What printings are these Transformers #3? 3 3

[littledoom]

[Qalyar]

I know that, canonically, the 1st printing has the Montezuma's Revenge back cover, and the 2nd printing has a back cover advertising Risk. I have no idea what the back cover is for the 3rd print offhand. Those 2nd and 3rd printing books are both indicated in the indicia, though. I also see people with what they describe as 1st pritnings but with the Star Wars arcade back cover; did they fail to read properly, or does the 1st printing exist in two back cover states?

I seem to remember this sort of thing was discussed before and that consensus was that there's a lot of weirdness with the early Transformers issues and not everything is flawlessly documented. What do the indicia on these books say?

[littledoom]

On 3/6/2024 at 2:39 PM, Qalyar said:

I know that, canonically, the 1st printing has the Montezuma's Revenge back cover, and the 2nd printing has a back cover advertising Risk. I have no idea what the back cover is for the 3rd print offhand. Those 2nd and 3rd printing books are both indicated in the indicia, though. I also see people with what they describe as 1st pritnings but with the Star Wars arcade back cover; did they fail to read properly, or does the 1st printing exist in two back cover states?

I seem to remember this sort of thing was discussed before and that consensus was that there's a lot of weirdness with the early Transformers issues and not everything is flawlessly documented. What do the indicia on these books say?

Thanks, what gives me a hard time is that both indicias are identical and do not indicate what printing they are. The inside ads are also different and I have to go off of the back advertisements which gives me a difficult time. They're also all direct copies. I hope this helps

[greggy]

On 3/6/2024 at 3:55 PM, littledoom said:

Thanks, what gives me a hard time is that both indicias are identical and do not indicate what printing they are. The inside ads are also different and I have to go off of the back advertisements which gives me a difficult time. They're also all direct copies. I hope this helps

Saw this post as someone asked about the printings on Reddit

[littledoom]

On 3/6/2024 at 4:46 PM, greggy said:

Saw this post as someone asked about the printings on Reddit

What printing would be the comic on the far right of the photo?

[greggy]

On 3/6/2024 at 4:54 PM, littledoom said:

What printing would be the comic on the far right of the photo?

Based on this thread, it's a first printing, as the first printing actually has two different ads on the BC based on the CGC label posted in that thread.

 

[Beyonder123]

I'm back from a long stint of not being on the forums. I'm glad to see my thread is being referenced. I need to dive back into my research on these!

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

If I were a betting man, my guess on these would be a multi pack variant.  Probably reprinted with different ads . My money would be on these packs.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

Has anyone checked any of these other books that were also in similar packs for the same ads on the back in a "different print" ? 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

Could be Marvel's version of the DC Multipack Variants.  Although by dates these would be prior to the DC Packs. @Cpt Kirk

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

Interesting enough a lot of the DC Universe Logo variants that are now considered "multipack variants " a lot of them contain game ads on the back of their books, different ads can be found within the books and most of them too do not contain any markers in indica or Roman numerals marking later prints (Although there are some examples  do.)

[shadroch]

While Marvel released many of those multi-packs, distributors occasionally provided empty bags so retailers could make their own bags. You can usually tell the retailer bags as they aren't sealed as good as the factory ones.

Edited March 10 by shadroch

[comiconxion]

The Star Wars ad is definitively the one from the 3-pack.  What's interesting is that the Star Wars ad is the one that appears on the non 3-pack versions of Transfomers #1 & #2 as well.  So, theoretically, the 3-pack printing of #3 pre-dated the version that was printed for the newsstand and direct sales markets.  Therefore you could debate that it is the real "first printing."

[Beyonder123]

On 3/10/2024 at 3:56 AM, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

If I were a betting man, my guess on these would be a multi pack variant.  Probably reprinted with different ads . My money would be on these packs.

Yes and yes. The interior ads and checklists are different and line up with the first printings of later issues giving a good estimate of when each multi pack was released.

The Smurfs so far is the only other title I've been able to find with different ads and no printing noted in the indicia. I've actually held back getting some of mine graded because I want the correct notation of "Multipack Edition/Second Print, etc" on the label. CGC isn't very consistent with their notation of these.