Comichron

 

Uncle Scrooge Sales Figures

Circulation as Reported in Publishers' Statements of Ownership
Filed with the United States Postal Service

First appearing in the Donald Duck tale "Christmas on Bear Mountain," Uncle Scrooge stands as a beloved original creation of the comic book world. Creator Carl Barks wrote and drew much of the series, which began with three issues fo Dell's Four Color series. (So there really is no Uncle Scrooge #1 — it is Four Color #386.)

The title was the best-selling comic book in the United States in 1960, the year that sales data first started appearing in Statements of Ownership; it was one of only two titles topping 1 million copies that year (the other being Walt Disney's Comics & Stories). Over the 1960s, the book's frequency increased from quarterly to bimonthly, and the publisher shifted from Dell to Gold Key. The 1970s found the title mostly reprints (and Gold Key stopped running circulation statements).

But after Gold Key folded, the fan base for Barks' work remained strong — and the title returned at Gladstone, with Disney publishing it itself for a short interval. The Disney incarnation was not successful, and Gladstone got it back. Gemstone and later Boom Studios and IDW continued the publication and its numbering.

Some direct-market only information is available in the monthly reports.

—John Jackson Miller


 

19601961196219631964
Issue Statement appearing in: #34 Jun-Aug#38 June-Aug.#41 March#47 February#56 March
Date of filing:10/1/6010/1/6110/1/629/27/639/28/64
Issues published during year:44666
Annual subscription price:$0.60$0.60$0.65$0.65$0.65
Cover price during year:$0.15$0.15$0.12$0.12$0.12
Total Copies PRINTED (avg):428,900502,759
Sales through DEALERS (avg):296,255333,558
Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg):4,2512,9002,822
Total PAID circulation (avg):1,040,543853,928 no data published299,155336,380
Samples by MAIL (avg):781714
Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg):00
Total FREE circulation (avg):781714
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION:299,936337,094
Copies not distributed (office):
Copies not distributed (RETURNS):128,937165,665
Reported % Paid/Requested:
% of RUN RETURNED:30.1%33.0%
Copies existent:4,251299,936337,094
SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL:69.7%66.9%
19651966196719681969
Issue Statement appearing in:#62 March#68 March#73 February#79 February#85 February
Date of filing:9/28/659/28/669/28/679/27/689/30/69
Issues published during year:66666
Annual subscription price:$0.65$0.65$0.65$0.75$1.00
Cover price during year:$0.12$0.12$0.12$0.15$0.15
Total Copies PRINTED (avg):550,762491,530495,055429,631444,114
Sales through DEALERS (avg):326,500296,166277,501279,666242,500
Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg):4,4251,3501,4001,2941,202
Total PAID circulation (avg):330,925297,516278,901280,960243,702
Samples by MAIL (avg):905528591499594
Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg):00000
Total FREE circulation (avg):905528591499594
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION:331,830298,044279,492281,459244,296
Copies not distributed (office):
Copies not distributed (RETURNS):218,932193,486495,055429,631199,818
Reported % Paid/Requested:
% of RUN RETURNED:39.8%39.4%100.0%100.0%45.0%
Copies existent:331,830298,044279,492281,459244,296
SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL:60.1%60.5%56.3%65.4%54.9%
197019711972   
Issue Statement appearing in:#91 February#97 FebruaryNot in #103-5
Date of filing:9/30/709/30/71
Issues published during year:66
Annual subscription price:$1.00$1.00
Cover price during year:$0.15$0.15
Total Copies PRINTED (avg):401,762339,830
Sales through DEALERS (avg):225,500221,112
Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg):1,1141,561
Total PAID circulation (avg):226,614222,673
Samples by MAIL (avg):589619
Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg):00
Total FREE circulation (avg):589619
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION:227,203223,292
Copies not distributed (office):0298
Copies not distributed (RETURNS):174,559116,240
Reported % Paid/Requested:
% of RUN RETURNED:43.4%34.2%
Copies existent:227,203223,590
SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL:56.4%65.5%
19861987198819891990
Issue Statement appearing in:#226 May#234 May#242 April#256 July
Date of filing:10/1/8710/28/8810/3/8910/26/90
Issues published during year:88812
Annual subscription price:$7.60$7.60$7.60$18.00
Cover price during year:$0.95$0.95$0.95$1.50
Total Copies PRINTED (avg):237,541190,190172,488178,220
Sales through DEALERS (avg):74,53968,00668,92882,763
Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg):4,3966,0765,6276,700
Total PAID circulation (avg):78,93574,09274,05589,463
Samples by MAIL (avg):294316332500
Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg):0000
Total FREE circulation (avg):294316332500
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION:79,22974,39874,38789,963
Copies not distributed (office):2,1082,2433,5240
Copies not distributed (RETURNS):156,204113,54994,57788,257
Reported % Paid/Requested:
% of RUN RETURNED:65.8%59.7%54.8%49.5%
Copies existent:81,33776,64178,41189,963
SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL:33.2%39.0%42.9%50.2%
19911992199319941995
Issue Statement appearing in:#261 December#276 March#286 June#291 April#297 April
Date of filing:10/1/919/22/929/9/939/28/9410/13/95
Issues published during year:1212666
Annual subscription price:$18.00$18.00$9.00$9.00$9.00
Cover price during year:$1.50$1.50$1.50$1.50$1.50
Total Copies PRINTED (avg):162,127143,534160,425118,18093,526
Sales through DEALERS (avg):54,03748,564154,884112,52875,990
Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg):6,4254,6673,6914,0724,245
Total PAID circulation (avg):60,46253,231158,775116,60080,235
Samples by MAIL (avg):16948514221915
Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg):0000224
Total FREE circulation (avg):169485142219239
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION:60,68153,716158,917116,81980,474
Copies not distributed (office):6,4568,5171,5081,3611,718
Copies not distributed (RETURNS):95,040143,5340011,334
Reported % Paid/Requested:99.7%
% of RUN RETURNED:58.6%100.0%0%0%12.1%
Copies existent:67,08762,233160,225118,18082,192
SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL:37.3%37.1%99.0%98.7%85.8%
1996199719981999 
Issue Statement appearing in:#302 Feb.#308 Feb.#316 Feb
Date of filing:10/1/969/4/979/1/98
Issues published during year:6612
Annual subscription price:$9.00$12.00$78.00
Cover price during year:$1.50$2.00$6.95
Total Copies PRINTED (avg):80,83964,93820,430
Sales through DEALERS (avg):36,68930,1218,397
Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg):4,3633,8472,158
Total PAID circulation (avg):41,05233,96810,555
Samples by MAIL (avg):152023
Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg):224224224
Total FREE circulation (avg):239244247
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION:41,29134,21210,802
Copies not distributed (office):1,3011,041126
Copies not distributed (RETURNS):38,24729,6859,502
Reported % Paid/Requested:99.4%99.3%97.7%
% of RUN RETURNED:47.3%45.7%46.5%
Copies existent:42,59235,25310,928
SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL:50.8%52.3%51.7%




Statement history
Notarized statements with only sales figures appeared in 1960 and 1961. In 1962, all of the Gold Key line only included subscription sales. Beginning in 1963, all categories were published. Statements ended in 1972 when Gold Key's subscription service ended.

Gladstone restarted second-class subscriptions in 1987, and Disney continued them; Gladstone picked them up again in 1998. No later publishers offered subscriptions via Periodical Class, so there was no need for any further filings.

Understanding Statements of Ownership
The figures above are taken directly from the annual Statements of Ownership, Management, and Circulation filed by publishers with the United States Postal Service. The sales figure is the Average Paid Circulation figure and includes all copies sold through newsstands, comics shops, and postal subscription. It does not count copies the publisher gave away for free, or copies that were kept for office use.

More information can be found in the FAQ section.


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