Dragon Magazine mailing covers

Mars · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:06 am Post subject: Dragon Magazine mailing covers

I was wondering if anyone knows when TSR decided to add mailing covers to their magazines for subscriptions? Also, how many issues were sent out this way.

They seems exceptionally difficult to find. I have Dragons with mailing covers on issues #13 and #18 and think I have seen a #19 with one as well. But from the same lot #10 has the shipping label directly on the magazine. I guess a starting guess is to look at which issue space for the shipping label was removed. Any idea why these are so rare?

tfm · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:56 am Post subject:

I don't know. I have 17, 19, 20, 21, and 26 with mailing covers. Perhaps it was a distributor distinction or maybe a printing distinction. It could just as well have had something to do with postage at that time. The covers do have a postal line "2nd class rates paid at Lake Geneva, WI 53147." Maybe the postal service wanted such a cover to use those rates at that point in time. In the examples I have, three different kinds of paper were used:

17--textured heavy paper, gray
19, 20, 21--glossy white
26--brown paper

It should be interesting to see what everyone has in this regard.
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Mars · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:24 pm Post subject:

In my two copies the paper are both a nonglossy heavy paper. #13 is blue and #18 is yellow.

beasterbrook · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject:

I belive the maioling covers go into the 30's at least.. I haven't been folling them too carefully.. I did win a lot way back with them on but they never arrived...

Brette:)

kaskoid · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject:

I put them on in response to complaints from subscribers that the covers were being damaged in the mail. #12 or #13 seems to be about right.
We only had a certain percentage printed like that; the remainder were "slicks" intended for store sales. To get that percentage, go look at the Publisher's Statements for subscription numbers; we ran about 105% of subscriber number each month.
There was no legal requirement that we do it that way, but we had to print the 2nd Class Permit info somewhere. The color depended upon what kind of excess stock my printer had on hand that month.
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Ralf Toth · Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:53 am Post subject:

Welcome Tim Kask! Thanks for joinging us and sharing your knowledge.
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