Patrick Tilley commissioned Busy Bees Nos. 3, 8 & 9 from an artist whose initials he remembered as "PB"; please see Nursery Rhyme Pictures for our conclusion as to his identity.
The panels in the next section appear to be taken from a used set, but in fact they are something far better than that: they're Patrick Tilley's test sheets — used to ensure the transfers worked correctly against the backgrounds.
Note the typographical correction on the "Hansel and Gretel" panel.
For a very long while we were unable to obtain a copy of this set, but thanks to member of SPLAT paper-jenni (Jenny Wilkinson) who kindly agreed to swap her set for some valueless beans, we now have an unused copy to show you.
There's a long & funny story attached to this; but perhaps another time…
Picture Credit: Patrick Tilley / paper-jenni
© Tom Vinelott 2007-2025