Some more UPCs

While I’m at it … here are some Night Men. Um, Night Mans.

A better binder

The first Ultraverse card binder I found had a tear on the corner as if it had been chewed by chipmunks. I’ve been looking for a better one ever since and finally found it.

The box is a little rough; the outer wrap was torn (I took it all off) and there was a clear plastic cover that had yellowed over the years. But the binder itself is perfect, and it includes the two extra cards that you could only get with this package.

The UPC codes

I think I have most of this figured out. For about the first year-and-a-half, all Ultraverse comics had a regular cover and a UPC cover, almost always identical except for the UPC box (there are some variant covers but I think we figured those out a long time ago).

In fall 1994 they changed the box at the top left of the cover from a big Malibu logo to a smaller logo with a head shot. Mantra 15 and 16 is an example.

I think that change marks the end of the UPC variants … a few months later all Ultraverse books had UPC boxes no matter where they were sold. I have visually verified this with almost all of the UPC books.

Anyway, here is what I came up with:

UPC list
Break-Thru: 1, 2
Elven: 0
Exiles: 1, 2, 3, 4
Firearm: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Freex: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 (14 unverified), Giant Size 1
Hardcase: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 (17 unverified)
Lord Pumpkin: 0 (maybe)
Mantra: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, Giant Size 1
Night Man: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Prime: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 (16 unverified), Annual 1
Prototype: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, Giant Size 1
Rune: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (6 unverified)
Sludge: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (11-12 unverified)
Solitaire: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Solution: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 (13-14 unverified)
Strangers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Ultraforce: 0, 1, 2
Ultraverse Origins: 1
Warstrike: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Wrath: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Giant Size 1

Those unverified ones, I’m not even certain they exist because another potential reason is that this might have been a timed change (around September-October 1994). If you have actually seen one of those, let me know!

Valentines Day cards

I never would have known this existed until I saw it on another web site, so at least one other person has a set of them. It took a couple of months searching on eBay to turn up (can’t remember the exact price, it was maybe a buck or two) although I have not seen any since, and that was more than a year ago.

The other guy’s cards say they were for discounts around Ohio; these are from California. There’s no real way to tell how rare they are, so let’s just say they are “pretty cool” and leave it there.

Malibu Catalog

This is one of those things they used to stick in with the box of comics from the distributor every week. Most comic shops got this kind of solicitation catalog. Most went into the trash, I’m sure. I don’t even think this is particularly collectible but it did have some interesting info.

I know there were 5,000 of each of the holographic covers for the first seven Ultraverse titles. Back in the day these books were hard to find, and when you saw one it was extremely expensive. Seems like I remember some with $100 price tags, and this was back when you could get a pretty good stack of Silver Age Marvel comics for that kind of money.

But I never understood the process. This catalog explains a bit of that: For every 100 copies of an Ultraverse launch title, retailers could buy a holographic cover comic for $4.25. You better have had a pretty healthy comic shop if you were planning on ordering 100 of anything, although this was just before the big comic crash of the 1990s.

Signed Solitaire 1

I thought this was a pretty good find. Solitaire 1 by itself isn’t rare at all, but this is one of the lowest runs I have ever seen for a Dynamic Forces signed version … just 50 (I got No. 36). This was the book that came in the black bag with a card. I’ve busted open a few and just about every one I have opened had an Ace of Clubs. After a lot of searching I found an Ace of Diamonds on eBay. And now I have a Heart. Since the promo card is a Joker (very easy to find) that just leaves me one more card for the set. Pretty low on my list of priorities, though.

For some reason Solitaire was the focus for three different Dynamic Forces signings: this one, a 75-count set that had the first four issues signed by Jeff Johnson and a 7500-count set that was just the first issue. There weren’t too many other DF Ultraverse books; this post has the list as I know it.

Vantage Press Release Review

  

OK, obviously the only reason I bought this is because it has Prime on the cover. I was hoping there was a little bit of art inside, but there isn’t.

I don’t remember this publication but I guess it was for shop owners and speculators to mull over which comics were going to be hot. This was also not too long before the speculator bubble burst, so we know how that worked out.

I paid a buck. Probably not worth it. And it’s definitely not going on the checklist.

Factory set of Ultraverse cards

I don’t know how these were distributed, but I spotted this factory set of Ultraverse Series 1 cards on eBay for $5, so I figured that was a good pickup. The next week somebody sold 16 more in one auction, so that makes 17 boxes that I know of. I’m sure there are plenty more … somewhere.

I’ll keep this one sealed since it doesn’t have any cards (including the chase cards) that weren’t distributed in the regular boxes, and there are millions of those.

I know there was a factory set of cards packed in with the Series 2 binder, but I don’t know if there was one for the Ultraverse Masterpieces set. I’ll keep an eye out.

Ultraverse “Create a Hero” contest

I won this in an auction for about $20 shipped. I still don’t know exactly what it is. According to some folks over at the Ultraverse Facebook page, it’s a box of entry forms for an abandoned “Create a Hero” contest that was done with Hero Illustrated magazine.

It’s still sealed and I don’t feel like busting it open. It has the same heft and feel of an unopened box of cards, and is about the same size.

There are some small traces on the internet that this contest actually existed and a few people won prizes, but I don’t think the characters actually saw print. So here I am with just another little Ultraverse artifact.

Another Prime watch

 

 

Actually, I picked this up a while ago. It’s the third Prime watch I have found, although the only real difference is the packaging. I wrote about the other two watches a while back.

It looks about the same as the others, no great shakes. The price is a little surprising, just $4.99. It boasts Super Quartz Accuracy and a limited one-year warranty. Made in China.

Yeah, probably not going to wear this anytime soon but it still looks nice in my collection.