undated annuals - why?
I recently picked up an undated Eagle annual as I know they're pretty uncommon - either as a mis-print or as a deliberate act. Here it is...the front cover and spine are undated
Here's what it should have looked like...
The Eagle annuals of 1971/2/3/5 all seem particularly set-up to have the date removed (if necessary) as it's a different colour to the rest of the cover...
I've read a theory that it was done so that the annuals could be shipped overseas where, because of the time taken to get them there by boat, they'd need a longer shelf-life to sell and if the annual was dated people wouldn't buy it as the year was already well under way.
Here are some other examples - anyone else got any other examples or theories about undated annuals?
Another great find, as ever. The suggestion that an additional run was published for overseas sales seems sound. I wonder if the publishers would print the undated covers separately, but print interior pages to fulfil the required combined print runs. Given the cost of printing short runs then, that would seem the most logical route for manufacture?
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