Since when were the Original tankobon volumes out of print?

[Ando38Z]

Also, how will I know which year my specific tankobon was printed? Does it say in the back or something? Thanks.

[SaiyaJedi]

Also, how will I know which year my specific tankobon was printed? Does it say in the back or something? Thanks.

The Japanese editions have never been out of print.

The specific printing and date thereof should be listed in the back along with the (effective) date of initial release.

I have a first-edition of volume 17 sitting back at my parents' house somewhere....

[VegettoEX]

Here's what to look for in the back. In this example, it seems like my Vol. 42 is a first-run printing (1995-08-09).



Here's Vol. 42 from the 2008 re-printings with the new/adjusted cover art. You can see the same original run printing date followed by this (the 62nd) re-print date.

[Ando38Z]

Mine has what you showed in the second picture but it's like this:

1985-9-15- -1-
1992-1-25- -58-

So how will I know which year my specific one was printed?
(I feel dumb, I don't know about these stuff.)

[SaiyaJedi]

Mine has what you showed in the second picture but it's like this:

1985-9-15- -1-
1992-1-25- -58-

So how will I know which year my specific one was printed?
(I feel dumb, I don't know about these stuff.)

Yours was part of the 58th printing, the date of which is given as 25 January 1992. (I don't really know what that means in-context, though; the date given for the first printing of tankōbon volume 1 is five days after the book was officially released, which was 10 September 1985.)

[omegalucas]

Aren't the original (as in, the ones with the original covers) out of print?

[SaiyaJedi]

Aren't the original (as in, the ones with the original covers) out of print?

I suppose the original dust jackets are "out of print" (if you can apply that language to just that part), but the books themselves are exactly the same (actual covers included), and even have the same ISBN. So not really.

As for the date, going by this blog entry, the first volumes with the new dust jackets started coming out in the middle of May 2009 (probably 15 May, counting back five days from the effective date of volume 1's 141st printing). I could be wrong, though. I also seem to remember the second half of the series coming out with the new dust jackets later on that year, but I couldn't tell you when for the life of me….