Cpt Kirk

How do people feel about the prices that Mile High Comics charges for newsstand issues? I realize that they are almost always having 50% and 60% off sales through their newsletter code words, but even with the discount most of their newsstand issues from the year 2000 and up have asking prices in the $40 to $200 range for popular titles. I don't think most of those newsstands variants are too hard to find for a few bucks if the buyer has patience. I sometimes wonder how they sell any newsstand issue when they get in that price range, unless it is a very key issue. I wonder what their strategy is.

Your ability to find the rare ones continues to astound me. Hopefully you can dig up a SM MOS 39 or 49, Superman 95 or 113, Adv of Superman 530 or Batman 513 one of these days. As you already know, I would pay a bounty of any of those.

LOL. Yes. You are on Earth Prime. Have you not read Flash #179 from May 1968? And I apologize to anyone else who sees this.... I'm getting way off topic. But we do need to help @Iconic1s get back to his senses. Wait a minute.... I just realized I'm stuck in the past. I think Crisis erased all those earths.... so what Earth are we on now? Has that been explained lately?

No doubt all this could happen... on Earth Two. But seriously, sometimes I wonder how a book like that could get through all those hoops and still be a 9.8. It makes me think that perhaps a few went straight from the printer into the hands of a collector. On the other hand, I can see where just a few comic books just get lucky enough to get through all the hoops and still be 9.8. I recently bought approximately 250 Mark Jeweler variants from a guy in Belgium, and there are probably at least 30 9.8's in that group of 250 comic books (the majority of the rest are 9.0 to 9.6). Apparently, the original owner went to a Military PX and picked out the best copies each week. They were then placed in cardboard boxes until he sold them approximately 25 years later to the guy in Belgium, who sold them to me. Keep in mind these darn comic books had to be shipped all the way to Germany, and then placed by some stock clerk onto a newsstand. Incredible that quite a few of them are still in 9.8 condition.

Getting that Adv of SM 499 III in 9.8 will be a tall order. I had two copies still enclosed in the original shrink-wrapped 2-packs, and both of them had dings on the spines. Even my best copy is more like a 9.2 to 9.4. I recall someone saying that the guy who shrink wrapped all those comics books was probably high as a kite. Those reprints had to make it through that guy's hands and then all the kids thumbing through those 2-packs at Toys-R-Us. Hopefully someone can help @Iconic1s find the elusive ASM 499 III that somehow managed to get past all of that and still be in near-perfect condition.

I recall being mesmerized by the entire story line, and somewhat frustrated that Superman seemingly came back to life as 4 separate dudes. It really is a fun story to read. Of course if all your copies are 9.8's like @Iconic1s has in his collection, you probably need to get a hold of the trade paperbacks to read the story that way instead.... lol.

When I started this thread many moons ago, I thought it was enough of a feat to have just all the issues and variants. I could not have imagined someone trying to get them all in 9.8 or better. All I can say is....

A high grade Batman 516 is very hard to find.... congrats!!

@onlyweaknesskryptonite has been nothing but awesome to buy from. He always ships quickly and has bulletproof packing. On top of that, he has found some outrageously rare stuff for me and I can only describe him as a "gentleman and good friend". You won't go wrong dealing with him. And my feedback rating on ebay (kwticknor4b21) since 1996 has been more than 1300 transactions (I've only received positive feedback and I've never left a negative).

wow... two ultra-rare DCUs in one pack. Great job @onlyweaknesskryptonite. Your ability to find this stuff is uncanny. Just need you to find the Superman 113 and Superman Man of Steel 39 DCU's next!

If you don't mind my asking, how much did the Adv of SM 521 sell for?

That is truly amazing what you found. Thanks for sharing! p.s. If you like look for DCU logos, check out the following post by @revat

That is an amazing run of jeweler variants. Thanks for letting us know.

I was flipping through my Batman and Detective newsstand issues this morning. I managed to find every single one of them from the time direct sales issues were started in DC Comics (with cover dates of October 1980) until they stopped making newsstand editions in October 2017. I was amazed to see the AVERGE grade of my newsstand issues was 9.4 to 9.6, with the lowest grades being VF-. I made a point over the years to replace the ones with spine dings, dog ears, etc and I continue to do that. In my opinion, some of the toughest newsstand issues to find occurred from the late 700 issues in Detective until the earliest issues of New 52 when newsstand issues started to be a thing. Here's a photo of TEC 800 thru 813 newsies just for fun. Note TEC 802 has two versions shown (the non-stickered error version, and the sticker they put on the cover to fix the error). The error was that part of the bar code was missing (really hard to find with or without sticker). A friend of mine has also managed to find all of them except TEC New 52 issue #'s 45 and 48. If you have any of those you are willing to sell, let me know and I will help him out

love it man. Only my kids will be selling those MJs....

I've managed to get a nearly complete high-grade run of jeweler variants in titles of Batman, Detective, Superman, Action and JLA. A couple thoughts were going through my mind as I was thumbing through them. 1. Collecting jeweler variants seems so obscure and I wondered what real value is added to a comic by having the insert. I collect them because I'm a completionist, but I also like them because they have a heavier feel than their non-jeweler counterparts. It's almost like they have a built in backing board in the comic book, especially the older ones that had the heavier card stock. 2. I believe very few people collect them. I believe if a jeweler variant pops up on ebay and those few collectors already have that particular issue with the Mark Jewelers insert, that comic book will sit on ebay for years (especially if high priced). Those runs that Hills of Comics put on ebay have done pretty well, but then again many of those issues have been on ebay in high grade for 2 1/2 years. 3. Do other collectors flip through their comic books after they complete a run? I like to flip through them and see nothing but clean high-grade issues with no creases or spine dings. I can't explain it.... it just feels good to have them that way.

thanks for sharing that story.... fascinating.

Yes, that ad appeared in all DC comics with the cover date of May 1984. What's fun is finding the same comic books but with the Mark Jeweler insert in addition to what you see above. I have never seen nor heard of a National Diamond sales insert being placed into a DC comic book (besides a regular ad like you see above). If anyone can show a National Diamond sales insert on a DC comic book, I would love to see it.

nice. What comic books have you shown there?

I'm often asked for a list of known jeweler variants. In the 5 titles I collect, I have a very complete and accurate list (I have seen or have in hand all but 5 of the possible 690 jeweler variants in those 5 titles). I believe the list of possible jeweler variants is as follows: Superman jeweler variants are 255-271, 273-277, 279-283, 287-376, 378-399, 401-410, 412-420. JLA jeweler variants are 100-109, 118-138, 149, 158-192, 194-199, 201-207, 209-241, 243-249, 251-252. Action jeweler variants are 415-436, 438-442, 444, 447-448, 450-499, 501-536, 538-543, 545-572, 574-580. Batman jeweler variants are 243-253, 263-299, 301-352, 354-386, 388-396. Detective jeweler variants are 426-437, 447-480, 496-499, 501-519, 521-525, 527-563. I keep track of other DC titles, but my list is not nearly as complete as the above list for those 5 titles. I don't keep a listing of Marvel jeweler variants because I don't collect them.

And yet another variation of the insert. Shown here is Detective 504. One with the Mark Jeweler advertisement correctly inserted, and one with the advertisement upside down. Love those Joker covers.

Here we go again. Now I found Superman 312 with two different versions of the insert. I don't go looking for this, but if I upgrade a copy I always compare the inserts to see if they are the same. This variation is more subtle than Action 452. Only difference here is the code on the insert. One code is "1" and the other is "111". I will add that this variation is not too surprising to me. During that month, the "1" and "111" variants of the advertising inserts were both used. Usually only one or the other is found on any given issue that month, but I can see how a different version was used on any given issue if they were both being used at the printer that month.

That's a good haul you got there. I believe the Batman 514, Batman 515, and Superman 100 are among the harder to find.

nice find!