RockMyAmadeus

Whether or not they overprinted the comics, they were putting different covers on the DCU variants. I don't know enough about the printing process to know how difficult/easy it would be to have separate covers for the same insides. I would guess fairly easy, and would explain why the indicias are the same across those printings. Very easy. They were already printing newsstand versions as well. Simple plate swap. But my point was that books that aren't identical (in terms of ads and "collector's pack first printings") were printed after the fact, sometimes a couple of years after the fact (as with MOS #18 5th), and that explains the few anomalies. Not that it matters...I don't think anyone cares...just pointing out that the anomalies coincide with books that were sellouts, in general, when they were first published. Concerning overprinting, it was policy (as it had been for decades) to overprint. That held true for most of the Direct era as well. That's why Quesada's announcement when he took over as EIC in 2000 that Marvel would only "print to order", plus enough to cover freebies, damages, and the like, was such a big deal. That's how the advance reorder system could work in the first place.

Also...any DCU that is not identical to the regular version was almost certainly a reprint, after the fact, because DC (or whomever assembled their collector's packs for them) had run out of a particular issue. I am certain that MOS #30 is in that category, because Lobo was fairly popular at the time, it was an interesting gimmick, and sold better than surrounding issues. I do not know, but thinking about it, it makes sense that, in that era of overprinting everything, they would have extra copies to make collector's packs of just about everything, and would go back to press on the copies they didn't have on hand, creating more DCU versions. I suspect that's the case with Flash #96 (and keep in mind that Flash was hot around this time, and several issues sold out at the distribution level) and any others that might be out there.

I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but any DCU book with a cover date before the program officially launched (Jan 94) will be a reprint of some sort, marked or not. Green Lantern #36, for example, which has a Feb 93 cover date, or GL #47. The "collector's pack first printing" means "second printing."

By the way...what makes anything "significant" certainly changes over time. Amazing Spiderman #129 is a perfect example. For over a decade, that book had no significance. Nobody cared. The book was just another in the run from #123-#140, priced the same, and utterly lacking in significance...until the Punisher Limited Series came out. Now, of course, ASM #129 is worth gargantuan amounts more than #128 and #130, because the character became incredibly significant. There was also a time when the comics buying public was in a tizzy about Punisher War Journal #6, which features one of the greatest Wolvie covers ever printed. The book was extremely significant, because it featured the first time the two then-hottest characters in comics met. Now? It's not worth much more than surrounding issues, except to people like me who remember when it was a $25 book in an era of $1.00 cover prices, and can't help scooping them up when they see them in the dollar boxes. I doubt many people under the age of 30 care much about it. I doubt many people under the age of 40 care much about it.

It's possible. It would be nice to be wrong about #798, but history resoundingly says otherwise. I was on the fence about ASM #798, but when I heard that dealer say what he said, I said to myself "hey, I know that song!" and knew that was the death knell of any potential value for the book as it is. When a dealer says "buy, buy!!" that's the time to say "no thanks." Now, that doesn't mean the variants can't maintain or increase in value if the character becomes a hit. We'll see what Marvel does with it. And it also doesn't mean that the book won't become valuable in spite of its relatively large estimated print run. After all, that number..."250k", or so Rozanski claims...is relatively small compared to the excesses of 1993, I don't think the companies do themselves any favors confusing the public by releasing books that have "only cover appearances" and the like. It's like Adventurers #1, second print, which contained new material which also happened to contain the first appearance of Elf Warrior. What an odd way to introduce a character (but makes perfect sense to a publisher: it might sell more books!)

Yes, it is ok to be wrong sometimes. And that's what you are when you say "lots of #1s that have no significance other than being a #1." You probably don't know this, but there was a time when the entire comic collecting world was obsessed with "hot artists." Books became key issues for the sole and only reason that John Byrne drew it (see: Power Man #48-50.) That was especially true for Neal Adams. And it was the same for McFarlane, Art Adams, Jim Lee, Mike Golden, Wally Wood, Jim Steranko, etc etc etc. And when those "hot artists" got their own books, those books were monster hits for those companies: Man of Steel #1, Superman #1, Spiderman #1, X-Force #1, X-Men #1 (the last of which remains the highest selling comic in history.) As well...there was an upstart company called "Image" that created quite a splash in the early 90's because of the group of those "hot artists" said no to DC and Marvel and formed their own company. Youngblood #1 was the first book published by that company, and Spawn #1 was the second. And, of course, there were the books with "hot characters", like Punisher and Wolverine, and when they got their own series, those books, too, were speculated heavily on...not because they were #1s, but because they were Punisher #1s and Wolverine #1s, etc. That's quite a bit of significance other than merely "being a #1." After all...I didn't include Power Pack #1, or Secret Wars II #1, or Alien Legion #1, or Sandman #1 (which became a surprise hit) and Legion of Superheroes #1, or Excalibur #1, or Atari Force #1, or...I'm sure you get the picture. I'm also sure you can understand that content isn't the only reason why books go up in value, as the aforementioned ASM #667 1:100 demonstrates. The point, as always, is that when dealers tell you "you need to buy multiple copies of this, it's going to be worth $$ in the future", then we have cycled back to the old familiar refrain, last heard in earnest in the early 90's.

By the way...sales for ASM #798, 5 days after release, are hovering at about cover price. That's not a good sign.

You're right. Those two ASM #667 have nothing to do with each other. It's not of value because of the content. Where as, #798 is. The point you are trying to make is inaccurate. ASM #798 is brand new. The ink is barely dry. It hasn't been a week since the book went on sale. Not only that, but orders were through the roof relative to the current market, because Marvel pushed the FOC back a bit. The value of the Ross 1:100 ASM #798 is because it's a speculative 1:100 AND it's "the first appearance." Those two COMBINED are why it's "$600+." The correlation was drawn because of the character, with the contention being "maybe the dealer is right." The dealer is almost certainly not right. How do I know? Because no dealer has ever been right about these kinds of books. One more time: when a DEALER...who has a vested interested in selling those books....says to speculate, that's a certain sign that the dealer has overbought, and wants to get rid of his stock. Think of all the books, going back 40+ years, that have actually gained in value over time, especially rapidly. Thor #337. Batman #428. Ultimate Spiderman #1. Conan #1. Walking Dead #1. Harbinger #1. ASM #252. Nyx #3. Captain Marvel #14 Vol God Only Knows 2nd Print. New Mutants #87. X-Men #94. Thanos #13. Did ANY dealer, ANYWHERE, say "you should buy multiple copies of this book!"...? I'd sure love to see it if they did. No, these books, and hundreds more just like them, caught everyone by surprise. They weren't heavily ordered relative to their respective markets, which is why they experienced rapid price gains. Then think of allllll the books that dealers said "you should buy a ton of these!!" Spiderman #1 (McFarlane.) X-Force #1. X-Men #1. Silver Sable #1. Spawn #1. Youngblood #1. Wildcats #1. Ronin #1. Batman #442. Punisher War Journal #1. Camelot 3000 #1. Adventures of Superman #500. etc etc etc. Right now, any value for either is almost crystalline pure speculation. Let's talk in a year.

The thought certainly crossed my mind.

9.8 ross virgins are selling for 600+ if red goblin is continued to be used then dealer might be right The one has nothing to do with the other. How much is ASM #667 worth? Now how much is the ASM #667 1:100 worth?

Went to Silicon Valley Comicon yesterday. Decided to pick up a copy of ASM #798. The dealer...a long time dealer in new comics...started going on about how I should buy several more copies, and that in a year it would be a $25 book, and in 5 years, it will be $50. I laughed to myself, knowing the truth of the repetitive nature of history. Remember: this is a DEALER. He wants to SELL comics to people. When a DEALER, with a vested interest in selling those comics is telling you to buy, that's when you know you should run as fast as you can in the other direction. I took my single copy, said thanks, and moved on. Maybe this is the exception, but I doubt it.

Found my one and only Albedo #2 for 75 cents at House of Secrets in Burbank in 2007 or so. Got it slabbed, came back a 9.0. Sold it for $1000 or so. It almost makes up for all the shenanigans they pulled. Nah, it doesn't even come close.

I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of this discussion.

Whose welcome...?

Perspective: When Detective Comics #27 was 25 years old...1964...it was about $100 to buy a "nice copy"...roughly 1,000 times cover price. When Amazing Fantasy #15 was 25 years old...1987...it was about $1,000 to buy a "nice copy"...roughly 8,000 times cover price. When bagged Superman #75 was 25 years old...2017...it was about $10...4 times cover price. There has never, in the entire history of the hobby, been more money in it than there is now. Ever. The greatest excesses of the early 90's are dwarfed, by orders of magnitude, by the market of 2018. But Superman #75 is a "$10 book." That should encapsulate the era for everyone.

Saw this and though it was funny: "Shipping to: Worldwide Excludes: Middle East, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Cote d Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of, Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Ukraine" So, essentially they'll ship all over the world, except Central and South America, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Africa, most of Asia, and a good chunk of Europe. But hey, France is good to go!

If anyone can get in touch with him, I would recommend he contact the Hero Initiative. This is why they exist. https://www.heroinitiative.org/

I guess #9...why am I picking a prize again...? Did I really come in 19th place overall? Oh well, I needed the new edition of the OGG, and I love "every day a story"'s user name.

Approved. Pending application review and applicable fee is paid, of course...

Shhhhh....

Secret messages are back in vogue...

Thanks for everyone quoting my post, memorializing my spelling error, jerks. I wonder who thinks I'm really mad....

Isn't that just the greatest emoticon ever? It can mean so little, or so much. And many people think they know what someone means when they post it, or what it's in response to, but most of the time, they're almost certainly wrong. I think that's the best part about it: it reveals presumption. You never really know what someone is trying to say with it.

Altruwhatnow...?