The Merry Marvel Marching Society (MMMS) 2 2

[ivrimark]

So I’m that obsessive-compulsive fan who has indeed compiled a list of all the published Merry Marvel Marching Society (MMMS) members – 11,060 names in 493 comics!  It wasn’t feasible until the issues I lack, mostly western and war titles, have been recently archived online – Bullpen Bulletin page and all.

I do realize any owners of those names are now more than 60 years old -- if they’re still around, God bless ‘em  --  and a vast majority of them couldn’t care less about which comic may have featured their name in tiny, tiny type.  The scope of the task is dwarfed by the apathy.  Whatever.  It’s done.

Caveat:  many members’ names didn’t get published when Marvel stopped listing them in 1968. Getting your $1.00 refunded at this point is unlikely.

So now is where I’ll find out about the apathy.  If you’re interested, PM me your name and hometown (to be precise, the name and hometown you entered on your MMMS form in the 60’s) and we’ll see if I get a hit.  I don’t expect a deluge.

(Thanks, Ameri, for starting this topic back in 2015!)

[KirbyJack]

I’m too young to be on the list, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it in its entirety!

Link?

[ivrimark]

I might work on posting it somewhere. . . Meanwhile, I'll PM you a copy.

Very early on I stopped transcribing the addresses, because it was too time-consuming and superfluous.  The name and comic issue are all you really need.

Didn't see too many familiar names on there, though.  I guess the most interesting to me was "Dave Cockrum" in, of all titles, X-Men #23.

[Garystar]

Fantastic effort, I'm interested and I wasn't even a member. I started collecting comics as a young kid in the mid 70's and every time I came across an old Marvel issue I longed of getting the Marvelmania and MMMS goodies being advertised. Of course these were completely out of reach not only because the adds were 5 - 10 years old but living in UK I had no access to them anyway. I signed up to e-bay in 2000 with the specific intention of hunting down the Marvelmania and MMMS stuff denied me as a kid. Here's scan of the two MMMS membership cards I have - first and second sets. Dale Meyler (from Texas, I have the mailing envelope) and Greg McAninch being the original members. 

Edited August 17, 2019 by GARYSTAR

[pemart1966]

Does anyone know the history of this club?  When it started; when it ended; how many versions there were; how many total members there were (might be impossible to know as membership cards don't appear to have been numbered); the "swag" associated with each version.  I know that there was stationary; a record; a badge; membership card but was there anything else ? 

Edited August 17, 2019 by pemart1966

[ivrimark]

2 hours ago, pemart1966 said:

Does anyone know the history of this club?  When it started; when it ended; how many versions there were; how many total members there were (might be impossible to know as membership cards don't appear to have been numbered); the "swag" associated with each version.  I know that there was stationary; a record; a badge; membership card but was there anything else ? 

This Board post from 2015 started things off for me:

And this very interesting blog has a lot of info too: http://www.teako170.com/mmms.html

Total membership is a good question, since there are plenty of verified members (including Mssrs. Meyler and McAninch mentioned above) who don't appear in the comics. (And there are dozens who have multiple appearances.)  I read somewhere that money was pouring in, one buck at a time, and the bookkeeping was sloppy.  But if Ben Grimm was indeed in charge of things, he had a lot more important things to do at the time.

 

[KirbyJack]

1 hour ago, ivrimark said:

But if Ben Grimm was indeed in charge of things, he had a lot more important things to do at the time.

 

You bet he did! He had to track down that wise guy who was holdin’ out!

[pemart1966]

I had a dealer tell me years ago that he would (he did this probably in the early 1970s) call names in local phone books that matched or closely matched MMMS names and ask them if a) they were that person and b) whether they still had their comics.  He said that he got a lot of comics that way.

[KirbyJack]

Bravo! Is it accurate to say that they stopped printing names when the new titles popped up in 1968? I saw Strange Tales 168, but no Dr. Strange.

[ivrimark]

They phased out in May 1968 when things expanded.  About half the titles with May cover dates still had lists, including Cap 101, Hulk 103, even Captain Marvel 1 and Subby 1.  But not Nick Fury or Dr, Strange, who debuted in June.

[Garystar]

If you can locate a copy this book tells the history of the club, all the memorabillia with plenty of pictures and the ads which appeared in the comics. Research for the book from contemporary fanzines and a 2008 interview with Stan Lee he estimates membership to be 50,000 upwards.

Membership cards are numbered but not straight forward to gauge membership numbers; My first issue card (white) issued with the 1964-1967 kit is numbered 15593 whilst my second issue card (yellow) issued 1967-1969 is numbered 277. The second issue card pictured in the book is numbered 21014. So perhaps the numbers were completely random or they started again with the second set - if the latter is true then there were at least (15,593 + 21,014) 36,607 members.

(J Ballmann has also published an equally informative book on early bronze age memorabilia)   

[Garystar]

On 8/17/2019 at 6:32 PM, ivrimark said:

I read somewhere that money was pouring in, one buck at a time, and the bookkeeping was sloppy.  But if Ben Grimm was indeed in charge of things, he had a lot more important things to do at the time.

From my reading the MMMS club was run in house and was run in a professional manner. However the later Marvelmania International Fan Club was out sourced and it was this club where the booking was "sloppy". Cash and cheques were being pocketed and many fans did not get what they paid for. I also read that the Marvelmania guys didn't fully pay Jack Kirby for all of the art he supplied them which furthered soured his deteriorating relationship with Marvel and Stan Lee (although not strictly Marvel's fault).

[ivrimark]

Apologies to Flo Steinberg and Benjamin Grimm!

Pretty interesting but rare book!  Sounds like my list of 11,000 is far from comprehensive.  In fact, I've gotten two hits from eight requests, which sound about right, percentage-wise.  Meh.

[bluechip]

6 hours ago, GARYSTAR said:

From my reading the MMMS club was run in house and was run in a professional manner. However the later Marvelmania International Fan Club was out sourced and it was this club where the booking was "sloppy". Cash and cheques were being pocketed and many fans did not get what they paid for. I also read that the Marvelmania guys didn't fully pay Jack Kirby for all of the art he supplied them which furthered soured his deteriorating relationship with Marvel and Stan Lee (although not strictly Marvel's fault).

Ditko's departure was reportedly in part because he had been told he would be compensated from the proceeds of merchandising.  He had been integral to a number of branding actions, like contributing artwork/design for ads, fanzines and convention flyers (not to mention the corner logo design).  He reportedly stopped and refused to more, at one point, after he wasn't paid royalties.  Not sure what point that was but the rise of Marvel's fandom, the creation of the MMMS etc coincides with the increase in his dissatisfaction.

[aardvark88]

Early X-men (#12?) has MMMS ad:

[bluechip]

[bluechip]

[Frisco Larson]

Other countries were also included in the marketing of the M.M.M.S. Mexican Editions had the M.M.M.S logo box on most of the same covers as the American Marvel Editions. The boxes were even in different colors, not just orange.

[Moondog]

Sharpies have been contacting MMMS members for years trying to see if they still have their comics.  Steve Landman, after he contacted me about selling the Dr. Fate Collection, was approached by a guy who tracked him down.  The same guy contacted another local guy who I've been negotiating with for the past few years.  This guy always uses the same line, "I'm a collector of vintage Marvel Comics and I came across your name as a MMMS member.  I'm contacting you to see if you still have your comics because as a collector I'd be interested in seeing what you have!"  Sheesh...

[shadroch]

Around 1975, I bought a couple early Marvels at a New York show. Two of them had a stamp with the owners name ,address and phone number. I called and to my surprise got the former owner on the phone. He had gotten several calls over the last few days.  He hadn't thought of his comics in years, had lost track of them and had no idea how they ended up in an upstate NY dealers hands. Since the calls had all been recent, the books must have just been offered for sale. I offered him the dealers name but he wasn't interested. 

I've tried calling a few others with no luck.