Overstreet Advisor Doug Sulipas comments on Canadian Newsstand Variants

[thirdgreenham]

I've got a bunch of Canadian variants in my eBay sales that end tonight. They're hidden in my 8, 9, 10 comic lot groups. I didn't think about keeping them until after they were already listed. So, if that's what you're after, boys and girls, they're there for the taking.

 

Andy

[underthebigw]

I think the scarcity of these in relation to the US editions Is generally not understood by the Average collector. That is why I like to read of attention to this subject being generated By collectors and dealers of respected caliber.

After all for years no one paid attention to the US 30 and 35 cent cover variants, nor the whitman Pre- Packs.

Once the scarcity was understood as with many things the collectibility interest was enhanced.

 

It's not just a matter of sheer numbers. The situation is similar to that with US price variants. Not only do the Canadian variants exist in smaller numbers, but they were largely not considered collectible, therefore were bought primarily by kids and other readers who had little interest in collecting and maintaining condition.

 

I lived in Montreal from 1982-1987, during the peak years of Canadian price variants (the Canadian dollar was extremely weak at this point), and the fact of the matter is, most Canadian comic shops I went to in Quebec and Ontario made it a point to carry only the US Direct versions of books. These were deemed more collectible and "real" than the Canadian newstand versions.

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

I think the scarcity of these in relation to the US editions Is generally not understood by the Average collector. That is why I like to read of attention to this subject being generated By collectors and dealers of respected caliber.

After all for years no one paid attention to the US 30 and 35 cent cover variants, nor the whitman Pre- Packs.

Once the scarcity was understood as with many things the collectibility interest was enhanced.

 

It's not just a matter of sheer numbers. The situation is similar to that with US price variants. Not only do the Canadian variants exist in smaller numbers, but they were largely not considered collectible, therefore were bought primarily by kids and other readers who had little interest in collecting and maintaining condition.

 

I lived in Montreal from 1982-1987, during the peak years of Canadian price variants (the Canadian dollar was extremely weak at this point), and the fact of the matter is, most Canadian comic shops I went to in Quebec and Ontario made it a point to carry only the US Direct versions of books. These were deemed more collectible and "real" than the Canadian newstand versions.

 

Yup. (thumbs u

 

Everybody wanted the direct versions because you could only get them at a "real" comic shop. Buying comics from the LVS (Local Variety Store) wasn't "cool".

[shadroch]

Wasn't the fact that you got the direct copies several weeks earlier a key factor?

How did they handle the price differences? A Direct copy that sold for sixty cents had a newstand price of seventy five cents,no? What did Canadians pay for a comic marked sixty cents back then?

[THE_BEYONDER]

Wasn't the fact that you got the direct copies several weeks earlier a key factor?

How did they handle the price differences? A Direct copy that sold for sixty cents had a newstand price of seventy five cents,no? What did Canadians pay for a comic marked sixty cents back then?

 

Direct versions had both prices on the cover.

 

[shadroch]

Gotcha. Thanks.

[THE_BEYONDER]

Doug Sulipas comments in the latest edition Of the guide I found informative and a lot of fun to read as allways.

From Mr Sulipas comments in the 38th edition of the Guide I Quote:

"In general these are about 50 to 100 times scarcer than the USA direct edition printing, 90% only fair to good thru fine/very fine.ABOUT 9% in vf+ and perhaps only 1% in vf/nm or better."

"Very few of these variants have been graded by C.G.C., for example Secret Wars 8 has 1885 copies graded but only one Canadian in [Fine] on their census"

" I expect that variant collectors will regret not buying these sooner."

 

The above is just a small portion on Mr. Sulipas comments on this topic.

I have searched these out off and on the last few years and have found them to be very difficult, and darn near impossible in grade. I grab them whenever I can.

Start looking yourself and you will find this to be true. I have also noticed a few big dealers have started actively searching these Canadian Variants out.

 

In general, he is right. Even up here Canadian variants aren't common, although they certainly aren't rare, either. I could go around to every store in the city and buy handfuls... but of course they would not be high grade (and probably overpriced, too). I think most of the ones I own fall in the 4.0-7.5 range.

 

However, Doug makes an assumption that invalidates one of his comments. He assumes CGC is infallible and the census is perfectly accurate. I know I have seen - specifically, at least one high grade Canadian SW8 that was not noted as such on the label - and generally, many slabs that do not have full, proper notes.

 

(thumbs u

 

[shadroch]

On a similar topic,has Marvel started charging less for books in Canada since your dollar is worth more these days?

[THE_BEYONDER]

On a similar topic,has Marvel started charging less for books in Canada since your dollar is worth more these days?

 

Price correction was made recently. Differs from book to book.....but some are as close as a couple cents. (thumbs u

[shadroch]

Canadian shops made a killing off the lack of adjustments for the last few years.No?

[CAP Freak]

Shhhhh.

[THE_BEYONDER]

Canadian shops made a killing off the lack of adjustments for the last few years.No?

 

Depends on the shop I guess. My LCS has been using the US price for some time now.

 

Can't believe it took this long for Marvel to make the corrections. I plucked this book from the newsstand when our dollar was worth more than the US dollar.

 

[gifflefunk]

FWIW, here are the definitions I go by:

 

Edition: A print run of a specific issue intended for a defined consumer channel. Examples include Newsstand editions, Direct Sale editions, foreign editions, reprints, etc.

 

Variant: A specific change to a particular edition (above) by the publisher for some reason. Examples include price variants to test market reaction (30-cent and 35-cent Marvels), date variants to extend the shelf-life, numbering variants to comply with postal regulations (some EC comics), advertising variants to exploit a segment of the market (Mark Jeweler copies and Military PX copies) and yes, sadly, cover variants created by the publisher to milk the market.

 

Error: A change to a segment of a print run that was not intended by the publisher. Examples include coloring errors, reversed pages, out-of-register printing, bindery goofs, etc.

[the blob]

I lived in Montreal from 1982-1987, during the peak years of Canadian price variants (the Canadian dollar was extremely weak at this point), and the fact of the matter is, most Canadian comic shops I went to in Quebec and Ontario made it a point to carry only the US Direct versions of books. These were deemed more collectible and "real" than the Canadian newstand versions.

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Yeah, but shouldn't the comparison be between the U.S. newstands versions and the Canadian newstand versions? Those mid-80's U.S. newstand versions are no doubt a lot less common than the direct versions (I'm assuming there was no canadian "direct" version?), but, as of now, fetch no premium, but maybe some uber HG enslabulated copy might, I dunno.

 

I dunno, sounds like it's creating a market where nobody cared before. The 30/35 cent variants at least have an interesting story. The story here is that it's too frigging cold in Canada to have that many newstands and sled dogs or moose would have probably eaten the comics if they were left unprotected on the newstands.

 

Wow, none of this was something I paid any attention to when buying comics at shops, shows and on the newstand in the 80s (albeit in the U.S.). But I guess I lost interest when I was about 13 or 14. I never really even gave a second thought to why the price insignia looked different on different comics, although, of course, getting the occasional pence copy seemed really cool.

[OldGuy]

Sounds to me like he has a pile full of "Canadian Newsstand Variants" he'd like to move.....

[the blob]

Sounds to me like he has a pile full of "Canadian Newsstand Variants" he'd like to move.....

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yeah, similar to someone else's warehouse of platinum age comics...

[bronzilla]

Sounds to me like he has a pile full of "Canadian Newsstand Variants" he'd like to move.....

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yeah, similar to someone else's warehouse of platinum age comics...

 

If thats the case I am sure there are buyers for them, Myself included, particularly high grade.

The last time a WTB Canadiant EDITIONS /VARIANTS was put on the WTB posting section, not a lot of hits as I remember.

If these were as common as some presume, I would expect more traffic on these.

Not the place I know, but if anyone has these in highgrade PM me please.

 

[ShieldAgent]

I can understand the resistance by OS to include these in the guide.

 

I guess it would be easy to make a note that direct, newsstand, sketch, different artist, different cover, holofoil, gold, silver, first print, second print, third print, pence, canadian, toybiz, WHITMAN, mervyns, toysRus, pizza hut, walmart etc, etc, etc editions exist, but it would be a full time job just to list variants in the guide, price difference or not.

 

I know there are individuals that have done a lot of work listing these things, but I am not sure if there is a complete list of Marvel pence books, DC pence books, french editions or even Whitman books and so on.....the Canadian edition list would be huge

 

my

 

 

[awe4one]

If thats the case I am sure there are buyers for them, Myself included, particularly high grade.

The last time a WTB Canadiant EDITIONS /VARIANTS was put on the WTB posting section, not a lot of hits as I remember.

If these were as common as some presume, I would expect more traffic on these.

Not the place I know, but if anyone has these in highgrade PM me please.

 

Don't confuse not caring enough to look with not having any to offer...

 

Jim

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

I'm of the opinion that Canadian variants of older books, particularily GA books, are still a very much underappreciated part of the market.

 

For instance, I picked up the Canadian Superior comics edition of Venus Comics # 1 in CGC 9.0. The book is beautiful, and is the highest graded copy of either edition. I paid under $500 via ebay. The Carson City copy of the American edition recently sold on Comiclink for $1,700, and its a 8.5.

 

At some point, price discrepancies like that will narrow over time...afterall, Venus # 1 is a difficult Golden Age black cover Timely in any edition, if you want a copy, why pass up the Canadian edition for roughly 20%-25% of what it would sell for if it were the American edition?