Cpt Kirk

I I wonder what those are worth these days?

wow... that is impressive. Those are rare cats!

I discovered spin on jewelers this week. Up until now, I have only seen variations occurring within only one issue for any given month. Now I've discovered a Detective 449 (in addition to the previously reported Superman 289) that contains two different jeweler variations within the same issue. So TEC 449 and Superman 289 (both cover dated July 1975) have two versions of the jeweler insert. On version of the insert has a 777 code on the lower corner of the insert, and the other insert has an 888 code. So did the printing company have two stacks of Mark Jeweler ads to insert into comic books that month? I imagine that we will never know. And why would you switch to a different insert on both comic books. I would think you would just use up copies of one insert before switching to a different insert. The two versions of the insert that can be found in Detective 449 can be seen below. Note that one of the jeweler inserts has a listing of the DC titles near the centerfold, and the other does not. The inserts also feature slightly different versions of the insert. Sorry completionists…. if you want all the variations of Mark Jeweler inserts, you have to keep looking.

That is awesome..... one of the all-time iconic covers. Thank you!

Ok... let's just say it didn't happen... lol.

Thanks!!

Finally. After approximately 10 years of searching, I have acquired every single Mark Jeweler insert in the title of Superman Comics. The run includes all 158 jeweler variants from Superman 255 (August 1972) through 420 (Jun 1986). The only issues that don’t have inserts in this title are as follows: 272/278/284 (square-bound giants), 285/286 (jeweler ads were not inserted into DC Comics during those two months), 377 (Masters of Universe insert), 400 (giant sized issue), 411 (Mask comic book insert), and 421 (slick Mask advertising insert). I don’t know of anyone who’s reached this goal in a long-standing run of DC Comics (and I’m not sure it’s ever been done in similar fashion with any long-running Marvel Comics titles either). If it has, I would love to hear about it. Here’s what I had to do to reach the goal: Over the years I bought a bunch of jeweler variants from MyComicShop and Mile High Comics because they made note of these variants when they got them. I kept a saved searches on ebay called “Superman jeweler”, “Batman Jeweler”, “Detective Jeweler”, etc for most of those 10 years and looked the ebay email hits for those searches every morning. I periodically did internet searches on “Superman Mark Jewelers” which led me to a sellers such as a “Burning Comics” in Belgium and “We Got Issues” in Ireland. The really good guy at Burning Comics had nearly all Superman jeweler variants in very high grade from issue 301 through 400 as well as a bunch of jeweler variants in the other titles I collect. Furthermore, I had a friend in Germany who was constantly on the lookout for jeweler inserts since they were mostly sold in military PX’s overseas and there are a lot of U.S. military bases in Germany. I queried more than 1,300 sellers on ebay to ask “Does your issue of Superman or Batman XYZ have the 4-page Mark Jewelers advertising insert? If yes, I will bid or buy it right away.” This question led me to the ebay seller who unknowingly had the last Mark Jeweler variant I need to complete the Superman run (namely, Superman 292). Here's the crazier part: I’ve bought several duplicates over the years because I wanted to get every jeweler variant in FN or better condition. I’ve done that except for all the titles I collect except for one issue (my Superman 291 jeweler variant is in vg condition). Probably 90 percent or more of my jeweler variants are in VF or better. For your viewing pleasure below are the first and last Mark Jewelers in the run of Superman (namely 255 and 420). The SM 255 is NM and the 420 is VF+. It is amazing to me that they can be in this condition because they had to travel overseas, sit on a newsstand rack in a military PX, and then make it all the way back to the U.S. If I had to guess, something kept the SM 255 from making that normal journey because it is in flawless condition. Here is Superman 255 (note the "rstuvwx" code in the lower right hand corner of the jeweler insert when it is opened at the centerfold... I believe this was the first type of insert used in DC Comics... some of the DC comic books that were cover dated August 1972 but released later in that same month only had an "rst" code on the lower right hand corner of the insert (an example of that would be Action Comics 415)): And here is Superman 420:

yes, that could very well be. Interesting.

It sure is. Man, you sure are observant. I should take a closer look at my jeweler inserts to see if others have that listing of DC Comics, and to see if the listing changed any over the years. I started to do some analysis on that list. At first glance, the list seems to just include the mainstream titles (for example, the list did not show Black Lightning, Jonah Hex, Karate Kid, Weird War Tales, etc and I am pretty sure those comic books received Mark Jeweler inserts as well). Furthermore, the listing of titles on that Mark Jewelers is not necessarily the definitive list of what comic books received the insert. For example, Superman Family and World's Finest is on the list but at that time Superman Family and World's Finest had been switched over to the giant Dollar Comic format. I've never seen a Dollar Comic get the Mark Jewelers insert. I've seen 52-page saddle-stitched units with the jeweler insert, but if someone can produce an example of a Dollar Comic with the jeweler insert, I would love to see it.

yes, for sure. I would go ahead and ask the seller. If it is, I would love it if you could tell me what the code is on the insert. And if it is a jeweler that you don't need, I would also gladly buy it from you.

I just noticed this. The attached photo is from two different copies of Superman 312 dated Jun 1977. Notice that the Mark Jeweler insert with the "111" numerical code has a listing of all the DC Comics that were probably targeted for the advertising insert, whereas the insert with the "1" numerical code does not. I checked some other "111" inserts from May 1977 and found that they also had this listing of comic books on them. It makes me wonder if any of the inserts targeted for Marvel Comics had a similar list of comic books printed in tiny font on the jeweler insert. I realize this is really getting into the weeds, so I probably need to re-evaluate how I'm spending my time. I think it is time to go see what my wife is doing.

Holy mother of Mark Jewelers!

I've probably mentioned this before, but try to find a newsstand issue that is still sealed in a poly bag. Here's an example that I found the other day at the Charlotte Heroes Convention. It is Superman Man of Tomorrow #6 newsstand still sealed in poly.

well, you just dug four to six hundred bucks out of the 50-cent boxes. Congrats!

On 7/3/2022 at 7:19 AM, Cpt Kirk said: Congrats. It seems like it gets exponentially harder when you get down to just one or two left to complete the run. In the titles of Batman, Detective, Superman, Action and Justice League of American, I'm now only missing 8 jeweler inserts as follows: Batman 245, 247, 390 Detective 470, 548 Superman 292 Action Comics 579 Justice League 107 And of those eight, I only know for sure that Batman 247, Superman 292, and JLA 107 exist (someone snagged them before me, dagnabbit). If I manage to find the Superman 292, Action 579, or JLA 107, I will have reached the elusive goal of obtaining every single jeweler variant in the run (I'm not sure anyone has ever done that in a long-standing run of DC comics). To give some idea of rarity, I've had to offer $100 or more as a bounty for the ones I'm missing even though most of them would only sell for roughly $20 to $30 on auction. But I would gladly pay that bounty to save myself the time of searching for them. If anyone comes across any on this list, please do not hesitate to contact me via private message.

Wow... great observation on the DCCP 26. As near as I can tell, that's the only DC comic book cover dated October 1980 with the Teen Titans preview. So you have a 64-page comic book there with the insert added on top of that. The only other DC comic book I can think of like that is Action Comics 509 dated July 1980 with the 16-page Radio Shack insert (so it too as 64 pages with the jeweler insert... thus making it a pretty thick comic book).

Here's one of those rare examples of a 48-page giant with the Mark Jeweler's insert. Loved the stories in this one too. I recall buying this issue (not the jeweler variant) right off the shelf of my local pharmacy. I was kind of bummed out when Batman Family started printing all new stories because I looked forward to seeing what classic reprint that they would include in the next issue. There were some great stories reprinted in the earlier issues of Batman Family

Congrats. It seems like it gets exponentially harder when you get down to just one or two left to complete the run.

I have never seen the Steel 23, and the experts that I know have never seen it either. In an email to me circa 2015, the godfather of DCU variants (Jerome Wenker) listed Steel 23 as questionable.

Here's a twist to the now-famous Revat DCU list. Which of the following on this list are suspected but we have yet to see proof positive that they exist. I have never seen Adv of Superman 530, Azrael 22, Superman Man of Steel 49, and Superman 95. All 4 of those were thought to exist by Jerome Wenker, but I know for sure they were not in his collection (I personally inspected) and he could not produce evidence they existed. He was the first to admit that there might have been errors on the list. Perhaps the list could be annotated as follows: Action Comics 684 3rd print, 686 2nd print, 695-710 (2 versions of 700), 712-715, 718, 722-726 Adventures Superman 498 4th print, 499 3rd print, 508-532, 535-540, Annual 8 (no proof 530 exists) Animaniacs 1, 2, 4-7, 9-10, 14-16, 18, Christmas 1 Aquaman 1, 3-9, 21-24 Aquaman: Time & Tide 1-3 Azrael 15, 16, 19, 20, 22 (no proof Azrael 22 exists) Batman 503-524 (515 has two versions), 526-527, 529, 531 (2 versions)-535, Batman Annual 13, 20 Batman Adventures 17, 18, 33, 35-36 Batman Chronicles # 4 Batman & Robin Adventures 1, 3-5, 7, 8, 17 Batman Legends Dark Knight 62-63 Batman: Shadow of the Bat 25, 29, 30, 35, 38 ,48, 49, 52-57 Catwoman 5-7, 9, 11-13, 15-19, 31, 32, 36, Annual 2 Damage 0 DC vs Marvel #1, 4 Detective Comics 670-691 (675 and 682 have 2 versions), 694-704, Detective Comics Annual 8-9 Flash 86-102 (100 has 2 versions), 104, 109-110, 114-117 Final night 1-4 Green Lantern # 36, 47(51 has 1st and 2nd print)-68, 70, 75-77, 79-81 (2 versions of 81), Green Arrow 110-111 Guy Gardner 15-17, 26-27 Impulse 3, 10, 14-16 Impulse Annual 1 Justice League International 60-63, 67 Justice League of America 69 4th print,84-95, 97-99, 107-108, 112 Justice League Task Force 7, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 32 Legionnaires 10, 12, 16, 19-22, 25-26, 29, 33 Looney Tunes 2-6, 8-15 Nightwing 1, 2 Pinky & Brain 1 Parallax: Emerald Night # 1 Power of Shazam 1-4, 12, 16-17, 19 Robin 3-9, 11-22 (2 versions of 14), 25, 27-28, 30-35 Robin Annual 4-5 Showcase '94 1-10 Steel 1-15, 17, 23, 24, 28-29, 31 Superboy 1-16, 20, 23-24, 29-30, 32, Annual 3 Superboy and the Ravers 1-2 Supergirl (1994) #1-4 Supergirl (1996) #2-4 Superman 74 4th print, 77 3rd print, 85-106, 108-109, 113-118 (no proof 95 exists) Superman Annual 6, 8 Superman Man Steel 18 5th print, 19 3rd print, 20 2nd print, 29-50, 52-53, 57-60, Annual 3 (no proof 49 exists) Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow # 1, 5 Superman Doomsday: Hunter/Prey 1-3 Superman Wedding 1 (2 versions) Superman Toyman 1 Sovereign Seven # 1 Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? #1 Wonder Woman 82, 84-93, 95-98, 101, 106

I pulled a Superman 104 stickered version directly out of a sealed pack and made note of it at the time. I do not have a record of seeing any stickered ones in a two-pack until the one that was shown above. And to response to the question from @L.E. Gill I have only seen on 10-pack and that was the June 1995 pack.

Thanks. And I see the signed copy sold in Nov 2020 on Heritage Auctions for $896. I suspect it will be very hard to find others in the future.

well done! Thanks for finding the back story!!

yes, Wings 67 (with Adventures of Superman 432 inside most of it) is one of my favorites I have it and it was made (and can be seen) in the movie "Empire of the Sun".

Here's the last one and I'm calling it quits for awhile. It is Superman (1987 series) #166, foil copy and error non-foil copy. You can barely see the difference with my camera (the foil cover on the right is slightly shinier than the non-foil error copy). This Superman 166 reminds me of Batman New 52 #29 blank sketch cover. The non-error copy of Batman 29 had a pulped white blank cover that was easy to draw on, whereas the error copy had a regular white cover that was slick like all other front covers at the time. Because the covers were white, it would be impossible to distinguish between the two with a photograph.