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Mark Jeweler variants in DC Comics
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145 posts in this topic

Thanks for the post, Kirk.  The story is pretty much the same for Marvels too -- start in '72, only in regular-size issues, sometimes skip a month, only in newsstand copies in the '80s.

Regarding the Star Stamp: comics and magazines sold at most PXs were stamped by the cashier once they were purchased (this has been confirmed by several boardies).

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I tried posting this comment in the prior Forum but it didn't go through due to the migration.  I found doing Internet searches many years ago (more than decade now maybe) that one collector claimed a Green Lantern #79 in a blog entry had a NDS insert in it.  Scott Shaw.  I tried to contact him via e-mail a couple of times to confirm but he never responded.  Don't know if it was true but it does seem to come near the timeline of NDS issues in Marvels.  I still stand, unless confirmed, that no NDS inserts made it into DC comics but it also seemed odd to me that someone would throw a rather irrelevant comment at the time, since no one was really tracking this at the time, into the middle of a blog entry.

Jim


 

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On 2/14/2017 at 9:52 AM, Stronguy said:

Thanks for the post, Kirk.  The story is pretty much the same for Marvels too -- start in '72, only in regular-size issues, sometimes skip a month, only in newsstand copies in the '80s.

Regarding the Star Stamp: comics and magazines sold at most PXs were stamped by the cashier once they were purchased (this has been confirmed by several boardies).

thanks for the confirmation, Stonguy!

 

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On 2/16/2017 at 8:11 PM, awe4one said:

I tried posting this comment in the prior Forum but it didn't go through due to the migration.  I found doing Internet searches many years ago (more than decade now maybe) that one collector claimed a Green Lantern #79 in a blog entry had a NDS insert in it.  Scott Shaw.  I tried to contact him via e-mail a couple of times to confirm but he never responded.  Don't know if it was true but it does seem to come near the timeline of NDS issues in Marvels.  I still stand, unless confirmed, that no NDS inserts made it into DC comics but it also seemed odd to me that someone would throw a rather irrelevant comment at the time, since no one was really tracking this at the time, into the middle of a blog entry.

Jim


 

Jim -- Thanks for the insight.   We would probably have to write the GL #79 off as a mistake or a very rare exception, unless someone proves otherwise.    Since thousands of National Diamond inserts were found in Marvel comics by Mycomicshop but not a single one in a DC comic book, the odds seems pretty safe to say that the NDS insert will not normally been seen in a DC comic book

Kirk

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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Hills of Comics obtained a great stash of high grade jeweler variants.   With the ones I bought from Hills of Comics, I now have found 651 jeweler variants in the five titles of Batman, Detective, Superman, Action and Justice League of America.   In those 5 titles, I believe there should be approximately 692 possible jeweler variants.   Therefore,  I believe I have tracked down approximately 94% of the jeweler variants that were possibly made for those 5 titles.   Many thanks to Hills of Comics for recognizing the insert and then advertising it on ebay.   Also thanks to Russ Tabor, who helped me fill a lot of holes in my collection as well as identify some jeweler variants that I did not know existed.

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I found something this weekend that makes me think that some issues of DC Comics might not ever be found to contain a jeweler insert, even though one would think that their should be a jeweler variant of that issue.

What I found was an small run (6 comic books) of Mark Jeweler variants of Justice League of America at Emerald City Comics in Largo FL.   Some of the issues had the characteristic "star" stamp on them (and thus contained the jeweler insert) but the JLA 195 had the "star" stamp and no insert.    JLA 195 is not a square bound or giant sized issue and there are several other titles from that month containing the insert, so you would think that this JLA 195 would be found with an insert.   But no one has ever seen JLA 195 with the insert.  

Recall that jeweler inserts were produced for comic books that were sent to military AAFES stores (i.e. PX's), sot that Mark Jewelers could target their military customers.   The star stamp on this JLA 195 (which was placed on some of the issues by the AAFES stores that sold them) is almost always a sure sign of the insert.   So it makes me think that the printer forgot to put inserts in some, if not all, of the JLA 195's. 

I've found about 95% of all jeweler variants among the issues of Batman, Detective, Superman, Action and JLA that should contain the insert.  Now I'm thinking that some of those missing Mark Jeweler variants might never be found.   This is way too OCD, but I've graphed the number that I've discovered over the years, and I think I could eventually determine an asymptotic line to determine that actual number of Mark Jeweler variants that would exist for those five titles.  

Below is a photo showing the star stamp on the JLA 195 that I found.  I double checked the staples and they are very tight with no signs of tampering, which make me think that no one removed the Jeweler insert.

1557215911_JLA195.thumb.jpg.a3e7ba925fb69f0205cb494ab89ad2fc.jpg

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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The star stamp isn't always an indication of proof of an insert.  I have many with the stamp and no insert. Many military facilities in the states used the star stamp to designate proof of sale of magazines.  Langley AFB in Virginia used to do it when I was stationed there in the last 80s,  These inserts were focused on military overseas and unless you were in the military overseas distribution pipeline for your magazines then you would not have the insert. That's why some have the star stamp without an insert.

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4 hours ago, awe4one said:

The star stamp isn't always an indication of proof of an insert.  I have many with the stamp and no insert. Many military facilities in the states used the star stamp to designate proof of sale of magazines.  Langley AFB in Virginia used to do it when I was stationed there in the last 80s,  These inserts were focused on military overseas and unless you were in the military overseas distribution pipeline for your magazines then you would not have the insert. That's why some have the star stamp without an insert.

Aha.    thanks for the insight... very informative and interesting. 

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On 6/6/2018 at 1:03 PM, awe4one said:

FYI...I have a DC Comics Presents #38 from the same month that has the insert.  So it's likely that JLA #195 also had it and is out there somewhere.

Jim

Jim -- Thanks.  And I have Batman 340, Detective 507, Superman 364, Green Lantern 145, Legion of Super Heroes 280, and Warlord 50 from Oct 1981 with jeweler inserts, and I've seen jeweler variants of Brave and Bold 179, Secrets of Haunted House 41, SGT Rock 357, and Unknown Soldier 256 from that same month.  Of all the jeweler variants from the 1980's, JLA 195 is one of the few I've never seen.  So I'm still wondering if perhaps it doesn't exist with the jeweler variant just due to a shortage of inserts or printing error. 

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15 hours ago, Cpt Kirk said:

Jim -- Thanks.  And I have Batman 340, Detective 507, Superman 364, Green Lantern 145, Legion of Super Heroes 280, and Warlord 50 from Oct 1981 with jeweler inserts, and I've seen jeweler variants of Brave and Bold 179, Secrets of Haunted House 41, SGT Rock 357, and Unknown Soldier 256 from that same month.  Of all the jeweler variants from the 1980's, JLA 195 is one of the few I've never seen.  So I'm still wondering if perhaps it doesn't exist with the jeweler variant just due to a shortage of inserts or printing errro. 

I guess that's possible.

Jim

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9 hours ago, awe4one said:

I guess that's possible.

Jim

Thanks JIm --- But I do like your explanation of how some issues got the "star" stamps but no jeweler insert.   These Mark Jeweler inserts are so rare, that it is very conceivable that a any particular issue of a comic book within the time-frame that they jeweler variants were produced might never have been discovered to contain a jeweler insert by the people who look for them.   For example, if JLA 195 jeweler variant occurs one in 200 issues, and the only people looking were MyComicShop, Mile High, a few other dealers, and a handful of collectors, it seems quite possible that the jeweler variant of JLA 195 has escaped detection so far.   Even though it gets less and less as the years go by, I still continue to find some jeweler variants that no one has ever seen before.   Just this past weekend I was at a shop in Tampa FL, and I found a Superman 283 with jeweler insert;   no one that I know had ever seen a Superman 283 Mark Jewelers variant before now.

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On 6/6/2018 at 10:03 AM, awe4one said:

FYI...I have a DC Comics Presents #38 from the same month that has the insert.  So it's likely that JLA #195 also had it and is out there somewhere.

Jim

Runs out to check his JLAs . . . :grin:

 

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Could it be that JLA 195 contained no insert because that issue had a double page pinup at the c/f? Tentative reasoning I know, but a possibility.

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On 6/8/2018 at 4:52 AM, Gnasher said:

Could it be that JLA 195 contained no insert because that issue had a double page pinup at the c/f? Tentative reasoning I know, but a possibility.

Good point and yes, that seems like a possibility.  I've wondered the same thing about some other issues with similar situations, but they seem to go ahead and put the insert in the comic book anyway.   The other ones I've wondered about is where the original comic book additional inserts in the comic books like Atari inserts.   If the original comic book had an Atari ad, then the jeweler insert was placed in the centerfold in lieu of the Atari ad.

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On 6/7/2018 at 10:01 PM, Cpt Kirk said:

Thanks JIm --- But I do like your explanation of how some issues got the "star" stamps but no jeweler insert.   These Mark Jeweler inserts are so rare, that it is very conceivable that a any particular issue of a comic book within the time-frame that they jeweler variants were produced might never have been discovered to contain a jeweler insert by the people who look for them.   For example, if JLA 195 jeweler variant occurs one in 200 issues, and the only people looking were MyComicShop, Mile High, a few other dealers, and a handful of collectors, it seems quite possible that the jeweler variant of JLA 195 has escaped detection so far.   Even though it gets less and less as the years go by, I still continue to find some jeweler variants that no one has ever seen before.   Just this past weekend I was at a shop in Tampa FL, and I found a Superman 283 with jeweler insert;   no one that I know had ever seen a Superman 283 Mark Jewelers variant before now.

Just to pile on.... If these jeweler variants were only sold overseas, I can see why it is so hard to find them.   If a person were in the military and bought some comic books overseas, it is very easy to see how they would be thrown away overseas before going through the hassle of bringing them back to the states.

I also recall how disposable comics were in the 70's.  I recall them being available at barber shops to read until they wore out... and me and my friends would roll them up, read until worn out, and pass them around to other friends, etc.   Not so much any more.... I almost wonder if any comic book gets thrown away these days by the original owners.   Sold yes, but never thrown away.

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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Other thoughts:

1. Keep in mind my JLA 195 with star stamp was found in the middle of a run of JLA's that all contained the insert (and some had star stamps on them).   So my JLA 195 probably did come from overseas, since the other JLAs in that run had inserts.   I think this strengthens my theory that at least some, if not all, JLA 195's were intended to get the insert but did not due to error or shortage of inserts.    This makes me think that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to find a JLA 195 with insert.

2. I found a similar situation with JLA 116 and 117.    I found these 2 issues (both with star stamps) in a comic book store in the middle of a run of approximately 20 JLAs.  All those JLA's had star stamps and came with jeweler insert except 116 (because it was a giant sized issue) and 117 (because I believe no DC issues from April 1975 ever contained the insert).   So JLA 117 is similar to 195, in regards to the fact that it should have contained an insert (because it came from an overseas PX and it was not a giant sized issue).  I am confident that we will never see a JLA 117 nor another other DC issue from Mar 1975 with jeweler insert.

 

 

 

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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25 minutes ago, Cpt Kirk said:

Other thoughts:

1. Keep in mind my JLA 195 with star stamp was found in the middle of a run of JLA's that all contained the insert (and some had star stamps on them).   So my JLA 195 probably did come from overseas, since the other JLAs in that run had inserts.   I think this strengthens my theory that at least some, if not all, JLA 195's were intended to get the insert but did not due to error or shortage of inserts.    This makes me think that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to find a JLA 195 with insert.

2. I found a similar situation with JLA 116 and 117.    I found these 2 issues (both with star stamps) in a comic book store in the middle of a run of approximately 20 JLAs.  All those JLA's had star stamps and came with jeweler insert except 116 (because it was a giant sized issue) and 117 (because I believe no DC issues from April 1975 ever contained the insert).   So JLA 117 is similar to 195, in regards to the fact that it should have contained an insert (because it came from an overseas PX and it was not a giant sized issue).  I am confident that we will never see a JLA 117 nor another other DC issue from Mar 1975 with jeweler insert.

 

 

 

I love this kind of analysis, trying to work out what should or should not exist :cloud9:

I did the same with Marvel MJI's during my Spidey collecting days and apply similar conclusions in my pence research. I've added JLA 195 to my comic fair watch list Captain. It's amazing how many MJI's made it to the UK.

Keep up the good work and happy hunting :headbang:

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On ‎6‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 8:15 AM, Cpt Kirk said:

I am confident that we will never see a JLA 117 nor another other DC issue from Mar 1975 with jeweler insert.

 

 

 

I have a Black Magic #8 (Mar '75) with the insert.

Jim

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