When Is the Newsstand Tipping Point? 1 1

[Aweandlorder]

There are very few modern newsstand books with no significant key attributes that sell for much. 

Newsstands definitely came to be a sellers pitch nowadays. It used to be like the supersize fries that the fat girl at the Mickey-D's drive through window would ask u to get. Now it's like the roast prime rib plate at Peter Luger's

[divad]

34 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

There are very few modern newsstand books with no significant key attributes that sell for much. 

Newsstands definitely came to be a sellers pitch nowadays. It used to be like the supersize fries that the fat girl at the Mickey-D's drive through window would ask u to get. Now it's like the roast prime rib plate at Peter Luger's

I've never been to a Mickey-D's drive-through window . . . 

(and wtf is is a "Peter Luger's?")   . . . sounds like splooch 

Edited May 30, 2019 by divad

[Aweandlorder]

8 minutes ago, divad said:

I've never been to a Mickey-D's drive-through window . . . 

(and wtf is is a "Peter Luger's?")   . . . sounds like splooch 

One has to eat many Mickey Dees meals in order to save up for a Peter Lugers :-D

[valiantman]

1 hour ago, Aweandlorder said:

There are very few modern newsstand books with no significant key attributes that sell for much. 

Newsstands definitely came to be a sellers pitch nowadays. It used to be like the supersize fries that the fat girl at the Mickey-D's drive through window would ask u to get. Now it's like the roast prime rib plate at Peter Luger's

Apart from Chuck at Mile High, I'd be very surprised if there are sellers with any quantities of newsstand books.  Where would they get them in volume?  If they're returns that should have been destroyed after retailer refunds, that's its own sort of animal with whatever dangers are involved in legal/illegal resale of should-have-been-pulped material, but there would be very few examples of sellers sitting on (literal) tons of newsstand books, particularly from 1990 to present, and the ability to restock those supplies once they're sold is a different factor.

Simply put, the market for newsstands will settle at the appropriate restocking level, not necessarily at the asking price level.  If restocking newsstands turns out to be easier than expected, then prices will stay close to direct editions. If restocking becomes much harder for retailers/sellers, then the markup will be reflected in the prices and we'll see newsstands settle in a holding pattern around the restock/markup/resale equilibrium.  That could be significantly higher than now, when most people just go check their existing stock and find newsstands they've had for decades. Once those are gone... watch out.

[Joosh]

I’m an avid collector of newsstand editions. I think there is no clear cutoff for newsstand availability as there are as many exceptions as there are rules. But, very high grade newsies seem to be generally difficult very soon after direct market takes off in early 80’s. Also, coming up to 1999+ the newsstand editions become difficult to find in any condition, let alone high grade. 

Marvel stopped newsstand gradually, ending with books published Dec 2013.

DC lasted much longer, ending with books published Oct 2017.

 

Whether these catch on beyond a collecting niche or not, I like them.

 

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

1 minute ago, Joosh said:

I’m an avid collector of newsstand editions. I think there is no clear cutoff for newsstand availability as there are as many exceptions as there are rules. But, very high grade newsies seem to be generally difficult very soon after direct market takes off in early 80’s. Also, coming up to 1999+ the newsstand editions become difficult to find in any condition, let alone high grade. 

Marvel stopped newsstand gradually, ending with books published Dec 2013.

DC lasted much longer, ending with books published Oct 2017.

 

Whether these catch on beyond a collecting niche or not, I like them.

 

 

Hey I have that one too! Your the one with the 9.8! I have the 9.6.... lowly 9.6  last I checked were only 2 graded, I have another raw, but it is probably 9.6 as well....

Any way Congrats  

[RCheli]

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for a premium for newsstand copies in the new century, though the number of people that actually care is a small percentage of the overall collecting population. To me, as a dealer, I'm more than happy to sell a book for the same price as a direct edition now than price it 2-3x higher and hope that the right person comes along and finds it. (I very rarely sell online, so maybe that's the way to go for these books.)

The more uninformed in our hobby lob the word "rare" around a bit too easily, and there are no rare copies of a newsstand edition of any comic published in the 20th century. And many had huge print runs (I'm looking at you Spawn #1), even though people want to hawk how difficult they really are to come by. 

I think we also have to stop calling certain comics "newsstand" that were never actually sold on the newsstand, such as the many second printings of DC books in the 90s. There has to be a better name, but equating newsstand with UPC isn't right either.

[Joosh]

@ADAMANTIUM 

Thanks! Mine was just graded early 2019, being the 2nd universal 9.8 on census. I bought this one off the Barnes & Noble newsstand myself. 

[Lazyboy]

8 minutes ago, RCheli said:

I think we also have to stop calling certain comics "newsstand" that were never actually sold on the newsstand, such as the many second printings of DC books in the 90s.

The books that many people really need to stop calling "Newsstand" are the non-enhanced Direct editions of books that had gimmick/enhanced covers,

[RCheli]

7 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

The books that many people really need to stop calling "Newsstand" are the non-enhanced Direct editions of books that had gimmick/enhanced covers,

I mean, there were a lot of 2nd (and 3rd) prints that had bar codes but were never on the newsstand. They were in multi-packs or whatnot, but because they didn't have a DC logo in the UPC box, they are classified as newsstand.

[Lazyboy]

2 minutes ago, RCheli said:

I mean, there were a lot of 2nd (and 3rd) prints that had bar codes but were never on the newsstand. They were in multi-packs or whatnot, but because they didn't have a DC logo in the UPC box, they are classified as newsstand.

Examples?

[RCheli]

1 minute ago, Lazyboy said:

Examples?

Superman #50, Robin #1, Batman #457 all had a 2nd print with a barcode that weren't ever distributed to a newsstand. There's X-Factor #71 2nd with a barcode that never got on newsstands.

[Lazyboy]

47 minutes ago, RCheli said:

Superman #50, Robin #1, Batman #457 all had a 2nd print with a barcode that weren't ever distributed to a newsstand. There's X-Factor #71 2nd with a barcode that never got on newsstands.

Yeah, there's only one version of the XF71 2nd and it just happens to have a UPC, but why did the DCs have 2 versions and how were the UPC editions distributed?

[RCheli]

4 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

Yeah, there's only one version of the XF71 2nd and it just happens to have a UPC, but why did the DCs have 2 versions and how were the UPC editions distributed?

I don't know exactly, though I suspect they were in multi-packs.

[Lazyboy]

3 minutes ago, RCheli said:

I don't know exactly, though I suspect they were in multi-packs.

The industry figured out not to put UPCs in multi-packs over a decade earlier, so that can't be the reason.

[mr_highgrade]

19 hours ago, Joosh said:

I’m an avid collector of newsstand editions. I think there is no clear cutoff for newsstand availability as there are as many exceptions as there are rules. But, very high grade newsies seem to be generally difficult very soon after direct market takes off in early 80’s. Also, coming up to 1999+ the newsstand editions become difficult to find in any condition, let alone high grade. 

Marvel stopped newsstand gradually, ending with books published Dec 2013.

DC lasted much longer, ending with books published Oct 2017.

 

Whether these catch on beyond a collecting niche or not, I like them.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

13 hours ago, RCheli said:

Superman #50, Robin #1, Batman #457 all had a 2nd print with a barcode that weren't ever distributed to a newsstand.

This is incorrect. In fact, the very reason they exist is because of the newsstand. Anything distributed through the newsstand distribution system, whether it ends up at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, or an actual newsstand vendor, is distributed to a newsstand.

[RockMyAmadeus]

12 hours ago, RCheli said:

13 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

Yeah, there's only one version of the XF71 2nd and it just happens to have a UPC, but why did the DCs have 2 versions and how were the UPC editions distributed?

I don't know exactly, though I suspect they were in multi-packs.

That is incorrect. 

[RockMyAmadeus]

X-Factor #71 2nd print having a UPC is an error; it was neither intended to have, nor actually had, newsstand distribution, and should have had a direct logo in the UPC box.

It is, so far as I can tell, the only such example that exists.