The Phantom Iron-On was produced by ‘L&H’ in USA in 1974. Although the copy right printed on the transfer is marked © L&H “74”, it’s believed that ‘Cindy Press Ltd’ marketed and sold the Iron-On transfer.
This original full color transfer measures a large 12” x 10.75”. The gloss white material on the reverse side is the transfer adhesive. The color transfer image is behind the adhesive, facing the front side of the transfer sheet.
This transfer is the only of its kind in design and features the same artwork as that seen on the cover of the 1973 Phantom Avon paperback number 9, ‘Killer’s Town’.
Information on ‘Cindy Press Ltd’ is limited. They were located at 333 6th Ave, New York, NY. 10014 and their core business was iron-on transfers.
An advertisement promoting the Phantom iron-on (plus many more) can be seen below, with the heading reading ‘The Spirit of Seventy-Six’ (which refers to the year 1776 (the attitude of self-determination and individual liberty made manifest in the U.S. Declaration of Independence)). It should also be noted that it was common practice for publishers to advertise merchandise for the up-coming year, the prior year.
‘Cindy Press Ltd’ also released a Flash Gordon transfer in 1975/76 with the same image (by Alex Raymond) as that found on the 1973 Avon paperback cover, ‘The Lion Men of Mongo’.
General Information on Iron-On Transfers
The 1970’s marked the ‘great boom’ for iron-on transfers in the United States and abroad. Literally dozens of US small business jumped onto the iron-on t-shirt ‘band-wagon’. The plethora of transfer subjects were endless, from movies to movie stars, from T.V shows to teenage heartthrobs, hot rods to booze 420, from humor to horror; no matter what your taste was, there was something for you. The majority of such businesses at that time were primarily located in New York City, NY.
Some of the more notable companies during the 1970’s were ‘Encore House’, ‘Crazy David’, ‘Imagination House’, ‘Canyon House’, ‘Roach’ and ‘Cindy Press Ltd’. All such companies frequently advertised their products in comic books, science fiction and pop culture magazines.
Thank you Christopher Smith for assisting with images and information.
The Phantom 