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"Mark Jewelers" insert

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Insert after the centerfold of various 70s and 80s comics that were sold on military installations. Sold school type class rings primarily. So essentially you have two variants of each issue, those with the insert (which are rarer) and those without (sold in states).

 

 

Jim

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I never put much added value to the comics with Mark Jewelers inserts (and I have a ton of them) but recently I've seen some greater demand for the issues. Some collectors evidently treat them as variants.

 

 

Jim

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The above info is correct-they were targeted to GI's who, it was felt, would buy cheap jewerly since they not only getting paid very little but had to deal with holding onto loved ones over distances.

 

The interesting thing about these, is that they are often in much better condition than your average read copy. The insert generally added structure to the book--like a built in backing board.

 

Personally, as a variant collector, these don't appeal to me. I do know one or two collectors who do pay a bit extra for these. Here's the kicker---there are Mark Jewelers versions of 30 cent variants. As the person I think was first to find them stated, they are "variant versions of variants".

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These book were sold at and or near military bases. Several years ago I met a collector who was in Germany in the 1970's. Every comic in his collection was a MJ edition. The interesting thing about these books is that they are found in both DC and Marvel comics. These books are also thicker when you hold them due to the insert. There are several that I have seen from the mid 1980's that have a paper insert instead of the heavy stock insert from the 1970's comics. Below is a list of the titles that I have seen.

 

Tom

 

DC: Action Comics #444, Adventure Comics #440, Black Magic #8, Flash #233, 234, Ghosts #33, It's Witching Hour #50,51, 52, 53, 55 Kamandi #24, Shadow #12, Superboy #206, Superman #282, Weird Mystery Tales #15, Wonder Woman #215, and Young Love #116.

 

Marvel: Adventure Into Fear #27, Amazing Adventures #29, Astonishing Tales #28, Avengers #134, Captain America #182, 183, Chamber of Chills #15, Conan #47-50, DareDevil #113, Fantastic Four #155, 156, Incredible Hulk #158, 167, 181, 182, Iron Man #68, Marvel's Greatest Comics #56, Marvel Super Heroes #49, 50, Marvel Tales #48, 55, Marvel Team-Up #18, 31, Thor #231-234, Tomb of Dracula #32, WereWolf By Night #21

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Hulk 180 also had them... as well as some early X-men.

 

I understand Overstreet was lobbied to consider the MJ insert as a variant starting back several years ago. I was told this by a larger dealer, although I can't remember which one... is this accurate?

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As far as I can remember, I don't recall this ever coming up for inclusion in the book, so if it *was* ever mentioned to anyone here, it certainly never went far enough to seriously plan for any edition of the Guide.

 

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Since I know little about the inserts...

is there any way to tell them apart?

 

For example, if your key book doesn't have one...

what keeps those "so-minded" from taking one out of a cheap

book and putting it in the key? Instant variant, right?

(Wasn't this also done with the "tattoos" way back when?)

 

No need to give the Ebay scammers more scam options if you ask me.

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Not that I know of.....only thing different about the comics is one has the insert and one doesn't. Interesting though....I never thought about people transferring the inserts. I do know that they were frequently different in every two to three issues so a person could use that as a guide if they knew that comic "such and such" had "this or that" ad insert. I'd imagine it would involve a lot of work to come up with a list that could be usable by collectors.....

 

 

Jim

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I believe they are attached by the staples in the center of the book? I doubt anyone would risk opening the staples and "trying" to add the insert since there is no real upside presently. There may be some subtle differences in how it was put together that may make it obvious anyway.

 

Good point with the Tatooz though

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The MJ inserts can be seen if you look at the top edge of the comic. The 1970's issues have a blue insert between the pages. I forgot to mention this earlier, but adding inserts to other books would be impossible. The reason is that the MJ issues are stapled slightly different then the standard copies. If anyone did switch an insert you would easily be able to tell. Perhaps Darth can post a photo of a insert as he bought the few copies I had when I was previously dealing in comics.

 

Tom

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...adding inserts to other books would be impossible. The reason is that the MJ issues are stapled slightly different then the standard copies.

 

Great news!

...all we need is more potential "marriages" of book parts for profits.

 

Good to hear that there will be a way to catch this...

(Unless a MJ issue lost the insert...I guess you could put it back...

but that's not as big a problem as taking a regular version and adding an insert.)

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Well at least with the newer ones you can't tell.....

 

X-Factor #58 Sept 1990:

 

xfactor.jpg

 

You cannot see the insert by looking at the front cover....

 

Also, I compared the staples with contemporary issues and they are the same with or without the insert:

 

mark.jpg

 

The issue wouldn't fit on the scanner completely but the staples are lined up the same...

 

I'd have to go through my boxes to pull out older issues with the insert but don't have the time now. If I do in the next couple of days, I'll post them here.

 

 

Jim

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