RockMyAmadeus

There are TWO versions of this book, but for the life of me, I cannot convince CGC of that. There is a GOLD version (which these are) and a SILVER/PLATINUM version as well. They're stuck on "limited edition." Sigh.

I love Punisher. I love Zeck Punisher. I love Portacio Punisher. That #3 and #5 are TOUGH in 9.8! And that #3...classic!

This is the newsstand version, with completely different paper stock, but CGC won't note it...yet.

No. Yes. Just more inconsistency. It's the same kind of inconsistency that they have with the Miracleman "foil" versions. The foil was added decades after the fact, but they get blue labels. The Venom blacks and whites should be qualified.

That's awesome. Can't wait to see it. I think the "Harem" cover drama is a bit overblown.

 We'll see...but they are right up your (and my) alley... I was a busy guy last year. And I'm so happy Jay came to cons.

I have some slabs to show you...

"Valiant...? What's that?" "VALIANT??! (spit) I dumped that stuff in the trash years ago!!" "Valiant...you mean, like Prince Valiant...?" "Valiant? That company almost put me out of business!" "Varmints? I ain't never hearda no "Varmint" comics..."

God, I hope so.

If you can't handle being challenged without being offended, and making it personal, the internet is probably not the place for you. If you think being challenged is "making it personal", or "I'm right, you're wrong" or "I'm smart, you're stupid", or "others have to lose so that I can win", the internet is probably not the place for you. None of this personal commentary has any place here. Your characterizations of this (thus far incredibly brief) conversation are completely inaccurate, and indicative of someone who has been very offended...and at what? Someone challenging them publicly. That's a really dumb...and regressive...reason to be offended. I don't need to be right, while you are wrong. I want *BOTH* of us to be right. And I think that's a good goal. Don't you? Let's talk about comics...not what we think about each other personally. That never ends well. PS. If you'd like to discuss personality differences, I'd be happy to discuss it in PMs.

Dial it down, Nico. You should take the time to consider your sources before repeating nonsense from the nonsensical. It's called an "anecdote", and anecdotes do have value in illustrating an argument. It is an example, one of many. And I'll say the same thing to you I've said about Jaydogrules: if you can't handle being challenged without being offended and making it personal, the internet is probably not the place for you.

And this person is a notorious shill who constantly pumps up the books he owns to protect his foolish investments, and who cannot be reasoned with, by anyone, at any time, for any reason, and whom no one should waste time trying to debate. There. Now that we've pointlessly insulted each other, let's move on to the issue at hand: No one disputes that publishers print a certain percentage...which Jaydogrules does not know...to cover damages and whatnot. Jaydogrules has tried...many times, over many years...to make claims about things he does not know, such as "everyone (who is "everyone"?) knows that the margins just aren't there for publishers to wildly over print." Notice, the lack of any detail. What does "wildly" mean, in this context? Jaydogrules doesn't know. So, he just uses a vague term like "wildly", despite the fact that he has been completely debunked, over and over again, for years. "Ratio variants" ARE NOT regular books, and ARE NOT treated LIKE regular books...so Jaydogrules' attempt to muddy the water, talking about "second and later printings", which have nothing to do with "ratio variants", is pretty easy to see through. The PROVEN FACT is that the publishers have, for many years, sold, through Diamond (or directly BY Diamond) so-called "ratio variants" far, far in excess of Jaydogrules supposed "1-5% overages" number...hundreds and hundreds of copies. @Chuck Gower, a Diamond retailer, has provided countless numbers and order forms to demonstrate this and refute Jaydogrules' erroneous claims. Jaydogrules repeats his fiction because he has heavily invested in these "ratio variants", especially books like ASM #667 1:100, and needs people to believe that those numbers are tied to sales numbers reported by Diamond, because he wants everyone to think these books are scarcer than they might actually be.

Your assumption is inaccurate. Publishers know exactly how many they need to print for all qualifying orders before they have to print them. Marvel, DC, and others have routinely "overprinted" ratio variants, for their own purposes. Nobody knows how many that is except the publisher and the printer. As already mentioned, publishers have released large quantities of ratio variants...far in excess of what might be called "overages"...for years now. For example...I own 50 copies of New Avengers #4, one of the very first "ratio" variants ever made, sold as, I believe, 1:17. #1 was 1:20, #2 was 1:19, etc. I bought all 50 copies from Wizard as overstock. Did Wizard buy 2000 copies of regular Avengers #4 to obtain those variants? No. Wizard wanted them, and Marvel sold them. The number... "1:X"...means one thing, and one thing only: how many copies of the regular book a retailer has to order to receive 1 copy of the variant. Anything beyond that is unknown, and cannot be assumed...by anyone. That information is simply not made public. Of course. But "the best tool we have" isn't a very good one. It's adequate, for estimations. FYI, Comichron numbers only include sales in North America...it doesn't include any numbers of English language "standard versions" sold overseas. You are correct...the numbers don't account for re-orders, further muddying up their usefulness. This has been discussed, in many threads, for many years. There have been some very good discussions about this very issue.

Ahhhh...yes, that makes more sense. Thanks!

um. huh?

You n' me both. I'd even do it for grading credit.

Yes, the Comichron numbers are, generally, a decent indicator of "what's out there"...always with the caveat that those are sales numbers, not print runs, so anyone saying "so and so only printed 23 and a half copies of Wonder X #382.4!!" is making stuff up. That's where you're making your mistake. The ratio numbers are order numbers, and have nothing to do with anything else. We know this because of the large quantity of "1:X" variants released by Diamond/Marvel months or years after publication. No. No one releases any of that information, and haven't since they were no longer required to by no longer mailing subscriptions out via USPS Second Class mail.

You can delete the entire thread. You have the power.

So, any idea on how many they actually printed...? (Yes, this is a trick question.)

I don't often do this, but I'm going to let you in on a little something. One of the best kept secrets about comics is this: if you open up the cover, there are actually stories...inside...that you can read! Except for New Mutants #98. I wouldn't recommend trying to read that. It's just pages of poorly drawn people in anatomically impossible poses.

This guy's a huckster, to say the least.