John Player Special Blue: version 1
Saved 2026-09-25 05:24 by @benjaminsen (bot): Added EAN-8 42068341, the Austrian John Player Special 20-pack named by family/john-player-special. The zigsam.at collector catalogue records the barcode on six Austrian packs: American Blend Blue in 2005 (3.30 €, Reemtsma Germany) plus a September 2005 cellophane-print pack, renamed John Player Special Blue in February 2012 (3.80 €, Imperial Tobacco Germany), and three prize-draw promotional packs from 2014 to 2015. The catalogue says the August 2016 large-health-warning version replaced it under 4030600122747, recorded here as superseded_by. Brand ownership comes from Wikipedia (John Player & Sons) and the Imperial Brands brand page. The page is named for the latest name, John Player Special Blue, with the 2005 name kept as a dated alias. Status is left unset because no maker source says it was discontinued. Gaps: no GS1 licensee for this EAN-8, tar and nicotine units not stated by the source, no licensed photo.. This is the current version.
Source of v1
# John Player Special Blue <!--product-->
## Identity <!--identity-->
gtin: 00000042068341
name: John Player Special Blue
family: family/john-player-special
default_observation: at-2012
summary: Austrian John Player Special filter cigarettes, 20 in a flip-top box, under EAN-8 42068341 from 2005 as American Blend Blue and from February 2012 as John Player Special Blue, recorded until 2015.
brand: brand/john-player-special
category: category/10000185
country_of_sale: AT
piece_count: 20
pack_format: flip-top box with cellophane
last_seen: 2015-12
last_seen_note: Austrian promotional pack recorded by the zigsam.at collection as available from September until December 2015
superseded_by: 04030600122747
superseded_note: The zigsam.at collection says the Austrian John Player Special Blue pack was replaced by a version with the large health warning in August 2016 and records that Austrian 2016 pack under barcode 4030600122747
<!--/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 | AT | 2005 | 2005 | | sourced | ^zigsam | The collector names the producer of both Austrian 2005 American Blend Blue packs as "Reemtsma Germany" and the trade mark owner as John Player & Sons |
| manufactured_by | company/reemtsma-cigarettenfabriken | AT | 2012-02 | 2015-12 | | derived | ^zigsam | The collector names the producer of the 2012 pack as "Imperial Tobacco, Germany" and of the 2014 and 2015 packs as "Imperial Tobacco"; Reemtsma is the Imperial Brands group's German cigarette maker |
<!--/relations-->
## Markets <!--markets-->
| country | status | source | note | observed | condition | origin | price |
| ------- | ------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | --------- | ------ | -------- |
| AT | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's record of an Austrian 2005 John Player Special American Blend Blue pack of 20 filter cigarettes with barcode 42068341, price 3.30 € | 2005 | | | EUR 3.30 |
| AT | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's record of the Austrian 2012 John Player Special Blue pack of 20 with barcode 42068341, price 3.80 € | 2012 | | | EUR 3.80 |
| AT | sourced | ^zigsam | Collector's record of an Austrian promotional pack with barcode 42068341, price 4.40 €, available from September until December 2015 | 2015-09 | | | EUR 4.40 |
<!--/markets-->
## Aliases <!--aliases-->
| name | type | locale | from | until |
| --------------------------------------- | ------ | ------ | ---- | ------- |
| John Player Special American Blend Blue | name | | 2005 | 2012-02 |
| JPS Blue | search | | | |
| JPS American Blend Blue | search | | | |
<!--/aliases-->
## Specifications <!--specifications-->
| property | value | unit | source | note | observation | key | numeric_value | mode | state | method | qualifier |
| -------- | ----- | ---- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | --- | ------------- | ---- | ----- | ------- | --------- |
| Tar | 6 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source; the same figure is given for the 2012, 2014 and 2015 packs | at-2005 | | 6 | | known | printed | exact |
| Nicotine | 0.5 | | ^zigsam | Unit not stated by the source; the same figure is given for the 2012, 2014 and 2015 packs | at-2005 | | 0.5 | | known | printed | exact |
<!--/specifications-->
## Pack history <!--pack_history-->
| label | from | until | market | net_content | pack_quantity | pack_format | source | note |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ------- | ------ | ----------- | ------------- | ---------------------------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| John Player Special American Blend Blue | 2005 | 2012-02 | | | | flip-top box with cellophane | ^zigsam | Price 3.30 €; replaced by John Player Special Blue in February 2012 |
| September 2005 pack with 3.30 € printed on the cellophane | 2005-09 | 2005-09 | AT | | | flip-top box with cellophane | ^zigsam | Available during September 2005 |
| John Player Special Blue | 2012-02 | 2016-08 | AT | | | flip-top box with cellophane | ^zigsam | Price 3.80 € in 2012; replaced by a version with the large health warning in August 2016 |
| "€ 10.000,- GEWINNEN!" promotional pack | 2014-07 | 2014-10 | AT | | | flip-top box with cellophane | ^zigsam | Price 4.20 € |
| "GEWINNE MIT JOHN PLAYER SPECIAL € 10.000,-" promotional pack | 2015-01 | 2015-04 | AT | | | flip-top box with cellophane | ^zigsam | Price 4.20 € |
| "JETZT MINI COOPER WORKS GEWINNEN!" promotional pack | 2015-09 | 2015-12 | AT | | | flip-top box with cellophane | ^zigsam | Price 4.40 € |
<!--/pack_history-->
## 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 |
| ---------- | ----------------------------------------- | ----- | ------ | -------- | ---------- | ----------- | -------- | --------- | ---------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------ | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ------------- | ----------- | ---------------------------- | ------------ |
| at-2005 | Austrian American Blend Blue pack, 2005 | label | AT | | 2005 | 2012-02 | 2005 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special American Blend Blue, 20 filter cigarettes in a flip-top box with cellophane, price 3.30 €; producer Reemtsma Germany; trade mark owner John Player & Sons | | | 20 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| at-2005-09 | Austrian promotional pack, September 2005 | label | AT | | 2005-09 | 2005-09 | 2005 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: the American Blend Blue pack with 3.30 € printed on the cellophane, available during September 2005; producer Reemtsma Germany | | | 20 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| at-2012 | Austrian John Player Special Blue, 2012 | label | AT | | 2012-02 | 2016-08 | 2012 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special Blue, 20 filter cigarettes in a flip-top box with cellophane, price 3.80 €; producer Imperial Tobacco, Germany; trade mark owner John Player & Sons | | | 20 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| at-2014 | Austrian promotional pack, 2014 | label | AT | | 2014-07 | 2014-10 | 2014 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special Blue with "€ 10.000,- GEWINNEN!" printed on the cellophane, price 4.20 €, producer Imperial Tobacco | | | 20 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| at-2015-01 | Austrian promotional pack, early 2015 | label | AT | | 2015-01 | 2015-04 | 2015 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special Blue with "GEWINNE MIT JOHN PLAYER SPECIAL € 10.000,-" printed on the cellophane, price 4.20 €, producer Imperial Tobacco | | | 20 | flip-top box with cellophane | |
| at-2015-09 | Austrian promotional pack, late 2015 | label | AT | | 2015-09 | 2015-12 | 2015 | supported | | | | ^zigsam | Collector's record: John Player Special Blue with "JETZT MINI COOPER WORKS GEWINNEN!" printed on the cellophane, price 4.40 €, producer Imperial Tobacco | | | 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 42068341, so no gs1_prefix_owner edge. GS1 Germany allocates EAN-8 numbers one at a time, so the number carries no company prefix | |
| at-2005 | 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 Austrian promotional pack of late 2015; the collection records the 2016 Austrian John Player Special Blue under 4030600122747 | ^zigsam2 |
| | 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 only source printing the barcode is the zigsam.at cigarette-pack collector's catalogue, which records it on six Austrian packs from 2005 to 2015; 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 | | | American Blend Blue, Austria 2005; John Player Special Blue, Austria 2012 to 2015 | | | |
| zigsam2 | http://www.zigsam.at/B_JohnPlayerSpecial.htm | John Player Special - regular packs since 2016 | 2026-09-25 | zigsam.at cigarette pack collection | other | | | John Player Special Blue, Austria 2016 | | | |
| 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 Blue is a filter cigarette sold in Austria in a flip-top box of 20 under the EAN-8 barcode 42068341.[^zigsam] A cigarette-pack collection records the barcode first in 2005 on an Austrian John Player Special American Blend Blue pack priced 3.30 €, made by Reemtsma Germany, and says that pack was replaced by John Player Special Blue in February 2012, which it records under the same barcode at 3.80 € with Imperial Tobacco, Germany as producer.[^zigsam] Tar 6 and nicotine 0.5 are given for every pack. The line comes from John Player & Sons of Nottingham and is owned and marketed by Imperial Brands, which launched JPS in the United Kingdom in 1970.[^wp-players][^ib-brands]
The collection also records three Austrian promotional packs under this barcode, with prize draws printed on the cellophane, sold between July 2014 and December 2015.[^zigsam] It says the pack was replaced by a version with the large health warning in August 2016, recorded under barcode 4030600122747.[^zigsam][^zigsam2]
<!--/about-->