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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 22:53:04 GMT -5
Apparently this Whitman version of DCCP 22 is extremely rare and it's rumoured only 5 exist. It has both the DC and Whitman logo. I got all of my high-grade issues from #1-#39 really cheap, so you never know, someone uninformed might pop one of these Whitmans in a bargain bin someday.... It does beg the question though...why did Whitman only do so few copies? As well as...why did DC need to publish its books under a Whitman imprint? Does anyone here have a copy? Make it six...this beat up copy is being sold for $600.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 23:04:59 GMT -5
I think the Whitmans were reprints marketed outside the usual distribution, due to the success of the cartoons on TV at the time. Like in toy stores or something.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 8, 2014 23:33:19 GMT -5
Since it's a team-up book I have a full run of 97. (Very little other Superman from this time period though.) I'll check mine when I get home. I'd estimate I have 2 or 3 Whitman variants in my whole run. Weirdly, # 47, the He-Man team-up is the most expensive and least available online - way more than the first New Team Titans in @ 26.
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Crimebuster
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Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Jun 9, 2014 0:27:51 GMT -5
Since it's a team-up book I have a full run of 97. (Very little other Superman from this time period though.) I'll check mine when I get home. I'd estimate I have 2 or 3 Whitman variants in my whole run. Weirdly, # 47, the He-Man team-up is the most expensive and least available online - way more than the first New Team Titans in @ 26. This is changing, sort of. #47 is still hot, but #26 is really picking up steam as well. I just looked at the "sold listings" on ebay for the past three months or so. The average prices have gone from the $5-10 range in March to the $20-40 range in May. Seems to finally be getting its due. |
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Post by dcindexer on Jun 9, 2014 2:41:48 GMT -5
I think the Whitmans were reprints marketed outside the usual distribution, due to the success of the cartoons on TV at the time. Like in toy stores or something. Whitman's were not reprints. They were first printings released via an alternate distribution channel. In the 1970s the newsstand was the primary method of distribution for comic books. Comics were sold on a returnable basis to distributors. Unsold copies were returned to the publisher for credit. For many reasons this system was falling apart by the late 1970s and publishers were seeking alternate means of distribution. One of these was the early direct market where comics were sold on a non-returnable basis to specialty shops. However, Western publishing had already established a different market via toy stores. Western published comics on the newsstand under the Gold Key imprint. However, they also produced toys and games featuring licensed characters in toy stores under the Whitman label. Since Western already had a relationship with the these stores and their distributors, they were able to get their comics into them also. The Whitman label appeared on these comics and were sold on a non-returnable basis. The Whitman label served two purposes. One, it differentiated it from newsstand Gold Key's so they could not be returned for credit. And two, the toy chains were already familiar with the Whitman brand and trusted it. Western already had been licensing coloring/activity books and games featured the DC characters under the Whitman label. When DC decided to try these markets, they leveraged their existing relationship with Western who was already established in this distribution market. So many DC's got the Whitman label in the late 70s/early 80s. As I said, these weren't reprints. They would simply stop the printing presses, and change the plates to print the Whitman labeled covers. Scarcity exists for some issues mainly due to the way orders were placed. Stores didn't order individual issues, they'd just ordered a number of units which included a mix of comics. When those sold out, they'd simply order more. That might be a month, it might be six months. Western had a warehouse (in KC I think) where they'd store the comics, and they'd just ship out lots as they were ordered. As a result some stores or areas may never have received particular issues, though I suspect the actual print runs per issue were the same. At one point the warehouse was full, so they stop printing new issues, when more were sold they resumed, but the interruption actually caused issues to be skipped on several of their own Disney and WB licensed titles. More info can be found at: Mike's Amazing World - Whitman FAQ and on Episode 11 of Mike's Amazing World of DC History |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 15:07:38 GMT -5
I always thought they just chose issues at random to publish.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 15:20:35 GMT -5
Since it's a team-up book I have a full run of 97. (Very little other Superman from this time period though.) I'll check mine when I get home. I'd estimate I have 2 or 3 Whitman variants in my whole run. Weirdly, # 47, the He-Man team-up is the most expensive and least available online - way more than the first New Team Titans in @ 26. It is indeed. I've mentioned before that the only reason I was able to find my run-completing copy of #47 for a more or less bearable price ($10 ... considerably more than I'm usually willing to pay, but I had no reason to believe I'd ever come across another one for that) about 3 years ago was that I chanced across the writer, Paul Kupperberg, offering his copy on eBay in a Buy It Now listing. (Not that I knew it was him at the time.) |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 9, 2014 16:00:47 GMT -5
Since it's a team-up book I have a full run of 97. (Very little other Superman from this time period though.) I'll check mine when I get home. I'd estimate I have 2 or 3 Whitman variants in my whole run. Weirdly, # 47, the He-Man team-up is the most expensive and least available online - way more than the first New Team Titans in @ 26. No way. I have the He-Man issue. I can't imagine it goes for more than a buck. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 16:11:38 GMT -5
Cheapest copy (all are consignments) of #47 Lone Star is offering right now is $35 for a GD/VG.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 17:25:38 GMT -5
Whitman's were not reprints. They were first printings released via an alternate distribution channel. In the 1970s the newsstand was the primary method of distribution for comic books. Comics were sold on a returnable basis to distributors. Unsold copies were returned to the publisher for credit. For many reasons this system was falling apart by the late 1970s and publishers were seeking alternate means of distribution. One of these was the early direct market where comics were sold on a non-returnable basis to specialty shops. However, Western publishing had already established a different market via toy stores. Western published comics on the newsstand under the Gold Key imprint. However, they also produced toys and games featuring licensed characters in toy stores under the Whitman label. Since Western already had a relationship with the these stores and their distributors, they were able to get their comics into them also. The Whitman label appeared on these comics and were sold on a non-returnable basis. The Whitman label served two purposes. One, it differentiated it from newsstand Gold Key's so they could not be returned for credit. And two, the toy chains were already familiar with the Whitman brand and trusted it. Western already had been licensing coloring/activity books and games featured the DC characters under the Whitman label. When DC decided to try these markets, they leveraged their existing relationship with Western who was already established in this distribution market. So many DC's got the Whitman label in the late 70s/early 80s. As I said, these weren't reprints. They would simply stop the printing presses, and change the plates to print the Whitman labeled covers. Scarcity exists for some issues mainly due to the way orders were placed. Stores didn't order individual issues, they'd just ordered a number of units which included a mix of comics. When those sold out, they'd simply order more. That might be a month, it might be six months. Western had a warehouse (in KC I think) where they'd store the comics, and they'd just ship out lots as they were ordered. As a result some stores or areas may never have received particular issues, though I suspect the actual print runs per issue were the same. At one point the warehouse was full, so they stop printing new issues, when more were sold they resumed, but the interruption actually caused issues to be skipped on several of their own Disney and WB licensed titles. More info can be found at: Mike's Amazing World - Whitman FAQ and on Episode 11 of Mike's Amazing World of DC HistoryVery informative, thank you. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 9, 2014 17:35:12 GMT -5
Cheapest copy (all are consignments) of #47 Lone Star is offering right now is $35 for a GD/VG. Holy Crap! I got mine for .. 6, I think? It was priced the same as all the other DCCP issues.. ie WAY more than I would pay for anything else. I told the dealer I was lucky to find it for this price and thank  you, and he looked sad. The rules for my team-up book collection are that I'm not allowed to buy any Marvel/DC books online. (The Richie Rich and Casper books, which are BLOODY DAMN IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND are different....) I have to actually find and pay for them in a store or (very rarely, 'cause I never travel with enough money to go) at a con. So I generally pay slightly more on average than online prices... Although a lot of 'em came from the quarter bins. I think I paid 14-15$ for DCCP # 26. Hopefully Scott Harris is right and I can sell it for that much. Theoretically. Not that I'm gonna. Is the Superboy Earth-Prime book (# 88, I think) still a "hot" book at all? |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 17:39:49 GMT -5
I pulled some Whitmans out of a quarter bin in the 80's when I was a kid. Sold them before I knew what they were, for about a buck each I think. They weren't in great shape though.
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Post by hondobrode on Jun 10, 2014 3:45:36 GMT -5
Thanks for the Whitman info.
I remember they were bagged in dime stories 4 for a $ 1 in the mid to late 70's.
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you, and he looked sad.