1st commercially successful variant?

[Aweandlorder]

I know there was a thread about it before, but couldnt find it..

 

Based on how variants appear today, what was the first marketed variant for a comic to have a different cover and reach some sort of commercial success?

 

I nominate Adventurers #1 nude variant which was the limited edition variant for Adventurers #1 in 1986

 

 

[shadroch]

This book wasn't marketed as a variant. It simply was sent out to stores unsolicited. Not much different than the FF printing error.

Off-hand, I'm thinking the Spider- Man wedding issue, with shops having two covers to choose from.One with Petey and one with Spiderman. Unless Man of Steel 1 came out first.

[Lazyboy]

Peter was Direct and Spider-Man was Newsstand. Man of Steel 1 was close to a year earlier anyway.

[shadroch]

Direct accounts were offered both editions. For both books.

Couldn't remember which came first.

[Aweandlorder]

This book wasn't marketed as a variant. It simply was sent out to stores unsolicited. Not much different than the FF printing error.

Off-hand, I'm thinking the Spider- Man wedding issue, with shops having two covers to choose from.One with Petey and one with Spiderman. Unless Man of Steel 1 came out first.

 

Arent 1:100, 1:50 etc variants sent to stores for the same reason?

 

[shadroch]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

[Aweandlorder]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

 

So?

It was a variant, it was a diff cover, it was limited in print, and it hit the stores and sold at a premium almost immediately.

To me, that registers and behaves just as a current variant does nowadays. Certainly a trend way ahead of its time

The MOS and ASM21 variants came out later and although were a commercial hit, they did not sell at a premium nor were they limited in print run as most retailer incentives do nowadays

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

 

So?

It was a variant, it was a diff cover, it was limited in print, and it hit the stores and sold at a premium almost immediately.

To me, that registers and behaves just as a current variant does nowadays. Certainly a trend way ahead of its time

The MOS and ASM21 variants came out later and although were a commercial hit, they did not sell at a premium nor were they limited in print run as most retailer incentives do nowadays

So the question was more "What is the first incentive/limited edition variant?"?

[Aweandlorder]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

 

So?

It was a variant, it was a diff cover, it was limited in print, and it hit the stores and sold at a premium almost immediately.

To me, that registers and behaves just as a current variant does nowadays. Certainly a trend way ahead of its time

The MOS and ASM21 variants came out later and although were a commercial hit, they did not sell at a premium nor were they limited in print run as most retailer incentives do nowadays

So the question was more "What is the first incentive/limited edition variant?"?

 

Well, what 1st variant resembled current market trends would be a simpler way to rephrase the question? In terms of popularity, price markup, scarcity etc

[thirdgreenham]

Gen 13 #1? That's when I really noticed it taking off like crazy.

[jerome34]

So far, the earliest variant I have seen is "New Book of Comics" 1

from 1936. There are copies with a 10 cent price on the cover and

there are copies with no price on the cover.

 

The second oldest would be "Marvel Mystery" 1 (October 1939

or November 1939).

 

(Granted, the cover images are the same so it does not fully match

the initial question. However, it does push the date for the start

of this nonsense back a few more years.)

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

 

So?

It was a variant, it was a diff cover, it was limited in print, and it hit the stores and sold at a premium almost immediately.

To me, that registers and behaves just as a current variant does nowadays. Certainly a trend way ahead of its time

The MOS and ASM21 variants came out later and although were a commercial hit, they did not sell at a premium nor were they limited in print run as most retailer incentives do nowadays

So the question was more "What is the first incentive/limited edition variant?"?

 

Well, what 1st variant resembled current market trends would be a simpler way to rephrase the question? In terms of popularity, price markup, scarcity etc

Not *exactly* the same as today's variants, as they weren't distributed in a ratio to regular orders, but the Valiant Gold books are good example of popularity, price markup, and scarcity. Although the Spider-man Platinum predates those, no?

[RockMyAmadeus]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

 

So?

It was a variant, it was a diff cover, it was limited in print, and it hit the stores and sold at a premium almost immediately.

To me, that registers and behaves just as a current variant does nowadays. Certainly a trend way ahead of its time

The MOS and ASM21 variants came out later and although were a commercial hit, they did not sell at a premium nor were they limited in print run as most retailer incentives do nowadays

 

MOS #1 was published on 6-17 (collector's edition), or 6-24 (regular edition), whichever is accurate according to the USCO. Adventurers #1 was published a month later, 7-14.

 

So, yes, MOS #1 was published before Adventurers.

 

And yes, the "silver ink" "collector's edition #1" carried a bit of a premium.

 

And, your question, which was the "first marketed variant" doesn't work with Adventurers #1 which, as Shadroch notes, was a surprise. It wasn't marketed, nor was it a "commercial success", because it was never figured into the ordering equation.

 

"Commercial success" means that it sold well, and made money for the publisher. Because Adventurers #1 variant wasn't marketed and wasn't known until the copies actually arrived, there is no way to determine how many "extra copies" sold because of it.

 

That it achieved value as a collectible does not mean that it made Adventurers #1 more of a commercial success than it otherwise would have been. That value means nothing to the publisher, and has nothing to do with commercial success.

[shadroch]

To be fair, the success of the Skeleton cover did cause many store owners to up their orders on the next few Aircel releases, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. It was a brilliant strategy that gained the company both sales and publicity.

[RockMyAmadeus]

It was a brilliant strategy that gained the company both sales and publicity.

 

So much so that DC tried to copy it three years later with LOTDK #1.

[joe_collector]

This is actually a variant, as it was unpromoted, and on the shelf at the same time as the regular issue.

 

What you others are comparing it to are "Manufactured Limited Collectibles", which are promoted, offered to dealers at a X:Y ratio, and initially sold for higher than cover price or given to heavy sub holders as a premium, at launch.

[shadroch]

No doubt it is a variant., but was it commercially successful? The Man of Steel #1 variant covers were available at regular discounts and initially sold for regular price. Shop owners ordered extra copies of Man of Steel because of the multiple covers .That translates as a success.

No one( that I know of) ordered extra Adventurers 1s because of the variant, as it was a surprise. I didn't even notice it until the next weeks books arrived and there was a note from my distributor alerting us to it.

[Aweandlorder]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

 

So?

It was a variant, it was a diff cover, it was limited in print, and it hit the stores and sold at a premium almost immediately.

To me, that registers and behaves just as a current variant does nowadays. Certainly a trend way ahead of its time

The MOS and ASM21 variants came out later and although were a commercial hit, they did not sell at a premium nor were they limited in print run as most retailer incentives do nowadays

 

MOS #1 was published on 6-17 (collector's edition), or 6-24 (regular edition), whichever is accurate according to the USCO. Adventurers #1 was published a month later, 7-14.

 

So, yes, MOS #1 was published before Adventurers.

 

And yes, the "silver ink" "collector's edition #1" carried a bit of a premium.

 

And, your question, which was the "first marketed variant" doesn't work with Adventurers #1 which, as Shadroch notes, was a surprise. It wasn't marketed, nor was it a "commercial success", because it was never figured into the ordering equation.

 

"Commercial success" means that it sold well, and made money for the publisher. Because Adventurers #1 variant wasn't marketed and wasn't known until the copies actually arrived, there is no way to determine how many "extra copies" sold because of it.

 

That it achieved value as a collectible does not mean that it made Adventurers #1 more of a commercial success than it otherwise would have been. That value means nothing to the publisher, and has nothing to do with commercial success.

 

Which title was a commercial success that had a variant which brought immediate premium? Does that work better?

But yeah, you nailed it - it achieved value as a collectible and was distributed at the same time as the first issue. Whether it was a 1:100/50/25 which was announced to stores at the time or not, isnt really the point here. It was distributed to stores on a limited basis, which in turn saw interest in selling it to the public, which made it skyrocket in price. Whether it resulted as a retailer incentive, or marketed as such doesnt change the fact that it achieved the same result.

 

[Aweandlorder]

This is actually a variant, as it was unpromoted, and on the shelf at the same time as the regular issue.

 

What you others are comparing it to are "Manufactured Limited Collectibles", which are promoted, offered to dealers at a X:Y ratio, and initially sold for higher than cover price or given to heavy sub holders as a premium, at launch.

 

BRAVO

[RockMyAmadeus]

They are marketed as such. Buy 100, get one variant. Aircel did this without warning. They didn't solicit it as buy 20, get a variant. Buy 40, get 2.

 

So?

It was a variant, it was a diff cover, it was limited in print, and it hit the stores and sold at a premium almost immediately.

To me, that registers and behaves just as a current variant does nowadays. Certainly a trend way ahead of its time

The MOS and ASM21 variants came out later and although were a commercial hit, they did not sell at a premium nor were they limited in print run as most retailer incentives do nowadays

 

MOS #1 was published on 6-17 (collector's edition), or 6-24 (regular edition), whichever is accurate according to the USCO. Adventurers #1 was published a month later, 7-14.

 

So, yes, MOS #1 was published before Adventurers.

 

And yes, the "silver ink" "collector's edition #1" carried a bit of a premium.

 

And, your question, which was the "first marketed variant" doesn't work with Adventurers #1 which, as Shadroch notes, was a surprise. It wasn't marketed, nor was it a "commercial success", because it was never figured into the ordering equation.

 

"Commercial success" means that it sold well, and made money for the publisher. Because Adventurers #1 variant wasn't marketed and wasn't known until the copies actually arrived, there is no way to determine how many "extra copies" sold because of it.

 

That it achieved value as a collectible does not mean that it made Adventurers #1 more of a commercial success than it otherwise would have been. That value means nothing to the publisher, and has nothing to do with commercial success.

 

Which title was a commercial success that had a variant which brought immediate premium? Does that work better?

But yeah, you nailed it - it achieved value as a collectible and was distributed at the same time as the first issue. Whether it was a 1:100/50/25 which was announced to stores at the time or not, isnt really the point here. It was distributed to stores on a limited basis, which in turn saw interest in selling it to the public, which made it skyrocket in price. Whether it resulted as a retailer incentive, or marketed as such doesnt change the fact that it achieved the same result.

 

So, what you really meant was "what was the first variant that carried a premium on the aftermarket"...?