Redartz: All right, be honest now. Nobody here will think any less of you; we're all friends here. How many of you cut out the Marvel Value Stamps from your 70's vintage comics? I admit it, I did so. And frequently enough to fill the entire stampbook, therefore 100 comics fell victim to my scissors (I only collected the first series). Yes, I knew it left a hole, and at times actually removed part of the story and art. But I did it anyway. Mea Culpa.
Marvel Value Stamps were a promotional gimmick originating in late 1973, and ran through 1976. Shown on the left is the announcement appearing in Marvel books cover dated March 1974, giving the details of the initial release.Two series were produced, the first being 100 individual images of Marvel characters, and the second series a number of puzzle pictures composed of several stamps each.
The stamps were generally found on the letters page of a comic, although some books were published without stamps (notably the reprint titles such as Marvel Tales). It appeared that Marvel's production department made some effort to place the stamps in locations where their removal wouldn't cut into the story, but that certainly wasn't always the case. Having picked up many of my comics at flea markets and yard sales, I've encountered many with missing stamps, which doesn't trouble me- I'm just looking for 'reader copies', anyway. Any collectors concerned about condition, however, would be wise to leaf through any potential purchases of mid-70's Marvels just to play it safe!
At any rate, I was hooked by the stamps- I had literally just started collecting and reading Marvels and gave no thought at the time to the consequences of cutting the stamps. I just liked the challenge of tracking all of them down, and loved the artwork they featured. It was soon revealed that an album was available , and I dutifully ordered a copy (which came accompanied by a free Spider-Man poster). Over the course of several months, I managed to find every stamp, and pasted each into the album (including the elusive stamp #100 featuring Galactus- found in Amazing Spider-Man 145). And Marvel's scheme worked- I bought quite a few comics that I otherwise wouldn't have, but it was beneficial. I found several comics that way which soon became favorites; one example being Killraven.
Marvel eventually announced some convention discounts and other perks for possessors of a completed stampbook. I never took advantage of them, however. My book sat in a box for years, occasionally providing a fun glimpse back at a beloved era in comics. I finally traded my copy at a convention a few years ago for a prized early Ditko Amazing Spider-Man, so that made it all worthwhile.
And now, a few examples of those loved/hated stamps:
Okay, you've heard my confessions. What did you think of the stamps? Did you collect them, or ignore them? Did you actually complete an album, and use it ? And as for the second series- anyone get that album? The confessional is open...
21 comments:
Ahh the stamps. They came out around the time I was collecting grocery store stamps to get a baseball glove. I can remember mooching a few comics and all the check out stamps from my grama each trip. I got the mit and still have it today. I could never bring myself to cut my beloved comics. So, I kept them in a separate pile along with my other titles ( its what did back then) i never got the book though and have been hunting for one at conventions. The ebayers have them for the cost of a car payment of course. I have an old box with the series in it and look at them sometimes. The smell of those books is a time machine to the 70's, stack of comics, AM radio, shade tree and an RC cola. Life was good
Living where I do, they would have been of no practical use to me whatsoever, so they stayed in the comics. I did, however, like to challenge myself to identify the source (by title and issue number)of the images used.
No, I never took scissors to a comic but thought the idea was cute. As Redartz says, they did expand the Marvel character knowledge of young readers.
However, the more personally significant promotional tool was the Marvel Top Trump card set circa 1979/80. Not sure if these could be found outside the UK but they were marvellous, a superb intro to the Marvel Universe.
Pretty cool. I liked looking at them but never cut them out. I have plenty of back issues with them missing though. Just curious - What was the image on the Spider-Man poster prize? And what did the puzzle in series 2 depict?
Colin Bray - I never heard of the Top Trump cards you mentioned. Was it a game?
LIKING your nom-du-blog (if that's a thing), there, Luther Manning! Man, representin' the very soul of what we loved about the off-beat, 2nd & 3rd tier beauty of the Bronze Age--
I'm in the camp that's fond of the stamps as well, mostly because they were a fun gimmick that took place right in that perfect early-teen sweetspot of comics immersion for me. Like many of us, it was a period when I loved comics more than just about anything else, as did my best pal, and now remains as a fondly-remembered nostalgic marker. I think we may have cut a few of them out of a few comics, but quickly saw that there was no way we'd ever be able to collect them all (not nearly enough liquidity)-- and even though we weren't exactly condition-conscious collectors at the time, we did hate the idea of cutting anything out of the book. I have a couple of books that we cut the stamp out of, and then just tucked it back into the same pages for safe-keeping.
Does anyone else (stateside, at least) remember picking up the several little urban myths that surrounded the stamps at the time? Revolving around what the 100th stamp would be, and then what the Secret Prize would be for anyone that filled out the whole book? Man-- the "prize" for a completed book just lent itself to absurd speculation. Fantastic Four #1. ALL of the #1 issues that Marvel had produced. The ENTIRE RUN of Marvel Comics up to that point. Or the full run of the title of your choice. A thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars. A trip to visit the Marvel offices. Dinner with Stan Lee. Man-- the rampant greedy-wish scenario! Ah, kids-- they're eternally the same. . .
HB
Luther- bet that box of yours is a treasure trove. I kind of envy folks who talk fondly of the smell of older comics. I have no sense of smell, and thus can'take imagine the 'perfume'...
Colin- like "Marti", those Marvel cards you describe are unknown to me. Were they a game of some sort?
Martinex1- the Spider-man poster was about 18 x 24, and was a photo of someone in a Spider-man costume. It had a black and white photo background of a cityscape, so it looked like he was swinging. I've never seen the completed series 2 posters, will try to track down an image.
HB- glad you brought up the completed book prize speculation! For awhile nobody really knew. I recall being frustrated upon completing my book- learned the discount was good to NY cons, but not much use to a Midwestern kid like me...
Info and images from the Marvel Super-Heroes Top Trump cards linked below. So many entertaining wet playtimes at school...and what a way to learn about Marvel characters:
https://taint-the-meat.com/2014/11/14/marvel-superheroes-top-trumps/
Did the rest of you guys have a version of this? And any disputing the ranking scores given on the various cards?
PS Technically, the version linked above isn't the one I played with. I suspect that the cards were adapted and rebranded at a slightly later date as part of the Top Trumps range - so you may have seen this original '77 set in The States as well.
Apologies for hijacking the thread!
The bane of the back issue buyer!
You get your hands on that copy of Captain Marvel you looking for and son of a bitch...
M.P.
Oh, M.P., that is the TRUEST truth that has ever been uttered. . . !
HB
I recall these stamps, but only vaguely, as I had started reading comics in 1975/76. I know I cut a few of them out, but then at that point - as I mentioned a few times over at BAB - it was my practice to cut up a lot of my comics...
Colin- Many thanks for the link. Those are some pretty cool cards. So they came complete as a set; Didn't have to buy packs to complete the set? Nice.
But seriously, a card for the Human Top?
Correct, Redartz, they came as a set, and we merged two sets to play as a larger group of friends.
The Human Top entry is a little odd, as are other details like the Black Bolt card saying he has 'no weapons' when in fact he has a voice that can level mountains!
Colin/Red-- the time periods are kind of all over the map on those cards, too, aren't they? Surely the Human Top was being called The Whizzer by the time Captain Britain was introduced-? And that's the very first Clint-as-Goliath costume from Avengers #63, around 1969, right?
Hmm, and the physical strength ratings raise any number of my bushy eyebrow-! Grizzly's stronger'n Black Bolt? By a lot? I dunno, I dunno--
And yet-- they are DARNED cool, no question---!
HB
HB - yep, some of the card scoring was eccentric, no doubt. Definitely NOT done by Mark Gruenwald.
PS I cheated and looked at Wikipedia - you're right that the Human Top card was wrong, but he was Whirlwind by the 1970's, not The Whizzer. Incidentally a still-sealed copy of this card set is currently on The Bay for about $300.
Happy Saturday, friends.
My name is Doug, and I cut up my comics.
But only for the first series of the Marvel Value Stamps. By the time the second series rolled out, I was much more sophisticated. Trouble with the stamps I did cut out is that I have no idea what I ever did with them. I suppose I might have glued them into some sort of notebook, as I did with the corner boxes (doh!).
Colin, we had similar games here in the States for sports like baseball and basketball. Real professional players had cards where their skills were rated, including stamina (more important for basketball players). Strat-O-Matic was one of the companies that made the cards, although there were others. The link you provided was the first I'd seen of those UK cards -- I would have loved those as a kid. Thanks for sharing.
Doug
Heh-- he was SOMEONE with a "W", anyhow, Colin! Wingless Wizard! Whiplash! Willie Loman--!!
HB
The U.S. Postal Service put out a pretty cool series of stamps featuring classic Marvel and D.C. heroes some years back. I bought the sheet, but I'll be doggoned if I know where I put 'em. If I find them maybe I'll put them in a little frame.
Those marvel Value Stamps were pretty nifty--I really like Doc Doom (how does he get his mask to smile like that) and Dragon Man, but I remember being a little confused by them as a little kid...was I supposed to turn these in and redeem them somewhere, and was I in trouble if I didn't?
I was a pretty neurotic kid, apparently.
Great idea for a post!
M.P.
Doug - glad you liked the cards. In the UK we also had soccer cards and I was always baffled as to why 'height' was a criteria for winning cards. It seemed rather 'height-ist' in a sport where height isn't always essential to success. Hey ho.
Sorry I'm late to the party as always, especially since I was so obsessed with MVS that I created a whole website about it at http://www.mvstamps.com ...
Yep, I cut up my comics back in the day--hey, I was only about 8 years old! I cut them up for more than stamps in those days.
Unfortunately, I had committed to taping them into a notebook before the stamp book was even announced... and then never got the stamp book...and the notebook was thrown out at some point (but not by me).
I never quite got over that -- hence the website and, eventually, my completing of a stamp book. I bought most of the stamps "pre-cut" on eBay, but I know that's like pretending the meat in the grocery store didn't come from animals...
Redartz: in terms of playing it safe, I have a full list on my website of every issue that had a stamp in it during this period (as well as those that didn't). One extra bad thing to watch out for is sometimes a seller will razor out the page with the missing stamp, so the full list can help with that. I also have all the completed Series 2 puzzles posted there if you want to see them.
B Smith: I do have a list of the artwork source for every stamp on my site, if you're interested.
Martinex1: I also have a scan of the Spider-Man poster on my site as well, if you'd like to see it....
Fun, (obviously) nostalgic topic for me!
RobAnderson- Many thanks for the link, your site is fascinating ! Very cool to finally see the series 2 pages after all these years. And you show the poster, too! Excellent.
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