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Hundreds of New Batman and Superman Variants Found in Newsstand Issues
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59 posts in this topic

Regarding Batman Adventures with a bat symbol in the UPC box.

 

In 1993 & 1994, DC would put out what I call a "brick" each month. This

would be a shrink wrapped package of 20 comics. In 1994 most issues

in a brick would have "DC Universe" in the UPC box. Issues 15 - 26

of "Batman Adventures" had a bat symbol in the UPC box. (I have not

obtained and physically checked every one of these bricks so there

could be a few gaps.)

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Unlike the DC Newsstand variants, Marvel would jack up the price on newsstand copies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now DC comics has been doing the same thing. Newsstand issues are usually $1 more than direct sales. I understand this has been done in order to make it profitable for stores like Barnes & Noble to keep selling newsstand comic books. I've also noticed that occasionally the newsstand issues might have slight differences (for example, soft cover instead of hard cover, less ads, etc)

 

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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Update: In the titles of Batman, Detective Comics, Superman/Adv of Superman, and Action Comics, there are about 1300 issues that should exist in newsstand format. I've found all but two of them (namely, Detective 868 and Action 895). If you ever see any one of those newsstand issues, I would love to hear about it. Please send me PM if you do.

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Do you have a definitive start for the Direct Market versions on DC books? I've got October 1980 (Bats 328, 'Tec 495) down on my list, but meant to come on here to see if that was accurate.

 

yes, you got it right. October 1980 was the definitive start. You won't find a direct sales version of Bats before 328 and TEC before 495.

 

The first direct market DC comic book was Superboy Spectacular #1

 

 

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Do you have a definitive start for the Direct Market versions on DC books? I've got October 1980 (Bats 328, 'Tec 495) down on my list, but meant to come on here to see if that was accurate.

 

Yes, you got it right. Direct sales issues start with Batman 328 and TEC 495 (all DC issues starting in October 1980 have a direct sales version and a corresponding newsstand version). I believe the first DC comic that came out as a direct sales version was Superboy Spectacular #1.

 

UPDATE: Thanks to Georg in Germany, an Action 895 newsstand variant has been found and he sent me a scan for proof. Now out of 1300 issues of Batman, Detective, Superman/Adv of Superman, and Action Comics from , the only newsstand variant I have never seen is Detective 868. Please let me know if you ever find one! My email address is kwticknor@aol.com (yes, people still have aol, dang it!)

 

regards,

Kirk Ticknor

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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I didn't realize this was a thread from a few years ago. I believe the market for variations and such is extremely small, but out there. Mile High has a goal of listing everything ever published, and I applaud their effort. If you come across a variation that isn't in the Mile High database, please help them out.

 

A few years ago I did research on all the Marvel "Whitman" variations. I think I have covered everything, at least what I could discover over the few year period that I was working on the lists. Here is the link I put up on Comic Collector Live. If anyone has anything further to add, please contact me.

 

http://www.comiccollectorlive.com/Forum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=42955

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I just found the Detective 868 newsstand variant. That means every direct sales copy of Batman, Detective, Superman/Adv of Superman, Action and JLA has a corresponding newsstand variant (I have all the direct sales versions in these titles, plus the newsstand variants in hand). I'm guessing no one else has ever been crazy enough to do this.

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