Cpt Kirk

Thank you. Well I most recently bought the Detective 97 from Masteraddams on ebay. And recently bought the Detective 97 regular edition from ICE collectibles in Ontario. Both were 7.0's, so they were pricey. I bought the Superman Special edition and regular edition on ebay in 2016. If I recall correctly, the Superman Special Edition was about $700 and the regular edition was CGC 5.0 white pages for $377. I'm glad I bought them back then, as it seems like the price of golden age got crazy a couple years ago (recognizing it softened a little bit at the end of last year). I also got the Action 80 special edition many moons ago. I still don't have the Superman 34, Action 81 and Action 84 special editions. I don't recall seeing copies of any of those for sale in the last few years.

This posting gives more details on those Special Edition comics that were made during WWII as teaching aids for Navy sailors. I consider these to be some of the earliest DC "variants".

This posting gives more details on those Special Edition comics that were made during WWII as teaching aids for Navy sailors. I consider these to be some of the earliest DC "variants".

Following is the Special Edition of Superman 33 alongside the regular edition of Superman 33. The regular version of Superman 33 is shown on the top of each image.

I occurred to me that very few people get to see the inside of these Special Edition comic books that were used to help develop reading skills for sailors during WWII. So I captured the following images showing the Special Edition of Detective Comics 97 along with the regular edition of Detective Comics 97. The next post in this thread will show the same thing for Superman 33 Special Edition and regular edition. In my mind, the six Special Edition Comics (along with the two known Overseas Editions of Superman #27 and #28) are among the first "variants" that DC produced. p.s. Many copies of the Special Edition of Detective Comics 97 were miscut. I'm pleased that my copy was had cuts that were about as "square" as any I've seen. p.p.s. There is a digital version of Detective 97 that can be seen on those websites that let you read old comic books for free. However, that digital version is missing images of the inside front cover and inside back cover. So if you are wondering what those look like, the answer is shown below. I think it is self explanatory, but the regular version of Detective Comics 97 is shown on the top of each image.

Great question. Here's my thoughts after 12 years of chasing MJ's in the DC titles of Batman, Detective, Superman, Action and Justice League of America: 1. Prices are all over the map. Sometimes the jeweler variant adds no value (but does seem to make a comic book more "sellable") but if two or more nutcases like me really want the comic book, prices could go for 20 times more than guide (the most memorable for me was a vgFN JLA 107 that I lost in a bid for approximately $100... still wishing I went higher on that auction... a regular JLA 107 in vgFN would be lucky to sell for $5). 2. All jeweler variants were sold in military PX's or other similar venues, so they were sold like other newsstand issues (i.e., on comic or magazine racks). So the higher graded jewelers (especially 9.2 and above) seem to sell well at reasonable prices. They are only very rarely seen in 9.8. 3. It seems like the premium for a jeweler variant gets magnified with key issues (Batman 251 with the Joker cover seems like a good example).

I agree. When you come across that dark stripe on the top, then pull the comic book out and see the newsstand bar code, you think "jackpot!". I was with my nephew in a comic store in Austin Texas (heavy military presence there) and when I found a run of about 20 Justice League of America jeweler variants, I told my nephew that "This is what you dream about as a collector". He was not a collector and he promptly replied "It's not what I dream about!" lol.

Thanks for posting that image @hulk181man!

Add House of Secrets 151 to the following list of comics that contain the reader survey in issues with a cover date of March or April 1978: Action Comics 481, Adventure 456, Detective Comics 476, Batman 298, Super-Team Family 15, Jonah Hex 11, Justice League of America 153, Weird War Tales 62, Firestorm 2, Flash 260, Super Friends 11, Superman 322, Aquaman 61, Black Lightning 8, Ghosts 63, Sgt Rock 315, Secrets of Haunted House 11 and Wonder Woman 241. I just saw it on the following ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/196058665106?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=3a1c5a37b3164fce9e2a0737eaacb969&bu=43187220679&ut=RU&osub=-1~1&crd=20231101014607&segname=11021

Thanks for finding that pack and posting the photos. Up until now, these Walgreen packs have only been a myth. I'm surprised more haven't turned up given the fact that the "No Month" variants aren't too hard to find.

That statement above was in error and I could see why it would have been confusing to you, @ADAMANTIUM. It should read like this: 1. Direct sales - 457 indicia (common, by the way) 2. Direct sales - 000 indicia (common) 3. Newsstand - 457 indicia (common) 4. Newsstand - 000 indicia (rare) 5. Direct sales - 2nd print (common) 6. Newsstand - 2nd print (very rare but easily found now that the prices are through the roof - it looks like are 6 on ebay now - a raw one currently has bid for $330, 100+ bids, and 2 days left on auction) Happy hunting!

I can tell you that the Batman 457 newsstand with the 000 code IS hard to find. Not as hard as the 2nd print newsstand, but still difficult to find.

I love this thread, but I cringe every time I see that someone has posted something new in here because I'm worried that another previously unknown DCU that I need will pop up. And dang it, Revat, now I need a Detective 693! From the attached image, it makes sense to me that Detective 693 popped up, but also amazing that we have been looking hard for 15 years before one finally surfaced. If the image from my spreadsheet makes sense to you (green means the DCU exists and I have it, yellow means the DCU is believed to exist but I don't have it, if there is no highlighting then no one has ever claimed it existed), then you would also believe that an Action 717 DCU should exist. If anyone is willing to sell a Detective 693 or Adv of Superman 523, I would gladly pay $400 for one in VF or better. p.s. Jerome Wenker thought he had seen an Adv of Superman 530 DCU and Superman MOS 49 DCU, but I'm now pretty sure they don't exist. I've been looking for 12+ years.

I finally got through my other comic books and here's what else disintegrated. I noticed that all the plastic bags that fell apart all felt like they could crumble into a million pieces, which makes me think they were meant to biodegrade on their own. Action Comics combos occurred in issues #5 thru #23 and the following fell apart: #'s 11, 12, 0, 13 thru 20 Detective Comics combo packs occurred in issues #8 thru #40 and the following fell apart: #'s 11, 12, 0, 13 thru 20 I'm noticing a trend here.

I think you are right about that.

Finding a Detective 692 DCU might not be very likely. I don't see any of the major titles having a DCU variant for the issues cover dated Dec 1995 (of which TEC 692 is one).

I guess that light crease on back cover might show the wisdom of removing the comic book from the poly bag as soon as it was purchased. I chose to open one and then kept the bag in a separate bag/board and then also kept an unopened platinum copy just so it could be seen in its original state when sold (weird, I know).

I'm sure they will. And I can assure @FlyingDonut that I would pay at least $150 for it just to have a spare, but it appears that there were lots of bidders above that figure.

Apparently people do care about this Superman variant. I'm feeling pretty good about having 14 different ones right now. If I didn't already have the Clearview Mall copy, I can almost say for sure that I would have been the high bidder on this recent auction. Great result by the way for @FlyingDonut !

I have it in hand. As soon as I decide to sell my collection, I will be in touch with you. I have a feeling that it will be really hard to find another one. I think you would have to canvass all the comic shops in that area to see if anyone has one

I see that there are two other bidders out there besides myself for the mall variant that @FlyingDonut posted on ebay. That to me is interesting. I sometimes wonder if anyone besides myself really cares about these mall variant. Apparently the answer is yes.

Nice. And one of them as the tell-tale star stamp on the front cover. If that stamps show up on a book that is supposed to have the insert, there is a high chance it contains the insert.

first bid placed. It will be interesting to see if there's any interest out there. In the past, I've seen competition for them and they went from $100 to $200 I believe but on the other hand I bought one on ebay for $7 once before these became widely known. I looked at the records for all the ones I one, and it appears as if almost every purchase I made was either from connections I made on this CGC website or ones that I found in the wild (one was from a 2nd and Charles in Chicago and the other was found in a small comic shop in Albany GA).

If you have heard of PFAS/PFOAs, it is easy to see how disintegrating plastic into the environment could cause problems with quality of drinking water now that you see this plastic disintegrating into a million pieces. It is become a national concern with respect to water quality. But I digress!!