RockMyAmadeus

Did you know the second/third print was that? The front cover is a tell.

Very true. But if you were lucky enough to find the sticker, I can't figure out why you would take it off one comic book and put the sticker on a different comic book. The thing I've wondered is whether nor not someone could figure out a way to make those stickers. Probably not likely since there's really not much demand for these DC Universe variants to warrant the trouble of trying to make exact replicas of these stickers (I've rarely seen anyone crazy enough to pay a huge premium for them except for me). Perhaps the CGC should use carbon dating to figure out the age of the sticker (just kidding!) Like any sort of "add on" to a book, if the book itself became valuable because of that add-on, the unscrupulous would certainly attempt to switch stickers from a more common book to a rare one. I would like to know why DC felt the need to sticker these books in the first place. Of course, the books were designed to be part of (discounted) packs, and they didn't want the same problem that occurred with the 70's 2- and 3-packs, whereby retailers were accidentally scanning the one book as the price for the whole pack, but since many of them seem to have been made *only* for the boxed packs, which had universally covered UPC areas, the sticker seems unnecessary. It would appear that there are very few known examples of stickered books for any of these examples. If these are the only four known books, with possibly single examples (or maybe two) of each known to collectors of these things, then it wouldn't be worthwhile to potentially damage the book or the sticker to try to manipulate anything. At best it would be a lateral move. I'd be much more concerned with potential counterfeits (because they are pretty simple designs and fairly rough printing quality) than removing legit stickers to place on other books. I am also curious about the rationale for the stickers. My guess is that they may have needed some additional books to round out some of the multi-packs, so rather than go back to print on covers with the DC Universe logo they may have simply taken some regular printings and placed stickers on them. I suspect that this could have been some form of inventory control, similar to printing "not for retail sale" on some things, to prevent retailers from buying discounted multipacks and then reselling the books inside at cover price. But that is pure speculation on my part. I think you have the right idea here. I don't believe any of the known stickered DCU's came from 20 packs. The last 20-pack was for issues dated Nov 1994 and the 4 known stickered DCU's were dated after Nov 1994. That leads me to believe they came from boxed sets or two packs. My stickered Superman 104 DCU actually came from a sealed boxed set (i.e., Superman's Greatest Foes) that I opened myself. I don't know why DC felt the need to place the sticker on the boxed copy since the sticker doesn't show through the box (and interestingly, it was the only stickered comic book among the 6 comic books in that boxed set). Maybe the stickers were placed on there because those comic books could be sold in either boxed sets or two packs (the UPC codes are visible in the two packs and would therefore need to be covered up) For whatever it is worth, the sticker on my Superman 104 covers a newsstand UPC. The sticker on my Detective 690 and SM MOS 42 covers a direct sales UPC. I don't know what possesses me to care about these things, but DC also produced stickers to cover some errors on newsstand bar codes. In case you didn't see my posting on that, you can see it in the following link: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=9240642#Post9240642 If anything, I would suspect the stickers were for the carded 2- and 3-packs, which would make sense. But if they were also showing up in the box sets, like the one CptKirk found his in (example below), then the stickers weren't protecting any bar codes even if they were on the very top comic. Why go through the trouble of stickering books that couldn't possibly need a bar code covered to prevent a misprice at checkout? That's what I was saying originally....it doesn't make sense to sticker books that were bound for boxes, because the boxes were made in such a way as to obscure the books...BUT...it could be that these weren't specifically earmarked for boxes, but could have gone to boxes or 2- and 3-packs, so they added stickers just to be safe. That's just speculation, but I've opened quite a few boxes, and haven't seen any stickered books come out...not that they can't, but I haven't seen them. DC, with their various reprintings of these books, seems to have used these as a sort of "clearing house" for unsold stock, putting some together in specific storyline boxes like the above, or just randomly making 2- and 3-packs based on what was on hand. It seems much more likely that the random books were put in 2- and 3-packs, and would need to be stickered as a result. The "storyline" books (and Superman #104 doesn't seem to be one of those) would have been more likely to get the box treatment. I think it does make sense, in a way, which would be "hey, we'd like to do a "Batman" pack, do we have any copies of any issues on hand? It would also depend, of course, on what Diamond, Capital, and the others before the Diamond takeover, would have 1. had access to, and 2. been willing to send to wherever these packs were being assembled....if they were even getting TO the distributors (which could be a big if.) Frankly, they could have been stored in one of Quebecor's warehouses on Montreal.

Just buy my stuff. I'm setting record GPA lows! I sold a 9 that was most likely a 9.8 here for cover price when nobody wanted it for $5. Probably around 2010 or so. A 10 in the same shape as well. Feel better? No. Not even close to comparable.

Just buy my stuff. I'm setting record GPA lows!

This is the most action this thread's seen in months. Good to see the ol' girl still has something left in the tank.

Ah HA. That's where the others went!

Action #1 and AF #15 can, and have gone down in value. Between 1938 and 1950, there probably wasn't more than 25-50 people who paid 10 cents or more for an Action #1....because that was something you threw away. AF #15 went down in value twice: the first time, between 1983-1985, when the Silver Age slump hit, and the massive price runups of the previous decade hit a wall...and again in 1997-2000, when all but the nicest (and rarest) copies suffered an even more severe drawback in value. For fun, check out the price adjustments between the 1997 and 1998 OPGs. Only the foolish think that a variant that is 4 years old can "never go down in value." Oh, and Recalled Comics is still not a credible source. There's so much misinformation there. What a shame, all that effort, much of it wasted.

I wonder if anyone's put together a complete Canadian set yet? I would, but I'm too far from he source material, and everyone else wants silly prices.

+1 Nailed it! -J. The fact that not one, but THREE people think that a statement like "unless an actual financial depression hits the country, this book won't drop in value. Ever" is a reasonable statement to make is rather unnerving. It really reveals a lot. Those who understand, beware...be very, very wary. How can someone say that, and with such certainty, that this book won't drop in value? Ever? Kids.... Very simple, for the same reason that no matter how much damage Jerry Only has done to The Misfits legacy over the last 20 years, the prices of original Misfits vinyl continue to rise. Demand > supply To reply to RMA's hissyfit, I don't know how many copies of ASM 678 are out there, you sure as Hell don't, but more people want it than there are copies that exist, than there are copies for sale, than there are copies in 9.8. I'll pass a polygraph on that one I've fed the troll, it's time to feed my cats Out If you can't have a discussion without resorting to namecalling and juvenile characterizations, you probably shouldn't be posting on internet message boards. If you can't handle people challenging what you say without calling them "trolls" and saying they're having a "hissyfit" for doing so, the problem lies with you. Demand is greater than supply NOW. Demand, however, has a funny way of changing over time. And you just changed the parameters of your argument. Now you say "more people want it than there are copies that exist." I don't dispute that at all. But your original claim was that "The amount of people who want this variant and will pay $1K-$4K (depending on condition) outnumber the amount of existing copies." (emphasis added) That's a materially different argument. You can't change the parameters of your argument, and expect the results to be the same. supply can also change over time... It can indeed. The funny thing about supply with regards to collectibles, though, is that it never increases over time, only decreases. Demand can go either way.

+1 Nailed it! -J. The fact that not one, but THREE people think that a statement like "unless an actual financial depression hits the country, this book won't drop in value. Ever" is a reasonable statement to make is rather unnerving. It really reveals a lot. Those who understand, beware...be very, very wary. How can someone say that, and with such certainty, that this book won't drop in value? Ever? Kids.... Very simple, for the same reason that no matter how much damage Jerry Only has done to The Misfits legacy over the last 20 years, the prices of original Misfits vinyl continue to rise. Demand > supply To reply to RMA's hissyfit, I don't know how many copies of ASM 678 are out there, you sure as Hell don't, but more people want it than there are copies that exist, than there are copies for sale, than there are copies in 9.8. I'll pass a polygraph on that one I've fed the troll, it's time to feed my cats Out If you can't have a discussion without resorting to namecalling and juvenile characterizations, you probably shouldn't be posting on internet message boards. If you can't handle people challenging what you say without calling them "trolls" and saying they're having a "hissyfit" for doing so, the problem lies with you. Demand is greater than supply NOW. Demand, however, has a funny way of changing over time. And you just changed the parameters of your argument. Now you say "more people want it than there are copies that exist." I don't dispute that at all. But your original claim was that "The amount of people who want this variant and will pay $1K-$4K (depending on condition) outnumber the amount of existing copies." (emphasis added) That's a materially different argument. You can't change the parameters of your argument, and expect the results to be the same.

+1 Nailed it! -J. The fact that not one, but THREE people think that a statement like "unless an actual financial depression hits the country, this book won't drop in value. Ever" is a reasonable statement to make is rather unnerving. It really reveals a lot. Those who understand, beware...be very, very wary. How can someone say that, and with such certainty, that this book won't drop in value? Ever? Kids people trying to protect their investment and/or sell something....

I'm only responding to the charges, officer.

It sounds like the best time to sell your copy then. And it is a gem of a copy too, btw. You should get some good coin for that issue right now, before the bottom falls out. Jerome What if I...er, I mean, HE...has no interest in selling my...er, HIS...copy? What if he didn't buy it to "invest"? I have lots of books where I watched the market come AND go on them....and I didn't do anything with them, because I collected them, and had no interest in selling them. Does being a collector mean one can't therefore understand the realities of the market? Not at all, collectors are part of the market and help contribute to lowering the supply of some books like this one. If he's got a full run (or even near full run) of ASM...Big congrats, that ain't easy! Hopefully he got his copy a while ago. Jerome So why did you tell him now would be the best time to sell his copy, as if thinking it's over-valued means he only cares about what it's worth? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't the best time...but what bearing does that have on his statement? And why do you agree that this book won't "drop in value. Ever."...? You say "collectors are part of the market"...what part?

It sounds like the best time to sell your copy then. And it is a gem of a copy too, btw. You should get some good coin for that issue right now, before the bottom falls out. Jerome What if I...er, I mean, HE...has no interest in selling my...er, HIS...copy? What if he didn't buy it to "invest"? I have lots of books where I watched the market come AND go on them....and I didn't do anything with them, because I collected them, and had no interest in selling them. Does being a collector mean one can't therefore understand the realities of the market? Not at all, collectors are part of the market and help contribute to lowering the supply of some books like this one. If he's got a full run (or even near full run) of ASM...Big congrats, that ain't easy! Hopefully he got his copy a while ago. Jerome Deja vu all over again: when a 9.8 was selling for only $1000 There should be a statute of limitation on "wrong" and a limit on how many times the same person can say the same thing over and over and over and over and over....... again. -J. You mean like accusing people of being shills for each other?

It sounds like the best time to sell your copy then. And it is a gem of a copy too, btw. You should get some good coin for that issue right now, before the bottom falls out. Jerome What if I...er, I mean, HE...has no interest in selling my...er, HIS...copy? What if he didn't buy it to "invest"? I have lots of books where I watched the market come AND go on them....and I didn't do anything with them, because I collected them, and had no interest in selling them. Does being a collector mean one can't therefore understand the realities of the market?

You couldn't be more wrong. It's a very healthy forum. Of course people have their opinions, but no mud is thrown. What, you mean like telling another member you "thought they had their own thread to play in"? That kind of mud? I suspect my estimation is accurate, nonetheless. Regardless, that forum is not this forum, and this forum operates a certain way. If you can't respect the way this forum operates, perhaps sticking to your other forum would be more to your liking. After all...you've been here, what, two years? And you're trying to dictate how people should post...? Yes, and if nobody would speaks up it will continue. So, you have to be part of the "problem" to fight the "problem"...? Seems logical....

Please do not feed those irrationally pumping the value of manufactured rarities, claiming they can't ever go down in price. Still futilely grinding that axe are we? What axe would that be? Encouraging people to think carefully before they spend their money? To make sure they know the risks involved before doing so? That axe? Why do you think you get to make things up about people with impunity? How do you know what I do, and do not, own? What is it in your mental and emotional makeup that tells you it's ok to just invent things about people, things you cannot possibly know on your own, and state them as if they are facts? Would it be ok to invent things about you, and state them without equivocation...? Why, or why not?

Oldtimeypictureeatenapplezzzax!!

Please do not feed those irrationally pumping the value of manufactured rarities, claiming they can't ever go down in price.

+1 Nailed it! -J. The fact that not one, but THREE people think that a statement like "unless an actual financial depression hits the country, this book won't drop in value. Ever" is a reasonable statement to make is rather unnerving. It really reveals a lot. Those who understand, beware...be very, very wary.

A lot of people don't get this simple concept This is actually the exact purpose of a Moderator on a forum. They are supposed to keep the subject on topic and keep other members from being victims of derogatory personal comments. I am a member of another forum that has nothing to do with comics and it is a very welcome atmosphere and when you open a topic thread, guess what, people actually talk about the topic!. If conversation veers off topic there are warnings put in place. If you want to read internet trolling for enjoyment, I have no problem with that. I would even participate if a dedicated thread was created just for that. I suspect that your other forum, if examined objectively, would be found to either A. not quite be as "on-topic" as you claim, or B. a wasteland wherein hardly anyone posts, because of overmoderation. People talk. They like to talk. Organic conversations flow, from one issue to the next. Only the hyperobsessive demand that people remain "on-topic" during the course of casual human interaction. At work, yes....but among friends and casual acquaintances? No, of course not. That would be weird, and such a person would be excluded at some point. This isn't a "moderated forum", in the sense that there are specific issues being addressed in a timely manner. This is a free-flowing forum that allows for the casual exchange of ideas and interaction between people. You, yourself, have been posting off-topic for quite some time in this very thread, complaining about being "off-topic." If anyone has made any derogatory personal comments about you, would you please point them out? I can point out some rather presumptuous comments made by you, if you'd like. The answer, as ever, remains: you should post what you want to post about, and leave others to post about what they want to post about. If people find it boring/uninteresting/off-topic, they can choose to ignore it and move on.

Well said buddy. Jerome Yikes.

You absolutely can. "Fly by night"? In 1992, and for much of 1993, Valiant was the hottest company in the country, and Harbinger #1 was $150+. It was hardly "fly by night", unless you count many months at the top of the back issue charts as "fly by night." And, lest we forget, Spidey may be Marvel's flagship superhero, but he has experienced some serious downtime, too...."clone saga", anyone? Um, what....? 1. How do you know how many existing copies there are? 2. How do you know that the number of people who will pay $1k-$4k is greater than that? This is what is referred to in many circles as "famous last words." Some enterprising young fellow could probably find examples from my silly youth of me saying such foolish things. You had probably better hope that history, which is notoriously cyclical, isn't cyclical when it comes to the comic book market...which, of course, isn't reasonable to hope. It's 1993 all over again.

I think it is logical to think they're going to be harder to find in 9.8 and maybe 9.6, that's about it. Agreed...definitely a little more of a challenge to find them in ultra high grade, but anything other than that, no.

Those trying to convince anyone that newsstand copies have any special appeal prior to about 1995 are selling you something.