Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man Treasury: oddball signed edition (1976)

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Hey all,

I found a signed edition of the "Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man" treasury today, and an interesting letter from "Superhero Enterprises" (later known as "Heroes World") tucked away neatly inside of it.

As old-timers (like me) will no doubt remember, 5000 signed copies of this treasury--autographed by both Stan Lee and Carmine Infantino--were made available for mail order purchase via house ads in various Marvel and DC mags back in the day. But Infantino was replaced at DC by Jenette Kahn sometime during the production of these signed editions, and thus either didn't sign all 5000 of them, or wasn't available to satisfy any additional demand.

Here's the copy I found today, along with a close-up of Stan's signature and the signature number (578/2000):

And here's the letter I found in the book:

My guess is that one of two things happened:

• Infantino was canned before he could finish signing all 5000 copies. Stan did his part, and "Superhero Enterprises" tried to dump the single-signature copies on people whose orders missed the first wave,

or...

• the original 5000 books sold out, but orders were still coming in. With Infantino out at DC, Ivan Synder (formerly Marvel's merchandising guy, then running what would become Heroes World) turned to Stan to crank out 2000 additional copies (overruns maybe?) to keep the cash register ringing.

Anyone know the full story behind this? Any guesses what this copy (with the letter) might be worth? I found a few comps on-line, but not many, and nothing super recent. I thought it was a neat little piece of BA history, and probably paid too much for it...but so it goes!

Best,

Mikey

I got a signed number 201/2000 from Al Stolz from the first C2E2 (2011?) in around VF+ for $150 less a small discount.

I got a signed number 201/2000 from Al Stolz from the first C2E2 (2011?) in around VF+ for $150 less a small discount.

Cool, thanks. Did it have the letter with it?

I got a signed number 201/2000 from Al Stolz from the first C2E2 (2011?) in around VF+ for $150 less a small discount.

 

Cool, thanks. Did it have the letter with it?

will this be for sale?

will this be for sale?

I don't think so. I love treasuries; stuff that was offered via mail order back in the day but which I couldn't afford as a kid or never ordered because my parents wouldn't let me; and oddball little footnotes/scraps of BA history. So this is a keeper on all three counts...

Can anyone post a copy of the house ad offering the signed copies for sale? I've been going through my DCs from the correct period, but can't seem to find it. Google image search isn't turning it up, and it's not on treasurycomics.com, either...

Thanks for sharing to the two posters that added photos. Love this stuff.

Been looking for a copy for years. Had one when. Was a kid.. got it in the mail . Was stolen from me years ago.anyone sees a copy for sales let me know.

That is an awesome treasury book and that note really is a cool piece of BA history--congrats! I have two unsigned copies of this book--I buy high grade copies whenever they become available.

I got a signed number 201/2000 from Al Stolz from the first C2E2 (2011?) in around VF+ for $150 less a small discount.

 

Cool, thanks. Did it have the letter with it?

Actually, it was around $125. No letter with it because I believe that this is one of the originally signed ones before Carmine left.

So yours has both signatures on it?

I got a signed number 201/2000 from Al Stolz from the first C2E2 (2011?) in around VF+ for $150 less a small discount.

 

Cool, thanks. Did it have the letter with it?

Actually, it was around $125. No letter with it because I believe that this is one of the originally signed ones before Carmine left.

 

 

So yours has both signatures on it?

Congrats, Mike on finding that book!

and Congrats Greg on having that Super Amazing Treasury collection...I treasure the ones I got from you in the raffle.

This gets more interesting...

If the Superhero Enterprises letter is to be believed (and the wording isn't particularly clear), it sounds like the numbered run of 2000 copies should only have Stan's signature. Remember that the signed book was advertised (I think -- still can't find that d@mn ad!) as having a run of 5000 copies.

Here's a copy with both sigs, but no numbering:

Note that the Infantino sig is under the Superman logo, and Stan's is under the Spidey logo. I saw one other copy with both sigs in person at a NY show years ago, presented as an original mail order copy, and the positioning was the same. Unfortunately, I can't remember if it was numbered or not.

In addition to my copy and greggy's, here's another numbered edition (which was auctioned with the same letter as came with mine) with only Stan's sig...

...and another...

And to make it all more confusing, here's one with just the Stan sig, but no numbering:

This last one, though, could have been signed at a later date.

Finally, my copy is the only one I've ever seen with a hand written date "'76" next to Stan's sig...

Not sure what any of this means, or why we should care, but it is kinda fun I guess...

So instead of being one edition of 5,000, there appear to be at least two editions of 2,000. One set has both sig=natures, the other has only Stan Lee's signature.

What i'm wondering is did DC decide not to allow Carmine to sign the remaining copies or did he just not feel like it.

Very kool book , in either edition.

I have the signed edition of the first Marvel Treasury- I believe that one is Stan and John Romita. This would make the perfect companion piece to it.

Here is more food for thought. My copy is Stan only and has a 1977 date inscribed:

The envelope that it came in has a cancellation date on the postage of March 10, 1977.

It seems the one thing that my copy proves as it relates to Mikey's is that the Stan only books were done over a long period of time. He did not sit down and bang out all 2000 in 1976. Mine is #1838, pretty far toward the tail end, and he clearly signed it in '77, so it looks like they were doing them as ordered to a certain extent.

Pure conjecture, but they were possibly doing them in limited batches based upon the orders that had come in at the time.