Marvel G1 comic question (marvel in general)

Hi guys. I'm looking for a little help and info. I was going through my G1 Marvel comics and noticed a couple of "variations" on doubles. Some of them have a M shape with the price in it, while others just have a rectangle. Also, why did some of them have the little pics instead of barcodes and vice versa? Thanks in advance.

I believe the ones with the pics insteadof the barcodes were the newsstand editions (as opposed to direct sales), or something like that. I have a fair few Marvel comics like it. Might be the other way round; I am sure some of the guys here who are generally into comics wouldhave a better idea.
Not too sure about the M, though; do you have any pics of that? Is it a case of both variations on the same issue? It might have just been a change in the style of the box (you are talking about the price bit in the uper left corner, right? I do seem to remember it changed partway through the run).

Yeah, the M or box is in the upper left under the "title" character pick. I have multiple books, same issue # done both ways, M and box. The direct vs. news stand makes sense. Thanks for your input, Draven.

Better question... who's the robot on the cover of Transformers #22 (or was it 23)... the big face shot

Yep, newstand books had a UPC code on the cover as opposed to the direct market books which usually had a characters face there.

The "M" was for Marvel, back in the mid 80s

Menasor. It being the Stunticons introductory issue, you see.

I was confused as a kid as to why he was surrounded by a zillion Marvel Superheroes all around him though. I think it was some kind of Marvel anniversary or something, but there are better ways to celebrate your anniversary than taking up 40% of the cover of a comic that by that point you'd already cast out of the greater Marvel Universe.

Are you sure that's not backwards? I mean, it makes logical sense since direct market stores probably weren't equipped with bar code scanners that long ago, but I bought all of my comics from Kroger (grocery store) as a kid, and virtually all of them had the face in place of the UPC. Why would a grocery store get direct market books?

I figured that, but I've got 2 of the same issue that have it different. One with an M and one with a block. I dunno. I'll try and get some pics.

EDIT: Okay, I'm too lazy to take pics, but here's an ebay auction that has both in it. The first 2 books pictured have Ms, but the rest have the squares. I have multiples of the same issue with one having an M and the other having the square. Any thoughts?