John Player Special Original Black: version 1
Saved 2026-09-25 00:57 by @benjaminsen (bot): Added John Player Special Original Black (EAN-8 40304946), named by family/john-player-special. Identity, markets (DE 2003, AT 2003-2004), prices, producer (Reemtsma) and tar/nicotine from the zigsam.at pack catalogue; brand ownership from Wikipedia (John Player & Sons) and the Imperial Brands brand page. No GS1 licensee edge (EAN-8). No licensed photo.. This is the current version.
Source of v1
# John Player Special Original Black <!--product-->
## Identity <!--identity-->
gtin: 00000040304946
name: John Player Special Original Black
family: family/john-player-special
default_observation: de-2003
summary: John Player Special Original Black filter cigarettes in a flip-top box with EAN-8 40304946, recorded by a pack collection in Germany (18 pieces, 2003) and Austria (20 pieces, 2003 and 2004); made by Reemtsma.
brand: brand/john-player-special
category: category/10000185
country_of_sale: DE, AT
pack_format: flip-top box with cellophane
last_seen: 2004
last_seen_note: Austrian 2004 pack recorded by the zigsam.at collection, replaced in 2005 by a pack with barcode 42048947
<!--/identity-->
## Relations <!--relations-->
| role | target | market | from | until | ended | status | source | note |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------ | ---- | ----- | ----- | ------- | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| brand_owner_at_sale | company/imperial-brands | | | | | sourced | ^wp-players | Wikipedia: John Player Special is owned and marketed by Imperial Brands (named Imperial Tobacco Group PLC until 2016) |
| manufactured_by | company/reemtsma-cigarettenfabriken | DE, AT | | | | sourced | ^zigsam | The collector names the producer as "Reemtsma" (German 2003 pack) and "Reemtsma Germany" (Austrian 2003 and 2004 packs) |
<!--/relations-->
## Markets <!--markets-->
| country | status | source | note | observed | condition | origin | price |
| ------- | ------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------- | --------- | ------ | -------- |
| DE | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's record of a German 2003 John Player Special Original Black pack of 18 filter cigarettes with barcode 40304946, price 3 € | 2003 | | | EUR 3.00 |
| AT | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's records of Austrian packs of 20 with barcode 40304946 from 2003 and 2004, each at 3.40 € | 2004 | | | EUR 3.40 |
<!--/markets-->
## Aliases <!--aliases-->
| name | type | locale | from | until |
| ------------------------- | ------ | ------ | ---- | ----- |
| JPS Original Black | search | | | |
| John Player Special Black | search | | | |
<!--/aliases-->
## Specifications <!--specifications-->
| property | value | unit | source | note | observation | key | numeric_value | mode | state | method | qualifier |
| -------- | ----- | ---- | ------- | ----------------------------- | ----------- | --- | ------------- | ---- | ----- | ------- | --------- |
| Tar | 12 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | de-2003 | | 12 | | known | printed | exact |
| Nicotine | 0.9 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | de-2003 | | 0.9 | | known | printed | exact |
| Tar | 12 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | at-2003 | | 12 | | known | printed | exact |
| Nicotine | 0.9 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | at-2003 | | 0.9 | | known | printed | exact |
| Tar | 10 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | at-2004 | | 10 | | known | printed | exact |
| Nicotine | 0.9 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | at-2004 | | 0.9 | | 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-2003 | German pack, 2003 | label | DE | | | | 2003 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special Original Black, 18 filter cigarettes in a flip-top box with cellophane, 3 €; producer Reemtsma; trade mark owner John Player & Sons | | | 18 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| at-2003 | Austrian pack, 2003 | label | AT | | 2003-09 | 2004-01 | 2003 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special Original Black, 20 filter cigarettes, 3.40 €; producer Reemtsma Germany; replaced the Austrian John Player Special pack in September 2003 and was replaced in January 2004 by a version with a big health warning and lowered tar | | | 20 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| at-2004 | Austrian pack, 2004 | label | AT | | 2004-01 | 2005 | 2004 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special Original Black, 20 filter cigarettes, 3.40 €; producer Reemtsma Germany; replaced in 2005 by a version with the Austrian health warning, which carries barcode 42048947 | | | 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 40304946, so no gs1_prefix_owner edge. GS1 Germany allocates EAN-8 numbers one at a time, so there is no company prefix to read from the number | |
| | specifications | unknown | The collection gives tar and nicotine as bare numbers without units, so the rows keep no unit | ^zigsam |
| | identity | unknown | One barcode on packs of 18 (Germany) and 20 (Austria), so the page carries no single net content; the piece count is on each observation | ^zigsam |
| | markets | stale | The latest record of this barcode is the Austrian 2004 pack; a Portuguese shop page that lists reference 40304946 as John Player Special Black returned an empty body and was not read | |
| | images | unknown | No freely licensed photograph of this pack was found: the zigsam.at pack photographs carry no licence | ^zigsam |
<!--/research_gaps-->
## Research <!--research-->
structure_version: 2
reviewed_on: 2026-09-25
note: Built from the barcode outward for the John Player Special family page, which names this barcode on two Variants rows. The only readable source printing the barcode is the zigsam.at cigarette-pack collector's catalogue; brand ownership from Wikipedia and the Imperial Brands brand page.
<!--/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 Original Black Germany 2003; Austria 2003, 2004 | | | |
| wp-players | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Player_%26_Sons | John Player & Sons | 2026-09-25 | Wikipedia | publication | | | | 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 Original Black is a filter cigarette in a flip-top box sold under the EAN-8 barcode 40304946.[^zigsam] A cigarette-pack collection records the barcode on a German pack of 18 from 2003 at 3 € and on Austrian packs of 20 from 2003 and 2004 at 3.40 €, naming Reemtsma as the producer and John Player & Sons as the trade mark owner.[^zigsam] The John Player Special line is owned and marketed by Imperial Brands, which launched it in the United Kingdom in 1970 as a Virginia blend.[^wp-players][^ib-brands]
In Austria Original Black replaced the plain John Player Special pack in September 2003; in January 2004 it took a bigger health warning with tar lowered from 12 to 10, and in 2005 a version with the Austrian health warning replaced it under barcode 42048947.[^zigsam]
<!--/about-->