ASM #184 All Detergent Variant

[Crimebuster]

I was at a comic shop today (name redacted to protect the innocent) and found a copy of the ASM #184 All Detergent giveaway variant, with the sticker still intact. It's a yellow sticker if that matters.

 

It's in lower grade. Not quite sure of grade as it has a tape pull deep enough that there's actually a tiny hole in the cover from it; otherwise I'd have it in the 4.0-4.5 range.

 

I've been trying to find info on value, but haven't been able to find much, given how infrequently this sells. What I have seen is kind of all over the map as well.

 

Any idea what this might be worth?

 

Here are the scans. I have no idea why the sticker looks white in the scan - it's not, it's yellow, and nearly as bright a yellow as the fire on the cover. I can take a photo to show the yellowness if anyone wants to see it.

 

The tiny hole in the tape pull is just below White Dragon's left shin.

 

 

 

 

[Ghostzapper]

With the sticker still intact even with the defect I'd say you can get $400+ for it no problem.

[joe_collector]

With the sticker still intact even with the defect I'd say you can get $400+ for it no problem.

 

Seriously? Has this issue experienced a sudden increase in price lately?

 

I used to see them all the time on eBay (back in the day) but at no where near that price.

[Crimebuster]

With the sticker still intact even with the defect I'd say you can get $400+ for it no problem.

 

Seriously? Has this issue experienced a sudden increase in price lately?

 

I used to see them all the time on eBay (back in the day) but at no where near that price.

 

I don't know too much about it - hence this thread - but in my research I found another forum where they have been discussing this issue. One of the posters there said that he's been following it for 8 years on ebay and has documented 15 sales of this issue over that time, only 4 of which had the sticker. The prices cited for sold copies with the sticker were between $610 and $1510. The most recently cited example of a sale without a sticker was a PGX 5.5 that went for $455 earlier this year.

 

I don't know about recent price increases, but based on this anyway, it seems as though Ghostzapper's estimate of $400+ for a low grade copy with the sticker is reasonable.

[Crimebuster]

Here's another thread on another site discussing the issue.

 

Both this discussion and the previous one I linked to cite the fine folks over at St. Louis Comics, who are known for their knowledge on variants. This thread here is their research on the All Detergent Variant.

 

The last posts in the St. Louis Comics thread from 2012 indicate they had only found 3 copies with the sticker intact after about 10 years of research on it. Since then, another copy went up for public auction in 2013. In these various discussions, two other posters mentioned owning stickered versions they acquired through other means, bringing the total to 6 with stickers. I guess my copy is the 7th. Though I suspect there are more out there that just haven't been found yet since this issue is so obscure.

[Spider-Variant]

Hi Crimebuster.

 

I am the author of that thread over on STLcomics.

 

I have been tracking this book off and on for about 10 years or so.

 

At one time I had about five non-stickered copies and one stickered. I traded my copy for some art work worth around $2k.

 

The last copy with a sticker I saw that sold was in better condition than yours, but had a marker across the writing. It sold for $600. There was another copy which sold back in 2012 for $1500 in about FN- condition.

 

I agree, probably 6 to 7 copies with stickers out there now.

 

The copy posted with a yellow sticker on your first link was mine.

 

 

 

[Crimebuster]

Hi Crimebuster.

 

I am the author of that thread over on STLcomics.

 

I have been tracking this book off and on for about 10 years or so.

 

At one time I had about five non-stickered copies and one stickered. I traded my copy for some art work worth around $2k.

 

The last copy with a sticker I saw that sold was in better condition than yours, but had a marker across the writing. It sold for $600. There was another copy which sold back in 2012 for $1500 in about FN- condition.

 

I agree, probably 6 to 7 copies with stickers out there now.

 

The copy posted with a yellow sticker on your first link was mine.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it! (thumbs u

[Spider-Variant]

With the sticker still intact even with the defect I'd say you can get $400+ for it no problem.

 

Seriously? Has this issue experienced a sudden increase in price lately?

 

I used to see them all the time on eBay (back in the day) but at no where near that price.

 

Most likely you are remembering the yellow covered Spider-Man all detergent giveaway and not the ASM 184 all detergent giveaway. Not many of the latter ever listed on ebay (well, listed with the seller knowing what he had) and almost zero copies listed with the sticker (2-3 at most).

 

 

[Vikingreed]

White Dragon!

Red Death!

 

dun dun DUN

[Vikingreed]

Very cool find!

[THB]

Very Nice.......

[Silverdream]

I really enjoy chasing books like this, I always check for this issue number when going through longboxes. The one thing that scares me about this, and any other promotional book that was distributed through stores and mailaway is you never know when that stack of 20 or 50 or 100 copies will pop up, completely destroying the value.

 

I guarantee you somewhere out there, there is a grocery store that has 30+ years of promo stuff stacked up in an unused room that has some of these. It might sound crazy, but there are stores like these still out there. When you are buying hard to find books like these, always be aware there is a chance someone will stumble upon an unused stack. If you are ok with paying $500+ for something like that, while understanding what can happen, by all means make yourself happy.

[SteveC77]

 

Here are the scans. I have no idea why the sticker looks white in the scan - it's not, it's yellow, and nearly as bright a yellow as the fire on the cover. I can take a photo to show the yellowness if anyone wants to see it.

 

There are three different variations of this comic in circulation. Some copies were issued without a sticker. Others have either a white or yellow sticker. I've been looking for one of these All Detergent 184's for years... Nice find.

[Hado]

Can you take a picture that more accurately shows the color of the sticker Cb.

[Crimebuster]

Can you take a picture that more accurately shows the color of the sticker Cb.

 

 

Yep, a little glare on it, but you can see here that the sticker is a pretty bright yellow. Don't know why the scanner washed it out, since it's almost the same yellow as the flames, which the scanner picked up fine:

 

 

 

[Hado]

Can you take a picture that more accurately shows the color of the sticker Cb.

 

 

Yep, a little glare on it, but you can see here that the sticker is a pretty bright yellow. Don't know why the scanner washed it out, since it's almost the same yellow as the flames, which the scanner picked up fine:

 

 

Wow, that is different.

 

Thanks mate (thumbs u

 

(P.S. Go pick your Grading contest prize )

[Spider-Variant]

 

Here are the scans. I have no idea why the sticker looks white in the scan - it's not, it's yellow, and nearly as bright a yellow as the fire on the cover. I can take a photo to show the yellowness if anyone wants to see it.

 

There are three different variations of this comic in circulation. Some copies were issued without a sticker. Others have either a white or yellow sticker. I've been looking for one of these All Detergent 184's for years... Nice find.

 

In my ten years of tracking, I have never seen a white sticker edition. Do you have a link to one? Would be interested in seeing it. The first guy (Todd) who had one of these said it was a green sticker, but when I emailed him, he confirmed his copy did in fact have a yellow sticker. I have seen a faded copy where the sticker looked more white than yellow, similar to the OPs original pic.

 

As for issuing without a sticker, how do you determine it was issued without a sticker vs. just having it removed? Most copies I have seen without a sticker have signs that the sticker was simply removed. The five copies I owned all had residual marks, glue circles remains, etc. that confirmed there was once a sticker.

[Ghostzapper]

They're all the same version, they all came with a sticker on them. The ones you see with no sticker and no damage where the sticker should be, the sticker was just removed carefully leaving no tear but most of the time if you look closely at the book you will see a slight faded circle where the sticker was.

 

Also, there is No white sticker version, only the green sticker. Some people have seen some bad scans and it makes it look like it's a white sticker and it appears as if it's faded but most of the time it's just a bad scan and the sticker is vibrant and green. Just like the updated pic. the OP provided, it just didn't show well in the original scan. But only one version.

[Metarog]

They should all have the sticker as these comics were attached to the All boxes or jugs via plastic wrap. I suppose some may have escaped the printers or slipped through the cracks but I remember these from way back as my mother bought All for our washing machine.

 

If only I would have kept a few of those jugs around with the comic still on them... who knows how much those would go for.

[B-Smooth]

They should all have the sticker as these comics were attached to the All boxes or jugs via plastic wrap. I suppose some may have escaped the printers or slipped through the cracks but I remember these from way back as my mother bought All for our washing machine.

 

If only I would have kept a few of those jugs around with the comic still on them... who knows how much those would go for.

Lots.