Cpt Kirk

I hate to say it, but that one is not a very rare one (rare ones, I believe, are BM 514 thru 517). However, if you list it on ebay, you could start out at $10 and describe it as "Batman 510 DC Universe logo variant" and see what happens. None of those DC Universe variants are easy to find, and if someone needs it they would probably gladly bid $10 for it. If there is competition, then even better. Mile High Comics has a NM copy listed on their website for $27, so smart bidders would probably not go any higher than that. Now, on the other hand, if you find an Action 706, Adv of Superman 530, Superman 95 or 117, or Superman Man of Steel 49 with the DC Universe symbol in the UPC box, then you hit the jackpot. If you contacted me right now and asked me to buy any one of those variants, I would gladly pay $100. The only one of those that I know for sure exists is the Action 706 DCU variant. A friend of mine found one in poor condition once, and there is one shown on the Atomic Ave website that sold many moons ago (it appeared to be in nice condition, according to the scan)

Thanks for pointing this out. We believe that the pre-printed UPC stickers that were placed on the error copies of newsstand comics were placed on the comic books by DC's printing company. As basis for that belief, take a look at the sticker that was placed over the error bar code on Superman 677. I've seen at least 10 copies of the newsstand version of Superman 677 and they all had the exact same sticker on them. If stores placed their own UPC sticker on the comic book, then the stickers would look different. To me, it seems pretty obvious that the printer realized his error, and then just placed the stickers on those comic books rather than reprint the entire comic book. The sticker would have been a much cheaper solution. Furthermore, a lot of those stickers have a DC Comics logo printed directly on the sticker... a store sticker would not have that. What is really hard to find is a copy of an error UPC code that has never had a sticker placed over it. At least 5 copies of the Action 759 newsstand issue have been found without a sticker (the printer must have accidentally let some of those out the door). On the other hand, I've seen at least 10 copies of the newsstand Superman 677 variant and they all had the exact same sticker placed over the bar code. I thought it was a small miracle to find the TEC 802 error bar code without a sticker (reason: first of all, the newsstand issues of TEC's from 800 and up are extremely hard to find, the bar code would not have been functional on the error copy because part of the bar code would be missing, which means a sticker was needed.... so how that one got out in circulation is beyond me.) p.s. I've seen several newsstand variants of those Millennium editions. The only two I have not yet found are Action 252 Millennium and Justice League 1 Millennium. If anyone finds those two newsstand variants, please send me a PM.

yes, you got it right. October 1980 was the definitive start. You won't find a direct sales version of Bats before 328 and TEC before 495. The first direct market DC comic book was Superboy Spectacular #1

Update: In the titles of Batman, Detective Comics, Superman/Adv of Superman, and Action Comics, there are about 1300 issues that should exist in newsstand format. I've found all but two of them (namely, Detective 868 and Action 895). If you ever see any one of those newsstand issues, I would love to hear about it. Please send me PM if you do.

Update: Now the only newsstand issues I haven't found are Detective 868 and Action 895 (I'm almost sure they exist, since there are about 1300 newsstand variants in the titles of Action, Superman, Detective and Batman, and I've found all but two of them)

These links show all known DCU variants Batman, Detective, Adv of Superman and Action Comics. Batman: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7564066 Detective Detective Comics: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=4&Number=7041600&Searchpage=1&Main=314328&Words=&topic=0&Search=true#Post7041600 Adv of Superman: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7061584#Post7061584 Action Comics: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7564093#Post7564093

very cool. The Action 686 is among the very hard to find, so consider yourself lucky! Also, any 9.8 DCU is an awesome find.

Here's a link that shows the Action 706 DCU variant (I do not have it) http://atomicavenue.com/atomic/issue/712472/Action-Comics-706-2nd-printing

Finally someone besides Mile High (prices) that is listing some DC Universe variants. Thanks for sharing Revat. This was shared with me by an unnamed lurker. I'm very glad we added one, it's been awhile. But I will say that though they are generally listed as such on atomic ave, I don't view these as 2nd prints, except when the are actually labeled as second prints and maybe a few other cases. Agreed. I believe they are mostly second prints, but more appropriately named as "DC Universe variants". By the way, the fist time I've ever seen the Action 706 DCU variant that was shown on this Atomic Ave website. So I believe we can safely say it exists. I will reiterate that to me, it is worth $100. If anyone has one they would sell, please send me a PM.

Finally someone besides Mile High (prices) that is listing some DC Universe variants. Thanks for sharing Revat.

Interesting analysis. I do have one question, in that the bricks often have titles with two issues represented (denoted with a * on the labels on the packs). Do we know if DCUs were ever duplicated month to month? If Flash #92, for example, could have shown up in two consecutive packs that could help explain the smaller number. Dear Zillacat and Mysterio -- Great questions. And yes, I have opened many a pack, and I kept documentation of what was in each pack. It will take me a little while to go back to my notes and report the results, but I will do that as soon as I can. I love Zillacat's observations about the fact that some bricks contained bar-coded issues instead of issues with the DC Universe symbol, by the way. I believe these bricks are not all the same. My own theory is that they were stuffed with excess inventory that was laying around at the time. That theory is backed up by the fact that a few of the issues that went into 2-packs and boxed sets actually were bar-coded issues that had a DC Universe sticker placed on them presumably so that the bar code would not show through the plastic on the pack, and thus let the pack be scanned at the wrong price (examples were Detective 690, Superman Man of Steel 42, and Superman 104). But heck, who knows? I would love the find the mininum-wage guy that had the job of bundling the comic books and then shrink wrapping them. Here's a quick summary of the bricks that contain DC bullets, DC Universe and Zero Hour symbols: 1. Nov 1993 20-pack (see photos below; I broke this pack open in the name of science, because I know my buddy has an un-opened version of this pack. Note that all the issues are from Nov 1993, except the Flash 85, which is a DC bullet variant dtd Dec 1993; the other bullet issues included in this pack are Robin 1, Catwoman 4, BM Adv 14, JLI 58, Action 693. All other issues in this pack just have bar codes, including the Flash 84 dtd Nov 1993) 2. Dec 1993 16-pack and 20-pack (see post from Zillacat a few pages earlier on this thread that shows all the ones in the 20 pack; I'm assuming the 16-pack contains just 4 less issues, which would be spelled out on the front cover of the pack) 3. Jan 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs* -- I've opened this and have recorded all of the contents. BM Adv 16 and BM Mask of Phantasm both contain Bat symbol in UPC box instead of DCU symbol 4. Feb 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs* 5. Mar 1994 20-pack -- assumed to be all DCUs*; we have never seen this pack but it must exist because almost all of the major titles contain from that month have been found with the DC Universe symbol 6. Apr 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs* - I've opened this and have recorded all of the contents; Star Trek Next Gen 58 and Star Trek 59 have Star Trek symbols and BM Adv 19 has bat symbol instead of DCU symbols in UPC boxes 7. May 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs* 8. Jun 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs* 9. Jul 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs* 10. Sep 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs*, except the 4 Zero Hour comic books shown on the top of the brick, all which have the Zero Hour symbol in the UPC box* 11. Oct 1994 20-pack -- all Zero Hour symbols* 12. Nov 1994 20-pack -- all DCUs* -- I've opened this and have recorded all of the contents; BM Adv 25 and BM Adv 26 both have bat symbols instead of DCU symbols in UPC boxes 13. Jun 1995 10-pack -- all DCUs* -- I've opened this and have recorded all of the contents * (note - in these bricks, Star Trek issues contain a Star Trek symbol and BM Adventures issues contain a Batman symbol instead of a DC Universe symbol) PHOTOS OF NOV 1993 20-PACK: [/img]

that minimum wage guy will not remember because he was high as a motherforker. Thanks Revat... that was about the funniest statement I've seen in a long time.

Yes, that is right. There is a 20-pack brick from Nov 1994 and a 10-pack brick from June 1995. We have not seen a brick in between those months. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that DCU variants get spotty after Nov 1994 (in other words, after November 1994 it seems that several major titles have issues which have not been found to contain DC Universe variants, whereas the DC Universe variant occurs in all the major titles from Jan 1994 thru Nov 1994 (except Oct 1994, which is the month where they all have been found with the zero hour bullet)

Interesting analysis. I do have one question, in that the bricks often have titles with two issues represented (denoted with a * on the labels on the packs). Do we know if DCUs were ever duplicated month to month? If Flash #92, for example, could have shown up in two consecutive packs that could help explain the smaller number. Dear Zillacat and Mysterio -- Great questions. And yes, I have opened many a pack, and I kept documentation of what was in each pack. It will take me a little while to go back to my notes and report the results, but I will do that as soon as I can. I love Zillacat's observations about the fact that some bricks contained bar-coded issues instead of issues with the DC Universe symbol, by the way. I believe these bricks are not all the same. My own theory is that they were stuffed with excess inventory that was laying around at the time. That theory is backed up by the fact that a few of the issues that went into 2-packs and boxed sets actually were bar-coded issues that had a DC Universe sticker placed on them presumably so that the bar code would not show through the plastic on the pack, and thus let the pack be scanned at the wrong price (examples were Detective 690, Superman Man of Steel 42, and Superman 104). But heck, who knows? I would love the find the mininum-wage guy that had the job of bundling the comic books and then shrink wrapping them.

Nice catch. There's also a couple commonly found Whitman's in there. So that is a fairly interesting lot of comics.

Dear Zillacat -- Great work on your part. Also, your photo of the open 20-pack was very informative. Here's what I know: 1. We believe that there those large 20-pack bricks exist for every month of comics from November 1992 thru November 1994. 2. There is also a 10-pack brick for June 1995. 3. Between another guy and myself, we have had in hand every single 20-pack and 10-pack brick pack except the 20-pack that presumably exists for March 1994. We believe a 20-pack exists for March 1994 because all usual DC Universe variants have been found for that month. If anyone has this brick in hand, we would love to hear about it. 4. Many of the bricks from Nov 1992 thru Oct 1993 have 2nd, 3rd, etc printings in them. Those are designated with roman numerals such as II, III, IV, etc. But none of those bricks seem to have DC Universe variants in them. 5. The first brick with the DC bullets was for issues dated November 1993. Only the top 4 issues in that brick (that is, the ones that can be seen through the plastic, namely JLE 58, BM Adv 14, Robin 1 and Act 693) have the DC bullet. The rest in the brick have bar codes. 6. The second brick with DC bullets was for issues dated December 1993. That is the brick that you opened for us and showed in the photo above. 7. The bricks from Jan 1994 thru Aug 1994 all have DC Universe variants. 8. The brick from Sept 1994 had the four "Zero Hour" comic books on the cover, all with zero hour symbols in the UPC boxes. The rest of the issues in that pack (like Batman 511, Detective 678, Action 703, and Superman 93) had DC Universe symbols. 9. The brick from Oct 1994 contains issues that are numbered "0" and have the zero hour symbols in the UPC boxes. Example include Batman 0, Detective 0, Action 0, etc. 10. The bricks from Nov 1994 and June 1995 contain issues that all have the DC Universe symbol in the UPC. 11. All other DC Universe variants from Dec 1994 thru Dec 1996 seem to come from 5, 6 and 8 pack sets (examples shown in your photos above), and 2-packs. 12. In my opinion, some of the most elusive DC Universe variants seem to come from those 2-packs. Examples include Adv of SM 499, Action 686, Superman MOS 20, Superman 77, Detective 680, Detective 682 with orange cover, Detective 685, Superman 96, Superman MOS 42, Azrael 22, Action 705, Batman 516, Batman 517 and Batman 524. If you have any of those in hand, consider yourself lucky! I'm still looking for the Adv of Superman 531 DC Universe variant. I'm raising my bounty to $200 for one in FN or better because I'm getting tired of running all over the place to look for the darn thing. It is interesting to me that these bricks and packs all occurred in the hey day of the early to mid-1990's. In those days, there was a speculating boom. Everyone and everyone's brother was hording comic books. There were comic shops popping up everywhere and packs of comic boks were on sale in Toys R Us, Costco, and K-B Toys. And then the bubble burst!

I concur. To me, it is like a great Easter egg hunt. And if you like finding DCU's and 2nd prints, try finding Mark Jeweler variants. Here's a link to a posting I made about Mark Jeweler variants in Batman and Superman titles. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6954368

I'm missing Adv of Superman 531 (one copy is known to exist). Also missing Adv of Superman 530, Action 706, Superman 95 & 117, and Superman MOS 49. The existence of those five DC Universe variants is questionable. I've been searching ebay and have looked in comic book shops and 2nd&Charles stores all over the country for years now. To help save me some time in looking, I'm offering a bounty of $100 for any one of those variants listed above. So I think we can say those variants are rare, if not non-existent.

I think Jerome's list of missing ones is a pretty good list of what's rare. He's been looking for them for a long time. I have too, and those are hard to find. I would add that Superman MOS 42 does exist (there's a stickered DCU and non-stickered DCU version of SM MOS 42 -- I have them both and both are pictured in this thread). For TEC 690, I believe Jerome is referring to the fact that there's a stickered and non-stickered DCU. I have them both.

Mysterio -- Great list... I enjoyed looking at it. 1. I would say you can also put a question mark on Superman 117. I don't know anyone who has that one. 2. If anyone ever finds Azrael 22, please let me know. I know a guy who would probably give rights to his first born to get his hands on that one. Not that anyone needs a new mouth to feed, but what the heck, there might be a pretty good trade to be had on that one.

I would say both of those are pretty easy to find. Ebay should provide them pretty quickly after searching for awhile.

Add Sgt Rock 315, Secrets of Haunted House 11, Super-Team Family 15, and Ghosts 63 to the list. So now you have: Action 481, Adventure 456, Detective 476, Batman 298, Super-Team Family 15, Jonah Hex 11, Justice League 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. If you look at the newsstand feature of Mike's Amazing World of DC website, any issues with a publishing date the same as the issues above would potentially contain this survey.

That TEC 691 is among the very-hard-to-find!

thanks to Kolmaravenue, we have a reunion of the Spring Hill Mall variant with these other variants of Adv of Superman 443 (so this photo shows 9 variations of Adv of Superman 443).

And now DC comics has been doing the same thing. Newsstand issues are usually $1 more than direct sales. I understand this has been done in order to make it profitable for stores like Barnes & Noble to keep selling newsstand comic books. I've also noticed that occasionally the newsstand issues might have slight differences (for example, soft cover instead of hard cover, less ads, etc)