Marvel 30¢ Price Variants:
Marvel Comics, April 1976 - August 1976.
In 1976 Marvel faced increasing production costs and experimented with a 5¢ price increase in a number of test markets in the USA between April and August 1976. The test was obviously a success as it lead to a general increase in price to 30¢ in September that year.
Below are what are thought to be the test market areas, this is not definitive but is based on collector purchases at the time and analysis of distributor marks (which is not 100% reliable):
- California: San Jose area
- Maryland: Baltimore area
- Massachusetts: Spingfield area
- Michigan: Grand Rapids area
- New Mexico: Albuquerque area
- Texas: San Antonio area
Below is the 30¢ price variant for Chamber Of Chills #22, published in May 1976:
Here is the full list of 1976 Marvel 30¢ price variants, showing the published month i.e. the month shown in the indicia and/or on the cover (the month of distribution will have been earlier):
| Series | Apr. | May | June | July | Aug. |
| Adventures on the Planet of the Apes | #5 | #6 | #7 | ||
| Amazing Adventures | #36 | #37 | |||
| Amazing Spider-Man | #155 | #156 | #157 | #158 | #159 |
| Astonishing Tales | #35 | #36 | |||
| Avengers | #146 | #147 | #148 | #149 | #150 |
| Black Goliath | #2 | #3 | #4 | ||
| Captain America | #196 | #197 | #198 | #199 | #200 |
| Captain Marvel | #44 | #45 | |||
| Chamber of Chills | #22 | #23 | |||
| Champions | #5 | #6 | #7 | ||
| Conan | #61 | #62 | #63 | #64 | #65 |
| Daredevil | #132 | #133 | #134 | #135 | #136 |
| Defenders | #34 | #35 | #36 | #37 | #38 |
| Doctor Strange | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 |
| Eternals | #1 | #2 | |||
| Fantastic Four | #169 | #170 | #171 | #172 | #173 |
| Ghost Rider | #17 | #18 | #19 | ||
| Howard the Duck | #3 | #4 | |||
| Incredible Hulk | #198 | #199 | #200 | #201 | #202 |
| Inhumans | #4 | *** | #6 | ||
| Invaders | #6 | #7 | |||
| Iron Fist | #4 | #5 | #6 | ||
| Iron Man | #85 | #86 | #87 | #88 | #89 |
| Jungle Action | #21 | #22 | |||
| Ka-Zar | #15 | ~~~ | #17 | ||
| Kid Colt Outlaw | #205 | #206 | #207 | #208 | #209 |
| Kull The Destroyer | #16 | ||||
| Marvel Adventure | #3 | #4 | #5 | ||
| Marvel Chillers | #4 | #5 | #6 | ||
| Marvel Double Feature | #15 | #16 | #17 | ||
| Marvel Feature | #4 | #5 | |||
| Marvel Premiere | #29 | #30 | #31 | ||
| Marvel Presents | #4 | #5 | #6 | ||
| Marvel Spotlight | #27 | #28 | #29 | ||
| Marvel Super-Heroes | #57 | #58 | |||
| Marvel Tales | #66 | #67 | #68 | #69 | #70 |
| Marvel Team-Up | #44 | #45 | #46 | #47 | #48 |
| Marvel Triple Action | #29 | #30 | |||
| Marvel Two-in-One | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 | |
| Marvel's Greatest Comics | #63 | #64 | |||
| Master of Kung Fu | #39 | #40 | #41 | #42 | #43 |
| Mighty Marvel Western | #45 | ||||
| Omega the Unknown | #2 | #3 | |||
| Power Man | #30 | #31 | #32 | #33 | #34 |
| Rawhide Kid | #133 | #134 | |||
| Ringo Kid | #27 | #28 | |||
| Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos | #133 | #134 | |||
| Skull, The Slayer | #5 | #6 | |||
| Son of Satan | #3 | #4 | #5 | ||
| Strange Tales | #185 | #186 | |||
| Super-Villain Team-Up | #5 | #6 | #7 | ||
| Thor | #246 | #247 | #248 | #249 | #250 |
| Tomb of Darkness | #20 | #21 | |||
| Tomb of Dracula | #43 | #44 | #45 | #46 | #47 |
| Two-Gun Kid | #129 | #130 | #131 | ||
| Warlock | #12 | #13 | #14 | ||
| Weird Wonder Tales | #15 | #16 | #17 | ||
| Werewolf by Night | #38 | #39 | |||
| X-Men | #98 | #99 | #100 | ||
*** Inhumans #5 was priced at 30¢ only (no known 25¢ copies hence no variant)
~~~ Ka-Zar #16 was priced at 30¢ only (no known 25¢ copies hence no variant)
A number of collectors are known to have managed to collect all of the above standard 30¢ issues in raw (ungraded) form and one collector also managed to get a full CGC set together in 2014 (but seems to have removed one comic more recently so there wasn't a complete Marvel 30 Cent Price Variants set at the end of 2016).
Over the years, a number of 30¢ collectors have struggled to find particular issues: the Western genre issues seem to be more difficult to find (especially Kid Colt Outlaw #208) ; Weird Wonder Tales #15 is apparently hard to find also but there was a sale in November 2016 of a Fair/Good (FR/GD) 1.5 graded copy selling for $103.50!
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