Transformers (1984) #3 Never Before Seen (? Probably not) Fourth Print? 3 3

[Beyonder123]

So I've always noticed that the back covers to a few copies of my early Transformers comics were different from what was available in pictures online, and I knew there were different unmarked second and third printings, with only the ads being changed. So while re bagging my books I decided to take a look to see what printings my books aligned with.

The CGC Census recognizes 3 printings as well as the Canadian version. Below are photos I found on ebay of the back covers of each of the 3 printings. 

First PrintSecond PrintThird Print

So I cracked open my copy and...

So apparently there's a 4th printing as well that CGC is yet to recognize. And now I assume they will have to reconsider which printings are which, as this ad has the same back ad as the previous 2 issues first printings (if they really are the 1st printings) which of these ads were used first?

Edited October 21, 2022 by Beyonder123
Spelling error

[Beyonder123]

And it gets weirder. The checklist inside this issue lists Transformers #2 as the current issue.

This is the checklist inside what CGC denotes as the "First Print" with the Montezuma ad on the back cover.

[davidpg]

I should have my CPV copy hanging around somewhere...I can check the details on that issue tonight.

[Qalyar]

On 10/20/2022 at 9:49 PM, Beyonder123 said:

So I've always noticed that the back covers to a few copies of my early Transformers comics were different from what was available in pictures online, and I knew there were different unmarked second and third printings, with only the ads being changed. So while re bagging my books I decided to take a look to see what printings my books aligned with.

The CGC Census recognizes 3 printings as well as the Canadian version. Below are photos I found on ebay of the back covers of each of the 3 printings. 

First PrintSecond PrintThird Print

So I cracked open my copy and...

So apparently there's a 4th printing as well that CGC is yet to recognize. And now I assume they will have to reconsider which printings are which, as this ad has the same back ad as the previous 2 issues first printings (if they really are the 1st printings) which of these ads were used first?

What does the indicia say? Many, perhaps most, of the reprints on this series have reprint notes.

[lostboys]

I have a Wetworks...issue #1, I think.

I have two copies and they have diff back covers.

I think they are both 1st prints.

[Broke as a Joke]

I believe the first printing of Transformers 3 had 2 different back covers.  

[lostboys]

Is it possible that some books spread out advertising?

 

Like...say a book is gonna have 20,000 prints but Noxema only wants to pay to have their ad on 10,000 copies...So then WWF takes the other 10,000?

Leaving us with 2 diff back covers.

[Beyonder123]

On 10/21/2022 at 7:38 AM, Qalyar said:

What does the indicia say? Many, perhaps most, of the reprints on this series have reprint notes.

I spent quite a lot of time last night researching this going through my personal collection and skimming ebay listings, and found several more reprints spanning multiple issues that are not yet recognized by CGC. I will compile that information here when I get home. However in short, no. The first 6 issues have no note of a reprint in the indicia, and issue 7 seems to be a transitional point, as there is a third printing that has a note in the indicia, but no second printing that I can yet find. Issues 8 and 9 both have second printings that are noted in the indicia.

Edit: Interestingly this would also indicate that most subsequent printings were not noted in the indicia for this series, but only issues 7, 8 and 9.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Beyonder123

[Beyonder123]

On 10/21/2022 at 8:15 AM, lostboys said:

I have a Wetworks...issue #1, I think.

I have two copies and they have diff back covers.

I think they are both 1st prints.

What do you mean by "wetworks"? perhaps you are referring to the ad on the back cover? I would have to disagree that they are both first prints however, (at least for issue 3) as the Marvel checklist on the inside is different in both copies, indicating they came out in separate months. What does the Marvel checklist say for the inside of your 2 copies? And what are the back ads?

[Lazyboy]

On 10/21/2022 at 12:23 PM, Beyonder123 said:

What do you mean by "wetworks"? perhaps you are referring to the ad on the back cover? I would have to disagree that they are both first prints however, (at least for issue 3) as the Marvel checklist on the inside is different in both copies, indicating they came out in separate months. What does the Marvel checklist say for the inside of your 2 copies? And what are the back ads?

 It's a different comic series.

[Lazyboy]

On 10/21/2022 at 12:03 PM, lostboys said:

Is it possible that some books spread out advertising?

 

Like...say a book is gonna have 20,000 prints but Noxema only wants to pay to have their ad on 10,000 copies...So then WWF takes the other 10,000?

Leaving us with 2 diff back covers.

No. Advertising wasn't done on a title/issue basis, let alone copies of an issue.

[Lazyboy]

On 10/20/2022 at 9:54 PM, Beyonder123 said:

And it gets weirder. The checklist inside this issue lists Transformers #2 as the current issue.

 

This is the checklist inside what CGC denotes as the "First Print" with the Montezuma ad on the back cover.

That could explain it. The printer might have erroneously used the wrong (month) group of ads and then corrected the problem.

On 10/20/2022 at 9:49 PM, Beyonder123 said:

Below are photos I found on ebay of the back covers of each of the 3 printings.

You probably should have been paying more attention to the front.

[lostboys]

On 10/21/2022 at 1:23 PM, Beyonder123 said:

What do you mean by "wetworks"? perhaps you are referring to the ad on the back cover? I would have to disagree that they are both first prints however, (at least for issue 3) as the Marvel checklist on the inside is different in both copies, indicating they came out in separate months. What does the Marvel checklist say for the inside of your 2 copies? And what are the back ads?

Wetworks ...Image Comics.

 

I only guessed it was issue #1...It may be issue #2 or #3 and Ill look when I get home. 

 

I actually posted a question about it on the boards a while ago, with pics.

 

One copy has a WWF ad on the back and I dont remember what the other copy has on the back but its different.

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by lostboys

[Beyonder123]

On 10/21/2022 at 10:35 AM, Lazyboy said:

 It's a different comic series.

Explains why I'm not familiar with it. I'm more of a Marvel 80s guy myself.

On 10/21/2022 at 11:06 AM, Lazyboy said:

That could explain it. The printer might have erroneously used the wrong (month) group of ads and then corrected the problem.

Definitely a possibility. Nevertheless wouldn't this make it the true (technical) first printing? Even if the print run was small? I'd like to compare this copies ads against the second issue. Perhaps also the first 3 issues were simultaneously released in a 3 pack at some point with all 3 containing the same ads?

On 10/21/2022 at 11:06 AM, Lazyboy said:

You probably should have been paying more attention to the front.

Good catch. The census omits this part in the key comments, and I easily missed it as the front cover doesn't give me a whole lot of info.

Last night I found a couple more unmarked subsequent printings that CGC has not yet recognized in the census. I will post those later.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Beyonder123

[Beyonder123]

If only we could see the back covers...

[Beyonder123]

Here is all the info I have compiled so far. Items in bold are printings that CGC has not yet noticed. Underlined items are what I believe to be the first printings. Below is a list of every combination of issue number and ad set, followed by the month that the ad set corresponds with. All newsstand and Canadian editions seem to have the same ads, so we can assume that that particular ad set for each issue is the first printing. For example Transformers #1 has 3 different ad sets. One with an ad for Risk on the back cover, one with an ad for Acne 12 on the back cover, and one with an ad for Star Wars on the back cover. Since all Canadian and newsstand editions have the same ads including an ad for Star Wars on the back cover, we can assume that is the first printing. So the list is as follows.

Transformers #1 - Star Wars (09/84)

Transformers #1 - Risk

Transformers #1 - Acne 12 (Third Print)

Transformers #2 - Star Wars (11/84)

Transformers #2 - Acne 12

Transformers #2 - Risk

Transformers #3 - Star Wars (11/84) (?)

Transformers #3 - Montezuma (01/85)

Transformers #3 - Acne 12 (Third Print)

Transformers #3 - Risk

Transformers #4 - Risk (03/85)

Transformers #5 - Acne 12 (06/85)

Transformers #5 - Payday (08/85)

Transformers #6 - Astronaut (07/85)

Transformers #6 - Payday (08/85)

I can't assume that just because some issues have the same back cover ad, they have the same interior ads, because the first prints for Transformers #1 and 2 have the same back covers but different interior ads. Therefore if you have any of the above mentioned issues that I have not yet added a date for, pleaaase let me know what the interior ad is, so I can confirm the ad sets and give a release date for those printings. Also if you have any more issues that are not labeled above please let me know. The census lists more printings that I have not yet seen so I know more are probably out there, and I will probably be updating the list.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Beyonder123
Added more back covers

[Buzzetta]

Could it possibly be regional? 

We know that Marvel tested price variants in certain markets, could they have targeted certain regions with certain ads at some point? 

[Beyonder123]

On 10/22/2022 at 8:04 AM, Buzzetta said:

Could it possibly be regional? 

We know that Marvel tested price variants in certain markets, could they have targeted certain regions with certain ads at some point? 

While I think it's unlikely, the idea can't be completely discounted. Maybe someone here can enlighten us on how advertising in comics worked in the 80s.

I also wanted to share this.

You can make out what looks like the advertisement for "Risk" on the back covers of all these books. So perhaps the first three issues with the Risk ad sets were released in the three packs.

[Beyonder123]

Looking through the census and Ebay it seems CGC is not very consistent with what they label as second and third prints. As pointed out, so far we have found 3 different direct edition versions of Transformers #2. One with the "Star Wars" ad set, one with the "Risk" ad set, and one with the "Acne 12" ad set. The census is consistent with this in that it notates 3 different printings, but I found both these listings on ebay. One notated as a second print and one as a third print.

So unless the interior ads are different I think CGC isn't very consistent with this labeling approach.

As it seems it will become necessary for research purposes I will notate the interior cover ads in this thread at a later point. 

Again if you can contribute any information to this thread, or even just check your personal collections to see what you have it would be much appreciated. Either way I'm going to keep researching.

[BrooksR]

On 10/22/2022 at 5:21 PM, Beyonder123 said:

Looking through the census and Ebay it seems CGC is not very consistent with what they label as second and third prints.

I’ve seen quite a few 80’s GI Joe reprints graded by cgc as first prints, something a Joe collector would notice immediately