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Price Variant Club
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Started by FlyingDonut,

3,572 posts in this topic

ShieldAgent

ShieldAgent

Posted
Posted
35 cent variants exist, 30 cent variants exist, is it so much of a stretch to surmise that 25 cent variants could possibly exist?

*********************

 

Well, the 25 centers would have been for regularly 20 cent cover price books, no?

 

because 35 and 30 centers were done to test whether they could get away with RAISING prices (probably to keep up with inflation in the 70's) -- why on earth would they "test" a cheaper version? sure, it's possible they might want to see if they could still raise profits by increasing sales volume (and fewer returns) with a price-cut, but I doubt it.

 

This doesn't make any sense. I think he means 25c variants of normally-priced 20c books, not 25c variants of 30c books

 

thanks Sal, that is exactly what I was saying. I was not trying to confuse anyone.

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ShieldAgent

ShieldAgent

Posted
Posted
35 cent variants exist, 30 cent variants exist, is it so much of a stretch to surmise that 25 cent variants could possibly exist?

 

They do exist... every April 1st. :insane:

 

I remember you posting that years back--I must say, the story and the pic were very convincing, and clever.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

Posted
Posted

Amazing Spider-man129 - First Punisher - RARE 25-CENT VARIANT!

I purchased this comic right off the newsstand in downtownNY (during a trip) and dutifully filed it away in my collection. Only later, when Istarted attending ComicCons, did I start noticing that the cover price was different, andfeatured a 25¢ notation, rather than the standard 20¢ I kept seeing on display. At thetime, I really didn't think much of it, and since dealers didn't have a clue and reallyweren't interested in helping me out, it became a curiosity in my collection.

I have some bills to pay and have decided that the pleasureof owning this book doesn't outweigh financial responsibility, so I'm putting it up forauction. The condition is VF/NM, and with the regular 20¢ edition selling for over $500in this condition, I hope you will recognize the incredible scarcity of this 25¢ variant,and bid appropriately. Please read below for a history of this particular comic, alongwith my conversations with Marvel regarding its origins and veracity.

I had a the good fortune of hitting a Marvel ComicCon in NYduring the late-70's, and decided to take the book along and see if anyone at Marvel knewwhat was up. I showed the book to a few Marvelites (including Stan the Man) and none ofthem had any ideas, but Sal Buscema did point me in the direction of a gentleman at theMarvel Display, a Mr. Sol Brodsky. Apparently, Mr. Brodsky handled operations andcirculation, and was a long-time Marvel employee.

When I showed him the comic, his eyes lit up, and I'll do mybest to relay what I remember of our conversation and Mr. Brodsky's replies:

"I never thought I'd see one of those again. You see Stan was real worried about the proposed 25¢ price increase, so he wanted to make sure he wasn't stepping into a landmine. He talked to me about doing some market research, but as our department consisted of me and a secretary, we didn't have the manpower or procedures in place. We agreed on a compromise, whereby we would print up a few of the higher 25¢ issues, distribute these to nearby newsstand vendors and do a quick tally of any customer resistance. It was pretty basic, and at lunch, I'd head down with a few stacks of books, give them to the vendors and then check the stands and ask if anyone complained."

I then asked Mr. Brodsky how many copies of these wereproduced, which months/issues and which newsstands:

"I can't really remember which issues, but we stuck to the popular series, and along with this Spidey, I think we used an Avengers and maybe a Conan issue from the same time. We did this for 3 consecutive months, and couldn't have printed more than a hundred copies, and maybe not that many of the last issue. By that time, Stan had decided to go ahead with the 25¢ jump, and even decided to post an apology in the various letter pages. And like I said, we wanted to keep it small, so we only used 3-4 newsstands that were in walking distance of the Marvel offices. I think we gave the vendors some free Marvel stuff to go along with the test."

Now I have never seen another of these ASM 129 25¢ issues,and with approximately 100 copies printed, it's not surprising. I've also never seen thesefabled Avengers or Conan 25¢ variants either, but using Mr. Brodsky's comments, it'spretty easy to narrow down which ones they may be.

Amazing Spider-man 129 was a February 1974 issue, and Marvelwent 25¢ across the board in May. So the other possible 25¢ variants would be thesubsequent March and April issues, or Avengers 121 and 122, along with Conan 36 and 37.Obviously, the ASM 129 is the only key issue in the bunch, but if you bought comics nearthe Marvel Offices in downtown NY, then checking for these ultra rare books might be worthyour while.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

Posted
Posted
Good story! very entertaining..and pretty believable ..did people buy it when it was first posted?

 

Big-time, and there was a thread about it on here. Lotsa discussion on what other potential 25-cent variants could exist.

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Twistty1

Twistty1

Posted
Posted

haha, thats funny...what would be even funnier is if one really turned up and noone believed them because of this post..

 

I guess collectors get so into it because they always wanna hear about the next huge thing, like a double cover Action 1 or something.....I'm sure some people were skeptical when they first heard about the IF 14 variant..

 

There's one up on feebay right now for the mere price of 2100 for an 8.0...front looks nice, but I guess there's a piece out of the bc tlc..

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Twistty1

Twistty1

Posted
Posted (edited)

If you could get a copy of one of these variants which would you get, and why?

 

MARVEL PRESENTS #11 CGC 8.5

 

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #8 CGC 9.0

 

INVADERS #17 CGC 9.0

 

MARVEL SUPER ACTION #2 CGC 9.0

 

Dr. Strange #24 cgc 9.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Twistty1
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ShieldAgent

ShieldAgent

Posted
Posted
If you could get a copy of one of these variants which would you get, and why?

 

MARVEL PRESENTS #11 CGC 8.5

 

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #8 CGC 9.0

 

INVADERS #17 CGC 9.0

 

MARVEL SUPER ACTION #2 CGC 9.0

 

Dr. Strange #24 cgc 9.0

 

 

truth--none of those. Reasons relate to the seller.

 

otherwise if you are just asking as a hypothetical question:

--What title do you collect--buy that issue.

--If you are looking for rarity, the Marvel Super Action 2

--If you collect variants, buy the one you do not have

--If you are looking to start collecting variants, keep shopping there are better deals to be had

 

Keep in mind, if they were a decent price, they would have gone in one of the first ten times they were listed.

 

 

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weekend_warrior-migration

weekend_warrior-migration

Posted
Posted
If you could get a copy of one of these variants which would you get, and why?

 

MARVEL PRESENTS #11 CGC 8.5

 

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #8 CGC 9.0

 

INVADERS #17 CGC 9.0

 

MARVEL SUPER ACTION #2 CGC 9.0

 

Dr. Strange #24 cgc 9.0

 

 

truth--none of those. Reasons relate to the seller.

 

otherwise if you are just asking as a hypothetical question:

--What title do you collect--buy that issue.

--If you are looking for rarity, the Marvel Super Action 2

--If you collect variants, buy the one you do not have

--If you are looking to start collecting variants, keep shopping there are better deals to be had

 

Keep in mind, if they were a decent price, they would have gone in one of the first ten times they were listed.

 

 

Twisty answered his own question before he posted it:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230299062903

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Twistty1

Twistty1

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

truth--none of those. Reasons relate to the seller.

 

otherwise if you are just asking as a hypothetical question:

--What title do you collect--buy that issue.

--If you are looking for rarity, the Marvel Super Action 2

--If you collect variants, buy the one you do not have

--If you are looking to start collecting variants, keep shopping there are better deals to be had

 

Keep in mind, if they were a decent price, they would have gone in one of the first ten times they were listed.

 

 

thanks for the info

 

What about the seller, can you tell me more about him? PM me if you wish..

Edited by Twistty1
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Twistty1

Twistty1

Posted
Posted (edited)
If you could get a copy of one of these variants which would you get, and why?

 

MARVEL PRESENTS #11 CGC 8.5

 

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #8 CGC 9.0

 

INVADERS #17 CGC 9.0

 

MARVEL SUPER ACTION #2 CGC 9.0

 

Dr. Strange #24 cgc 9.0

 

 

truth--none of those. Reasons relate to the seller.

 

otherwise if you are just asking as a hypothetical question:

--What title do you collect--buy that issue.

--If you are looking for rarity, the Marvel Super Action 2

--If you collect variants, buy the one you do not have

--If you are looking to start collecting variants, keep shopping there are better deals to be had

 

Keep in mind, if they were a decent price, they would have gone in one of the first ten times they were listed.

 

 

Twisty answered his own question before he posted it:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230299062903

 

Thank you for posting that...if i want my ebay transactions posted here i'll do it...actually I posted first and then made an offer, if you could tell time you would have noticed that....just for those of you keeping track...btw thats not what I paid for it...it is part of a bigger deal..anyway I dont really care...I love that cover..throw back to GA

Edited by Twistty1
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joe_collector

joe_collector

Posted
Posted
there are 12 cent variants of the regular 10 cent Marvels....

 

now show me a 10 cent version of one of those.....

 

The Journey into Mystery regular edition has the cover price blacked out and a 12-cent cover.

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ShieldAgent

ShieldAgent

Posted
Posted (edited)
there are 12 cent variants of the regular 10 cent Marvels....

 

now show me a 10 cent version of one of those.....

 

The Journey into Mystery regular edition has the cover price blacked out and a 12-cent cover.

 

right, there are 12 cent covers, and 12 cent covers with a black circle. I have been searching for a 10 cent cover that "escaped" forever with no luck. I hope one exists somewhere.

Edited by ShieldAgent
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bronzilla

bronzilla

Posted
Posted

For any one interested there are a few more than usual 35 cent Variants on FEE BAY right now.

Including Rawhide Kid 141 and IF-14.

Looks like one seller has a lot listed, his prices seem a bit optimistic I think!

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