Superhombre

A few months ago Friend o'the Archive Jason Rhodes sent along some intriguing scans from a Mexican licensed set of comics that feature images taken from the 1966 Superman In The Jungle release. SITJ is one of the more legendary U.S. test issues unleashed by Topps, fueled by both the superhero connection and extreme scarcity. The PSA registry count is quite low, with 120 total subjects graded, of which 110 are proofs, and where I assume the latter are all blank-backed.  It's not quite as bad as those figures indicate as a number of off-register and/or hand crudely hand cut "finished" examples have survived that don't really merit being slabbed, but the rarity of these is up there. 

Here is the U.S. version, in the aforementioned hand cut shape.

The reverse features a well done design IMO:

The set saw a full UK retail release, seemingly in 1968, licensed by A&BC, which is easily found and well-known to collectors. However, as it turns out a Mexican set, shrunk down to comic size - and presumably minus some subjects - was also issued by Topps of Mexico. The wrapper is fantastic:

These were Bazooka penny tab-sized but they are quite a departure from Bazooka Joe, no?

Here's an A&BC card (no. 17) titled "Escape By X-Ray":

You can see the A&BC indicia has replaced that of T.C.G. but other than that and some color variance, the backs are the same as the US test version (the back illustrations change around card-by-card in both sets):

And here is the corresponding comic strip from Mexico:

It lacks the vivid colors of the card set but for a wax comic it looks pretty sweet.  The translation of the bottom text, according to Google, reads "The man of steel had an idea, he used a burst of x-rays and the beast escaped scared." Did you know that "panther" in Spanish is "pantera"? Well, it was news to the folks as Para Topps Mexico!

Here's a couple more for your viewing pleasure, nos. 20 and 32, respectively:

Jason unearthed fourteen subjects: 2,5,7,8,15,16,17,20,30,31,32,33,39,40. 

The Bazooka one cent comic set counts from 1966-68 were 42 (14x3) in all years. I'm not sure that it's safe to assume a similar number of subjects here but the known SITJ comics count suggests the possibility. 

Jungle Trail

The long-arc Topps test issue story is one that gets pieced together slowly.  Often some original Topps production materials comes up for sale or auction that fills in a hole, other times an old bit of hobby literature or sales catalogs helps write or rewrite some of the story.  Today the former as a recent eBay auction gave a glimpse at the 1968 1966 Superman In The Jungle issue; a test set in the United States but an ordinary release in the United Kingdom.

I've covered both versions of the set previously here along with the even scarcer US puzzle insert that came along for the ride and as far as US Topps test issues go, this is one of the more difficult ones to find.  As far as new information, it's not much but it does reveal how Topps could turn a loser domestically into a salable items overseas.  Thanks to Woody Gelman's Topps filing system, we can finally see this gorgeous Norman Saunders conceptual point-of-sale piece that was featured in one of Chris Benjamin's Sport-Americana Non-Sports Guides of thirty odd years ago:

Benjamin, though, did not show what was written along the bottom. The left side is plain enough: "Co-op sheets". On the right though, a little zoom is needed:

That red crayon is in Woody Gelman's hand.  It says "Products" and then someone crossed it out.  I take this to mean the test failed or that some type of licensing deal went kaput, which we already know due to the rarity of these, and that it wasn't getting filed as planned. This scratched out word helps explain, I believe, the meaning of "Co-op sheets".  The co-op must be the cooperative arrangement had with A&BC Gum in the UK (and which company Topps was about to decimate with a series of strategic and legal moves).  The A&BC issue of Superman In The Jungle is readily found, as are the associated puzzle pieces, while the US test is often found in either proof form or very crudely printed and/or cut "finished" form.  Here's a finished type card to illustrate the latter point, it's a raggedy scene:

You can see there were registration issues with this card, it must have been a reject sheet from when the test was printed.  The back isn't in register either and as we have recently learned, they were likely done first and likely in a separate location so it's a bit of a headscratcher:

I've seen just enough of these to think at least one sheet was cut up in this manner, likely by a kid of a Topps executive.  

The final proofs I've seen are all blank backed but the fronts are very colorful:

There are various color stage proofs out there as well but they pale in comparison.

My last look at these cards showed a painting of the US test wrapper.  I've now found an actual one and I'll sign off with it today:

In The Jungle, The Mighty Jungle

Superman has been a trading card character almost as long as he has been a comic book character.  The tale of his origin, both the actual, artistic birth of the character and the fictional narrative centering on Krypton are essentially folk tales by now. The original classic set depicting the Man of Steel was made by Gum, Inc. (Bowman's predecessor) in 1940-41 is considered one of the top non-sports sets in the hobby, with some devilishly difficult high numbers and an active collector base conspiring to price it out of the hands of many collectors by propelling the 72 card set into five figures.  It is NOT, however, the only high priced Superman set out there, thanks to two Topps test issues.

The first of these, the black and white Superman set issued by Topps in 1965 and/or 1966 was discussed here a while ago (click here and then scroll down a little) and exists in a test version that is quite tough and a regular issue with two variant reverses that is quite easy.  Then there's Superman in the Jungle, which was almost an unknown set for the first quarter century of its life.  While values have fallen of late, it's still a pricey set to put together and many of the extant cards are actually blank backed proofs.

Superman in the Jungle was tested by Topps around 1968 1966 in the U.S. and clearly did not resonate with the kids who saw it.  Consisting of 66 cards with well rendered, color drawings and an insert puzzle piece set numbering 16, it is a hobby rarity today.  The display box is a genius work of Norm Saunders:

The wrapper is also well done, although this is actually a photo that is offered on eBay:

I am hesitant to call that a Saunders work and his website does not mention he drew it.   He did, however, do the inks for the cards.  Here is a proof that shows the artwork:

Colorful but fairly simplistic art may have doomed the issue in the States.  Here are a few more, with characteristic off center backs and like the above proof and many other images on this page, from the Legendary Auctions archive:

The 16 puzzles are not your garden variety Topps insert and are die cut.  They are taken from the box cover and here is a real nice proof showing them all:

Having spent the money on art and testing, Topps was certainly in a bit of a hole.  The solution? License the set to their partially-owned British subsidiary A&BC.

The A&BC version of the set is a little smaller (about a 1/4" each way) than the U.S. standard sized cards, as was usually the case in the UK but replicated the set otherwise.  The English wrapper is adapted from the US box art and is nice and colorful but a bit crude:

Here is an A&BC front and back:

For reasons that escape me, the A&BC set is far easier to obtain than its U.S. counterpart.  The whole concept of the set is bizarre but that's the way things were back in '68!  As for how things were back in 1940, not too different, artwork-wise: