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MOST VALUABLE MODERN VARIANTS - THE RANKINGS
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Started by Jaydogrules,

2,251 posts in this topic

paul747

paul747

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, fastballspecial said:

I can't remember have we discussed the ASM 546 Book Market Variant. I rarely see this book. I sold  VG/F copy a couple of years ago for around $160 raw. GPA has very limited sales and I only see one up currently. Does this book not count because its not a true variant? I can't remember.

What is a book market variant?

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fastballspecial

fastballspecial

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Posted
23 minutes ago, Jaydogrules said:

Is it a variant?   It has the identical art it just says "Book Market" on it. 

Either way I'm familiar with it and haven't seen any sales that would get it anywhere near the Dirty Dozen. 

-J.

 

I thought that was the problem, but I couldn't remember. It doesn't deviate from the cover other then the Book Market on it.

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

Posted
Posted
Just now, rjrjr said:

It is Star Wars.  Nothing to do with Zdarsky.

I mean... does that make sense even? (shrug)

I just chalk it up to being a 'rare variant', the Zdarsky comment was a joke around the recurring, repeated theme that people are after the sweet covers.

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Jaydogrules

Jaydogrules

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5 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

I mean... does that make sense even? (shrug)

I just chalk it up to being a 'rare variant', the Zdarsky comment was a joke around the recurring, repeated theme that people are after the sweet covers.

And his comment was indicative of the demand for all things Star Wars.  

Fact is, if there is no demand it doesn't matter how "rare" or nice a cover is. People seem to routinely forget that one basic economic principle when it comes to books or a class or Age of books  they don't personally like or collect.  

While that Star Wars cover is not my cup of tea at all, people are obviously still willing to pay up for it, a year+ after it came out.  Whether or not the same will be true in another two years when it will be seasoned enough to qualify for this list remains to be seen....

-J.

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

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Posted
5 minutes ago, Jaydogrules said:

And his comment was indicative of the demand for all things Star Wars.  

Fact is, if there is no demand it doesn't matter how "rare" or nice a cover is. People seem to routinely forget that one basic economic principle when it comes to books or a class or Age of books  they don't personally like or collect.  

While that Star Wars cover is not my cup of tea at all, people are obviously still willing to pay up for it, a year+ after it came out.  Whether or not the same will be true in another two years when it will be seasoned enough to qualify for this list remains to be seen....

-J.

Haven't we sort of logically established that one of the main driving forces allowing this 'premium variant' market to exist is it's ability to sidestep the need for large demand? Instead of requiring thousands of people chasing after the same semi-limited book to enable a healthy market, you now just need a handful willing to pay big bucks. 

So... Star Wars? Sure, we've all heard of that, it's a global brand, but still... we don't need a global brand, again, we just need a handful of collectors with fat wallets chasing a particular book. I mean, we've seen big bucks for Venom variants, and I guess Venom is 'popular', but... I wonder if we'll ever see truly fringe characters in this list one day if these practices continue.

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ygogolak

ygogolak

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

Haven't we sort of logically established that one of the main driving forces allowing this 'premium variant' market to exist is it's ability to sidestep the need for large demand? Instead of requiring thousands of people chasing after the same semi-limited book to enable a healthy market, you now just need a handful willing to pay big bucks. 

So... Star Wars? Sure, we've all heard of that, it's a global brand, but still... we don't need a global brand, again, we just need a handful of collectors with fat wallets chasing a particular book. I mean, we've seen big bucks for Venom variants, and I guess Venom is 'popular', but... I wonder if we'll ever see truly fringe characters in this list one day if these practices continue.

It's typically a combination of books that don't come to market and great art. This one was pumped from the beginning by BC as only being 12 in existence or something. Star Wars + Marvel + supposed super limited is what brings the price. I bet a couple that own it don't care about two of the three of those factors. It's simply that not many have shown up and they own something that is only had by people that cough up the cash.

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Jaydogrules

Jaydogrules

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5 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

Haven't we sort of logically established that one of the main driving forces allowing this 'premium variant' market to exist is it's ability to sidestep the need for large demand? Instead of requiring thousands of people chasing after the same semi-limited book to enable a healthy market, you now just need a handful willing to pay big bucks. 

So... Star Wars? Sure, we've all heard of that, it's a global brand, but still... we don't need a global brand, again, we just need a handful of collectors with fat wallets chasing a particular book. I mean, we've seen big bucks for Venom variants, and I guess Venom is 'popular', but... I wonder if we'll ever see truly fringe characters in this list one day if these practices continue.

There is certainly validity to what you're saying.  But the difference in the compression of demand may be what makes a book sell for $3000 instead of maybe "just" $1000, we really can't know the answer to that.  It only takes two people to get an auction to any final price however.  

-J.

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Jaydogrules

Jaydogrules

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7 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

It's typically a combination of books that don't come to market and great art. This one was pumped from the beginning by BC as only being 12 in existence or something. Star Wars + Marvel + supposed super limited is what brings the price. I bet a couple that own it don't care about two of the three of those factors. It's simply that not many have shown up and they own something that is only had by people that cough up the cash.

I thought rjrjr summed it up best a little while ago when he described it as some order of title, artist, art/subject, rarity.  While all of the books on the list are at least 3 years old, some of them are pushing ten years old, and one of them is 15 years old.  You'll notice that those that have held and continue to hold have ALL four traits going for them, hence why I don't believe all 12 of the books on the list will always be on the list, and why I try to update it every quarter. 

-J.

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

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Posted
4 minutes ago, Jaydogrules said:

I thought rjrjr summed it up best a little while ago when he described it as some order of title, artist, art/subject, rarity.  While all of the books on the list are at least 3 years old, some of them are pushing ten years old, and one of them is 15 years old.  You'll notice that those that have held and continue to hold have ALL four traits going for them, hence why I don't believe all 12 of the books on the list will always be on the list, and why I try to update it every quarter. 

-J.

The same list could be made for describing desirability of standard issue comics, I don't doubt @rjrjr is correct to some extent, but I do not feel like it gives me any addition insight into what, if anything, is special about this niche... other than the often supposed hyper rareness.

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Jaydogrules

Jaydogrules

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18 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

The same list could be made for describing desirability of standard issue comics, I don't doubt @rjrjr is correct to some extent, but I do not feel like it gives me any addition insight into what, if anything, is special about this niche... other than the often supposed hyper rareness.

There's a lot of niches in this hobby that I don't personally understand or collect.  

That's the beauty of it though, there's something for everybody.  (thumbsu

-J.

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ygogolak

ygogolak

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

The same list could be made for describing desirability of standard issue comics, I don't doubt @rjrjr is correct to some extent, but I do not feel like it gives me any addition insight into what, if anything, is special about this niche... other than the often supposed hyper rareness.

What makes someone like one character over another and this desire their first appearance more?

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SquareChaos

SquareChaos

Posted
Posted
Just now, ygogolak said:

What makes someone like one character over another and this desire their first appearance more?

Several things that I'm sure of.

 

Nostalgia is probably the most oft repeated - whether from childhood or even young adulthood. 

Ubiquity is another. Batman, Spider-man, Superman, they're everywhere and have always been around for as long as many of us can remember.

Rounding out my own personal top three is the plain fact that human's covet things that they see. Most of us are not original thinkers, if others like something and think that it is cool / interesting / has value, chances are many others will as well without giving it a whole lot of thought. This one gets people into trouble.

 

So, while there are a whole host of reasons some particular individual could want something, for my money these are the top three that I've seen and experienced.

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ygogolak

ygogolak

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9 hours ago, SquareChaos said:

Several things that I'm sure of.

 

Nostalgia is probably the most oft repeated - whether from childhood or even young adulthood. 

Ubiquity is another. Batman, Spider-man, Superman, they're everywhere and have always been around for as long as many of us can remember.

Rounding out my own personal top three is the plain fact that human's covet things that they see. Most of us are not original thinkers, if others like something and think that it is cool / interesting / has value, chances are many others will as well without giving it a whole lot of thought. This one gets people into trouble.

 

So, while there are a whole host of reasons some particular individual could want something, for my money these are the top three that I've seen and experienced.

And could not all of these be applied to variants?

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slg343

slg343

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, ygogolak said:

Be interesting to watch these over the next couple of years and see how they play out:

X-O #1 1:500 Metal Variant CGC 9.8 $1,400

Star Wars C-3PO 1:1000 Variant CGC 9.8 $910

Star Wars C-3PO 1:100 Variant CGC 9.8 $860

Star Wars Vader Down #1 1:4999 Variant CGC 9.8 $2,850

Amazing Spider-Man 1:1000 Remastered Variant RAW $1,575

 

XO takes a dive for sure.

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