Varanis Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 I had a discussion with a few friends recently about the value of rare misprint comics, and I thought it would be an interesting question to pose to this forum. Many misprints, errors, and recalls have enough copies in circulation that a critical threshold of public sales exist to determine a market. Whether it's the Secret Wars #1 blue Galactus misprint, a double cover, or the infamous first printing of Batman: Damned, each has a fairly defined market. But what if the misprint is so rare that there are only a few or maybe even only 1 copy that exists? The question came up due to the Hawkman Zaffino variant cover issue below. The full color cover is the intended variant cover. However, there are 2 copies that have been found in the wild of the black, white, and blue cover and one copy of the pink cover. These "variant variants" were not solicited and clearly appear to be misprints. How would one go about ascribing value to this misprints? I have my thoughts, but felt it would be an interesting example to bring up here. What do you think? BuraddoRun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post valiantman Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 It's definitely some multiplier used with the value of a correct edition. When the correct edition is $1, a rare misprint might be a 20x multiplier, but that literally means $20. When it's a rare misprint of a comic already worth $100, then you might see someone willing to pay $500 or so, but i"d be surprised if it's $2,000+. The best example of a unique misprint (as far as we know) for a well-known comic might be Venom: Lethal Protector #1 WHITE (where the BLACK cover is a misprint with an established market). http://www.recalledcomics.com/VenomLethalProtector1Error.php Obviously the sale price the could be as high as whatever a 2nd highest bidder is willing to go plus one increment, but the "estimate" on the site listed about is only about double the price of the black misprint. I'd say that's a low estimate, but I doubt if the white misprint would be 20x the $1,000 estimate for a black misprint. Then again, people have paid $20,000 for more recent Spider-man books with dozens of known copies, so when it comes to something Spider-man related and unique, it could be no limit. Ultimately, though, whenever thousands of anything are made, a 99.9% quality still means a few errors, and when it comes to comics, thousands are made of pretty much everything. That brings us back to my first statement... since everything ever printed has the potential to have some rare error... the "correct" book usually determines what people think of the error. Nothing special correct books usually mean nothing special error books (or at least "under $20"). badback83, Get Marwood & I, Yorick and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Artboy99 Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 I believe I own a book that is a one of one. Off register color printing, and a double cover. To some, it is worth LESS than a regular printing of the book, to others it is worth MORE. To me it is priceless and arguably the highlight of my entire collection. The Hawkman variant book posted above is of little interest to me, so it isn't worth much in my opinion. It is all relative and ultimately it is worth what someone would be willing to pay. Get Marwood & I, ramrodcar, picon3 and 15 others 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kav Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 They are not really all that valuable. Rarity does not automatically equal value. Artboy99, Xenosmilus, Tony S and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FineCollector Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 51 minutes ago, kav said: They are not really all that valuable. Rarity does not automatically equal value. Do we know that for sure? When we were young'n's, a misprint was a defect. Modern collectors nowadays seem to love being able waive a comic in someone else's face to incite jealousy because the other person doesn't have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kav Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 1 minute ago, FineCollector said: Do we know that for sure? When we were young'n's, a misprint was a defect. Modern collectors nowadays seem to love being able waive a comic in someone else's face to incite jealousy because the other person doesn't have one. I mean there are plenty of misprints-each one is different is all but as a whole they do not command some strong price. The demand isnt there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Qalyar Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 Ironically, with misprints, extreme rarity sometimes hurts value because it limits visibility and demand. There are lots and lots of one-off errors in comics. There are certainly collectors who enjoy them, and to those collectors, they may demand a premium. But it's tough to find a market for them. When a single error occurred on a slightly larger block of copies, you get things like the black Venom cover, or the blue panel Sandman, or similar comics. Then, there's enough copies to make it a viable collectible, and not just a unique aberration, and the value often reflects the rarity. These? No real idea. Get Marwood & I, Varanis, thunsicker and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kav Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 5 minutes ago, Qalyar said: Ironically, with misprints, extreme rarity sometimes hurts value because it limits visibility and demand. There are lots and lots of one-off errors in comics. There are certainly collectors who enjoy them, and to those collectors, they may demand a premium. But it's tough to find a market for them. When a single error occurred on a slightly larger block of copies, you get things like the black Venom cover, or the blue panel Sandman, or similar comics. Then, there's enough copies to make it a viable collectible, and not just a unique aberration, and the value often reflects the rarity. These? No real idea. There's one guy on ebay he has a teen titans with a marvel cover or something and thinks that makes it a JACKPOT. He was asking $1,000,000 if I remember correctly. Jackpot fever is a killer, man. I estimate a book like that as worth MAYBE $40. Nobody cares. Artboy99 and Gonzimodo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varanis Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Qalyar said: Ironically, with misprints, extreme rarity sometimes hurts value because it limits visibility and demand. There are lots and lots of one-off errors in comics. There are certainly collectors who enjoy them, and to those collectors, they may demand a premium. But it's tough to find a market for them. When a single error occurred on a slightly larger block of copies, you get things like the black Venom cover, or the blue panel Sandman, or similar comics. Then, there's enough copies to make it a viable collectible, and not just a unique aberration, and the value often reflects the rarity. These? No real idea. These are my thoughts almost exactly. Like @kav says as well, "jackpot fever is a killer." The owner of 2 out of 3 of these particular misprints has them listed on eBay for $4,000 and $7,000 for the grey and pink respectively. I'd wager they're likely worth less than a $100 each. Perhaps as low as $20. Edited July 12, 2020 by Varanis littledoom and kav 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazyboy Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 7 hours ago, Varanis said: Whether it's the Secret Wars #1 blue Galactus misprint, a double cover, or the infamous first printing of Batman: Damned Those aren't misprints. And was there actually a second printing of Batman: Damned #1? Technically, a double cover isn't a misprint, either. But at least we know what you mean there. Tony S, Cat, Super Team United and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmilwaukee6er Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 If this were a Spawn comic there'd be multiple collectors competing to own it, which would drive up the price instantly. littledoom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warden5523 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 4 minutes ago, oldmilwaukee6er said: If this were a Spawn comic there'd be multiple collectors competing to own it, which would drive up the price instantly. This is true! Spawn collectors are a different breed. (I'm one) littledoom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattn792 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 10 hours ago, kav said: There's one guy on ebay he has a teen titans with a marvel cover or something and thinks that makes it a JACKPOT. He was asking $1,000,000 if I remember correctly. Jackpot fever is a killer, man. I estimate a book like that as worth MAYBE $40. Nobody cares. For those who haven’t seen it before: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mega-Rare-Error-Comic-DC-Teen-Titans-6-Marvel-Two-In-One-74-Inside-CGC-7-5/263527921090?hash=item3d5b7cf5c2:g:-sAAAOSwXL1cbDtV Stefan_W and Super Team United 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qalyar Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 10 hours ago, Lazyboy said: And was there actually a second printing of Batman: Damned #1? Well, what I think is being mentioned here is the "Uncorrected proof advance readers copy" wordless variant sent as a 1/store promo to select retailers. However, those were created on purpose; they aren't errors like the Venom Lethal Protector books, the blue panel Sandman, the no-die-cut Tick, or the freaky chartreuse Spawn on the back cover of Malibu Sun 13 error copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littledoom Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 It’s worth what someone is willing to pay.. i would value those two Hawkman’s each at $80 retail.. I don’t know the rarity of those two.. Hawkman is unfortunately not as popular as Superman or Batman so that hurts the market of buyers. I would put a higher BIN or best offer of $200 and hope to get the $80 for each Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comic_queen7282 Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 I came across this comic in a bin I have and I am wondering if it's worth anything just due to the misprinted title being cut off? Lazyboy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 No. Dr. Balls 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Balls Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 Misprints and miscuts are just a production problem that got past quality control. I'd say the thinking behind the fact they are "valuable" is incredibly flawed. I mean, is a CGC slab with the wrong label or attribution on it more valuable? No, it's a mistake. You wouldn't pay a premium for a CGC Amazing Spider-man 361 with a Ren and Stimpy #1 label would you? Of course not. There are a few unique exceptions that result in a significant difference in the cover that makes the book more interesting. The classic FF #110 where the printing plates were switched around at the beginning of the print run, then fixed, but resulting in a bunch of them going out the door: And the "Blue Hologram" Wolverine #75 that I wrote extensively about here on the boards years ago that featured a "make-ready" version of the hologram that had a bright blue, non-prismatic look to it attached to the books during the setup registration process. Most collectors don't know (nor do they need to know) the process of printing a comic book before digital printing really became ubiquitous - and a lot of people think that these errors are somehow "valuable" when in reality, they are simply things that didn't make it to the trash bin during production. Things like miscut comics (like the above mentioned book) are production flaws that detract from the eye appeal, and I believe they are worth less than their regular counterpart. Would you buy a severely mis-wrapped Golden Age book at a premium over a perfectly centered one? I have a Strange Worlds #5 that had a printing flaw on it - I bought it for less than a regular #5 with no printing issues. Would I have paid more for it because - according to some people - it's more "rare" than the correctly-printed one? Hall Naw. The spin sellers put on some of this stuff goes against established collecting logic, and I'll never really get that. But, to each their own - if you think that it's unique and different, I'm not going to judge. paqart and ADAMANTIUM 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADAMANTIUM Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 On 7/12/2023 at 9:34 AM, Dr. Balls said: Misprints and miscuts are just a production problem that got past quality control. I'd say the thinking behind the fact they are "valuable" is incredibly flawed. I mean, is a CGC slab with the wrong label or attribution on it more valuable? No, it's a mistake. You wouldn't pay a premium for a CGC Amazing Spider-man 361 with a Ren and Stimpy #1 label would you? Of course not. There are a few unique exceptions that result in a significant difference in the cover that makes the book more interesting. The classic FF #110 where the printing plates were switched around at the beginning of the print run, then fixed, but resulting in a bunch of them going out the door: And the "Blue Hologram" Wolverine #75 that I wrote extensively about here on the boards years ago that featured a "make-ready" version of the hologram that had a bright blue, non-prismatic look to it attached to the books during the setup registration process. Most collectors don't know (nor do they need to know) the process of printing a comic book before digital printing really became ubiquitous - and a lot of people think that these errors are somehow "valuable" when in reality, they are simply things that didn't make it to the trash bin during production. Things like miscut comics (like the above mentioned book) are production flaws that detract from the eye appeal, and I believe they are worth less than their regular counterpart. Would you buy a severely mis-wrapped Golden Age book at a premium over a perfectly centered one? I have a Strange Worlds #5 that had a printing flaw on it - I bought it for less than a regular #5 with no printing issues. Would I have paid more for it because - according to some people - it's more "rare" than the correctly-printed one? Hall Naw. The spin sellers put on some of this stuff goes against established collecting logic, and I'll never really get that. But, to each their own - if you think that it's unique and different, I'm not going to judge. I finally completed the "distorted holograms", except for the X-men #25 white and gold variants, last year. I've since noticed a drop in sales. I keep track enough to see if I over paid Some things like that I agree are a niche well within other niches, but are "unique" enough as you put it. Sometimes we need goals completed to continue getting the thrill of the hunt. For me sometimes it isn't so much that I believe "in the product" but it does bring some satisfaction, enough toward somewhat of a premium. Again some will be here today and gone tomorrow, as far as niches, I'm sure. idk BuraddoRun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Balls Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 On 7/12/2023 at 8:41 AM, ADAMANTIUM said: I finally completed the "distorted holograms", except for the X-men #25 white and gold variants, last year. I've since noticed a drop in sales. I keep track enough to see if I over paid The distorted holos are really bright blue and kinda fun. I'm pretty sure I had the first 9.8 Wolverine #75 on the census, and I sold it a little while after I got it and I made a killing - it has come down over the years. That is a tough book in grade because the hologram stickers were put on "make ready" copies of the book, which had some paper flaws. Joeypost pressed that book for me and absolutely nailed it. The guy I originally bought the raw copy from tried to screw me over, and karma paid me back in full. ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...