Batman 50 variants 2 2

[TYPE-R]

55 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

Ever heard the statement variety is the spice of life? 

[ygogolak]

29 minutes ago, TYPE-R said:

Ever heard the statement variety is the spice of life? 

Yes, I see long boxes of "spice" at every show I go to for pennies on the dollar.

[TYPE-R]

1 minute ago, ygogolak said:

Yes, I see long boxes of "spice" at every show I go to for pennies on the dollar.

You'd see that even without a variant market, very few books are key.

 If you're only interested in monetary value, moderns are not what you should be collecting.

[ygogolak]

2 minutes ago, TYPE-R said:

You'd see that even without a variant market, very few books are key.

 If you're only interested in monetary value, moderns are not what you should be collecting.

The variant market has created this current situation that people feel they need to be keys to purchase them. I never said their shouldn't be variants. I object to needing 100+ variants for Star Wars #1, 50 for ASM #800 and Batman #50, etc... That is not sustainable for comic books in general.

Thanks for the tip on Moderns. I seem to be doing just fine with them though.

[MGH]

Variants or no variants. Find me a wedding  issue from any super hero comic in  the past that has a) decent monetary value today  or b) was an enjoyable read and you go back to re read because it was great. 

**crickets **

 

[ExNihilo]

10 minutes ago, MGH said:

Variants or no variants. Find me a wedding  issue from any super hero comic in  the past that has a) decent monetary value today  or b) was an enjoyable read and you go back to re read because it was great. 

**crickets **

 

I mean, you're definitely not wrong.  They're all books you would find in the $1 bin.  But really, what percentage of your books do you go back and re-read to begin with?  When I finally sat down to re-organize my books I came across books I didn't even remember I had.  That said, there's a part of me that still loves Kubert's wraparound cover of the Summers/Grey wedding issue (X-Men v2 #30).

[ExNihilo]

5 hours ago, ComicCollectorMatt said:

It wont ever sell out. Want to know why ? Ssalefish keeps adding more inventory. It will get down to 26, then they add 40 more. They've done this several times over the weekend.

The Warren Louw variant cover by KRS comics on the other hand did sell out (on their website) at some point over the weekend.

[MGH]

12 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I mean, you're definitely not wrong.  They're all books you would find in the $1 bin.  But really, what percentage of your books do you go back and re-read to begin with?  When I finally sat down to re-organize my books I came across books I didn't even remember I had.  That said, there's a part of me that still loves Kubert's wraparound cover of the Summers/Grey wedding issue (X-Men v2 #30).

Point being, that beyond the initial hype, everyone will come to realise its another forgettable, lame wedding book that none here really needed (nor wanted) to read..  So I personally can't understand why need all the variants.  They will all be worth as much as a roll of toilet paper in a few years as none ever thinks "I must have the wedding issue in my collection" 

[ADAMANTIUM]

17 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I mean, you're definitely not wrong.  They're all books you would find in the $1 bin.  But really, what percentage of your books do you go back and re-read to begin with?  When I finally sat down to re-organize my books I came across books I didn't even remember I had.  That said, there's a part of me that still loves Kubert's wraparound cover of the Summers/Grey wedding issue (X-Men v2 #30).

I agree, that is the first one that I thought of, have 2 in my collection and everytime I go through those back issues (my kid days) I reread that one...

Checked and looked like I could have picked up some signed copies on the bay, and relatively cheap too.

I know on The Big Bang Theory, when Walowitz gets married, he gives the groomsmen the FF where Invisible Woman and Mr Fantastic get married. I have no idea what issue that is, but in that show it is said, "this book in this condition is worth $100."   

Edited June 11, 2018 by ADAMANTIUM

[ExNihilo]

7 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I agree, that is the first one that I thought of, have 2 in my collection and everytime I go through those back issues (my kid days) I reread that one...

Checked and looked like I could have picked up some signed copies on the bay, and relatively cheap too.

I know on The Big Bang Theory, when Walowitz gets married, he gives the groomsmen the FF where Invisible Woman and Mr Fantastic get married. I have no idea what issue that is, but in that show it is said, "this book in this condition is worth $100."   

I didn't know what issue they got married in so I had to look it up (Fantastic Four Annual #3).  On eBay, the prices were $100+ for an 8.0+.  Granted, there is that one raw book that sold for a measly $2.25. 

[ExNihilo]

15 minutes ago, MGH said:

Point being, that beyond the initial hype, everyone will come to realise its another forgettable, lame wedding book that none here really needed (nor wanted) to read..  So I personally can't understand why need all the variants.  They will all be worth as much as a roll of toilet paper in a few years as none ever thinks "I must have the wedding issue in my collection" 

Frankly, as a reader, I'm looking forward to it.  I've enjoyed King's run (at least beginning with the I Am Bane arc) and some of the issues highlighting the Batman/Catwoman dynamic have been well done.  I absolutely loved Annual #2 in particular as well as the 2 issue arc where Bruce tells Clark (it was so good to see Lois and Selena interact), and the standalone issue where Selena "shops" for her wedding dress was fun as well.

And the wedding issues are only slightly less impactful than the "Deaths".  We all know our heroes will eventually return.  And despite this, there is always hype in the run up, maybe a flurry of sales.  But where are a lot of those books now?  How much is the Death of Captain America worth?  Or Superman?  Or Batman?

And while I completely agree that an excessive number of variant covers is bad (I mean, just look at Action Comics #1000...did it really need a crappy cover from EVERY decade PLUS the innumerable store variants?), for the right price, I see no reason not to add some books to the personal collection for its artistic value.  When Marvel is selling ASM #800 for $10(!), it kinda opens the door and makes you think "okay, a set of 2 variant covers by Louw for $15 isn't bad."  Or "sure, Middleton covers for $20?  I can do that."  I think the store variant covers cater to a niche market - the collectors.  The more detrimental variants to the business are the variants available for all LCS's.  The shenanigans that Marvel pulled with their Legacy covers was just bad as far as I could see.

[TYPE-R]

1 hour ago, ygogolak said:

I object to needing 100+ variants for Star Wars #1, 50 for ASM #800 and Batman #50, etc... That is not sustainable for comic books in general. 

I disagree with the practice as well and also selling 3 packs to get the rarest version but if it makes companies and stores money then I can't fault them. I'd rather have too much and shops making money then not enough and shops failing. It may not be sustainable in the future but they keep selling out now. If no one was buying then they'd stop printing them.

As pointed out ,none of these will be worth very much down the road. It doesn't bother me if DC prints 500k and makes more money, like Action 1000, then prints 100k and makes less.

@ExNihilo   I'm also looking forward to this issue and have enjoyed King's run a lot, especially the War of Jokes and Riddles. 

Edited June 11, 2018 by TYPE-R

[kimik]

1 hour ago, MGH said:

Variants or no variants. Find me a wedding  issue from any super hero comic in  the past that has a) decent monetary value today  or b) was an enjoyable read and you go back to re read because it was great. 

**crickets **

 

ASM Annuall #21 was an okay read and still holds decent value today.

[ygogolak]

8 minutes ago, kimik said:

ASM Annuall #21 was an okay read and still holds decent value today.

Yup, also Doc. Oct. marriage to Aunt May.

[Awax]

Boy 

[BeachBum]

Campbell's 5 cover set - 

[Mercury Man]

Trying to talk the variant crowd off the ledge:   

 

 

[ExNihilo]

17 minutes ago, Mercury Man said:

Trying to talk the variant crowd off the ledge:  

Legit question: I'm not a variant person, but Batman is one of my favorite characters, I have enjoyed the story thus far, and I do like several of the covers to the point that I feel like owning a few would make me happy.  I have no intention of buying to flip or speculate, all books are for the sole intent of having in my personal collection.  What ledge am I looking over?

(Note, the question is from a personal standpoint and is not about variants and the business as a whole.  I think I've made it clear in a previous post that I disagree with the rampant trend of variants from the two major publishers recently.  Now, if you want to argue that by buying copies, I am enabling/justifying the publishers actions and thus potentially speeding up the next comic book crash, then I suppose an argument could be made that I am guilty of that.  But am I to blame for wanting books, or is the publisher to blame for creating a niche market for people such as myself?)

[kimik]

2 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

Legit question: I'm not a variant person, but Batman is one of my favorite characters, I have enjoyed the story thus far, and I do like several of the covers to the point that I feel like owning a few would make me happy.  I have no intention of buying to flip or speculate, all books are for the sole intent of having in my personal collection.  What ledge am I looking over?

(Note, the question is from a personal standpoint and is not about variants and the business as a whole.  I think I've made it clear in a previous post that I disagree with the rampant trend of variants from the two major publishers recently.  Now, if you want to argue that by buying copies, I am enabling/justifying the publishers actions and thus potentially speeding up the next comic book crash, then I suppose an argument could be made that I am guilty of that.  But am I to blame for wanting books, or is the publisher to blame for creating a niche market for people such as myself?)

You are not looking over any ledge. Buy the variants you like at the release price and enjoy them. If you buy them for a higher price on the secondary market, do not expect to sell the for a profit but enjoy them nonetheless.

FWIW, I am fine with the artists and stores cashing in on their own exclusives. Stores can use the additional revenues streams, and outside of superstar artists, the creative talent is not raking it from regular book sales.

[Mercury Man]

49 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I have no intention of buying to flip or speculate, all books are for the sole intent of having in my personal collection.  What ledge am I looking over?

And that is a good thing, and you are definitely in the minority.   The day after these things are released and start flooding ebay with big mark ups, that is the real problem, and it is that opportunistic buyer/seller relationship that is not good for the hobby.   

I was at a Con 2 years ago, and some vendor was trying to show me an Iron Man RiRi variant.  I had ZERO interest.  When I saw the price I kind of chuckled.  He was in dismay, and said "Why aren't you interested in this book?!", I told him about my general disdain for variants, lack of care for the character, and the hype will pass.   I checked on ebay for fun a few months after that (kind of a study), and found the same comic in the same CGC grade being offered for 75% less than his asking price.   There are boxes of past variants at my LCS in which he is trying to get anywhere from $5 to cover price for those now.   

This all reeks of the shenanigans that went on in the 1990's.