1990: JUDGE DREDD DATABASE: FLEETWAY MERCHANDISE STYLE GUIDE

From 1990: The thrill of the hunt is always that you don't know what you might find next... and this is a good case in point: THE JUDGE DREDD DATABASE, a styleguide for merchandisers published in 1990.

This was never meant to be seen by or circulated to the general public or readership but one escaped into the wild and - decades later - I found it lurking in a back issue box for a few pennies.

I've not scanned the whole thing but I have included a few pages so that you get the idea.

The purpose of such a 'bible' is to ensure consistant standards or applied across the brand to prevent licensees, deliberately or accidentally, going off-message.

I'm sure such guides, or their modern (and no doubt more detailed) versions, are also familiar to any editor of publisher working on a licensed comic or magazine that has to carefully adhere to the 'masterbrand' at all times and at all costs.  Long gone are the days when Marvel UK could run a backcover advert for a piece of bootleg STAR WARS merchandise without anyone being too bothered.

Clearly the makers of the (under appreciated) 1995 movie didn't read it too closely...