Searching for SUPERMAN

Hunt for the Rarest and Scarcest

Research is fluid, ever changing. I am a second-generation TOY AND PREMIUM RING collector. I have collected, researched, and most of all, enjoyed them for over 30 years. And before me there was the first generation of just a handful of middle-aged men who developed the foundation of the hobby by providing all that was then known about Toy and Premium Rings.

The universe of Toy Rings narrows quickly. I believe the largest collector is in the Guiness Book of World Records with over 20,000 rings in his collection. While I admire the feat, that is a monumental effort, certainly not for everyone. My research has led me to believe that a world class collection of Toy Rings need not be more than 200-300 rings. I have primarily focused on rings from the 1930’s to the 1960’s that were creative and functional, and many that also depicted iconic people and characters. That era featured mostly metal rings. Plastic had not yet hit its stride. We also see the first use of glow-in-the-dark technology.

I found that values drop off fast beyond the 200-300 trophy rings I have identified. The top rings are the true rarities with low populations, and these great rings continue to fascinate and attract new collectors.

The Holy Grail’s of Toy Rings are the three 1940-41 era Superman rings, which were also the first. So many Superman associated Toy Rings have been made since the start that an accurate number would be quite a task to uncover. Ranges are from 500-1500 different rings to date.

The rookie rings, if you will, that were introduced with the creation of Superman. They are easy to name but explanations are necessary to understand their differences and place in the hierarchy. All three had extremely limited production and distribution runs. All three depicted the iconic classic image of Superman breaking chains around his chest.

The most talked about is the Superman Prize ring (approximately 25 still exist today). Offered around 1940 through club offers in the first comic books that depicted him. At the high of Toy Ring values in the 1990’s, the Prize ring brought $125,000.

(The Superman Prize ring offered through Action Comics - see images)

Then there was the GUM, Inc. compartment ring (approximately 15-20 still exist today) that was offered through the very popular Gum, Inc. trading cards, which were often believed to be the first Superman cards. They were not (more about that later). The ring is a beautiful brass ring with removable top. The top depicted Superman breaking chains stamped into the metal along with a capital “S” for Superman.At the price peak this ring was valued at $50,000.

(The Superman Gum, Inc. ring - see image)

The third ring in the triad Is the LEADER CANDY compartment ring (approximately 25-30 still exist today) that was obtained by sending in ten (10) Leader Candy coupons, which were part of the box that the candy came in. The box had perforated edges, which allowed the box to be disassembled by tearing along the edges of the box. Once you emptied out the candy you could tear along the perforated edges and have the coupon. Interestingly, the back of each candy box displayed a Superman collector card that also had to be cut or ripped away from the box once it was empty. Suffice it to say, most of the cards and coupons found today are ripped, hastily cut, torn, and generally in low grade condition. To be clear, the box top displayed the Superman image and candy product information. The back of that product top displayed one of the valuable redeemable coupons. Then, separately, the back of the box had a collector card. These are the true first Superman collector cards and the rarest and most desirable to find today, regardless of grade. Again, at the price peak this ring was also valued at $50,000.

(Two images of the Leader Candy ring. The top depicting the All-Seeing Eye and bottom showing the coupon and paper-like sticker of Superman - see images)

Today’s lesson is just about these rings, specifically the Gum and the Candy rings.

First, the two rings are essentially identical in construction and produced by the same manufacturer, Ostby & Barton of Rhode Island. We can determine that the first of the two rings offered was the Leader Candy ring (we will explain more as we move along), as well as through the Superman Defense Club Milk Program where it has been written that two milk bottle caps could be redeemed for a ring.

The Leader Candy ring depicted the All-Seeing Eye with lightning bolts protruding and a single letter initial. Under the top, once removed, there was a small paper-like image adhered to the underside of the top of Superman breaking chains. The ring could easily go unnoticed because there was no visible reference to it being a Superman promotion. And certainly, as time went on, it seems very likely that many of the small paper-like images were removed or ruined. A bit of water permeating the ring would take care of that.

(Reverse of Gum, Inc. ring top depicting stamp over - see image)

The mystery surrounding the ring is why are there different initial letters on different rings? The All-Seeing Eye is always present, but according to Hakes, one of the leading Premium authorities, they have documented 10 different letters (A, B, D, E, H, L, M, R, S and W), which they believe were the initials of the different milk dairies who participated in the Superman Defense Club Milk Program. I had thought it more believable that the initial letter was for the child sending in for a ring and ordering their initial on it. However, the Leader Candy coupons do not mention the option of having your initial on a ring, and no supporting information has yet arisen for the Superman Defense Club Milk Program; only that one could redeem two milk bottle caps for a ring.

Let’s jump to the differences in the rings. As I said, the top of the Gum, Inc. ring is stamped with the image of Superman breaking chains right into the metal. When we looked very closely at the Gum, Inc. ring top and turned it over, you can see how the image was struck into the metal, right over the All-Seeing Eye from the Leader Candy ring. This is the evidencethat the first ring offered was the Leader Candy ring because the Gum, Inc. stamped rings were done over the All-Seeing Eye, making it a second generation repurpose of the Leader Candy ring. It has been noted that the promotion did not go well and had a short life (months) so it is reasonable that there was left over ring stock from the Leader Candy promotion. And the use of left-over stock and the repurposing of it was done with other premiums during the 1930s.

It seems that the remaining stock of either or both Ostby & Barton and/or Leader Candy rings were sold to the Gum, Inc.company, where they retooled and struck the Superman image over the Candy ring’s All-Seeing Eye.

Wow!

So, now new questions arise. The Gum, Inc. ring, the one with the Superman image stamped into the top of the ring has ONLY been found with one letter; an “S”, which makes sense because it obviously stood for Superman. It is important to also note that the font for the “S” is the same font used for both the Leader Candy and Gum, Inc. rings.

We have no documentation about the Superman Defense Club Milk Program offerings yet to know whether an initial was an option offered to the buyer, and no backup to confirm whether the different initial letters were representative of the milk producers.

Conclusions!

Each of the Superman Prize rings and Gum, Inc. rings are identical in design, so it’s the condition of the ring that is the only variable in determining each ring’s value. However, the Leader Candy ring has some key differences from ring to ring. Most notable is that there are at least ten variations of the ringsolely because of the different letters atop the rings. Otherwise, the rings are identical. So, we now have 25-30 Leader Candy rings with ten different letters (obviously some duplicates). It seems logical that the most desirable of those rings would be the ring with the letter “S”, and there is only one of those known. The other letters have no context or meaning to us at this point.

The other consideration is whether the paper-like image on the underside of the ring top is still in place, and what condition it’s in. A ring without any image would have a considerably lower value. One with a partial or low-grade image would follow. Aring with full paper-like image is what is most desirable.

When accounting for the different ring variations, the status of the Leader Candy Superman ring may indeed now be raised and considered the rarest of the triad of Superman rings. There may only be one to three examples of each letter ring (only 10 letters) that exist. It seems fair to say that the “S” letter ring with full paper-like image would be unique and likely to be considered the most desirable to collectors, as well as the rarestand most valuable of them all.

As I mentioned in my From Elvis to Charizard: A Cardboard History of Pop Culture’s Golden Age post a few weeks ago, I’ve always been a sports card collector, but exploring non-sports cards has helped to reveal how pop culture was invented and how it became a global, commercial force. These early cards don’t just reflect entertainment - they capture when culture itself began to move from history & myth into shared, mass-produced identity.

That story begins in the 1880s with the Allen & Ginter N2 Sitting Bull card, where figures like Sitting Bull represent the merging of history and mass imagery - real people becoming widely distributed cultural symbols. By the early 1900s, the T118 World's Greatest Explorers Roald Amundsen card reflects a growing fascination with discovery and global awareness, turning explorers into heroes of a shrinking world. That sense of modernity - and its fragility - is captured in the 1911 Cadbury Titanic card, which immortalizes technological optimism just before it became tragedy.

By the 1920s, culture begins to center around entertainment itself. The 1920s Charlie Chaplin Exhibit card marks the rise of film and the first true global celebrity, where image and persona transcend language. In the 1930s the 1939 Horrors of War card set shows pop culture grappling with real-world conflict, using cards to interpret and disseminate global events. And by 1940, with the Superman #1 trading card tied to Superman, the shift is complete - culture is no longer documenting reality, but creating entirely new mythologies.

Taken together, these cards trace the formation of pop culture itself - from historical figures to global exploration, from shared tragedy to mass entertainment, and finally to fictional universes. They show that long before Elvis or Star Wars, trading cards were already capturing the moment when culture stopped being observed and started being created.

A few Super Men for this Tuesday flashback #WhatsOnYourDesk.

Get out there & create something today! Art, memories or something else, your choice! #BeTheGood

A private commission by creating for Daniel Bradman to be a Garry favor at his bar mitzvah. It is an eight page Book titled This Island Bradman that is believed to have cost Daniels father $10,000 who was a English real estate tycoon.

Written by: David Levin

Illustration by: Curt Swan

Publish: June 1988

My Superman Collection