Popular Post Cpt Kirk Posted November 12, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted November 12, 2017 (edited) So I drove about three hours to visit some comic book shops in the Knoxville Tennessee area. The hope was that I would find some variants that are missing from my collection such as Mark Jeweler inserts, DC Universe logos, or newsstand variants. I’m only missing a few variants, so it is getting pretty hard to find them. I was starting to kick myself about making the trip because I looked in three different shops that had an extensive selection of back issues, and all I found was a few DC Universe variants that I didn't already have duplicates of. But on the last box of the last shop, I saw a barely noticeable insert in a Superman 418. Lo and behold, it was the "Waldenbooks" survey variant that I suspected might exist in the title of Superman, but had never seen after 6 years of searching in shops and ebay. I immediately thought “this trip was totally worthwhile!” (Insane… I know.) For DC comics, I know of only four reader surveys inserts (by insert, I mean something was inserted into the comic book instead of printed on the regular pages). The first survey I'm describing was inserted into all direct sales issues of Superman 424, Action Comics 584, and Superman 1 (1987 series), so it is very easy to find. It was called the "Man of Steel contest" but they did ask you to identify your local comic shop (so I consider it to be a "survey" insert). Note that none of the newsstand variants of those comic books contained the contest insert. Each issue contains a card that you could mail in to DC Comics. Winners were randomly chosen to receive a copy of the Man of Steel Special Edition. Photos below are from Adventures of Superman 424. The second survey is also pretty easy to find, and it occurs in some issues with a cover date of March or April 1978. They can be found on ebay and MyComicShop, with some prices being reasonable and other prices not so reasonable. Examples include: Action Comics 481, Adventure 456, Detective Comics 476, Batman 298, Super-Team Family 15, Jonah Hex 11, Justice League of America 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 and Wonder Woman 241. 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. Photos below are from Batman 298. The third survey is much more difficult to find and it has only been found in three comic books as far as I know (Justice League of America 249 released Jan 3rd, 1986, Batman 394 released Jan 10th, 1986 and the recently found Superman 418 also released on Jan 10th 1986). I call this insert the “Waldenbooks” survey variant because several of the questions in the survey pertain to Waldenbooks. If you returned this survey, you would get a free number one edition of “Crisis on Captive Earth”, which was never released (so I’m not sure what readers got when they returned this survey.... you can google "Crisis on Captive Earth" to see what happened to that project.) If anyone has an idea of what DC sent to people who did the survey instead of "Crisis on Captive Earth" I would love to hear about it. I seem to recall seeing the alternative giveaway, but my feeble mind cannot recall it right now. p.s. I am guessing the reader survey itself exists in other issues sold during those same weeks, but I’ve yet to find them. If anyone knows of other issues with this survey, please chime in . Photos below are from Batman 394. The fourth survey is the rarest of them all, in my opinion. It is a survey that has only been found in direct sales issues of Superman Man of Steel 19 and 20. The dealer that sold it to me said he had cases of these two comic books but he guessed only one comic book in each case contained the survey. If you filled out the survey, you would get a free music tape. If anyone has knowledge of what music tape was received in response to the survey, that would also be great to know (I personally have no idea what music tape was received for sending this survey in). Photos below are from Superman Man of Steel 19. I suspect the fact that people would get a guaranteed prize if they returned the third and fourth surveys mentioned above resulted in most of the surveys being pulled from the comic books (and thus hard to still find them intact). Edited November 15, 2017 by Cpt Kirk onlyweaknesskryptonite, Get Marwood & I, Iconic1s and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADAMANTIUM Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 They're awesome, I'll give you that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted November 13, 2017 Author Share Posted November 13, 2017 3 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said: They're awesome, I'll give you that! thanks! ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metarog Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Cool stuff... I have one of the Man of Steel Raffle Edition TBPs with an enclosed letter from DC to the LCS stating they won one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 5 hours ago, Metarog said: Cool stuff... I have one of the Man of Steel Raffle Edition TBPs with an enclosed letter from DC to the LCS stating they won one. Nice! Those are very hard to find with the letter still intact. For anyone interested, following is a copy of the letter that the comic book shops received and also a copy of the letter you would have received if you won the raffle from sending in the survey. I give credit to the guy who founded "Comicbooks for Kids" for providing these letters. Here's a link to his site, which is dedicated to providing comic books for kids in hospitals. https://www.comicbooksforkids.org/ onlyweaknesskryptonite and Iconic1s 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Buck Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 (edited) I mentioned another Survey version on the old STL forum when I started a thread about the 1978 survey - this one is in Dr. Fate #8 July 1989 ; I think when I checked mile high at the time for other issues from that month there was another title listed as a survey variant but not in stock. The Survey consists of a Letter, Survey form and Redemption card all inside the unsealed envelope which is glued into the page margin ; the envelope has a stamp on so this must have been very limited distribution due to the sheer expense involved. The reward for completing the survey is a Batman Movie Poster and Book, plus because the envelope is glued in you can claim a fresh copy of the comic in question. Edited November 16, 2017 by David Buck Iconic1s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 3 hours ago, David Buck said: I mentioned another Survey version on the old STL forum when I started a thread about the 1978 survey - this one is in Dr. Fate #8 July 1989 ; I think when I checked mile high at the time for other issues from that month there was another title listed as a survey variant but not in stock. The Survey consists of a Letter, Survey form and Redemption card all inside the unsealed envelope which is glued into the page margin ; the envelope has a stamp on so this must have been very limited distribution due to the sheer expense involved. The reward for completing the survey is a Batman Movie Poster and Book, plus because the envelope is glued in you can claim a fresh copy of the comic in question. thanks for adding that info David. That's really awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 Apparently a copy of Secret Orgins #1 was found with the Waldenbooks survey included. See following link for description: http://www.megalextoria.com/forum2/index.php?t=msg&goto=281300& Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Buck Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 I've found the Mile High listing I mentioned - It's for Doc Savage #11 August 1989 - so there appears to be a two month Window Jul-Aug 1989 for this particular survey - so far 2 direct market titles only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted June 3, 2018 Author Share Posted June 3, 2018 I found a spare Superman 418 with the Waldenbooks survey inside. If anyone wants it, please let me know. I've seen a lot of these Superman 418 newsstand issues, and this is only the second one I've seen with the survey still inside. ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsox1946 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I just found Warlord Newsstand #104 with the WaldenBooks survey, so you can add that to your list. Cpt Kirk and Warlord 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 On 3/25/2019 at 2:18 AM, redsox1946 said: I just found Warlord Newsstand #104 with the WaldenBooks survey, so you can add that to your list. Done! Warlord 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 On 11/17/2017 at 3:23 PM, David Buck said: I've found the Mile High listing I mentioned - It's for Doc Savage #11 August 1989 - so there appears to be a two month Window Jul-Aug 1989 for this particular survey - so far 2 direct market titles only I just saw a Blackhawk #5 (August 1989) with the same reader survey show up on ebay today. For the record, starting big was set at $77 with no bites yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyweaknesskryptonite Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Thank you for sharing these! Cpt Kirk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graydog Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 I found this copy of Who Who’s 14 with the Waldenbooks survey. I did mail one in when I was in junior high. Instead of Crisis on Captive Earth #1, it was a copy of Legends #1. onlyweaknesskryptonite 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 On 10/25/2020 at 4:05 PM, Graydog said: I found this copy of Who Who’s 14 with the Waldenbooks survey. I did mail one in when I was in junior high. Instead of Crisis on Captive Earth #1, it was a copy of Legends #1. That's really cool @Graydog Thanks for sharing and welcome to the boards! I will add it to the list. Following is list of known comics with the DC reader survey shown above: Justice League of America 249 released Jan 2nd 1986, Batman 394 released Jan 9th, 1986, Superman 418 also released on Jan 9th 1986, and Who's Who 14 released on Jan 16th, 1986. This makes me think there are many more survey variants than in that month than just these four. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Buck Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 On 2/20/2020 at 11:13 PM, Cpt Kirk said: I just saw a Blackhawk #5 (August 1989) with the same reader survey show up on ebay today. For the record, starting big was set at $77 with no bites yet. Gammarauders #6 August 1989 on ebay today with CGC acknowledging the Survey Cpt Kirk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Kirk Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 On 12/29/2020 at 6:15 PM, David Buck said: Gammarauders #6 August 1989 on ebay today with CGC acknowledging the Survey Thanks David! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse-Lee Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) Just got this one in today: Edited October 1, 2021 by Jesse-Lee Cpt Kirk, onlyweaknesskryptonite and ADAMANTIUM 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyweaknesskryptonite Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 On 11/14/2017 at 2:19 PM, Metarog said: Cool stuff... I have one of the Man of Steel Raffle Edition TBPs with an enclosed letter from DC to the LCS stating they won one. On 11/14/2017 at 7:42 PM, Cpt Kirk said: Nice! Those are very hard to find with the letter still intact. For anyone interested, following is a copy of the letter that the comic book shops received and also a copy of the letter you would have received if you won the raffle from sending in the survey. I give credit to the guy who founded "Comicbooks for Kids" for providing these letters. Here's a link to his site, which is dedicated to providing comic books for kids in hospitals. https://www.comicbooksforkids.org/ I have several sets of these . Here were some I sent to CGC to have them break out the Store Copy from the Raffle Edition on the Census. Man of Steel Raffle Store/ Customer Editions https://boards.cgccomics.com/blogs/entry/5190-man-of-steel-raffle-store-customer-editions/ Iconic1s and Cpt Kirk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...