John Player Special American Blend Red: version 1
Saved 2026-09-25 02:05 by @benjaminsen (bot): Added John Player Special American Blend Red (EAN-8 40305493), named by family/john-player-special. The zigsam.at collector's catalogue prints this barcode on two photographed German packs from Reemtsma: a 28-cigarette Maxi Box (2010) and a 22-cigarette Big Box (2011), each with tar 10 and nicotine 0.8. These are kept as two observations, with the 2011 pack as default. The 2011 cellophane price (5.00) and the catalogue's price field (6 €) disagree, so that price cell is empty and the gap is recorded. A CodeCheck community record gives the same number to a 19-piece Roth-Händle pack. The collector's Roth-Händle page does not list it, so that record is kept as an unconfirmed observation with a disputed identity gap. Ownership comes from Wikipedia and the Imperial Brands brand page. No licensed photo was found.. This is the current version.
Source of v1
# John Player Special American Blend Red <!--product-->
## Identity <!--identity-->
gtin: 00000040305493
name: John Player Special American Blend Red
family: family/john-player-special
default_observation: de-2011
summary: German John Player Special American Blend Red filter cigarettes with EAN-8 40305493, recorded in a 28-cigarette Maxi Box in 2010 and a 22-cigarette Big Box in 2011.
brand: brand/john-player-special
category: category/10000185
country_of_sale: DE
pack_format: flip-top box with cellophane
last_seen: 2011
last_seen_note: German 22-cigarette Big Box recorded by the zigsam.at collection in 2011
<!--/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 | | | | sourced | ^zigsam | The collector names the producer of both German packs (2010 and 2011) as "Reemtsma Germany" and the trade mark owner as John Player & Sons |
<!--/relations-->
## Markets <!--markets-->
| country | status | source | note | observed | condition | origin | price |
| ------- | ------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | --------- | ------ | -------- |
| DE | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's record of a German 2011 pack of 22 filter cigarettes with barcode 40305493; the cellophane reads "22 JPS CIGARETTES BIG BOX 5.00"; the collection's price field gives 6 € | 2011 | | | |
| DE | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's record of a German 2010 pack of 28 filter cigarettes with barcode 40305493; the cellophane reads "28 JPS CIGARETTES MAXI BOX 6.00" and the collection gives the price as 6 € | 2010 | | | EUR 6.00 |
<!--/markets-->
## Aliases <!--aliases-->
| name | type | locale | from | until |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------ | ------ | ---- | ----- |
| JPS American Blend Red | search | | | |
| JPS Red Big Box | search | | | |
| JPS Red Maxi Box | search | | | |
| John Player Special American Blend Red 22 | search | | | |
| John Player Special American Blend Red 28 | search | | | |
<!--/aliases-->
## Specifications <!--specifications-->
| property | value | unit | source | note | observation | key | numeric_value | mode | state | method | qualifier |
| -------- | ----- | ---- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | --- | ------------- | ---- | ----- | ------- | --------- |
| Tar | 10 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source; same on the 2010 pack | de-2011 | | 10 | | known | printed | exact |
| Nicotine | 0.8 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source; same on the 2010 pack | de-2011 | | 0.8 | | known | printed | exact |
| Tar | 10 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | de-2010 | | 10 | | known | printed | exact |
| Nicotine | 0.8 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source | de-2010 | | 0.8 | | 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-2011 | German Big Box of 22, 2011 | label | DE | | | | 2011 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special American Blend Red, 22 filter cigarettes in a flip-top box with cellophane printed "22 JPS CIGARETTES BIG BOX 5.00"; producer Reemtsma Germany; trade mark owner John Player & Sons | | | 22 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| de-2010 | German Maxi Box of 28, 2010 | label | DE | | | | 2010 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special American Blend Red, 28 filter cigarettes in a flip-top box with cellophane printed "28 JPS CIGARETTES MAXI BOX 6.00"; producer Reemtsma Germany; trade mark owner John Player & Sons | | | 28 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| codecheck-roth | CodeCheck community record (Roth-Händle) | label | DE | | | | 2015 | unconfirmed | | | | ^codecheck | Anonymous community record entered 7 October 2009 and last edited 7 October 2015; its URL slug reads "JPS Zigaretten" but the record names the brand as Roth Händle, 19 pieces, tar 10 mg, nicotine 1.0 mg, carbon monoxide 6 mg, maker Reemtsma, origin Germany | | | 19 | | |
<!--/observations-->
## Research gaps <!--research_gaps-->
| observation | domain | state | detail | source |
| -------------- | -------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- |
| codecheck-roth | identity | disputed | CodeCheck's community record for 40305493 names a 19-piece Roth-Händle pack by Reemtsma (tar 10, nicotine 1.0), while the collector's catalogue photographs two JPS American Blend Red packs with this barcode; the collector's Roth-Händle page does not list 40305493 | ^codecheck |
| | relationships | unknown | No source names the GS1 licensee of EAN-8 40305493, 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 | |
| de-2011 | markets | disputed | The 2011 pack's cellophane is printed 5.00 while the collection's price field gives 6 € | ^zigsam |
| de-2011 | specifications | unknown | The collection gives tar and nicotine as bare numbers without units, so the rows keep no unit | ^zigsam |
| | markets | stale | The latest record of this barcode is the German 2011 pack; the collection records a German American Blend Red pack of 24 and Austrian, Greek and Portuguese packs of 20 under other barcodes, and no current listing of 40305493 was found | ^zigsam |
| | 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. The zigsam.at cigarette-pack collector's catalogue prints the barcode on two photographed German packs; a CodeCheck community record gives the same number to a Roth-Händle pack and is kept as an unconfirmed observation. 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 American Blend Red, Germany 2010 and Germany 2011 | | | |
| codecheck | http://www.codecheck.info/raucherwaren/zigaretten/ean_40305493/id_386723/JPS_Zigaretten.pro | Roth-Händle Inhaltsstoffe & Erfahrungen | 2026-09-25 | CodeCheck | other | | 386723 | | | | |
| 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 American Blend Red is a filter cigarette sold in Germany in flip-top boxes under the EAN-8 barcode 40305493.[^zigsam] A cigarette-pack collection records the barcode on a 28-cigarette Maxi Box in 2010 and a 22-cigarette Big Box in 2011, both with tar 10 and nicotine 0.8 and prices printed on the cellophane, and names Reemtsma Germany as the producer and John Player & Sons as the trade mark owner.[^zigsam] The John Player Special line comes from John Player & Sons of Nottingham, part of Imperial Tobacco since 1901, and is owned and marketed by Imperial Brands, which launched the JPS line in the United Kingdom in 1970.[^wp-players][^ib-brands]
A CodeCheck community record, last edited in 2015, gives the same number to a 19-piece Roth-Händle pack made by Reemtsma.[^codecheck] The collection records a German American Blend Red pack of 24 (2004) and packs of 20 for Austria, Greece and Portugal under other barcodes; the Austrian name was replaced by John Player Special Red in January 2012.[^zigsam]
<!--/about-->