Brock

Hi Mollie - Could you please add the following books to the Adam Hughes cover set? Betty and Veronica #v3 #1 (Archie Publications, 9/16) Convention Edition B Doctor Strange #11 (Marvel Comics, 11/16) variant edition Thanks very much!

That needs to be published... what an awesome buy!

DC Super Stars #11 is getting hotter... I posted a slabbed copy of this book selling at a high price a couple of weeks ago, and now a raw has closed at $63. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/322412242063?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thanks, Mollie - I appreciate it!

For F@k sakes, I knew it. Always comes down to money. Budget budget budget. Ugh. Even super secret super-human manufacturing facilities like Department whatever or Weapons Plus or Weapon X run short on money. Especially when a certain someone is promising to slash budgets of government programs. I heard there's a new rule that you have to eliminate two ultra secret black ops hidden spy agencies for every new one you create now. That's gotta play havoc with the budgets...

I've suggested for years that many of the rarest Whitmans are more plentiful in Canada... things like DCCP 22, Black Hole 4 and the 8-12/80 (Gold Key) Whitmans are all more accessible. It would be interesting to know more about their distribution networks in detail, but all the circumstantial evidence seems to point in this direction. I believe, but not 100% sure, that Australia also had these distributed during the time they were distributed in Canada. I can see that... I've noticed that Uncle Scrooge 179, for example, seems to come from Australia fairly often. I'm less sure about the DC variants, though. Have you been watching these?

I've suggested for years that many of the rarest Whitmans are more plentiful in Canada... things like DCCP 22, Black Hole 4 and the 8-12/80 (Gold Key) Whitmans are all more accessible. It would be interesting to know more about their distribution networks in detail, but all the circumstantial evidence seems to point in this direction.

Hi Mollie - I can see you're making progress on your larger list, and these will be coming up soon... Can I add one more book to the Adam Hughes cover set update? It would be: Captain America #25 (Marvel Comics, 12/14) Hughes Variant Cover Thanks very much!

I don't know if that was intended as a direct reply to me, but it's a different seller.

Well if you have a copy for that price, I will buy it from you now. My guess is the seller will get at least $1500 minimum for it. There is no sales data in over 3 years for this book. I was offered a copy here on the boards a couple of months ago... I declined, because I already have one (as I mentioned above). I don't want to just "out" the seller, but if someone here is genuinely interested, I'd be happy to PM him, and see if he's willing to take offers.

You know why though, correct? And have you read the story? I know about the "Last Jedi" title of the new movie and #49 but I don't remember the storyline. I will read it today. When in doubt, read! This huge price increase does not make alot of sense but it shows how hype can cause a massive shift. The only thing missing from the Star Wars book was hype and the upcoming movie per year schedule is sure going to deliver that. I am buying all Star Wars whenever they are reasonable. Right, weird standalone story, IMO. I read it when it first came out, and always thought it was a great story... haven't looked at it in 30 years, though.

I've got one in slightly better shape that you can have for $4950.00.

D'O? Hughes JSC Dell'Otto Lets keep it going - identify them, identify the covers in question, then you can have a much more focused talk. Those were the only three I could think of when starting the thread. I doubt there are others, but if there are, there certainly aren't many. Dave Stevens, maybe? He's post-1980 but not modern... maybe Manara? Maybe Stanley Lau in the near future? I think there's also a lot of artists for whom there are a few key covers (like Jock's Detective 880 mentioned above), but the bump doesn't necessarily affect EVERY cover of theirs.

This seems to be apples to the OP's oranges again...

+1 I also think Batman 300 doesn't get enough love.

+1. This is more along my though process as well. Books going into PCs and not being up for sale, do/can create a 'market thirst' when it does pop up for sale again after a long time. If it's another long wait until the next sale, the same could happen again, creating a new trend and market value. But with these collectibles, some of them can drop a bit if too many copies are readily available and seller(s) are looking to move on from the book for whatever reason. So, I'm gonna say 'yes' to the OP's question because, so far they (mostly) have. The real question isn't 'can' they, but 'will' they. Jerome The variant craze is not that old. I know many think it is here to stay, but I think it'd be one of the first things to go if the market as a whole got into significant trouble again. On another facet, I think these things being so relatively rare also hurts their long term prospects. I think to a certain extent people still desire what they see - never seeing one of these books at a con, in an LCS on a wall... only even knowing it exists because of a few eBay sightings every other year and forums like this one, I think that hurts a book in the true long term. But then again... the real high end of this market only needs a few people with deep pockets to be invested in it so maybe an infinite game of hot potato could happen :shrug: I think some of the responses coming in now are misinterpreting the original question... it's not whether variants will retain their value, but whether books with covers by certain artists will retain their value. These are sometimes variants, but frequently are not.

My feeling is a little more nuanced... I think keys and storylines will still be the dominant drivers of market value, but I think the "cover artist bump" is also here to stay. Partly, this is because the act of stabbing a book changes its nature (the medium is the message, and all that). While the book's content is still present within the slab, it cannot be accessed... this simple fact has the net effect of making the accessible portions of the book more important - things like wrap, cover gloss and (especially) cover art. Some deride this as a card collector mentality, but I think the physical nature of the medium is a better explanation. At the same time, cover art was historically a driver of book value... if you go back to the early days of fandom in the 1960s and 1970s, there were a host of popular artists whose covers commanded premiums on the back issue market... guys like Schomburg, Frazetta, Baker, etc. This accelerated in the 1970s with popular artists like Adams, Wrightson, Steranko, etc. If you look at Overstreet, you'll see relics of this era with notations for cover art by many of these folks. In the 1980s and 1990s, focus shifted to interior art (Byrne, Perez, then McFarlane, Lee et al) and the rise of writers (Moore, Gaiman). In my mind, the rise of stabbing returned the hobby to an increased focus on cover art - but it did not create a new phenomenon, merely revived a dormant trend. Having said that, I do think some current prices are out of whack, and reflect a bit of a Franklin Mint mentality - but hey, people can collect what they like. I also think the trend does involve older and inactive artists... 1970s Neal Adams covers are hot, as are Schomburg covers, and there's some guys like Dave Stevens whose stuff is still very sought after...

That is a result of the subject of the cover and interior. So a Catwoman in the style of that Scandals cover would be doing just as well? Doing just as well as what? I'm not familiar with the sales history of Scandals book. But if Catwoman was on the cover, yes it would sell significantly better than whatever it does now. If you are appealing to a larger number of collectors while keeping the supply the same, your price is going to go up. You put Supergirl on the cover of Sally Forth 8 and you have a thousand dollar book. Interesting... Supergirl #23 Hughes cover is getting closer to a $1,000 book in CGC 9.8. I wonder what a CGC 9.8 of Sally Forth #8 would go for today? If Dirty Pair can achieve $300 or so, I have to assume Sally Forth would go higher.

Actually, I think it's buyers of Blip that are uncommon. If you find one, see if they'll take my copy as well.

Compare it with other early books from Hughes (like New Frontiers #2, or Xxxenophile TPB #2, or Legion of Super-heroes Annual #1 from 1990) and you'll see the stylistic similarities... you're right that it's definitely along way from his current style, though.

Somebody didn't have trouble finding these: Bloodshot #51 Maybe those were the result of years of hunting? Anyway, there are 6 raw copies on ebay right now, it's not like it doesn't exist. Yup, probably all of the books in this thread can be found on eBay. Link for Scandals? There's only one person that seems to care about that book. I'd pay well for one, especially stabbed. I suspect a fair number of others would, too.

Hello! Could you please add the following books to the Adam Hughes Cover Set? Avengers & X-Men: Axis #9 (Marvel Comics, 2/15) Variant Edition Betty and Veronica #v3 #1 (Archie Publications, 9/16) Betty and Veronica #v3 #2 (Archie Publications, 1/17) Supergirl: Rebirth #1 (D.C. Comics, 10/16) Variant Cover Thanks very much!

Here's a strong result... DC Superstars 11 CGC 9.8 for $382.00. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-Super-Stars-11-CGC-9-8-White-Pages-/222363328811?hash=item33c5e3212b:g:SJ8AAOSw5cNYaEsr

Clean Room Unfollow Manifest Destiny

How is that a "1st print?" 1st print of that edition! Yeah I can see the issue here since this is the one shot edition of the original 1995 which I have never found either. I could have phrased it better I guess. I always thought the white cover was the 2nd print of this book, but its not its a 2nd print of the 1995 book. Hope that's clear as mud. I lucked out and found a first edition for I think $28 at a used bookstore last year. I found this edition that is quoted for $5 at a local store shortly after... a few months later, I paid $15 for the Punisher skull variant at a 2nd and Charles. I'm now looking for the other versions. Those are the only ones I've seen in person. Any one have an estimate on the print run of any of the versions of this book? I'd imagine most are kept in personal collections... I found the Punisher Skull variant at a flea market a couple of weeks ago... it was listed at $20, but I paid $10 in a half price sale. That's the only time I've ever seen any print in the wild.