sl4ppy

Me too! The only way I knew it was LBJARM was by the split spidey sketch in his sig line that used to be his profile pic in negative colors..

IIRC, it was my sharing this specific book that finally pushed Whisp over the edge with the variants and give up on his complete MK collection. I personally feel guilty for that and felt underplaying the books value would bolster my argument for him to resume his MK addiction.

see my edited post. ps: you're changed name confused me for a few.

Sir you did not over pay. There aren't any around. They all got damaged or thrown away. SEND IT IN TO CGC I did slab it. And I don't really think I overpaid; I was just trying to be optimistic for my friend Whisp! edit: for the record it's probably my favorite book in my whole collection.. I'm VERY happy with it.

Interesting. In the software biz, if games on shelves go un-sold, they are returned to the publisher regardless of how many copies a store or distributor ordered.... It's a HUGE factor in revenue forecasting for us...

Im with JJ. The way I see it, I'm thankful my favorite character isn't very popular or all those variants would be prohibitively expensive. As it is, arguably the single most valuable MK variant is the Virgin Edition and I only paid $70 for it and probably way overpaid at that.... Heck, Lady Mechankia variant books are worth more than that! Even with the rat-race for Platt MK's , a 9.8 #55 GPAs for $100 and for $120 you can BIN on Ebay at this very moment. I have seen them regularly graded for well under $100.

Platt sig op. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4771432#Post4771432 And I'll take as many of those 55's as you want to part with that are in high grade.

Don't forget LCS' can return unsold books. So over-ordering to get the high-margin books are less of an issue. Also remember that Marvel, etc., have no interest in the value/price of books after they are sold to the LCS since they never see a dime of that. Ebay prices, collectibility, etc., are all not ever (and should never be imho as a stock holder) on their radar. Their only concern is maximizing earnings on that initial sale through the distributor and minimizing returns. Supplying high-margin books only increase the purchase orders....

I understand your frustration with variants.. That said, I don't think most collectors are the "completists" you and I are. I suspect most only buy the cover they like the most or the one they think will be worth the most. So while it may be annoying for that small set of 'completists', for the average consumer, its a huge bonus in that they can pick their favorite one... They are also a necessity in this market for LCS'. Without those 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 books to augment their margins, they would have an even tougher time competing with all the other options available to consumers. Knowing that, I suspect variants really lie at the feet of the distributors and LCS' who not only relish in those variants, but in all liklihood, request them specifically; blame does not lie with Marvel, et al., themselves. That $1.25 an LCS pays Diamond for the 1/25 variant regularly sells for $15-$20; $13+ more than a cover-price book. That's a hell of a margin that shop owners just aren't going to get anywhere else. It's actually genius marketing and salesmanship, imho. You could argue that those variants are actually keeping a good number of LCS doors open that would have been shuttered without them. just my $.02.

You can get around the 1/25 stuff by using a service to get them for you... That's what I did. I hate to say it, but I hate buying books from my LCS. They markup the limited variants to about $15 and all the books are manhandled.

I saw a Amethyst 35 cent variant at the Steel City show this past weekend. It wasn't for sale. I just picked up one of the Amethyst #1 35 cent price variants in a long box at a local shop for 50 cents. Quite a steal if this is any indication http://cgi.ebay.com/Amethyst-Princess-Gemworld-1-RARE-35-cent-Variant-/170633015432?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ba853088

what condition?

The natural progression would be to Dave's original art at this point, wouldn't it? Which has been obscenely expensive as well as rarely available for a few years now.. Most of the stuff that is available are prelims and rough sketches... http://www.comicartfans.com/ClassifiedsSearchResult.asp?PM=1&txtSearch=Dave+Stevens&Order= or $13k for this.

I was prepared to spend (what I thought was) way more than what it was worth, but nowhere near $217. That's a hell of a premium for a book that's likely to have several more 9.9's out there and tons of 9.8s, imho.

Holy....!!! $217 now. http://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAuctions%2Fdefault.asp%3FFocused%3D1%26pg%3D2%23Item_886790&id=886790

That 9.9 Starslayer #2 is up to $170. Never expected it to get THAT high. A double cover 9.8 sold for $126 4 years ago, but generally that's 3 times a 9.8 price. I was really tempted, but thats a crazy price...

I know you want to part with one of those 9.8 Vanguard's, Nick.

As a grammar nerd, I am a little irked by the unnecessary apostrophe. Though admittedly not many people are likely to notice anything in that region of the cover. Similarly, nothing irks me more than misused quotation marks, of which comics are extremely culpable.. http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

I've had a few stellar transactions with Patrick over the last few months. Always a pleasure to deal with, generally under grades, and packs beautifully! If I had more money to blow on books, Patrick would surely get a goodly chunk of it!

You outbid me, so I was forced to retaliate!

Me! fwiw, I have a strong Airboy being graded now. It's a 9.6 at least and a really good shot at 9.8. It'd be me 2nd copy if anyone wants to perhaps trade..

Sweet Jesus,

(thumbs u

Got some books back today.. (I love having sequential serial numbers!) This is a Slobodian copy, but CGC doesn't recognize Slobodian as a Pedigree. I missed badly on this one. I a solid 8.5. No spine stress, and the only glaring issue is the wavering of the cover along the top edge about 2 inches long; not a tear and no color breaking... Especially weird considering I undergraded the 2 books above at 9.0.