For convenience, I have grouped here a number of pulp-sized British Reprint editions that had very short runs, sometimes only a single issue. They are:
Hermitage Publications of Leicester published three BRE issues of this magazine, the original itself only lasting six. The distributor was Thorpe & Porter, also of Leicester, so there may have been some link between the two companies. Be careful not to confuse this magazine with the pre-war magazine Dynamic Science Stories (DSS) which also had a single BRE issue (DSS1). The correspondence between the British and the US issues is as follows.
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BRE #
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BRE issue date
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pp*
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Equivalent US cover
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pp*
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1
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1954/01
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96
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1953/06
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128
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|
2
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1954/06
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96
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1952/12
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128
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|
3
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1954/11
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96
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1954/01
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96
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*excluding covers
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The British magazines are not dated but show the date of the US original inside. The dates given are those attributed by IBSFM. No number is given on #1, but #2 and 3 are numbered. #3 appears to be identical to the US original, other than the substitution of some UK adverts, but the first two clearly cannot be, being 32 pages shorter. #1 carries all the fiction of the original, but must lack some other material, while #2 is missing a couple of short stories. So far as I can tell, the cover artwork is the same as the original, other than a British price and number overprint
This is (I think) the first of two one-shot reprints from Fantastic Novels, itself almost entirely comprising reprints from other magazines. "I think" because I am in the unusual position of disagreeing with my usual sources, Tuck and IBSFM, who both place this as the later of the two issues. However, they disagree (and, in fact, are both wrong) about who published them, which leads me to suspect that they had not actually seen them. I have them in my hand right now, and this one was published by Pembertons of Manchester, while FNV2 was published by Thorpe & Porter of Leicester. Both Tuck and IBSFM date this one at about June 1951, but an internal advertisement suggests that it probably was some time in 1950, so I think it possible that they have got the two issues the wrong way round. It comprises 64 pages and reprints two stories from the May 1949 issue of the US magazine, the lead story being (in case there is any residual doubt about which one I am talking about) "The Eye of Balamok".
This single issue was published by Thorpe and Porter of Leicester, runs to 128 pages and appears to be a complete reprint of the November 1949 US issue, differing only in the back and inside cover advertising and the UK price on the front cover. The lead story is "Minos of Sardanes". Both Tuck and IBSFM date this at March 1950 and therefore as the first of the two editions, but for the reasons I have given above, I do not rely on this date and suspect that this is the one that appeared in 1951.
If anyone can throw any light on the dating of these two magazines, please contact me.
There is only one issue of this Thorpe & Porter reprint edition. It appeared in May 1951 and, at first sight, it appears completely identical to the US February 1951 issue, having the same 128-page size and with all the stories located at the same page numbers. The UK price is actually a sticker, rather than an overprint. However, UK advertisements have been substituted for the originals, not only on the back and inside covers, but on some internal pages as well.
Just two issues of this magazine were reprinted, by Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co of London, publishers of the British edition of "Astounding". They were from the US October and December 1939 issues, volume 1#4 and 5, and this is how the UK editions are identified also. Both Tuck and IBSFM give these same dates as the date of British publication and this puts them amongst the earliest of all British reprints. Certainly, v1#5 carries an advertisement which place it as very late 1939 or possibly early 1940 and also advertises the 1939 edition of a boxing year book, so these dates cannot be very far wrong.
The front covers appear identical to the originals and I can see no evidence that they have been repainted locally, unlike the early "Astounding" BREs. Both issues are 96 pages, while the originals were 128. They are not complete reproductions, therefore. v1#4 lacks a short story and possibly some other material, while v1#5 has all the fiction but lacks some of the non-fiction content. The early Science Fictions carried a lot of internal advertising and this is missing from the UK edition, which may explain some of the discrepancy in size.
All of the images shown are either from my own collection or are copies that have been offered for sale on eBay, except for the Swan American images whose provenance I am not sure of..