The Official The Walking Dead Discussion Thread 13 13

[mschmidt]

I have no clue how many are left, but the number is shrinking by the day.

No.

 

People want this book. It's as simple as that.

 

Yes.

 

Actually the number is shrinking...at least by one recently. A boardie had an unfortunate incident where a 9.8 was broken in half in the mail.

 

I'm sure there are raw copies out there that might have some accident happen to them.

 

Overall the number isn't increasing.

 

No, but it's silly to pretend that the vast majority of the print run of this book wasn't immediately bagged, boarded & stored safely away upon purchase - just like any other book from the last 15-20 years.

 

With GPA showing CGC 9.0s hitting $800-900, the top-heaviness (eg. the ratio of high grades versus low grades) of the CGC census numbers for this book aren't due to people not bothering to slab mid-grade copies - which would be the case for pretty much any other modern - it's due to the fact that it's easier to find a WD #1 in 9.4 and above than it is to find one in 8.0 and below.

 

With a print run of just over 7,000, I don't consider WD 1 just like many other moderns. It's a very low print run for a number 1 and was not a book anyone had on their radar.

 

Yes, most copies that have been slabbed are 9.0 and above (but that's still under 1,500 copies in the census).

 

There are 5,500+ copies out there that haven't been slabbed....I doubt the majority were put in bags and are sitting in collections raw. I bet many were bought and thrown out...

 

Not a chance

 

People weren't buying comic books in 2003, reading them & then just "throwing them out".

 

And whilst 7,000 is an insanely low print run if you compare it to, say, the print runs of the early to mid 90s, it's not unusually low for an indie book published within the last 10 years.

[mschmidt]

I realize this is not a fancy chart, but, just for *spoon* and giggles, here's a sampling of Image #1 print runs prior to the "everything Image publishes is solid speculator gold" boom of 2012:

 

27 (Twenty Seven) #1 = 4,239

The Activity #1 = 5,269

Avengelyne #1 = 8,851

Blue Estate #1 = 5,926

Chew #1 = 5,246

Dynamo 5 #0 = 5,447

Elephantmen #0 = 7,274

Fear Agent #1 = 7,643

Girls #1 = 12,353

Godland #1 = 5,602

Hack/Slash (ongoing) #1 = 10,553

Invincible #1 = 10,751

Jack Staff #1 = 9,974

Lil' Depressed Boy #1 = 3,339

Madman Atomic Comics = 13,140

Morning Glories #1 = 8,687

Negative Burn (2006) #1 = 3,715

Noble Causes (2004) #1 = 6,578

PVP #1 = 11,652

Sea of Red #1 = 6,620

Skullkickers #1 = 5,448

Super Dinosaur #1 = 12,473

Sword #1 = 13,509

 

Notable exceptions from that list are any titles related to Spawn, GI Joe, or after the WD phenomenon took hold, Kirkman & McFarlane stuff (like Haunt) which all had much larger initial print runs.

 

I know it's tempting to look at WD #1 and think that the 7,000 copy print run puts it in a class of its own, but that's only if you compare it to either 20 years ago or to last year - there was a large stretch of time in-between where 7k was completely normal for a new Image title that wasn't tied to an existing property.

[Colicab]

I have a good example... My LCS he told me horror story of how he ripped off 10 TWD 1 covers and mailed em back to diamond for reimbursement. How many other LCS's did that? He still has 10 copies of the guts and no covers.

[comicalgems]

I have a good example... My LCS he told me horror story of how he ripped off 10 TWD 1 covers and mailed em back to diamond for reimbursement. How many other LCS's did that? He still has 10 copies of the guts and no covers.

 

How much is he selling them for?

 

I got tree fiddy each just waiting for him.

[Beige]

I have no clue how many are left, but the number is shrinking by the day.

No.

 

People want this book. It's as simple as that.

 

Yes.

 

Actually the number is shrinking...at least by one recently. A boardie had an unfortunate incident where a 9.8 was broken in half in the mail.

 

I'm sure there are raw copies out there that might have some accident happen to them.

 

Overall the number isn't increasing.

 

No, but it's silly to pretend that the vast majority of the print run of this book wasn't immediately bagged, boarded & stored safely away upon purchase - just like any other book from the last 15-20 years.

 

With GPA showing CGC 9.0s hitting $800-900, the top-heaviness (eg. the ratio of high grades versus low grades) of the CGC census numbers for this book aren't due to people not bothering to slab mid-grade copies - which would be the case for pretty much any other modern - it's due to the fact that it's easier to find a WD #1 in 9.4 and above than it is to find one in 8.0 and below.

 

With a print run of just over 7,000, I don't consider WD 1 just like many other moderns. It's a very low print run for a number 1 and was not a book anyone had on their radar.

 

Yes, most copies that have been slabbed are 9.0 and above (but that's still under 1,500 copies in the census).

 

There are 5,500+ copies out there that haven't been slabbed....I doubt the majority were put in bags and are sitting in collections raw. I bet many were bought and thrown out...

 

Thanks Mark, the fact that the print run dropped after #1 shows its highly unlikely that a load wern't 'tossed' or returned.

Only 1500 on the census?

Unless you live on Mars, you must know its worth big money and would slab accordingly.

Maybe there are a lot fewer than people think.

Guess we will never know, but I am certain there aren't 5900 raw copies out there sitting in bags and boards.

[comicsnyc22]

I think we are a little infatuated with slabbing, too. There are a ton of comic book lovers that either have no idea what CGC is, or don't agree with the practice of grading books. With four out of five TWD #1 being unslabbed, I think speaks volumes. I don't think they're crumpled up in someone's wall as installation, but there's more to be found.

[ThoseBackPages]

FIND THEM!!!

[Guardian Comics]

I have a good example... My LCS he told me horror story of how he ripped off 10 TWD 1 covers and mailed em back to diamond for reimbursement. How many other LCS's did that? He still has 10 copies of the guts and no covers.

 

Um...none. An LCS isn't like a magazine store or book store that get to return their unsold copies. Diamond doesn't take books back like this. You order whatever you order, and unsold stock becomes back issues.

 

Your LCS is giving you a fish story.

 

Jim

[Mark 1]

I have a good example... My LCS he told me horror story of how he ripped off 10 TWD 1 covers and mailed em back to diamond for reimbursement. How many other LCS's did that? He still has 10 copies of the guts and no covers.

 

Um...none. An LCS isn't like a magazine store or book store that get to return their unsold copies. Diamond doesn't take books back like this. You order whatever you order, and unsold stock becomes back issues.

 

Your LCS is giving you a fish story.

 

Jim

 

I have to agree. Diamond doesn't take anything back and I'm fairly certain they didn't in 2003

[natevegas]

I have a good example... My LCS he told me horror story of how he ripped off 10 TWD 1 covers and mailed em back to diamond for reimbursement. How many other LCS's did that? He still has 10 copies of the guts and no covers.

 

Um...none. An LCS isn't like a magazine store or book store that get to return their unsold copies. Diamond doesn't take books back like this. You order whatever you order, and unsold stock becomes back issues.

 

Your LCS is giving you a fish story.

 

Jim

 

I have to agree. Diamond doesn't take anything back and I'm fairly certain they didn't in 2003

And they also don't fulfill all of their orders without giving explanations either.

[Stumptown]

I have a good example... My LCS he told me horror story of how he ripped off 10 TWD 1 covers and mailed em back to diamond for reimbursement. How many other LCS's did that? He still has 10 copies of the guts and no covers.

 

Um...none. An LCS isn't like a magazine store or book store that get to return their unsold copies. Diamond doesn't take books back like this. You order whatever you order, and unsold stock becomes back issues.

 

Your LCS is giving you a fish story.

 

Jim

 

I have to agree. Diamond doesn't take anything back and I'm fairly certain they didn't in 2003

 

I have heard second hand that one of my LCS tore the cover off the book back in the day. I will ask him, assuming he's on decaf, the next quiet time that I see him and report back.

[N/A]

There's a WD 108 9.9?

[Stumptown]

Understandable but when a few sell in the 300 range then all of a sudden people are listing them for 99 bucks in less than 2 weeks its like nobody is trying to make the most for their stuff. I don't know just amazed how low some undercut books on the bay.

 

Supply has caught up with demand - if they listed them for $300, they wouldn't sell

Maybe and maybe not. I was at the con and saw a ton of them being tossed around, thumbed through, crammed back into the swag bags they gave you. Also its strange that the portland one keeps climbing on the raws and the slabs are still selling higher.

 

What was the attendance at St. Louis? I heard that Portland's was about 25k but some of those got the second print mailed to them after because they ran out of 1st prints. It was WW's first time in PDX and during a crappy part of the year so they may have under-ordered?

 

I also saw a dealer with about a 1/2 long box full of these at PDX and that's probably going to be true at any show as well.

 

I know first hand in PDX that some of the books we're rolled up and stuffed in back pockets. This is likely for any free swag at any show of course.

[ThoseBackPages]

There's a WD 108 9.9?

 

which cover?

[ExcludedTim]

108.

[N/A]

There's a WD 108 9.9?

 

which cover?

 

[ThoseBackPages]

oh, 108!

[N/A]

[natevegas]

Understandable but when a few sell in the 300 range then all of a sudden people are listing them for 99 bucks in less than 2 weeks its like nobody is trying to make the most for their stuff. I don't know just amazed how low some undercut books on the bay.

 

Supply has caught up with demand - if they listed them for $300, they wouldn't sell

Maybe and maybe not. I was at the con and saw a ton of them being tossed around, thumbed through, crammed back into the swag bags they gave you. Also its strange that the portland one keeps climbing on the raws and the slabs are still selling higher.

 

What was the attendance at St. Louis? I heard that Portland's was about 25k but some of those got the second print mailed to them after because they ran out of 1st prints. It was WW's first time in PDX and during a crappy part of the year so they may have under-ordered?

 

I also saw a dealer with about a 1/2 long box full of these at PDX and that's probably going to be true at any show as well.

 

I know first hand in PDX that some of the books we're rolled up and stuffed in back pockets. This is likely for any free swag at any show of course.

To answer you question about attendance, I'm not sure cause sat night it snowed and a lot of people didn't show up on sunday. It must have been high enough that next year its coming back. I did see more manhandled than put in bags with boards. I have a raw left it looks 9.8 if anyone is interested.

[ThoseBackPages]

the 35 error slabs are starting to come out now