bronze johnny

There you go again with comments like my wanting to “lower the bar.” Marvel Price Variants are expensive because they are scarce and there are some collectors who will pay big money for them due to their relative scarcity. The “just because it’s been done that way since the 90s” argument doesn’t make it right. Lore shouldn’t determine how we should classify books. You want to argue that the Marvel price variants would sell for the same prices as the 30 cent copies if they were as easily available? Collectors want correct categorization and conflating mainstream books with those that are not contradicts this. Don’t misconstrue my point about pedigree copies and the point I was making about them. There’s a line to draw and once it’s crossed, questions remain concerning how far we should go when it comes to classifying books. Pedigree copies are even scarcer books than price variants and should have their own category. This is about having a system of classification that avoids conflating scarcer books with those that are more readily available. Having a list of the most expensive mainstream books of an era along with a separate list for the scarcer price variants improves the Overstreet Price Guide. This improvement helps collectors and that’s what the Guide should be about.

It’s disingenuous to compare collecting books published by other companies like Charlton to my point. The price variants are the same exact copy as their lesser priced book. The only difference is the price. The story and covers are the same (with a different price). The ads inside are the same.

Yes, they were distributed on newsstands and can you verify that they were distributed as widely as the lower priced copy? These books are valuable because they were extremely limited. It’s their relative scarcity that makes them valuable. They are not equivalent to the 30 cent copies. Are you going to continue with your usual sophistry?

No, I want an accurate list that doesn’t conflate books collected by a small group of collectors with those that are the focus of most collectors. So let’s include pedigree copies for Gold and Silver. Perhaps we should look at the underground comics and include them on the list? There are Haight Ashbury pedigree underground copies that may place accordingly on the Silver and Bronze lists.

Wrong. The price variants are not mainstream books and shouldn’t be defined, nor classified as such. As far as distribution, price variants were not as widely available on the newsstands at the time. Keep in mind that while the direct market was in its infancy, access to comic books during the Bronze (unlike the decades that followed) was primarily afforded to readers and collectors via the the newsstand. Moreover, there are plenty of collectors that I personally know who don’t collect price variant books. The idea is to clarify what a mainstream book is and what it’s not when it comes to collecting. Overstreet is conflating mainstream books with those that are not. Based on your logic, pedigree books (which were not at certain times available to the masses of comic book collectors and in the case of one, still isn’t) should be treated equally with copies that do not have a historic provenance. That should not be the case and Overstreet needs to make this clear in the 53rd Edition next year.

OAAW 83 should place higher than TTA 27.

Evidently, price variants were available on newsstands as Spider-Variant anecdotally points out. How many is a question I can’t answer but my anecdotal guess is that they were much scarcer. That being said, Cerebus as we know was an independently published comic book that wasn’t available to the masses of comic book readers in 1977. The question for the Bronze Age is whether comic books that weren’t available to the masses of comic book collectors should be categorized with mainstream books listed Overstreet’s Top 25 Bronze Age books? Cerebus 1 would not be categorized with mainstream books like a Giant Size X-Men 1.

There’s no reason to categorize price variants with mainstream keys in Overstreet’s Top 25 Bronze Age books. Variants should have their own category and weren’t available at most newsstands back in the day. How many people had the opportunity to purchase great books like the 35 cent variant Star Wars 1 from the newsstand when it came out? The variants are scarcer and more valuable but they are not mainstream books. If the people at Overstreet want to keep up with the times, it’s important to provide as much accuracy as possible.

I love the Guide but the latest edition has OAAW 83 and Sgt Fury 1 equal in ranking based on value in its Silver Age top 50? What’s the basis for Sgt Fury 1 being equal to OAAW 83? 83 is much bigger and more valuable key. The single 9.0 copy that is the highest grade for OAAW 83 would break records for a war key if it ever came to market. When did a high grade copy of OAAW 83 sell this year and for how much? Disclosure: I own a copy of each of these books and they are awesome but the 83 is the Action Comics 1 of the War Genre.

Could the kid have done this with the intention of pasting the clipped piece back onto Pete and forgot?

Definitely one of the top 5 FF books to hit the newsstands between issues 180 - 190.

This one is growing on me.

Yes. Wonder if Spielberg watched FF cartoon?

It’s a really tough question given how FF has in one way been a constant throughout the Bronze and into early Copper. I like to think that Byrne bringing back the classic Kirbyesque FF of the Silver Age is in and of itself a celebration of that greatest era. This is what separates the FF of the 80s from the Bronze Age era run that briefly started with Kirby who later came back near the end of the 70s.

DC has yet to introduce Shih Tzu…

Curious to see how many owners of FF 112 also have Subby 8?

H.E.R.B.I.E.- close resemblance to E.T.

Interestingly, Jack Russell is the only character in the Bronze Age to have his first appearance and first issue in a Marvel Picture Frame. Unique beginning for a Marvel character.

Could Two-Gun Kid’s vest be the beginnings of Kirby’s “crackle” art?

Bumping this because it’s an awesome thread- Go West!

These are beautiful. The world before Star Wars belonged to the Apes when I was a kid.

Starting to wonder if Billy Wright is an a.k.a. for Billy Parker🤔

May need to change the title of this thread to the “Werewolves By Night: Marvel Spotlight 2 & WWBN 1” thread.🤔

Sounds Cajun to me. Guess he can say “Who is your Crawdaddie?!”