John Player Special International 20 cigarettes: version 1
Saved 2026-09-25 00:47 by @benjaminsen (bot): Added John Player Special International 20 cigarettes (EAN-8 40304489), a German 1980s JPS pack made by Reemtsma, from the zigsam.at pack collection (catalogue row with barcode, price, tar and nicotine; pack photograph read for printed wording). Created company stub John Player & Sons (Wikipedia). Completes the family/john-player-special variant row.. This is the current version.
Source of v1
# John Player Special International 20 cigarettes <!--product-->
## Identity <!--identity-->
gtin: 00000040304489
name: John Player Special International 20 cigarettes
family: family/john-player-special
default_observation: de-1980s
summary: German 1980s pack of 20 John Player Special International filter cigarettes in a black flip-top box, EAN-8 40304489, made by Reemtsma.
brand: brand/john-player-special
category: category/10000185
net_content: 20 cigarettes
country_of_sale: DE
piece_count: 20
pack_format: flip-top box with cellophane
<!--/identity-->
## Relations <!--relations-->
| role | target | market | from | until | ended | status | source | note |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------ | ---- | ----- | ----- | ------- | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| brand_owner_at_sale | company/john-player-sons | | | | | printed | ^zigsam-pack | The front of the pack prints "John Player & Sons Nottingham Tobacco Manufacturers" under the royal arms; the collector names John Player & Sons as trade mark owner |
| manufactured_by | company/reemtsma-cigarettenfabriken | DE | | | | sourced | ^zigsam | The collector names the producer of the German 1980s pack as "Reemtsma" |
<!--/relations-->
## Markets <!--markets-->
| country | status | source | note | observed | condition | origin | price |
| ------- | ------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | --------- | ------ | -------- |
| DE | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's record of a German pack from the 1980s, 20 filter cigarettes, with barcode 40304489 and price 5.40 DM | | | | DEM 5.40 |
<!--/markets-->
## Aliases <!--aliases-->
| name | type | locale | from | until |
| --------------------------------- | ------ | ------ | ---- | ----- |
| John Player Special International | name | | | |
| JPS International | search | | | |
<!--/aliases-->
## Specifications <!--specifications-->
| property | value | unit | source | note | observation | key | numeric_value | mode | state | method | qualifier |
| -------- | ----- | ---- | ------- | ----------------------------- | ----------- | --- | ------------- | ---- | ----- | ------- | --------- |
| Tar | 15 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | de-1980s | | 15 | | known | printed | exact |
| Nicotine | 1.2 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | de-1980s | | 1.2 | | known | printed | exact |
<!--/specifications-->
## Observations <!--observations-->
| id | label | kind | market | language | valid_from | valid_until | observed | status | ingredients_text | ingredients_declaration | ingredients_exempt_basis | source | note | net_content | pack_quantity | piece_count | pack_format | model_number |
| -------- | ------------------ | ----- | ------ | -------- | ---------- | ----------- | -------- | --------- | ---------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------- | ------------- | ----------- | ---------------------------- | ------------ |
| de-1980s | German pack, 1980s | label | DE | en | | | | supported | | | | ^zigsam-pack | Collector's record and front photograph: black box with the gold JPS monogram, "JOHN PLAYER SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL", the royal arms and "By appointment to H.M. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, John Player & Sons Nottingham Tobacco Manufacturers"; the catalogue dates it to the 1980s | 20 cigarettes | | 20 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
<!--/observations-->
## Research gaps <!--research_gaps-->
| observation | domain | state | detail | source |
| ----------- | ------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| | relationships | unknown | No source names the GS1 licensee of EAN-8 40304489, so no gs1_prefix_owner edge; GS1 Germany allocates EAN-8 numbers one at a time, so the number carries no company prefix | |
| | markets | stale | The only dated evidence for this barcode is the collector's 1980s German pack; the collection records no later pack of John Player Special International under this number, and neither the maker nor a retailer lists it today | ^zigsam |
| de-1980s | packaging | unknown | Only the front of the pack is photographed, so the back, the health warning and any tax stamp are not transcribed | |
| | images | unknown | The zigsam.at pack photograph carries no licence, so no picture is attached | ^zigsam |
<!--/research_gaps-->
## Research <!--research-->
structure_version: 2
reviewed_on: 2026-09-25
note: Built from the barcode outward. The only source printing the barcode is the zigsam.at cigarette-pack collection; its pack page supplies the front photograph read for the printed wording.
<!--/research-->
## References <!--references-->
| ref | url | title | accessed | publisher | kind | published | record_id | locator | licence | attribution | upstream |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------ | ---------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ | ----------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| zigsam | http://www.zigsam.at/B_JohnPlayerSpecial1.htm | John Player Special - regular packs until 2015 | 2026-09-25 | zigsam.at cigarette pack collection | other | | | John Player Special International, Germany 1980's; Austria around 1980 | | | |
| zigsam-pack | http://www.zigsam.at/l13/JPSInternational-20DE198.htm | John Player Special International 20DE198 (pack photograph) | 2026-09-25 | zigsam.at cigarette pack collection | other | | | Front of the German pack | | | |
| wp-players | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Player_%26_Sons | John Player & Sons | 2026-09-25 | Wikipedia | publication | | | History, 1877 and the 1901 merger | CC BY-SA 4.0 | | |
| ib-brands | https://web.archive.org/web/20260913152353id_/https://www.imperialbrandsplc.com/our-brands | Imperial Brands: our brands, JPS entry and brand timeline (13 September 2026 capture) | 2026-09-25 | Imperial Brands | manufacturer | 2026-09-13 | | JPS entry and brand timeline | | | https://www.imperialbrandsplc.com/our-brands |
<!--/references-->
## About <!--about-->
John Player Special International is a filter cigarette of the JPS line, recorded by a cigarette-pack collection on a German pack of 20 in a flip-top box from the 1980s carrying the EAN-8 barcode 40304489, priced at 5.40 DM, with tar 15 and nicotine 1.2.[^zigsam] The collector names Reemtsma as the producer and John Player & Sons as the trade mark owner.[^zigsam] The black box carries the gold JPS monogram and, under the royal arms, the words "By appointment to H.M. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother" and "John Player & Sons Nottingham Tobacco Manufacturers".[^zigsam-pack]
The JPS line was launched in the United Kingdom in 1970 and is owned today by Imperial Brands.[^ib-brands] John Player & Sons, founded in Nottingham in 1877, became a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company in 1901.[^wp-players] The same collection records an earlier John Player Special International pack of 20 made by Austria Tabak for Austria, whose production started in December 1975; it shows no barcode.[^zigsam]
<!--/about-->