The Whitman Thread 15 15

[Morganmi]

Picked these up at my lcs the other day. Right or wrong I always associated the Starburst around the price with marvel Whitmans as I didn't know about any comics shops at the time and only saw them in the Whitman packs.

[bellrules]

Made a nice find going through the kids section of a local comic shop 

[Warlord]

New addition to the hoard! This MTU#58 issue holds a special place in my memories as the first find of my Marvel Whitman collecting pursuit.   Almost a decade ago when I decided I was going to collect every issue of these variants, the first time I marched into the big local annual con and dug into the boxes I pretty quickly pulled a high grade MTU #58.  "Hah, these things are going to be easy to find", I thought.  Then I saw the price - 4 bucks!  No way was I going to pay that much for a random MTU issues when they are so easy to find and MTUs are dollar bin fodder, so back into the box it went.   Fast forward through all those years and this is only the second sweet HG copy I've found.  Kinda wish I had spent the 4 bucks way back when!     I do have this issue inside several sealed multi-packs and also have a few mid-grade copies too, but it's been plenty elusive as a loose issue in sharp HG condition, at least for me.

[OtherEric]

4 minutes ago, Warlord said:

New addition to the hoard! This MTU#58 issue holds a special place in my memories as the first find of my Marvel Whitman collecting pursuit.   Almost a decade ago when I decided I was going to collect every issue of these variants, the first time I marched into the big local annual con and dug into the boxes I pretty quickly pulled a high grade MTU #58.  "Hah, these things are going to be easy to find", I thought.  Then I saw the price - 4 bucks!  No way was I going to pay that much for a random MTU issues when they are so easy to find and MTUs are dollar bin fodder, so back into the box it went.   Fast forward through all those years and this is only the second sweet HG copy I've found.  Kinda wish I had spent the 4 bucks way back when!     I do have this issue inside several sealed multi-packs and also have a few mid-grade copies too, but it's been plenty elusive as a loose issue in sharp HG condition, at least for me.

 

Without reopening the whole "Marvel Whitman" argument, is there any Marvel equivalent to the "Big 8" DC Whitmans?

Also:  Great pickup!

[Warlord]

9 hours ago, OtherEric said:

Without reopening the whole "Marvel Whitman" argument, is there any Marvel equivalent to the "Big 8" DC Whitmans?

Also:  Great pickup!

They all seemed available enough that I have been able to collect multiples of every issue.  But it's hard for one person to say -- while I might have difficulty locating an issue others might not.  Like with the DC Whitmans it seems some collectors found the tough ones easily, but they were all a chore for me.  As for the Marvel issues, there are some like Battlestar Galactica and Micronauts that are always available in multi-packs, they are so common I only grab copies if they are cheap and minty.  

[Brock]

18 hours ago, OtherEric said:

Without reopening the whole "Marvel Whitman" argument, is there any Marvel equivalent to the "Big 8" DC Whitmans?

That’s what I love about this thread... Nobody gets caught up in the “I think I’m right so you must be wrong” game, and we all just share the scarce, cool books we’re finding.

[OtherEric]

A couple of early Whitman variants 

[mec3437]

I think these are the only two Whitman copies I own.  The LCS has a slabbed copy of Sgt Rock #329 Whitman.  I don't remember the grade or the price, but it's been there a bit.  

 

[PeterPark]

9 hours ago, mec3437 said:

I think these are the only two Whitman copies I own.  The LCS has a slabbed copy of Sgt Rock #329 Whitman.  I don't remember the grade or the price, but it's been there a bit.  

 

They probably have a significant asking price on it, but Sgt. Rock 329 is the next tier down from the Big 8 DC Whitmans, up there with Warlord 22 and I am not sure what else, to be honest. Those 2 almost universally round out the top 10 Whitmans to own, although I guess at least for the time being, Batman 313 should be up there too.

[Warlord]

23 hours ago, mec3437 said:

I think these are the only two Whitman copies I own.  The LCS has a slabbed copy of Sgt Rock #329 Whitman.  I don't remember the grade or the price, but it's been there a bit.  

 

 

 

CGC Census has only four copies - 3.5, 4.5, 5.0, and 7.5.  Not sure if there are any graded & slabbed by other grading companies.

[PeterPark]

1 hour ago, Warlord said:

CGC Census has only four copies - 3.5, 4.5, 5.0, and 7.5.  Not sure if there are any graded & slabbed by other grading companies.

There is another grading company with a newly released census listing a single 3.5. Who would know if it was a crossover and has already been regraded by CGC or not, but it doesn't shake things up much here one way or the other.

[mec3437]

I'm thinking it's the 7.5

[Brock]

3 hours ago, mec3437 said:

I'm thinking it's the 7.5

Yes, I just had a message from your LCS, and it’s the 7.5.

[PeterPark]

Has anyone maintained a list of known prepack contents?

I did a google search but either the information isn't out there publicly or no one has compiled it, but I know sealed DC Whitman multipacks are out there...so what is in them?

[Brock]

On 2/15/2021 at 11:50 PM, PeterPark said:

Has anyone maintained a list of known prepack contents?

I did a google search but either the information isn't out there publicly or no one has compiled it, but I know sealed DC Whitman multipacks are out there...so what is in them?

I think that @bellrules and @Warlord are your best bets for info on this, though I don't know if anyone has a complete list yet.

[Brock]

And here are today's arrivals, courtesy of a seller in Columbus, OH. One step closer (or three, I guess)!

The #256 is CGC's highest at 9.0, while the #253 is CGC's second highest at 8.5.

I'm about 1/3 of the way to a full set of DC Whitmans in CGC 8.0 or higher now.

[OtherEric]

16 hours ago, Brock said:

And here are today's arrivals, courtesy of a seller in Columbus, OH. One step closer (or three, I guess)!

The #256 is CGC's highest at 9.0, while the #253 is CGC's second highest at 8.5.

I'm about 1/3 of the way to a full set of DC Whitmans in CGC 8.0 or higher now.

Very nice!  I'm just happy to have finished the run of the Whitman LSH issues in decently presenting condition.

How many of the Big 8 are included in that 1/3 you have?

[Brock]

9 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

Very nice!  I'm just happy to have finished the run of the Whitman LSH issues in decently presenting condition.

How many of the Big 8 are included in that 1/3 you have?

I have most of them raw (though not all of them), but in terms of slabbed issues, I have a copy of Action 508 (CGC 9.0) and a copy of Justice League #179 (CGC 9.8). Both are top of the census.

I'm always looking to purchase more books in CGC 8.0 or better, and I have plenty of raw copies to trade!

[OtherEric]

20 minutes ago, Brock said:

I have most of them raw (though not all of them), but in terms of slabbed issues, I have a copy of Action 508 (CGC 9.0) and a copy of Justice League #179 (CGC 9.8). Both are top of the census.

I'm always looking to purchase more books in CGC 8.0 or better, and I have plenty of raw copies to trade!

The idea that any of the big 8 even exist in 9.8 is impressive!

[Brock]

THere's some obscure (and unexplained) Whitman/Western content before the weekend... Happy Friday!

Many of us have noted that Western had some kind of weird "subsidiary" operation (for lack of a better term) based in Cambridge, Ontario. Western itself was based in Racine, Wisconsin. For those not familiar with Canadian geography, Cambridge is about 175 miles northeast of Detroit, not too far from Toronto.

Some speculate that around 1980, Western's US distribution system "imploded" (again, for lack of a better term), but that its Canadian operation remained viable. This would help explain why the 8-12/1980 Gold Key Whitmans and the Whitman DC "Big 8" are both incredibly rare, and most often found in Canada.

I have not been able to find a lot of verifiable data about this subject, but I thought it might be fun to look at a few other oddities of this cross-border arrangement.

Here's a couple of photos of a copy of Au dela du réel ("The Outer Limits") #43. Ironically, although this is a French-language reprint for an Outer Limits comic, it actually is a reprint of Gold Key's Twilight Zone #43, likely due to cross-border licensing issues.

We can see that this book was produced for "Whitman Golden Ltd." in Galt, Ontario in 1972. Galt was later absorbed into the City of Cambridge.

If nothing else, this shows us that Western - using a combination of the Gold Key logo, and the Whitman and Golden names - was publishing content specific to Canada as early as about 1970.

Edited February 28, 2021 by Brock