Rarest 2nd Print Marvel Copper Age Book? 6 6

[Philflound]

Just got the 3rd print Smurfs shown on page 3. They have interior and cover ads from 7/84 with the black Spidey head indicia. So they came out at the same time as titles dated 7/84. I verified this with Star Wars #85.

[Saint_Doyle]

The fact that there are no identifiable differences on the cover between the 1st and 2nd printings of Smurfs #1 makes me think I need to go through several copies of Thundercats #3 and make sure that a reprint of that issue doesn't exist.  It seems odd that issues #1, 2, and 4 would have multiple printings but #3 would not.

[Silver Surfer]

16 hours ago, Saint_Doyle said:

The fact that there are no identifiable differences on the cover between the 1st and 2nd printings of Smurfs #1 makes me think I need to go through several copies of Thundercats #3 and make sure that a reprint of that issue doesn't exist.  It seems odd that issues #1, 2, and 4 would have multiple printings but #3 would not.

Worth cracking? What should I look for?

[Silver Surfer]

4th printing? 

[Saint_Doyle]

The back cover ad of all the 1st printing issues of Thundercats 3 (direct market, US newsstand, and Canadian newsstand) all feature this Care Bears ad.  It's possible that a potential later printing also features this same back cover ad, but I wouldn't go cracking anything just yet.  

...And sorry Silver Surfer, that's just a boring old Canadian Newsstand Edition you have there in your second post (easily the rarest printing of Thundercats #3 I am currently aware of).  

Edited April 16, 2017 by Saint_Doyle

[Philflound]

Going through my Smurfs set with the Spidey heads, which I have #1 and 3. I have the 2nd print. These were printed in May, 1983 as per the list of other comics available that month on one of the interior pages. 

My guess on any other comics that anyone has questions with. I would compare copies you own with others being sold. Look at the interior for a list of comics released that month along with the ads printed, especially back cover ads. Maybe someone would like to start a thread, or make a list in this one of all Marvel 2nd, 3rd, 4th? printings of 1980s Marvels and how to identify them.

[Philflound]

I was thinking about putting together a list of reprint comics from the 1980s Marvel. This list would explain whether the "second print", "third print" is listed in the indicia and also the ads on the back cover and interior covers to identify them without even opening them up. This would also include when the books were released (month/yr) as per Marvel checklist like I did with the Smurfs. I think we would have to establish which titles would have had reprints. We know Thundercats and GI Joe besides the Smurfs. Also, the earliest issues of Secret Wars, maybe 1-3? definitely had reprints. I think a list like this would be extremely helpful as to identify how rare some of these are. If people would like things like the gold covers to be included around 1990 era, I could throw those in too. Most people know about the Hulk 377 and New Mutants 100, Silver Surfer 50 has 3 printings as I own those too. So if anyone would like to help out, just pm me. I'll be in C2E2 this weekend, so I wouldn't start this project until next week. Thanks. 

[Aweandlorder]

This one is not rare by any means but the price is good so figured Ill post here:

GO *

 

*According to A&L's buzz alert chart we have determined this item be listed as 1x GO. Our Go, Go, Go ratings are based on demand, FMV, condition and other nonsensical investment measure stats

[Saint_Doyle]

22 hours ago, Philflound said:

I was thinking about putting together a list of reprint comics from the 1980s Marvel. This list would explain whether the "second print", "third print" is listed in the indicia and also the ads on the back cover and interior covers to identify them without even opening them up. This would also include when the books were released (month/yr)...

I already have a spreadsheet started with this information for the Thundercats reprints and would be eager to share it for this project.

[Philflound]

Glad to see people are willing to work together on this. I think this will be very useful. I only planned on putting books with reprints, including first print to show how the original is supposed to look. I don't plan on adding any Canadian issues. 

[Silver Surfer]

Sorry if I already missed this but with Batman #423, which version is the rarest in high grade, 1, 2 or 3?

[Neurosis138]

My old copy

 

[Metarog]

Here is a list I compiled some time back for the early 90's Marvel reprints... if it says "and 3rd" then that issue has a 2nd and 3rd printing. This list does not include comics that were available in bagged sets, or through special distribution channels such as the Penney reprints, X-Men Pressman, etc. I made this to track which regular distribution issues had multiple printings in the 90's. 

 

Alpha Flight 106

ASM 101,265,361,362 

Cap 282

DD 319

Death's Head II 4 issue mini 1 and 2

FF 347,348,371

Ghost Rider 1,5,15

Hulk 377 and 3rd ,393,400

Nam 1, 52,53

New Mutants 87,95,100 and 3rd

New Warriors 1

Ren & Simpy Show 1 and 3rd

Silver Surfer 50 and 3rd

Spec Spider-Man 189

Spider-Man 1

Stryfe's Strike File 1

Web Of Spider-Man 90

Wolverine 41,42

X-Factor 60,71,92

X-Force 1

X-Men 248,268,270,275,281,282

[ashsaytr]

On 3/16/2014 at 3:16 AM, RockMyAmadeus said:

 

Technically, you're correct.

 

All later printings are, technically, reprints.

 

But historically, that doesn't really bear out. Reprints have been done for 50+ years in comics (DC Annuals, Marvel Tales, etc.) In Marvel Tales #1, the Spiderman story in Amazing Fantasy #15 is reprinted. So is Hulk #1, JIM #83, TOS #39, among others. It is a classic reprint. But it is not a second printing of each of those books. It is a reprint of multiple stories from multiple books. And though the tradition of reprints occurred at Marvel and DC throughout the 70's and 80's, either in Treasury format, or Digest format, or Fireside format, or Baxter format, those are all properly classified as reprints, rather than "XXX printings" of individual books.

 

Books that were reprinted due to immediate initial demand did not occur until the late 70's (Star Wars), and they didn't really label them "XXX printings" until the 1980's (and even then, it wasn't based on initial demand.)

 

And if they were reprinted in a slightly different format, 10-20 years after their initial release (a la Spideman #101), or like the Marvel Milestone books, can they really be called "XXX printings"...? Or are they just generic reprints?

 

Overwhelming demand sending books back to the presses was a very scarce event in comics until the early 90's. In fact, the very first "XXX printings" based on demand were the early Marvel Graphic Novels of 1982-1983, which weren't regular comic books, then Indie Black & Whites from 1984-1986 (Turtles, Fish Police #1, Boris the Bear #1, Dark Horse Presents #1, and even some early Indie Color books like Grendel #1 (2nd series) There were earlier oddballs, like Elfquest magazine.

 

And sure, there were the prestige format books like Dark Knight #1-3, Killing Joke, and Longbow Hunters #1, but these were...well...prestige projects, not regular monthly books.

 

The first regular Marvel to go back to the presses to meet initial demand...ever...was Ghost Rider #1, May of 1990! The first DC? Lobo #1 from Nov of 1990.

 

(Undergrounds are the exception. They called themselves 2nd, 3rd, 4th printings going back to 1968 or earlier.)

 

The fact is, other than Star Wars (which was a phenom unto itself), Marvel and DC's conventional wisdom regarding reprinting sellouts was to package them in a trade (as they did with Dark Phoenix, nearly 4 years after release, as the relatively new trade paperback format, a continuation of the Fireside series of the 70's.)

 

They simply did not reprint single issues. The big initial sellouts of the 80's....Thor #337, Spidey #252, Man of Steel #1, Batman #428...books that were instant hits...,did not go back to press as single issues. In fact, of those four, the only one that went back relatively fast was Batman #428, and that was the trade "A Death In The Family" that was printed and released by December of 1988, less than two months after #429 hit the stands (when DC realized what a monster hit they had.)

 

That's a large part of the reason that these books RETAINED their value...books like Spiderman #121 and 122 (which were, essentially, the first "megahit sellouts" in comics), Howard the Duck #1 (which had shenanigans going on with it), later Byrne X-Men, New Teen Titans, Simonson Thor, etc etc etc....these books were not reprinted for a long time, and when they were, it was in a completely different format.

 

Yes, there was the Thundercats #1 (which was second printed for multi-packs) and yes, there was the GI Joe books (again, for multi-packs), but these were based on subsequent demand for the books, several years down the road. Marvel didn't begin reprinting GI Joe until 1984-1985, two to three years after the originals. And yes, they later printed the hell out of Batman #397-432 and Byrne Superman, going up to six (and maybe 7) printings for some issues, all the way from 1988-1990. But those weren't because the originals were sellouts (there are no later printings, for example, of Batman #400, 404-407, 417-420, or 426-429.)

 

No, second printing, third printing, fourth printing, et al for single "hot" issues...entirely a 90's invention as far as DC and Marvel are concerned. And the variations (Roman numerals, logo color variations)...same thing.

 

(Anyone feel free to correct me if I've gotten any details wrong.)

did not know... thanks!

[Philflound]

To be technical, title is Marvel reprints, not DC, but I guess you can include them if you want. I'm not though in the list I'm making.

To help you out possibly, I bought Batman #421, 422, and 423 in 3 packs at K Mart back in the day. These say second printing in the indicia. They came with a backer card of trading cards with dotted lines between the cards. They were not perforated though. I purchased like 8 of these at the time. I have no idea where they all went as I only have 1 set open left. I do remember selling the trading card sheet for $10 on Ebay several years ago.

[Kevin76]

Batman 423 has a 3rd print, no idea how "rare" it is. I do own a 9.8 though.  

[Silver Surfer]

For sale?

[Kevin76]

3 hours ago, Silver Surfer said:

For sale?

Yeah I'll sell it. 

[Philflound]

Found a variation with GI Joe #2 second print. The small 75 cent price came with the 3 pack which included 26 & 27. The large 75 cent price came with the 5 pack which includes 6, 8, 11, 12.  Interior on both are the same dated 3/86 based on the Marvel checklist coupon on the last page with the date Mar86. I can only assume the covers were printed at different locations as the interiors are exactly the same, but the ink is slightly different, especially with the back cover.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Philflound

[Philflound]

I'm changing the date of 3rd print Marvel Smurfs #1-3 to 3/84 as that is the date of the subscription coupon.