Vick93

Imo any Stan Lee signature made near the end of his life should be avoided like a bad omen. The way he was abused for financial gains by his manager and presumably others in his last year or so makes me feel like he would regret every forced signature made to make those greedy holes richer.  

54 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

I checked through my two 9.8s and 6 raw copies.  I don't have one. 

I also went though 579 BIN listings on eBay and looked at each one over the course of over an hour... I did not see a single copy.

However!

I did notice that this book has a lot of registration issues where I see a few examples where the gun is completely black with no highlights whatsoever.   

No matter what comes up though, even all this time it is an iconic and striking cover. 

That's a thorough search indeed. I've done something similar over the years but no finds either. 

22 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

For example... this gun is almost pure black... 

 

Okay I see what you're saying. I believe this is grouped under the "blurred" or "fuzzy" error that was reported in that valiant archive link, since the blurring ink effect is also seen in the top rai title banner, but am not too sure about that. 

3 minutes ago, valiantman said:

I forgot it existed. 

Makes me want to check out my copies... but that would involve finding them... and that's a few hours of time I'd never have unless there was some global pandemic that forced us all to sit around and... wait a minute... 

Lol quarantine certainly opens up more free-time

16 minutes ago, valiantman said:

http://valiantarchive.com/valiant/rai0glossy.php

As mentioned in that article (written May 2004), the knowledge of the "glossy" Rai #0 caused a few collectors to really study their copies of Rai #0 for a bit 15+ years ago to see if any differences could be found.  The differences noted weren't helpful in identifying "glossy" (though it was later determined that the glossy covers are too short and they show the first page easily on the right edge of the front cover.

What was visible were examples of the blurring title and this "white shadow" (slightly off-register) situation:

As with most errors (manufacturing errors, especially), any "premium value" that gets assigned is usually a combination of the scarcity of the error and the "cool factor" of what the error does... if it makes an ugly book, the value is usually very low, but if an error gives a book some distinction that's "attractive" there can be value added if buyers can be found.

Valiant collectors already loved Rai #0 when it was believed that all copies were alike because the contents of Rai #0 are like a "future of Valiant prophecy" that went forward 2,000 years, and represented what might have been if (original) Valiant hadn't been bought by Acclaim and rebooted.  Once the discussion of "glossy" got going, the idea that some copies were different really took hold, and even a tiny printing error like this became "discussion worthy" even if it wasn't necessarily worth more.

To be honest, I don't remember where the scan of the "white shadow" came from, but it was probably a collector on the ValiantFans.com forum... and Rai #0 having only 3 colors makes the "white shadow" error "pop" giving a tiny amount of depth to an otherwise completely flat artwork. 

If it was any other Valiant book (apart from the key issues), it would probably never have been noticed, but the weird combination of Rai #0's demand in all forms, the limit of 3 colors on the cover, and the evidently hard-to-find aspect of this particular printing variation, combine to make what could be a fun book to try to locate.  

   

Yea I'm definitely one collector who sees this as a more attractive error. Would be nice to grab one but no luck thus far

8 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

This book is plummeting in value

It should have been jumping in value, but unfortunately the movie wasn't so hot. Bad writing and camera work really killed the hype once it released imo. Not enough bloodshot (vin diesel) screen time either. Of course covid 19 causing mass theater shutdown doesn't help. Hopefully the sequel still happens but who knows. 

4 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

Is being slightly off-register really anything special?

Tbh I wouldn't think so, but with the popularity of the glossy variant it seems even minor differences can be more desirable. Personally I dig the look of this variant, it adds a kind of third dimensional effect to the silhouette. 

With the Bloodshot movie out right now, I figured it was time to re-introduce this particular error of Rai 0. Based on information and images on the valiant archive website, it features the black silhouette on cover with a sort of "white shadow" along every left edge of the silhouette. Especially prominent in his gun, where there is a white inner line as opposed to red and white. For images and more details check the link http://valiantarchive.com/valiant/rai0glossy.php. I heard about this error years ago, but to this day have not seen one in the wild or online. Just wondering if anyone in the forums can confirm ever owning or seeing a copy (besides the one in link).   

On 3/5/2014 at 11:39 PM, Jaydogrules said:

valiantman said:

  Jaydogrules said:

Ugh. Point being since there is no empirical evidence that the newsstand versions consistently sell for any kind of "premium" why turn away 90% of your potential customers by trying to charge one.

What customers?

 

I'm not a dealer. I'm a buyer. I pay more for high grade newsstand because I remember the newsstand.

I remember being in the grocery store with my parents as a pre-teen and seeing bent-to-heck comics.

I know the unsold copies got sent back, shredded and recycled.

 

Why would I tell sellers that I will pay more for something that I could get for the same price if I just shut up?

 

Because I'm not the one telling them. The market is.

To win newsstand books, I have to bid higher than other buyers of newsstand books.

 

Sometimes I win. Sometimes they outbid me. Either way, newsstand matters.

 

 

I grant you that if it matters to you, then whether or not you pay more for them works for you.

 

I am one for whom it does not matter, and I will not pay more.

 

ALL of my collector friends feel the same way. We have seen newsstand versions go for less than direct versions in BIN and auctions.

 

Since the track record is spotty at best, why pay more when it probably does not matter in the end?

 

I'm not telling you not to do it. I'm saying that enough don't do it so as to render any real long term price difference negligible to non-existent. I apologize if my differing opinion offends you. But sometimes a little perspective from the other side of the coin can be a good thing. Notice how I am not poo-pooing yours, or trying to get personal about things.

 

-J.

Several years after this thread first started, it is really apparent that newsstand does matter. It is obvious that there will always be collectors who want newsstand variants. More and more as time goes on. They may want them in high grade, but so does every comic collector lol. If you went out and bought a bunch of high grade key newsstands back when this thread started, you'd be laughing all the way to the bank in 2020. I came into this hobby too late   ... but there's still opportunity out here