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Star Stamps???
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94 posts in this topic

2 minutes ago, cortown71 said:

Here's two more early star stamps on FF 73&76 I'm pretty sure I have one or two more FFs with stamps before inserts were used.

I feel these are also military designations.the stamps match what my other mark jewlerys stamps look like.their stamp locations generally tend to be by the price boxes.

 

2017-11-12_20.24.54.jpg

So your FF (shown) do not have MJ inserts in them?  Are your stamps are Silver?

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1 minute ago, cortown71 said:

No inserts.stamps colors look dark blue,navy blue...hmm ?

Sweet, so it looks like these are Military Stamps as listed above with no link to MJ inserts.  They stand alone. :bigsmile:   Now I wonder if color have anything to do with anything?

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I would doubt the color of the stars has any significance-- the star however is significant. Everything I've read on these forums mentioning these stars are a definite indicator that they were sold on military bases- typically in the PX. Can't recall why it is done exactly but it could indicate either the book was paid for or that the book was sold at a PX and should be treated similarly to duty free goods.

Not an expert but that is what I've culled from following similar discussions.

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7 minutes ago, 01TheDude said:

I would doubt the color of the stars has any significance-- the star however is significant. Everything I've read on these forums mentioning these stars are a definite indicator that they were sold on military bases- typically in the PX. Can't recall why it is done exactly but it could indicate either the book was paid for or that the book was sold at a PX and should be treated similarly to duty free goods.

Not an expert but that is what I've culled from following similar discussions.

I’m guessing your right on the color but you just have to ask the question to make sure.

Also I was wondering about the “Stars & Stripes” store is the same as the “AAFES” = “Army & Air Force Exchange Services”.  Does anyone know?

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2 hours ago, Jaydogrules said:

I don't believe there is any significance to the star stamps at all in the absence of the inserts, and there is no reason to believe they were sold at or near a military base just because they have star stamps.  It could just be some kid messing around with his books.

-J.

I've got to hand it to you. You have no idea what you are talking about, but just keep posting stuff anyway, making it up as you go along. Most people would have caught on by now but you just keep plugging away. 

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1 hour ago, shadroch said:

I've got to hand it to you. You have no idea what you are talking about, but just keep posting stuff anyway, making it up as you go along. Most people would have caught on by now but you just keep plugging away. 

Funny, with nearly 40,000 posts under your belt I was thinking the same about you.  And you may want to make a note that I am a frequent contributor in that earlier linked thread about the military inserts in the Bronze section. Next time maybe try reading before yapping.

So tell you what sport, why don't you explain to us all how a star stamp on a comic book automatically means it was sold at or near a military base (as opposed to books with the military insert that we know were, not all of which will have a star stamp), how that could ever be proven, and what would stop somebody from simply buying a star stamp and going to town on a bunch of vintage books tomorrow if that's all it took?

Yeah, I thought so.  

-J.

Edited by Jaydogrules
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On 11/12/2017 at 2:28 PM, JR Web-Head said:

These two books do not have the Mark Jewelers inserts in them.  So does that mean they should of had them in it or did they have both types of books "Star Stamps" with Mark Jewelers inserts and without?

 

 At Kaiserslautern (the housing location for Ramstein AFB in Germany), the AAFES bookstore was separate from the commissary and had its own counter near the front of the store when I was there in the 1970s.  The comics were stamped  by the person behind the register in the bookstore when you bought them.  The stamp was used as proof that the book was purchased.  Stamps could be found on the back or front of books.  (I have examples of both.)

Unfortunately, I would only be speculating on anything beyond that.  Without an insert, the books could have been insert books that had the inside removed (which was a common practice with my circle of friends growing up), they could have come without the insert, or they could have received the stamps another way unrelated to overseas military bases entirely.

Edited by rjrjr
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I think the  red six-pointed stars are from the px of the Church of Satan.

Edited by lizards2
just to add to all the other misinformation in this thread
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2 hours ago, rjrjr said:

 

 At Kaiserslautern (the housing location for Ramstein AFB in Germany), the AAFES bookstore was separate from the commissary and had its own counter near the front of the store when I was there in the 1970s.  The comics were stamped  by the person behind the register in the bookstore when you bought them.  The stamp was used as proof that the book was purchased.  Stamps could be found on the back or front of books.  (I have examples of both.)

There you have it, personal experience.

Given that there are significant numbers of Silver Age comics with star stamps, before books came with inserts, and the experience described above, it's safe to say the stamps aren't directly related to the presence of Marvel inserts.  I've got a few SA books with the star stamps as well, so while they aren't abundant, they're not rare either.

As for somebody putting a star stamp on a book long after it was sold originally, there's no purpose to doing so, as these comics don't command any premium prices.

 

Edited by namisgr
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2 hours ago, rjrjr said:

 

 At Kaiserslautern (the housing location for Ramstein AFB in Germany), the AAFES bookstore was separate from the commissary and had its own counter near the front of the store when I was there in the 1970s.  The comics were stamped  by the person behind the register in the bookstore when you bought them.  The stamp was used as proof that the book was purchased.  Stamps could be found on the back or front of books.  (I have examples of both.)

Unfortunately, I would only be speculating on anything beyond that.  Without an insert, the books could have been insert books that had the inside removed (which was a common practice with my circle of friends growing up), they could have come without the insert, or they could have received the stamps another way unrelated to overseas military bases entirely.

So you had a star and an insert together or could you have one without the other???  Because I thought the MJ insert started in 1971?

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54 minutes ago, JR Web-Head said:

So you had a star and an insert together or could you have one without the other???  Because I thought the MJ insert started in 1971?

The only reason I ask that is because I was talking to a person on a FB page and he has an Amazing Fantasy 15 with a Star Stamp.

064EA52B-9145-47BB-A88E-4495F9A4C2B8.png

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3 hours ago, namisgr said:

There you have it, personal experience.

Given that there are significant numbers of Silver Age comics with star stamps, before books came with inserts, and the experience described above, it's safe to say the stamps aren't directly related to the presence of Marvel inserts.  I've got a few SA books with the star stamps as well, so while they aren't abundant, they're not rare either.

As for somebody putting a star stamp on a book long after it was sold originally, there's no purpose to doing so, as these comics don't command any premium prices.

 

Yeah. And as I said in my first post here, there is no significance to having a star stamp in the absence of an insert regardless of who put it there or when.    ¬¬

-J.

Edited by Jaydogrules
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3 hours ago, JR Web-Head said:

So you had a star and an insert together or could you have one without the other???  Because I thought the MJ insert started in 1971?

You can have one without the other - the inserts are noted on CGC slabs -- but not the star. Likely because the star can be added later- or simply because it is visible like a date stamp.   Your books are too old to have any of the inserts - but still cool.  

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4 hours ago, JR Web-Head said:

The only reason I ask that is because I was talking to a person on a FB page and he has an Amazing Fantasy 15 with a Star Stamp.

064EA52B-9145-47BB-A88E-4495F9A4C2B8.png

Yeah - that's a fake.

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8 hours ago, JR Web-Head said:

So you had a star and an insert together or could you have one without the other???  Because I thought the MJ insert started in 1971?

I don't have first hand knowledge of it, but it looks like you could have a star without an insert on older books as other have said.  And based on why and how the books were stamped, I have to believe there are books with inserts that don't have the star.  The person at the register is human and makes mistakes, not to mention theft.  And we don't know that every overseas base followed the same process.

Edited by rjrjr
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8 hours ago, namisgr said:

There you have it, personal experience.

Given that there are significant numbers of Silver Age comics with star stamps, before books came with inserts, and the experience described above, it's safe to say the stamps aren't directly related to the presence of Marvel inserts.  I've got a few SA books with the star stamps as well, so while they aren't abundant, they're not rare either.

As for somebody putting a star stamp on a book long after it was sold originally, there's no purpose to doing so, as these comics don't command any premium prices.

 

I would agree with this.  Not only is there no purpose, but you also lose a certain segment of collectors who prefer their books unblemished without stamps, pencil dates, etc.

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Thank you @rjrjr and everyone else for helping me with this mystery.  This is what I love about this hobby there are so many interesting things that has happened to books over the years.  Don't worry I have a lot more question about books and what has happened to them.  I hope I can use everyone knowledge in solving out more mysteries.

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