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Whitman DC Variant Appreciation Thread
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Unless I'm totally blind and can't search properly, I have been unable to find a thread dedicated to the Whitman DC Variants from the late '70s. I know there's a Whitman Variant thread but it's pretty much dedicated to the Gold Key Whitman Variants from the early to mid '80s.

 

Any of these?

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3908989&fpart=1

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=23&Number=2916521&Searchpage=2&Main=149598&Words=whitman&topic=0&Search=true#Post2916521

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2569191&fpart=1

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=150569&fpart=1

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=770636&fpart=1

 

 

The 4th link is a good one. It deals almost entirely with the DC Whitmans. (thumbs u

 

The other 4 links mainly discuss Marvel Whitmans or Whitman pre-packs.

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I would think that these weren't reprints. As mentioned above, it would make much more sense for them to have done a black plate change on press, and simply to have run another 100,000 or so of each title through the presses.

 

I suppose it really depends on when Whitman and DC struck the deal to do these - before or after the original publication dates of the actual books.

 

The reason that they stuck around for such a long time was likely because of the nature of their distribution. They went to department stores and such that bought and held stock until it sold, as opposed to newsstands where distributors took returns.

 

I also believe that if these were indeed reprint books, DC would have updated the advertising, instead of just running the old ads. From a media buying perspective, if I were the DC sales guy, I would have gone to my clients and said 'We're reprinting a bunch of books for package sales - I'll let you have ALL the back covers for 50% of regular cost' etc. No way they would have reprinted all the advertising real estate without making some money off of it. Would have been a wasted opportunity worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

IHMO, anyway.

 

Shep

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I would think that these weren't reprints. As mentioned above, it would make much more sense for them to have done a black plate change on press, and simply to have run another 100,000 or so of each title through the presses.

 

I suppose it really depends on when Whitman and DC struck the deal to do these - before or after the original publication dates of the actual books.

 

The reason that they stuck around for such a long time was likely because of the nature of their distribution. They went to department stores and such that bought and held stock until it sold, as opposed to newsstands where distributors took returns.

 

I also believe that if these were indeed reprint books, DC would have updated the advertising, instead of just running the old ads. From a media buying perspective, if I were the DC sales guy, I would have gone to my clients and said 'We're reprinting a bunch of books for package sales - I'll let you have ALL the back covers for 50% of regular cost' etc. No way they would have reprinted all the advertising real estate without making some money off of it. Would have been a wasted opportunity worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

IHMO, anyway.

 

Shep

 

100,000?!? Does anyone think the print runs on the Whitmans are that high?!?

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According to Paul Levitz, the books distributed by Whitman were not reprints.

 

"They were printed as part of one press run. World Color Press would print enough covers to go on the returnable issues, then they'd stop the presses, change the black printing plate for one with the Whitman logo, then restart the presses to print enough for the non-returnable issues>"

 

Levitz said the number of books was approximately 50,000, but many retailers were sneaky and they would open the bags and actually return those books ( mixed in with actual returnable books) to their distributor for credit.

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According to Paul Levitz, the books distributed by Whitman were not reprints.

 

"They were printed as part of one press run. World Color Press would print enough covers to go on the returnable issues, then they'd stop the presses, change the black printing plate for one with the Whitman logo, then restart the presses to print enough for the non-returnable issues>"

 

Levitz said the number of books was approximately 50,000, but many retailers were sneaky and they would open the bags and actually return those books ( mixed in with actual returnable books) to their distributor for credit.

 

Very interesting. Can you point a link from where this info is from?

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While the Sgt. Rock 329 is tough, I believe the Warlord 22 is harder. The only one I've ever seen I sold to to ShieldAgent about 5 years ago.

 

One thing I've noticed about Whitmans is that they are notoriously tough to find in grade. Probably because everybody thought they were reprints.

 

Look a few posts up and your sightings are up to 4 copies...

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:banana: Yes, I'm cross posting this in a few places, but I'm pretty pleased since as far as I know, this completes my DC Whitman collection! :banana:

 

 

whitmandccomicspresents22-sm.jpg

 

Congratulations Wayne! :applause:

 

I heard you picked up a nicer Action #503 Whitman variant lately as well. :whistle:

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Here are some Bats I picked up last week :)

 

BatmanWhitmans.jpg

 

You said elsewhere that out of your Batman pence and DCWs that there's only one VF/NM in this bunch, the rest are FN - VFN. The 3 rightmost DCWs actually look very nice... any of them the VF/NM or close to it?

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:banana: Yes, I'm cross posting this in a few places, but I'm pretty pleased since as far as I know, this completes my DC Whitman collection! :banana:

 

 

whitmandccomicspresents22-sm.jpg

 

Is this the most recently discovered Whitman?

 

How does it rank in terms of rarity compared to the others?

 

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:banana: Yes, I'm cross posting this in a few places, but I'm pretty pleased since as far as I know, this completes my DC Whitman collection! :banana:

 

 

whitmandccomicspresents22-sm.jpg

 

Is this the most recently discovered Whitman?

 

How does it rank in terms of rarity compared to the others?

 

Aka...how many puppies is it worth?

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You said elsewhere that out of your Batman pence and DCWs that there's only one VF/NM in this bunch, the rest are FN - VFN. The 3 rightmost DCWs actually look very nice... any of them the VF/NM or close to it?

 

The Catwoman cover is the VF/NM :)

 

The others are FN+, VG/FN & VG+.

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