Brian48 Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 I already had these books and wasn't looking for another set, but the condition was really good (best I've seen thus far) so I decided to upgrade. Nice companion to my reader copies. Also, it was fairly cheap. Artboy99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian48 Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 The Whitman variant. Caught me by suprise as I didn't even know it existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Why do you think that is a Whitman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBird Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 For those of you who still followed Conan in the late '90s, do you recall what killed interest in this character? Was it just it lousy writing or art work? Buscema was still the artist when this final SSoC issue came out. When I left the hobby the first time, Conan was right up there with Spidey and Wolverine in terms of popularity with multiple running titles per month. It was a real shock when I came back to the hobby in 2012 that Marvel wasn't even involved any more. After issue 220 or so the writing and art were completely terrible. i was shocked Barbarian limped on another 5 years after that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian48 Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Why do you think that is a Whitman? It has the traditional diamond box where cover price is and the absense of the Curtis trademark number. This is what I remember all Whitmans had towards the end of that era. Also, I don't recall anyone else circulating comics at that time. Here it is next to my newstand edition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 I don't know all that much about Whitmans but I thought they either had blank UPC boxes or a line through them. I also thought Whitmans were exclusively sold in multipacks. You do have an interesting variant, whatever it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian48 Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 I think Whitman only did multipacks with regular size comics, which makes sense I suppose due to the size of these Treasury books. All the Star Wars Whitmans have the UPC. This one really surprised me. I can't seem to find much info about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TupennyConan Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 As I reflect on it, it seems that once Hollywood got involved, Arnold became synonymous with Conan -- like his Terminator character -- forevermore chaining Conan's popular arc to Arnold's & we all know how that has gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TupennyConan Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 I love the Marvel digests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Surfer Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 The Whitman variant. Caught me by suprise as I didn't even know it existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian48 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Some drek box finds this past week. Being out of touch for so long, I haven't heard of this relaunch attempt either. Not really giving any thought to it other than cheap reading, I was braced for luke warm writing and art like what I saw towards the tail end of the SSoC run. To my surprise, these were very well written stories with a very early SSoC feel to them. Artwork was a mixed bag, but that may be just me not liking one style over the other. Of course, the Rudy Nebres stuff was top notch as always. I guess the improvement in quality was still not enough to resurrect the genre or the character with Marvel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaeldubyoo Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I think Whitman only did multipacks with regular size comics, which makes sense I suppose due to the size of these Treasury books. All the Star Wars Whitmans have the UPC. This one really surprised me. I can't seem to find much info about them. Aren't those Direct Sales variants? There's no indication that these were exclusively distributed by Whitman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian48 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I don't think Treasury Editions ever made it to direct sales. Worked in comic shop for 2 years before leaving for the USMC in '85. We never got any treasury size books from either DC or Marvel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian48 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Then again, Whitmans were direct sales version anyway so I guess the term applies. Used to see a lot Whitmans at local retail stores like Woolworths and Kresge before they became Kmart. Never saw them in comic shops though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaeldubyoo Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Marvel and DC stopped making tabloid-size comics in 1982. Perhaps that's why you didn't see any at the store you were working at. Or maybe they weren't distributed to comic shops in your area. Marvel Treasury Editions were available in the comic stores I frequented (West Coast). I purchased new Marvel Treasury Editions off the shelves at comic shops, including #1. I still have copies of both Star Wars regular and Whitman variants bought at Comics and Comix. The only Conan Treasury Edition I have is #4, the Red Nails story by BWS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian48 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Latest pickup. There must be a zillion of these "limited" editions as the seller sold it to me for cover price plus free shipping. There may be no investment value here, but I'm plenty happy to have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Latest pickup. There must be a zillion of these "limited" editions as the seller sold it to me for cover price plus free shipping. There may be no investment value here, but I'm plenty happy to have it. quite nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 The market for these type of books is quite limited. Will Eisner S&N books that are limited to a few hundred sell for less than cover price twenty five years after they were published. I just picked up a S&N Dark Knight hardcover for $125. They sold for $500 when released, sometimes more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 For those of you who still followed Conan in the late '90s, do you recall what killed interest in this character? Was it just it lousy writing or art work? Buscema was still the artist when this final SSoC issue came out. When I left the hobby the first time, Conan was right up there with Spidey and Wolverine in terms of popularity with multiple running titles per month. It was a real shock when I came back to the hobby in 2012 that Marvel wasn't even involved any more. After issue 220 or so the writing and art were completely terrible. i was shocked Barbarian limped on another 5 years after that.... --------- You're talking about the comic or the mag? The comic art lost it in the early 100s, although I think the stories were ok. i just think collectors saw nothing in these books they could make a buck on... no 1st apps, cross-overs with the marvel universe, etc. So once you got down to the 20-40,000 people who actually still read the comic, that wasn't enough for marvel to keep it around. as for SSOC, I don't recall it getting bad. the stuff from the 70s into the early 80s was terrific. same thing re: collectors I think, with the double whammy of comic collectors being afraid of magazines, particularly B&W ones. i have no idea what the circulation numbers on these were even at the peak though. i really liked the art on the kayanian re-boot, but i guess once again, people didn't see a buck to be made. so now, the 10-15,000 or so people who actually buy conan to read keep the darkhorse series alive as there is no "collector" angle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Marvel and DC stopped making tabloid-size comics in 1982. Perhaps that's why you didn't see any at the store you were working at. Or maybe they weren't distributed to comic shops in your area. Marvel Treasury Editions were available in the comic stores I frequented (West Coast). I purchased new Marvel Treasury Editions off the shelves at comic shops, including #1. I still have copies of both Star Wars regular and Whitman variants bought at Comics and Comix. The only Conan Treasury Edition I have is #4, the Red Nails story by BWS. yup. bought all of ours as a kid at creepy west side comics in manhattan starting with the 1974 ones, ending with the 1981/2 ones. I just uncovered my box of them from my childhood! I frigging loved reading them and, alas, my spiderman vs. superman shows all that love big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
