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The Whitman Thread
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605 posts in this topic

On 12/27/2020 at 1:24 AM, bellrules said:

On a side note, you don’t already own a copy of this book?

I don't quite have a complete DC Whitman set, though I have multiples of most issues. since I switched about 6 years ago from going after raws to going after a graded set.

For New Adventures of Superboy #6, I have a single copy in about FN 6.0... I typically will throw in bids on additional copies of the big 8 books, but not necessarily at full value.

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17 hours ago, bellrules said:

Here’s something fun I discovered (with fellow Whitman collectors) over the years of collecting the Whitman books. There are some error price variants from the Jan 1981 issues that made it out into the wild. Not sure if they changed the plates to 50 cents (from 40 cents) mid-run when they realized the mistake, or they just decided to print more of those issues at a later date. 

These are awesome... which are more difficult to find, the 40 cent or 50 cent editions?

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12 hours ago, OtherEric said:

@bellrules, in addition to the price variants around this time, are any issues known to have been printed without a price at all other than the Buck Rogers #9?  And does anybody know if copies of the BR #9 exist with a price?

I've never seen one either...  Since #8 had a 40 cent cover, and #11 had a 50 cent cover (and #10 was never published?), this would fall into the same period of confusion and timeframe as the price variants that @bellrules mentioned. Somehow, this seems typical of this era of Whitman, and (to me at least) just adds to the desirability...

Edited by Brock
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Those Superboy 6's are awesome. I still think all the big 8 are very underrated. Is there any reason to believe there would be less DCCP 22 out there than any other issue? Surely it was packed with something else. I tend to think it just doesn't look different enough and went unnoticed by those who didn't buy the packs themselves. But I also know for a while, Whitman variants were seen as a lesser version so you'd think the more obvious variants would have had the harder lifetime. Mycomicshop has no image of a Superboy 6 Whitman on their page, which is saying something, considering their tremendous stock.

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Spotted this in my inbox this morning. Can’t find the sale on EBay but it’s quite impressive. I think this is the rarest of the Whitmans. You really don’t see it very often. That price might change that. (On a side note, it drives me crazy that they say the Whitman version of the book. It was only published by Whitman) 

E53F952B-C993-4DAD-9330-08DD3BAF6A5E.png

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On 12/28/2020 at 12:17 PM, Brock said:

I've never seen one either...  Since #8 had a 40 cent cover, and #11 had a 50 cent cover (and #10 was never published?), this would fall into the same period of confusion and timeframe as the price variants that @bellrules mentioned. Somehow, this seems typical of this era of Whitman, and (to me at least) just adds to the desirability...

#10 was never published in the US.  It did show up in a German comic, I believe.  It's unfortunate that it was missed, since the story does lead out of #9 somewhat, and even more so it introduces characters who then appear in #11. 

If anybody is interested, the original lettered art sold on Heritage recently.  So you can get B&W scans of the whole thing to read if you want; just search for "Buck Rogers #10".  (I'm not sure of the propriety of providing a direct link or I would.)

Here's the splash to #10, as I said grabbed from Heritage.

01.jpg

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8 minutes ago, bellrules said:

Found this today. Reinforces my opinion that Marvel bagged comics aren’t Whitmans, but direct market. 

C261C9A0-93C9-4653-8180-2C970D2AD61E.jpeg

This book was published in 1982 so it falls outside the disputed “Whitman variant” timeframe of 1977-mid 1979. Marvel acknowledges that by 1980 they were using multiple distributors for direct sales including Western/Whitman and others.

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11 hours ago, bellrules said:

Found this today. Reinforces my opinion that Marvel bagged comics aren’t Whitmans, but direct market. 

C261C9A0-93C9-4653-8180-2C970D2AD61E.jpeg

This is pretty fascinating... It suggests a couple things to me:

  • It's more proof that, by 1982, Whitman was inserting direct editions into its bags. This is exactly what the "fat diamonds are not Whitmans" crowd is asserting for the 1977-1979 period. So the question really boils down to whether Whitman or Marvel changed their practices around 1980 or not.
  • This is yet another weird and wonderful product from Whitman's mysterious Canadian division, based in Cambridge, Ontario.

I note the bag is sealed... is there an original price on it anywhere? Since this is the direct edition, I'm wondering whether the price reflects the Canadian 75c price, or the US 60c price. If it's not priced, it could suggest that the pack was intended for distribution on both sides of the border.

Does anyone know when printing of comics shifted from Sparta, Illinois to Montreal, Quebec? I'm thinking out loud here, but that might help explain how Whitman distribution might have shifted to Canada.

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10 minutes ago, Brock said:

This is pretty fascinating... It suggests a couple things to me:

  • It's more proof that, by 1982, Whitman was inserting direct editions into its bags. This is exactly what the "fat diamonds are not Whitmans" crowd is asserting for the 1977-1979 period. So the question really boils down to whether Whitman or Marvel changed their practices around 1980 or not.
  • This is yet another weird and wonderful product from Whitman's mysterious Canadian division, based in Cambridge, Ontario.

I note the bag is sealed... is there an original price on it anywhere? Since this is the direct edition, I'm wondering whether the price reflects the Canadian 75c price, or the US 60c price. If it's not priced, it could suggest that the pack was intended for distribution on both sides of the border.

Does anyone know when printing of comics shifted from Sparta, Illinois to Montreal, Quebec? I'm thinking out loud here, but that might help explain how Whitman distribution might have shifted to Canada.

It’s priced at 1.49, so the going rate for comics in Canada at the time. Funny thing is, three packs were selling for 1.59 and 1.69 in the States. 

5105A629-F80B-4B7A-8D9D-286434E20AD3.jpeg

Edited by bellrules
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13 hours ago, bellrules said:

Found this today. Reinforces my opinion that Marvel bagged comics aren’t Whitmans, but direct market. 

C261C9A0-93C9-4653-8180-2C970D2AD61E.jpeg

This is odd. Why wouldn’t they use the Canadian priced (.75) books in the Canadian bags? 

 

87EF513E-AB5B-4946-9E1C-7CE95D504A79.jpegSorry about the upside down image - it’s correct on my phone, but flips when inserted?

Edited by wormboy
Explaining inverted image.
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