Comprehensive List of DC Universe Logo UPC Variants 18 18

[David Buck]

Is it known how many 10 packs were issued? was it a direct replacement for the 20 packs? 

If they began in December 1994 that could cover the recently found Aquaman 4 

 

[mysterio]

2 hours ago, David Buck said:

Is it known how many 10 packs were issued? was it a direct replacement for the 20 packs? 

If they began in December 1994 that could cover the recently found Aquaman 4 

 

Good question. The two books on top of that pack are on the more difficult end of the scale in my opinion. It would help explain why there were fewer DCUs beyond 1994 as well, if only because there were half as many copies in each brick. Which books are on the back of that brick?

[David Buck]

11 minutes ago, mysterio said:

Good question. The two books on top of that pack are on the more difficult end of the scale in my opinion. It would help explain why there were fewer DCUs beyond 1994 as well, if only because there were half as many copies in each brick. Which books are on the back of that brick?

sorry can't help with that - picture is from an old ebay auction - not one I won - I personally haven't seen another ten pack but I'm not keeping as close an eye on these packs as others are.  

 

[Cpt Kirk]

18 hours ago, David Buck said:

sorry can't help with that - picture is from an old ebay auction - not one I won - I personally haven't seen another ten pack but I'm not keeping as close an eye on these packs as others are.  

 

I bought one of those 10-pack on ebay for $100 many moons ago.    A friend of mine has that same 10-pack.    It was the only 10-pack we've ever seen.  

Edited February 4, 2018 by Cpt Kirk

[LittleRandRComics]

Thanks for that background on how the list began.  Before I go further, I do want to acknowledge that I recognize that there are people here who have contributed years and hundreds (if not thousands) of posts to these boards -- and I have done neither.  And I also acknowledge that starting a list of DCUs "from scratch" is no easy undertaking.

That said, I think the standard to make this list should be confirmed existence.  Proving a book does *not* exist is impossible for everyone except maybe the publisher or printer.  I saw a post from a few weeks back where someone asked about a DCU for Batman Adventures 21.  Someone responded and said it doesn't exist.  To be frank, we don't know that.  We do know that it was pictured on a Best of 1994 pack but that pack contained a bat symbol edition (the other books in that pack were DCUs, though).  And we know that no one here has seen a copy.  All of that is compelling evidence to say that it doesn't exist, but it's not proof (for the record, I happen to agree that it doesn't exist, especially, because I shared earlier, I think it's unlikely that there is a Batman Adventures book with both a bat symbol edition and a DCU edition).

In my original post, with Batman Adventures 18, Animaniacs 16 and AoS 530, we simply cannot prove that those do not exist.  I shared my rationale for why I'm reluctant to think that they do -- but that's not proof.  That's why I think the burden is on proving that they do exist in order to keep them on the list.

As a little background on that initial list, I went back to the earliest version I could find (which I used the list from December 31 near the bottom of the first page of this thread -- it looks like the original post had been updated on occasion so I avoided that one).  There are 356 DCUs on that list.  5 have since been removed (Action 693 and 694, for example, which are DC bullets not DCUs).  That means only 351 from that original list stand.  The current list has 522.  So the initial list has only 67% of the current list.

I share those numbers in no way to discount or disregard the work that went into creating that initial list -- but rather to highlight the benefit of having opened up the discussion "to the world."  Collectively board members here have added 171 DCUs to that initial list.

Certainly people are free to compile whatever lists they want.  But if the goal really is to have a definitive list of DCUs, I think that it should contain only those that are proved to exist, not those that are suspected to exist.

Edited February 6, 2018 by LittleRandRComics

[Cpt Kirk]

9 hours ago, LittleRandRComics said:

Thanks for that background on how the list began.  Before I go further, I do want to acknowledge that I recognize that there are people here who have contributed years and hundreds (if not thousands) of posts to these boards -- and I have done neither.  And I also acknowledge that starting a list of DCUs "from scratch" is no easy undertaking.

That said, I think the standard to make this list should be confirmed existence.  Proving a book does *not* exist is impossible for everyone except maybe the publisher or printer.  I saw a post from a few weeks back where someone asked about a DCU for Batman Adventures 21.  Someone responded and said it doesn't exist.  To be frank, we don't know that.  We do know that it was pictured on a Best of 1994 pack but that pack contained a bat symbol edition (the other books in that pack were DCUs, though).  And we know that no one here has seen a copy.  All of that is compelling evidence to say that it doesn't exist, but it's not proof (for the record, I happen to agree that it doesn't exist, especially, because I shared earlier, I think it's unlikely that there is a Batman Adventures book with both a bat symbol edition and a DCU edition).

In my original post, with Batman Adventures 18, Animaniacs 16 and AoS 530, we simply cannot prove that those do not exist.  I shared my rationale for why I'm reluctant to think that they do -- but that's not proof.  That's why I think the burden is on proving that they do exist in order to keep them on the list.

As a little background on that initial list, I went back to the earliest version I could find (which I used the list from December 31 near the bottom of the first page of this thread -- it looks like the original post had been updated on occasion so I avoided that one).  There are 356 DCUs on that list.  5 have since been removed (Action 693 and 694, for example, which are DC bullets not DCUs).  That means only 351 from that original list stand.  The current list has 522.  So the initial list has only 67% of the current list.

I share those numbers in no way to discount or disregard the work that went into creating that initial list -- but rather to highlight the benefit of having opened up the discussion "to the world."  Collectively board members here have added 171 DCUs to that initial list.

Certainly people are free to compile whatever lists they want.  But if the goal really is to have a definitive list of DCUs, I think that it should contain only those that are proved to exist, not those that are suspected to exist.

Thanks for the thought provoking posting.    If a variant has been confirmed to exist, it could certainly be identified as such.    Since Jerome Wenker thought he had seen those variants somewhere, it seems handy to leave them on the list so that people know to be on the lookout for them.

[Aweandlorder]

18 hours ago, LittleRandRComics said:

someone asked about a DCU for Batman Adventures 21

[revat]

8 hours ago, Cpt Kirk said:

18 hours ago, LittleRandRComics said:

Thanks for that background on how the list began.  Before I go further, I do want to acknowledge that I recognize that there are people here who have contributed years and hundreds (if not thousands) of posts to these boards -- and I have done neither.  And I also acknowledge that starting a list of DCUs "from scratch" is no easy undertaking.

That said, I think the standard to make this list should be confirmed existence.  Proving a book does *not* exist is impossible for everyone except maybe the publisher or printer.  I saw a post from a few weeks back where someone asked about a DCU for Batman Adventures 21.  Someone responded and said it doesn't exist.  To be frank, we don't know that.  We do know that it was pictured on a Best of 1994 pack but that pack contained a bat symbol edition (the other books in that pack were DCUs, though).  And we know that no one here has seen a copy.  All of that is compelling evidence to say that it doesn't exist, but it's not proof (for the record, I happen to agree that it doesn't exist, especially, because I shared earlier, I think it's unlikely that there is a Batman Adventures book with both a bat symbol edition and a DCU edition).

In my original post, with Batman Adventures 18, Animaniacs 16 and AoS 530, we simply cannot prove that those do not exist.  I shared my rationale for why I'm reluctant to think that they do -- but that's not proof.  That's why I think the burden is on proving that they do exist in order to keep them on the list.

As a little background on that initial list, I went back to the earliest version I could find (which I used the list from December 31 near the bottom of the first page of this thread -- it looks like the original post had been updated on occasion so I avoided that one).  There are 356 DCUs on that list.  5 have since been removed (Action 693 and 694, for example, which are DC bullets not DCUs).  That means only 351 from that original list stand.  The current list has 522.  So the initial list has only 67% of the current list.

I share those numbers in no way to discount or disregard the work that went into creating that initial list -- but rather to highlight the benefit of having opened up the discussion "to the world."  Collectively board members here have added 171 DCUs to that initial list.

Certainly people are free to compile whatever lists they want.  But if the goal really is to have a definitive list of DCUs, I think that it should contain only those that are proved to exist, not those that are suspected to exist.

Thanks for the thought provoking posting.    If a variant has been confirmed to exist, it could certainly be identified as such.    Since Jerome Wenker thought he had seen those variants somewhere, it seems handy to leave them on the list so that people know to be on the lookout for them.

I agree.

 

If at some point I need to submit this list for my doctoral thesis or a Senate Panel deposition I'll be a little stricter.  But the point is definitely taken.

Edited February 6, 2018 by revat

[Cpt Kirk]

On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 8:39 PM, Warlord said:

Yep, confirmed that the Superman Wedding Album DCU has the same cover as the newsstand version.

Just to pile on to Warlord’s posting:

As stated on Revat’s list, there are two separate DC Universe variants of Superman the Wedding Album, but some other versions as well.  Following is a summary of all known ones:

1.       Warlord showed the photo of the Wedding Album that came out in newsstands, which has the newsstand bar code on the front cover.  He also shows in the photo above the corresponding direct sales copy of that issue, which had a DC Universe symbol on the front cover and a bar code with the words “DIRECT SALES” next to it on the back cover (I have a record of buying that exact same direct sales copy from Geppi’s comic book stores when it came out).   

Following is front and back cover of the newsstand copy:

 

following is front and back cover of the non-deluxe direct sales copy that I got from Geppi's when it originally came out

2.       At the same time I bought the non-deluxe direct sales copy shown above, I also bought the deluxe white embossed variant from Geppi’s, which has a bar code on the back cover with words “DIRECT SALES” next to it.   Photos of front and back covers below.

3.       Then there is also a deluxe white embossed cover that had a DC Universe symbol on the back cover.   I have two of those in hand… one was pulled from a Superman wedding boxed set and the other was pulled from a Superman Fiercest Foes boxed set.   Photos below of the front and back cover of the comic book, as well as both of the packs that contained this DC Universe variant:

 

Foes Pack:

 

Wedding Pack:

4.       And for some reason, there is also a direct sales version that has the words “DIRECT SALES” next to the bar code on the front cover.   It is the same as the newsstand version above, but with bar code on the front that has the words "DIRECT SALES" next to it (exact same back cover, though).    I can only assume that it was also sold in comic book shops (but my copy came from ebay, so I don’t know for sure…. But it does seem odd that one non-deluxe version has the direct sales bar on the front cover, and the other non-deluxe version has DC Universe symbol on front cover the direct sales bar code the back cover…. go figure).

 

5.       And to make matters worse, there’s a sixth (RRP version) as well from 1996.  You can see those on ebay (asking price is $1K and more).   Fortunately, for collectors of DCU variants, there’s no DC Universe symbol on that one!)

 

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Cpt Kirk

[Cpt Kirk]

Here's another Adv of Superman 521 with DC Universe logo.  I paid $100 for this beat up copy, because this is only the 2nd one to surface after several of us have been on the hunt for years now.   I would gladly pay another $100 to trade this copy for one in better condition if someone finds another copy.

[LikeEmScanned]

On 2/26/2018 at 9:04 PM, Cpt Kirk said:

Here's another Adv of Superman 521 with DC Universe logo.  I paid $100 for this beat up copy, because this is only the 2nd one to surface after several of us have been on the hunt for years now.   I would gladly pay another $100 to trade this copy for one in better condition if someone finds another copy.

Glad you found one, Kirk! 

[LikeEmScanned]

Boy, these 2-packs with Superman 109 are tough to find...

 

 

[Cpt Kirk]

On 3/4/2018 at 6:54 PM, LikeEmScanned said:

Boy, these 2-packs with Superman 109 are tough to find...

 

 

Nice!     Now what is on the other side of the pack?

 

[LikeEmScanned]

15 hours ago, Cpt Kirk said:

Nice!     Now what is on the other side of the pack?

 

AOS 532 DCU... go figure

[Cpt Kirk]

18 hours ago, LikeEmScanned said:

AOS 532 DCU... go figure

Interesting.   Adv of SM 532 is among the hard to find.  I've noticed that if a DCU doesn't come in a 20-pack brick nor a boxed set (in other words, it came from a 2-pack), it can be hard to find.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Cpt Kirk

[mysterio]

3 hours ago, Cpt Kirk said:

Interesting.   Adv of SM 532 is among the hard to find.  I've noticed that if a DCU doesn't come in a 20-pack brick nor a boxed set (in other words, it came from a 2-pack), it can be hard to find.

It'd be interesting to see if there are any exceptions to this. I've got a couple of two-packs, but they tend to contain more difficult to find DCUs.

[Cpt Kirk]

1 hour ago, mysterio said:

It'd be interesting to see if there are any exceptions to this. I've got a couple of two-packs, but they tend to contain more difficult to find DCUs.

I know of some DC Universe variants that showed up in more than one place, and those are pretty easy to find.   Examples:

1.  I have a Superman 118 DCU in a two-pack and also one from a boxed Superman wedding set.

2.  I have a two-pack that contains Superman Man of Steel 31 and Superman 88 DCUs;  but both also came in 20-pack bricks are both are easy to find.

3.  I saw a two-pack that contains Adv of Superman 509 and Action 696 DCUs;  but both also came in 20-pack bricks are both are easy to find.

[mysterio]

4 minutes ago, Cpt Kirk said:

I know of some DC Universe variants that showed up in more than one place, and those are pretty easy to find.   Examples:

1.  I have a Superman 118 DCU in a two-pack and also one from a boxed Superman wedding set.

2.  I have a two-pack that contains Superman Man of Steel 31 and Superman 88 DCUs;  but both also came in 20-pack bricks are both are easy to find.

3.  I saw a two-pack that contains Adv of Superman 509 and Action 696 DCUs;  but both also came in 20-pack bricks are both are easy to find.

Cool, thanks for that. That would explain why some of these, like the Supes #118, are fairly easy even though they are relatively late DCUs (exceptions to the "1996 DCUs are the most difficult" rule of thumb).

It does beg the question of why a book like Supes #118 is fairly common even though other books from those sets (like MOS #63) are difficult. I have seen a bunch of Wedding DCUs, but nary a single copy of MOS #63. So, either the MOSs got destroyed in much higher numbers than the wedding books or #118, or there were different distribution channels that ratcheted up the extant numbers of #118 and the wedding books and not MOS #63.

These are the questions that are so interesting in regards to these variants.

Edited March 7, 2018 by mysterio

[LikeEmScanned]

4 hours ago, mysterio said:

Cool, thanks for that. That would explain why some of these, like the Supes #118, are fairly easy even though they are relatively late DCUs (exceptions to the "1996 DCUs are the most difficult" rule of thumb).

It does beg the question of why a book like Supes #118 is fairly common even though other books from those sets (like MOS #63) are difficult. I have seen a bunch of Wedding DCUs, but nary a single copy of MOS #63. So, either the MOSs got destroyed in much higher numbers than the wedding books or #118, or there were different distribution channels that ratcheted up the extant numbers of #118 and the wedding books and not MOS #63.

These are the questions that are so interesting in regards to these variants.

I've opened up the Wedding Pack.  AOS #541, Action #728 and MOS #63 are all direct UPCs, not DCUs.  

BTW, the standard edition Wedding Album DCU was also included in a set sold by QVC.  http://www.qvc.com/Superman:-The-Wedding-Album-Collectors-Set.product.C36448.html

Yes, I've spent waaaayyyyy too much time researching the origins of DCUs.

[Cpt Kirk]

15 hours ago, LikeEmScanned said:

I've opened up the Wedding Pack.  AOS #541, Action #728 and MOS #63 are all direct UPCs, not DCUs.  

BTW, the standard edition Wedding Album DCU was also included in a set sold by QVC.  http://www.qvc.com/Superman:-The-Wedding-Album-Collectors-Set.product.C36448.html

Yes, I've spent waaaayyyyy too much time researching the origins of DCUs.

 

15 hours ago, LikeEmScanned said:

I've opened up the Wedding Pack.  AOS #541, Action #728 and MOS #63 are all direct UPCs, not DCUs.  

BTW, the standard edition Wedding Album DCU was also included in a set sold by QVC.  http://www.qvc.com/Superman:-The-Wedding-Album-Collectors-Set.product.C36448.html

Yes, I've spent waaaayyyyy too much time researching the origins of DCUs.

I hear you.   I've noticed that some of those packs are not consistent regarding whether or not they contained a DCU vs a regular copy of a particular comic book.   My wedding pack had a DC variant of Superman 118.   Did your wedding back have the same or was it direct sales version of Superman 118?