Bo_Hogg Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 There are some wild variants out there but this is pretty wild! There are a group of marvel comics that were put out by a Philippine bookstore, Alemar bookstore in Manilla, Philippines. They are entirely in English and the only difference inside is the ads for Alemar bookstore but this cover is wild. Everybody has seen a blank upc before but how about that blank upper left!? And what about the upper right side, MN 101. That's not suppose to be there! This is only the third one I have ever seen. The other two were Shogun Warriors 1 and the other was a Marvel double feature. Are they rare? Yes. Are they in demand? No because nobody knows about them. I understand there are other titles that exist. This is the only one I have. Andrew Rathbun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerome34 Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 There are a lot of DC comics reprinted in the Philippines. Some are full size and some are smaller (about 4" x 7"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lscomics Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 There were also books done for National Bookstore and Goodwill Bookstore in the Philippines. The Filipino books are incredibly hard to find based on a few factors. 1) Print runs were not high. 2) The paper quality is lower than normal for Bronze Age books. 3) The climate conditions in the Philippines are not conducive to preserving paper products, staples either for that matter. 4) The majority of collectors there regarded (and still do) the Filipino versions as substandard and have no great interest in them so they were generally not cared for very well. Here's pics of the National and Goodwill Bookstore editions that I've been able to get my hand on so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Define999 Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Wow! So someone else is paying attention to these uh? (thumbs u I am getting ready for a wedding that is going to busy me for the entire day so I will make this quick.... Tim is exactly right! The Filipino books are some of the rarest foreign variants in existence. Don't ask me how we know, but we think print runs couldn't have been more than maybe 4000 for National Bookstore, Good will bookstore we have no clue and now this? :o THis bookstore we have never heard of before? And, a few of us have been discussing the complexity, the maddening rarity, and absolute coolness of these books for a very long time. Every point above that Tim talks about is a factor in how difficult these books lives were as far as surviving the ages.... I have to run...... We need to talk more about your book for sure..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLiamSturgess Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Awesome! I would be interested to see more of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chespirito Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 I only have 4 National Bookstore variants.....I would be very interested in seeing more, of ANY Filipino variants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopNotch Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 There are some wild variants out there but this is pretty wild! There are a group of marvel comics that were put out by a Philippine bookstore, Alemar bookstore in Manilla, Philippines. They are entirely in English and the only difference inside is the ads for Alemar bookstore but this cover is wild. Everybody has seen a blank upc before but how about that blank upper left!? And what about the upper right side, MN 101. That's not suppose to be there! This is only the third one I have ever seen. The other two were Shogun Warriors 1 and the other was a Marvel double feature. Are they rare? Yes. Are they in demand? No because nobody knows about them. I understand there are other titles that exist. This is the only one I have. This sat in my eBay store for a while, glad it found a home. Now that I know their origin I need to go box digging to see if I have some more of these variants! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lscomics Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 There are some wild variants out there but this is pretty wild! There are a group of marvel comics that were put out by a Philippine bookstore, Alemar bookstore in Manilla, Philippines. They are entirely in English and the only difference inside is the ads for Alemar bookstore but this cover is wild. Everybody has seen a blank upc before but how about that blank upper left!? And what about the upper right side, MN 101. That's not suppose to be there! This is only the third one I have ever seen. The other two were Shogun Warriors 1 and the other was a Marvel double feature. Are they rare? Yes. Are they in demand? No because nobody knows about them. I understand there are other titles that exist. This is the only one I have. This sat in my eBay store for a while, glad it found a home. Now that I know their origin I need to go box digging to see if I have some more of these variants! If you find anything foreign with work by Adams or Wrightson let me know if you're looking to sell. That's the main focus of my collection. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopNotch Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 If you find anything foreign with work by Adams or Wrightson let me know if you're looking to sell. That's the main focus of my collection. (thumbs u PM sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metarog Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 There is a gallery dedicated to these editions over at STLcomics which I put together... in fact if the posters on here don't mind I'd like to add these also. LMK if that is alright and enjoy. http://stlcomics.com/cover_gallery/categories.php?cat_id=408 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lscomics Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 There is a gallery dedicated to these editions over at STLcomics which I put together... in fact if the posters on here don't mind I'd like to add these also. LMK if that is alright and enjoy. http://stlcomics.com/cover_gallery/categories.php?cat_id=408 You're more than welcome to use any of my scans. (thumbs u Just curious... Do you know who owns the Batman #241 that's on there and if they'd possibly be interested in selling it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metarog Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Thanks for letting me use your scans and as to the Bats 241-it looks to be a scan from Mile High Comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lscomics Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Thanks for letting me use your scans and as to the Bats 241-it looks to be a scan from Mile High Comics. No problem on the scans. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Define999 Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 (edited) Thanks for letting me use your scans and as to the Bats 241-it looks to be a scan from Mile High Comics. Yea, use any scans from my books as well.... I have been curious where Metarog got that SW#1 NB for awhile now! Ya sure you do not remember where you got that scan Metarog? That Star Wars #1 is probably the rarest Star Wars #1 variant on the planet right now? Rarer than the 35 cent, rarer than the Greek Kabanas Hellas SW#1.... Here is an interesting blog on NB books..... don't bother bugging Gerry, I already contacted him about a source for these books... no dice... http://gerry.alanguilan.com/archives/3790 im going to do some more research on this new book store.... Edited September 15, 2013 by Define999 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveraboundingMint Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 When did the Philippino bookstores started publishing these, and how long were they in business? Any reprints done on F4, Hulk 181, CTB 1, TOD 1, Marvel Spotlight 5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveraboundingMint Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 On closer look, I don't like the type of paper they had used on the covers, lacking the gloss of the original versions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlowUpTheMoon Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 That Avengers book is mine. Link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lscomics Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 When did the Philippino bookstores started publishing these, and how long were they in business? Any reprints done on F4, Hulk 181, CTB 1, TOD 1, Marvel Spotlight 5? Part of the problem is we don't know what all was printed. There's simply too little information out there on these books. This is something we've been digging into for almost three years and have come up pretty much empty handed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveraboundingMint Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 (edited) Only those comics collectors of that country would know, But no big deal since they can't beat the real thing, and besides the paper quality of the covers looks primitive like old magazine papers Edited September 18, 2013 by OveraboundingMint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lscomics Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Only those comics collectors of that country would know, But no big deal since they can't beat the real thing, and besides the paper quality of the covers looks primitive like old magazine papers We've talked to collectors there and even they don't seem to really have much information on them. There are/were some who embraced these books but at the time US editions were (and to a degree still are) what they want. To those of us that collect foreign editions, well... books like this, regardless of condition are considered amongst the crown jewels of our collections. The level of scarcity alone is enough to drive you . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...