Copper Era newsstand vs direct - variants or not? 0

[StuporMan]

Are newsstand copies considered variants during this era? I remember both direct and newsstand copies being plentiful. I guess one could assume that the newsstand copies were handled by non-collectors and therefore usually found in lower grade. Is this all there is behind the perceived newsstand rarity?

[valiantman]

"Variant" has a lot of baggage as a term in the industry, so it's probably better to say "direct edition" and "newsstand edition".

 

By the late 1980s, there were more direct editions than newsstand editions being printed.

Add to that both the general "mis-handling" of newsstands and the fact that newsstands were returnable.

By the mid-1990s, newsstands are almost gone, but still exist for most Marvel / D.C. books.

 

The more common version is, by default, the one that most people will have.

As a result, those people with the more common version are sometimes adamant that there is no difference.

 

The best example in this area is probably Amazing Spider-man #300.

Ebay searches will show the ratio of direct to newsstand and the average grades.

There is definitely a difference in both the number available and the average grades.

 

If you're buying, and the prices are the same... it's your call. Common vs. less common. Your choice.

 

Our Canadian friends will also point out how the "Canadian editions" are a third option.

 

 

[revat]

Another thing I would add is that for your AVERAGE comic, the odds are pretty high that a comic shop or directly mailed copy would probably be in better condition that your average comic on a newsstand or the spinner rack at your drug store/grocery store (yes you GD millenials, that used to happen).

 

So SOME people think higher grades are more rare for newsstands.

 

As they say, choose your adventure, follow your heart, stay in school, see you next summer.

[valiantman]

Yep. The average grades are lower for books that were handled like groceries or TV guides.

 

It's pretty clear that Copper age books from the early-to-mid 1980s are fairly equal as both direct editions and newsstand editions. I would assume this is because newsstands were the primary (only) source of comics originally, the comic shop is the primary source of comics today, so there has to be a time when it was about 50/50. That 50/50 split appears to be around the early-to-mid 1980s.

[StuporMan]

I remember having to grab issues out of the back of spinner racks the first day or they'd all be bent in half from people flipping through them like files in a folder

[the blob]

I remember having to grab issues out of the back of spinner racks the first day or they'd all be bent in half from people flipping through them like files in a folder

---

 

you are describing the comics on the rack at all the comic shops i go to

 

i think the comic shop versions are likely to be in better shape on average because shops may have ordered extra copies to tuck away as back issues and collectors may have had a file at shops, so the comics wouldn't have been manhandled. honestly, i do not remember if people had files in the early 80s though. i don't think comic shop customers are particularly gentle with comics on the rack they aren't buying.

[kimik]

Our Canadian friends will also point out how the "Canadian editions" are a third option.

 

The Canadian newsstand editions/price variants will be the least common of the regular editions of books available due to the low print runs. Add in the spinner rack/news stand damage, and they are very tough to snag in 9.6 and above. The 1986-1988 Canadian editions (95cent or $1.00 Canadian cover price) are the hardest to find in high grade.

 

Almost all of the 9.8 Canadian newsstand editions I have slabbed personally have come from one collection I snagged three years ago. The OO would visit several 7-11s for "perfect copies" and just bag and board them.

[Mad_Bob]

MileHigh has the ratio as below, don't know how accurate it is, they also charge more for news stands. I imagine these are US figures only.

 

Year % Newsstand %Direct

1979 94% 6%

1982 80% 20%

1986 50% 50%

1990 15% 85%

1995 10% 90%

2000 5% 95%

2005 2% 98%

2013 1% 99%

 

I had some same issue comics both high grade, and priced my newsstands a few pound higher, and the directs sold, the newsstands didn't, or took longer to sell, people are either not aware of the difference, or aren't really bothered, they just go for the highest grade for the cheapest price whatever the version.

 

Don't know if that will ever change in the future.

[PeterPark]

I would guess around 90 and 95 the ratios were closer...there were tons of newsstand books and tons of comic stores...both are plentiful, but different than the 90's, motivated buyers will pay some premium for a newsstand. Try to find newsstand ASM's v2 10, 11 and 13. They exist as price variants. I think 2.25 and 2.49? And both are scarce to rare.

[kimik]

MileHigh has the ratio as below, don't know how accurate it is, they also charge more for news stands. I imagine these are US figures only.

 

Year % Newsstand %Direct

1979 94% 6%

1982 80% 20%

1986 50% 50%

1990 15% 85%

1995 10% 90%

2000 5% 95%

2005 2% 98%

2013 1% 99%

 

I had some same issue comics both high grade, and priced my newsstands a few pound higher, and the directs sold, the newsstands didn't, or took longer to sell, people are either not aware of the difference, or aren't really bothered, they just go for the highest grade for the cheapest price whatever the version.

 

Don't know if that will ever change in the future.

 

If the ratios hold on Canadian news stand editions, and the sales volume was only 10% of what was sold in the USA (based on population here), then you can see why the later Canadian editions in 9.4+ condition are so tough to find.

Edited February 24, 2016 by kimik

[StuporMan]

Wow, great info!

 

So I think Canadian editions are definitely worth holding onto. It also seems like late-Bronze age direct may be considered a variant. Late-Copper to early modern could be considered a variant?

[fastballspecial]

2000 and on is very difficult to find some newsstands and even harder to find high grade.

 

Any newsstand I find in high grade I ask a small premium because I never know if I will ever find another one.

 

 

[Martin Sinescu]

At what point did Marvel stop newsstands altogether?

[bababooey]

At what point did Marvel stop newsstands altogether?

 

 

http://www.comicsbeat.com/marvels-david-gabriel-we-havent-sold-comics-in-bookstores-for-months-and-no-one-noticed/

 

Gabriel confirmed that Marvel’s single-issue comics program to bookstores has been ended. He said that Marvel ended newsstand sales of print comics “about two years ago,” and the single-issue program at BAM and B&N “ended almost three months ago to no fanfare or notice from the comics industry.” Gabriel said “the business in the direct market [the comics shop market] is a much stronger model and try as we might, we have not been able to make the comics newsstand model work for years, I don’t think anyone has.”

 

I had no idea Marvel had ceased newsstand sales TWO YEARS AGO. But the fact that it took MONTHS for anyone to notice there were no more Marvel comics in B&Ns should tell you how many of these copies were cold.

[Martin Sinescu]

Thanks

[kimik]

2000 and on is very difficult to find some newsstands and even harder to find high grade.

 

Any newsstand I find in high grade I ask a small premium because I never know if I will ever find another one.

 

 

Agreed. I have a New 52 Batman #1 news stand copy I am still sitting on as a result of this.

[RockMyAmadeus]

MileHigh has the ratio as below, don't know how accurate it is, they also charge more for news stands. I imagine these are US figures only.

 

Year % Newsstand %Direct

1979 94% 6%

1982 80% 20%

1986 50% 50%

1990 15% 85%

1995 10% 90%

2000 5% 95%

2005 2% 98%

2013 1% 99%

 

I had some same issue comics both high grade, and priced my newsstands a few pound higher, and the directs sold, the newsstands didn't, or took longer to sell, people are either not aware of the difference, or aren't really bothered, they just go for the highest grade for the cheapest price whatever the version.

 

Don't know if that will ever change in the future.

 

Mile High is fairly to grossly inaccurate with these numbers.

 

A simple perusal will show that to be so. For example...in 2005, Marvel sold 91,205 copies of Uncanny X-Men #461 through Diamond (the Direct market.)

 

Using Chuck's figure, that would mean only 1800 copies of UXM #461 sold on the newsstands (let's say throughout North America.)

 

Obviously, that's not true. There were about 100,000 retail spaces for newsstand sales in North America in 2013.

 

https://mrmagazine.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/rethinking-newsstand-sales-magazines-money-and-mobile-blinders/

 

In 2005, that number would have been a bit higher.

 

In 2006, there were 3,289 Wal-Mart stores, which carried newsstand comics, across the US alone.

 

For Chuck's numbers to be correct, that means they would have sold only one single copy of the latest issue of X-Men for every 2 Wal-Mart stores...ignoring the entire rest of the newsstand market.

 

Obviously, that's not the case.

 

Chuck's numbers are wrong.

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

If the ratios hold on Canadian news stand editions, and the sales volume was only 10% of what was sold in the USA (based on population here), then you can see why the later Canadian editions in 9.4+ condition are so tough to find.

 

I know that 10% figure is tossed around a lot, but it is such a rough number as to almost be rendered useless.

 

I'd sure like to get much harder, more realistic numbers out there.

[Rick moma]

100,00 retailer spaces for newsstand means nothing. Barns and noble for example no longer even carries marvel titles. Fact. DC and Bongo (go figure). Many others carry very few titles if any at all.

 

Your argument holds no more weight than the 10% claim.

[RockMyAmadeus]

100,00 retailer spaces for newsstand means nothing.

 

Nothing at all?

 

Barns and noble for example no longer even carries marvel titles. Fact.

 

I'm not sure how this is relevant to 2005, when Barns (sic) and noble DID carry newsstand Marvel titles, which is the argument.

 

DC and Bongo (go figure). Many others carry very few titles if any at all.

 

Your argument holds no more weight than the 10% claim.

 

Oh, I don't know. I think it carries a little more weight. You know, what with the research and hard numbers and data and all.

 

But what do I know?