with the Tiger and
Hurricane comic of the time. The sheets included 15 badges each, which
makes me wonder how you get a total of 110? The stickers, 110 in total, could be cut out and placed into the album. Number in set: 110 |
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| 1969/70 | |||||||||||||
A
complete record of the World Cup 1970 (presented free with the Valiant).
An interesting poster issued by the IPC comic in their 6 May 1970 issue.
It had spaces for you to fill in all of the results from the World Cup,
including team selections and scorers. Most interestingly the poster has
16 spaces for stickers which were issued with the comic in four sheets
(see below). These stickers
are unnumbered and have no other features to identify them with this
poster, so they are rare finds if still unstuck.
Number in set: 16 player stickers and 16 flags (four sets of flags were issued by the Valiant so that you had enough to complete the poster). |
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Shoot stand-up figures. Bobby
Moore was the central figure when Shoot Magazine was released on 16
August 1969. The magazine used the phrase 'Bobby Moore writes for
you...'. In it's fourth edition (dated 6 September 1969) Shoot gave away a 'super stand-up colour figure of Bobby Moore - the player of players'. Inside the magazine was a full-page, colour advertisement with a 'sensational offer, exclusive to Shoot readers'. A set of 8 stand-up figures, with an average height of 7", could be purchased for only 3s 9d. This was the first set of 8, followed by three other sets, meaning that there was a total of 32 stand-ups which you could buy, plus the original Bobby Moore. The second set was available in the Shoot magazine dated 13 September, the third set 25 October and the fourth set some time after that (not sure of the exact date). Since you had to buy them, these stand-ups are very rare. Thanks to Jim and Dee for providing the images for this gallery. Number in set: 33. Click here for set image gallery. |
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My favourite soccer
stars (Blue backs).
A set of 160 small cards that most boys of the period will remember.
They were issued as sets of 32 cards in 5 different comics. The cards
came in sheets of 8 per comic, so you had to buy 5 comics for 4 weeks to
collect the whole set. The cards could be mounted in small albums presented free with the comics. Fortunately the mounting was done by slipping the cards into slits by their corners, so the cards should never have been glued. This means that a number of the cards have survived in excellent condition. The cards featured a number of players from lesser known clubs and lower divisions, so proved quite popular to a wide audience. The comics were: Buster, Lion, Scorcher, Smash and Tiger. The publication dates were: February 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1970. Scorcher comic only commenced publication on 10 January 1970, so this was obviously a vehicle to promote the new comic. Smash had begun in 1966, but didn't last much past these cards, ending in 1971. Number in set: 160 (32 x 5). |
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| 1971/72 | |||||||||||||
| Shoot's All Star
Line-Up. The Shoot magazine began in 1969, and has become an
institution for young football fans. In September 1971 they began a new
series of collectables by suggesting that readers cut out a four page
section and fold and trim the pages to form the first four (1-4) and the
last four (109-112) of a booklet. Each of the pages includes a photo of a player with an accompanying biography. There was also a space to attach an autograph for each player. The autographs were available separately from the Shoot magazines. Number in set: 111 (numbered 2 to 112). |
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My favourite soccer
stars (Red backs).
The blue backed cards from 1969/70 obviously proved successful, since IPC tried again 20
months later, albeit with a different set of comics. The comics were: Buster and Jet, Lion and Thunder, Scorcher and Score, Tiger, and Valiant and TV 21. The publication dates were: October 16, 23 and 30, and November 6, 1971. Number in set: 160 (32 x 5). |
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| 1972/73 | |||||||||||||
| Shoot's Stars of the
World / Badges Worn by World Stars. For 14 issues from September 9,
1972 the Shoot magazine dedicated a four-page section to publishing
pictures of 7 international stars and their biographies. The idea
was to collect the whole set and bind them into an album named Shoot's
Stars of the World. The Shoot magazine also produced sheets of Badges Worn by World Stars. The individual badges were to be cut out and attached to the 'correct position' in the booklet. Number in set: 111 star internationals plus 84 badges? |
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| 1973/74 | |||||||||||||
| My Magic Moment in
Football - a Shoot booklet. Another in the series of booklets formed
from the inside pages of Shoot magazine. The autograph stickers were
back again, replacing the badges. Number in set: 111. |
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| 1974/75 | |||||||||||||
| The Captains - a
Shoot/Goal booklet. Another in the series, though this time the
Shoot magazine also included the old Goal magazine. The Number in set
increased to 135, meaning that it took 17 weeks instead of 14 to
complete. The autographs have been dropped from now onwards. The booklet was part of the Shoot/Goal magazine dated 14 September 1974. Number in set: 135. |
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| 1975/76 | |||||||||||||
| Soccer Super Stars of
Britain. The ultra-violent
Action comic issue dated 28/02/1976 gave away these cards as a free
gift. The front page of the comic (see here
http://www.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk/complete/issue03/01.htm) states
'There are four sets of 16 players! Which set will you get?'. If I
understand this correctly it is a strange way to give away football
cards, and made it impossible to collect all 64 unless you bought at
least four copies of the comic? You therefore don't often see these
cards as a complete set. Number in set: 64. Click here for set image gallery. Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist |
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| 1976/77 | |||||||||||||
| Memorable Football
Firsts of Stars, Clubs and Competitions.
Cost cutting meant that most of the pictures for this booklet were in
black and white, with the magazine proudly announcing 'Many pages in
full colour'. The booklet was part of the Shoot/Goal magazine dated 18 September 1976. Number in set: 135. |
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| 1977/78 | |||||||||||||
| Soccer Sensations - A
Shoot booklet. This set
'featuring star players, managers, clubs and competitions' continued the
successful run, though Shoot has reverted to its single name, dropping
the Goal association. Again, most of the pictures and pages are black
and white. The booklet was part of the Shoot/Goal magazine dated 17 September 1977. Number in set: 135. |
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