Clip 'Em and Collect 'Em--Marvel Value Stamps!

 

In 1974, you may recall seeing the beginnings of a curious promotional concept popping up in the letters pages of Marvel's line of comics:

Thus began the push to "clip and collect" Series A of the new Marvel Value Stamps, consisting of numbered, recycled images of Marvel characters in postage stamp form. I imagine that people might have been hesitant to immediately begin clipping the first stamps which were spotted, since Marvel had yet made no announcement as to their purpose, much less why one might want to collect them; in addition, naturally you might have been reluctant to take a pair of scissors to the comics you'd just bought, particularly since in some cases you might have inadvertently clipped out part of that issue's story on the page's other side.

Nevertheless, the stamp of approval is given to yet another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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What were the benefits of clipping and collecting Marvel Value Stamps?

If I jogged my memory hard enough, I honestly wouldn't be surprised to look back through my comics collection and find I'd snip-snipped a few of these stamps, myself. Maybe two or three; since at the time I was beginning to take greater care of the comics I'd stored, it's unlikely that it was more. (Besides, wasn't I doing enough collecting as it was? ;) ) Of course, any back-issues I'd picked up later that were published that year could well have had a hole cut out on their letters pages where a value stamp had been--a caveat emptor moment that awaited collectors, alas.

Eventually (i.e., after a few teasing "we won't spill the beans now, but more info is coming on..." mini-announcements), Marvel gave the lowdown on their value stamps--specifically, where the "value" part came in.

Though if you were to gray out the areas that simply beat around the bush (including any "just wait, there's more to come!" blurbs), we can more quickly cut to the chase:

Boiling things down, Marvel cut deals with two major comics conventions (one on each coast) to arrange for a discounted admission price for holders of all one-hundred value stamps. In addition...

....

Please stop drumming your fingers on the table--I'm afraid that's it.

At least for the time being:

It's hard to avoid the impression that Marvel hasn't quite worked out the logistics on this idea--particularly since it's never a good sign when you're soliciting your readership to fill in the blanks.

As for the additional value in your value stamps, the next Bullpen Bulletins page punted on elaborating on the subject, claiming a lack of space for listing the "several more block-bustin' bargains" a full set of value stamps would get you. The following month, another punt, but a promise to divulge in the next Bulletins "a whole long list" of comics retailers nationwide which would provide a free gift for bringing in your full stampbook.

Instead, another stampbook promo appeared--and more assurances.

In fact we would "see nothin'" for the next four months, at which time a blurb on the Bulletins page appears announcing Series B of the value stamps--a twist on the concept that has each stamp appearing as part of a puzzle which, when complete, will display a past cover of a Marvel comic.

By this point, the final coveted 100th value stamp has made its one-time/one-mag-only appearance in Sub-Mariner #72--appropriately enough, either by design or by coincidence, the final issue of the book.

Throughout this whole process, it was surprising that Marvel didn't take advantage of an obvious sales angle and never once (to my knowledge) suggested that the reader might consider purchasing a second copy of an issue so as to avoid defacing an issue they might want to keep intact, an option the company hadn't been reticent about in the past when it came to, say, multi-page art spreads. Perhaps they were reluctant to do so considering the effort and expense that readers were expending to seek out and obtain one-hundred stamps, having no idea at the time which stamp was appearing in an issue (and sometimes duplicated, at that). Today we might simply make use of a scanner or color copier for the task; but the latter method wouldn't have been feasible until around the late 1970s (at considerable expense, available only through print shops), while color scanners didn't start appearing until the mid-1990s.

As for that long-awaited list of vendors offering a free gift, I don't recall ever seeing it materialize (though please correct me if I'm mistaken); if that's the case, it's possible that Marvel couldn't come to an acceptable arrangement with stores as to what form that gift would take (a free comic of the store's choice would be my guess). It's also possible that the stores would want concrete info as to how many people with stampbooks would be showing up to claim their gift, as well as when this offer would expire.

Months after the last Series A stamp was published, the only other announcement I recall seeing regarding the benefits of a full stampbook came in April of 1975, which seemed to be thrown together in lieu of the former plan involving store vendors:

Essentially, the offer mirrors that of the conventions admission price, in that the stampbook holder is offered discounted merchandise sold by Marvel. Holders provide a postage-paid envelope (of the appropriate size, it goes without saying) to send with their stampbook; Marvel records the name of the person for their records; and the stampbook is returned with a discount coupon good for whenever the holder places an order (after which the holder gets another coupon with whatever they ordered, and so on). And since the announcement mentions that the offer is made in perpetuity, it's assumed that the discount is good for as many years as Marvel offers mail-order merchandise. (Though beware the caveat which specifies "any of the matchless merchandise now being offered to you (emphasis added).)

All things considered, it would seem the only thing truly given any thought here is the stampbook, a nicely designed paged display which, unused, offers a placeholder image of each stamp until the stamp is added. (I don't think anything like Glue-Stick was available at the time, but it would have been perfect for something like this.)

Even the stampbook introductory page is long on promises and short on details as to what benefits a filled stampbook will bring you, the same "we're still working on that part" implication that other announcements on the subject carried.

As to the stampbook's value being "sure to increase" over time, that indeed seems to be the case, though prices range widely depending on various factors. One vendor lists a half-filled Series A book at around $525; while a filled, sealed book signed by Stan Lee was offered at just under $6K. Holy scissorhands, Batman.

And there were other Value Stamp releases down the road from time to time. Spidey Super Stories had its own line:

...though readers today may remember the Legacy series from 2017 (along with its own stampbook), fifty-three stamps in all.

As an interesting development on this subject, Roy Thomas has also prepared a more definitive look at the value stamps "phenomenon" (a word which initially I considered too strong, but perhaps it's accurate)--completed from what I understand in the fall of 2020, but for whatever reason delayed and at this writing reportedly set for release in August of this year.

The book clocks in at a whopping 368 pages, which would suggest there is a lot more material to unearth on this subject than what you've read here. Until then, you might find interesting a well-organized unaffiliated index which covers the evolution of these value stamps in depth and provides supplemental material to peruse.

BONUS!

Your humble host did indulge in collecting other stamps on occasion.