Tintin Forums

I've just bought a reprint of the English version of Tintin and the Blue Oranges. The book of the film was first published in 1967 by Methuen but this book is the 1970 reprint in harback.

Did Methuen only publish this book twice? In other words was 1970 the last time they printed it? I have a feeling it was only published twice but I can't be sure and I can't find any information about dates for the publishing of this book in the book guide on here.

The other thing is I was wondering if the 1970 version is as rare as the 1967 version? If it is or isn't I'm not too worried I just wanted it so I have both the original film books.

I wonder if Egmont or another publisher will reprint them now that the DVDs will be available soon?

I don’t think we’ve even been able to establish that there actually was more than one edition (technically you are talking about a second printing, rather than second publication, as to date Methuen is the only publisher involved) before, so this is all new, as far as we are concerned!

Rarity and scarcity of the books is equally hard to establish - we don’t know how many were printed, or where they went, and how many are still about. It doesn’t come up for sale very often now, but if ten thousand were printed, and then ten thousand sold, then there are a lot of them out there.

I’m always guarded about this sort of thing: books are notoriously durable things, and even fairly old ones can pop up out of a warehouse after decades, and suddenly become commonplace. When the Doctor Who exhibition started up in Brighton a few years back (2006?), the shop was selling brand new, mint 1970’s and 80’s paperbacks which somebody had found in storage, and at their original cover prices - so 50p, 70p etc., instead of the £5 or £10 some of them were getting second-hand.

I’m also not certain that the Tintin collector’s market in the English speaking world is mature enough, or particular enough, to make the difference between editions truly significant. Most people, like you, would just like to read the movie books, and wouldn’t be fussy if it was a 1967 or a 1970 version.

Hi jock.

Well I'm glad I can add some new information. Yes this book is a second printing from 1970.

I have paid for the book but I'm yet to see it as it's still in Canada. I've only seen photos of it as it was on Ebay. There was a photo of the printing dates. It states that Blue Oranges was first published in 1967 and that this book is the 1970 reprint.

I knew it was published in 1967 after the Golden Fleece book but I didn't realise there was a reprint 3 years later.

I wonder if Methuen would have records of how many were printed of each of the Tintin film books? I would think thousands were printed but why are they so rare today? I found a Golden fleece book on a stall in Romford market about 26 years ago. The last Golden Fleece book I had seen up until then was when I was about 5 years old. It was in Croydon library where I took out all my Tintin books.

Personally I think that some Tintin book collectors are pretty fussy about the dates of the books. I think a first edition would be more appealing to a collector than a reprint even it's only 3 years later. As I said I'm not too worried about the Blue Oranges book being a reprint. However, that said, it would have been even better had it been the 1967 version. There were a number of factors in my decision to try and win the book. The main one being it was an English Blue Oranges book. The other factors were that there weren't too many bidders and because it was up for sale in US dollars I had a good chance I'd win it at a reasonable price, which I did.

As I just mentioned, nobody seems to have an exact history for these and the other books, so all information is welcome.


Methuen don't (as far as can be told) retain any files on the Tintin series; such information as they had was passed over to Egmont when the titles changed hands, and they have not been able to provide us with any details.


Indeed some are; however many are not. I'd consider myself a collector, but I'd be happy to have at least one copy of any book, and have only a very limited interest in which edition it is in. The Casterman Rackham is interesting to me because it is a different approach to the series, not because it is a first edition.

The English collector's market (and to a large extent I think it is a speculator's market, rather than a devoted fan's market) is not as developed as, say, the French-language one, where there is a recognized classification system for editions, so many variants to look for, and a generally greater volume of books available, making completism an integral part of the process.

As I say, I think that speculative buying and selling has gone on over the last few years, artificially inflating prices on things like the Golden Press books, the Making of books, and first editions in general.

The movie books have had this happen too, and actually the prices for them appear to have fallen over the last few years, which I would attribute to speculators having priced the books beyond the pockets and interest of Tintin fans. If you look through the forums you'll find a price of £100 being attached to Blue Oranges in say 2005; I reckon you will have paid far closer to the £40 for yours.


I might agree with you were we in France or Belgium, and the book had been in many many printings (my French copy is from 1984, but doesn't actually seem to state the edition anywhere), from which a collector might wish to choose. As a completist, they might even want my copy as for all I know it might have been the first to have a bar-code displayed on the back.

I will be lucky to see one mint copy of the English Blue Oranges in a lifetime, so it is unlikely I'd turn my nose up at it for being the 1970 reprint. ;-)