Marvel Bronze Age Newsstand Books 2 2

[Ron C.]

I have read through quite a few summaries on Newsstand vs. Direct for the Bronze age. However, print run and high end copies available now do not always go hand in hand. When I bought these books on release, I didn't notice or even care what that little box had in it. The barcode was fine and the little Spidey was kind of cool. It didn't matter to me. However, recently I have noticed that there are a few Newsstand books (not recognized by CGC as different) that are considerably less available in high grade than the Direct copies. One big example is She-Hulk #1.... tons available in 9.8 but almost all are Direct copies. Here are a few of mine that appear to be less available as Newsstand copies. What other Bronze books fit this criteria?

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Ron C.

[sledgehammer]

By the time they started having different direct edition covers, I was buying all of my comics at a comic store.

I was a late teen, and I had no idea that there was still a different "newsstand" cover.

If I had, I liked the way the direct editions looked so little, I might have sought out newsstand copies.

Of course, I'm also insane, and I always would have pulled a copy that was not a mis-wrap, and presented well. too.

[comicginger1789]

There are people who pay a premium for CGC 9.8 newsies from any era, even if it was the early days when, in theory, the newsstands were more prevalent. But a 9.8 is coveted by many for any book and you add the newsstand element for those who want and they are willing to pay up. For 9.0-9.4 grades though, I feel both direct/newsstand are plentiful.

You are right, there aren't as many 9.8 books newsies for those books. The She-Hulk is because of that white cover for sure. And I feel the Avengers and Moon Knight also show flaws because of those rich background being primarily all one colour. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any other keys from that time frame that fit the bill but I am sure there are issues from other series (with white covers or backgrounds of all one colour) that are equally hard to find in 9.8 but perhaps not as coveted by the masses because they are not "keys" 

[bababooey]

SheHulk #1 came out the same month I discovered my first non-Toronto comic shop (Fiction House on Elmwood in Buffalo NY) so it was very early in the national direct sales program.

I personally believe the abundance of surviving early directs from that era is partially due to the often touted "extra care taken by the serious LCS collectors" but I also believe the greater factor was the fact that unsold non-returnable inventory was cheap and usually money in the bank for these new business owners.  If you over ordered 25 issues @$0.20 each of a comic it only cost $5.00, if there was a lot of demand, you could usually bag them up for $2.00 - $5.00 in a few months.   

So the "good" over ordering would result in a bagged sale at a higher aftermarket price, which would create a desire to take greater care of the book...but I'd bet a book like SheHulk #1 was a huge speculative miss for dealers with most inventory never seeing the light of day for many years. 

Either path leads to more surviving direct copies even back then.  As for CGC labeling of newsstands, to the best of my knowledge, that is only on the label when there is a price difference. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by bababooey

[Spawnfreak]

On 1/21/2022 at 4:51 PM, bababooey said:

SheHulk #1 came out the same month I discovered my first non-Toronto comic shop (Fiction House on Elmwood in Buffalo NY) so it was very early in the national direct sales program.

I personally believe the abundance of surviving early directs from that era is partially due to the often touted "extra care taken by the serious LCS collectors" but I also believe the greater factor was the fact that unsold non-returnable inventory was cheap and usually money in the bank for these new business owners.  If you over ordered 25 issues @$0.20 each of a comic it only cost $5.00, if there was a lot of demand, you could usually bag them up for $2.00 - $5.00 in a few months.   

So the "good" over ordering would result in a bagged sale at a higher aftermarket price, which would create a desire to take greater care of the book...but I'd bet a book like SheHulk #1 was a huge speculative miss for dealers with most inventory never seeing the light of day for many years. 

Either path leads to more surviving direct copies even back then.  As for CGC labeling of newsstands, to the best of my knowledge, that is only on the label when there is a price difference. 

Please notice; all newsstand, AND all DITKO! Wrinkles are in bags.

[PeterPark]

Bronze age newsstand variants are more common than the early direct editions. As such, these same early direct editions are very undervalued right now. The transition was relatively fast though, and it is not well-documented when the switch to directs being more common occurs. Directs are still more likely to be in better shape due to the inherent difference of treatment all the way from being placed on the rack to manhandled in the store to checkout to going home to the differences in the markets that buy and read these comics. The first marvel directs were 1977 and are very tough. I don't think anyone has compiled a comprehensive list with perceived rarities but they're not a bad thing to load up on now. The question is, when are you buying the more common and easier to find in high grade directs? 1980? 1982?...later?

[comic_memories]

On 3/10/2022 at 9:15 AM, PeterPark said:

Bronze age newsstand variants are more common than the early direct editions. As such, these same early direct editions are very undervalued right now. The transition was relatively fast though, and it is not well-documented when the switch to directs being more common occurs. Directs are still more likely to be in better shape due to the inherent difference of treatment all the way from being placed on the rack to manhandled in the store to checkout to going home to the differences in the markets that buy and read these comics. The first marvel directs were 1977 and are very tough. I don't think anyone has compiled a comprehensive list with perceived rarities but they're not a bad thing to load up on now. The question is, when are you buying the more common and easier to find in high grade directs? 1980? 1982?...later?

The big change is around 1985 when the direct editions start over taking newstands.  

[PeterPark]

On 3/15/2022 at 9:32 PM, comic_memories said:

The big change is around 1985 when the direct editions start over taking newstands.  

This graph hurts my soul, er, makes my person sad. This is a rough sketch of an idea, completely predicated on whatever near-universal acceptance means. Considering the newsstand market was largely ignored by the direct market (and seen as less valuable) I don't put any credence into this mock-up. Is the left axis supposed to be numbers or percent? Not to mention newsstand was not dead by...2003 or whever that red line hits zero. I get very well what this chart is saying, but it is based on a feeling, and not numbers, and probably makes earlier direct editions look harder to find than they are. Based on what is available for sale, which is far-from-perfect, the crossover looks to have occurred earlier and in conjunction with higher print runs all around. I know total print runs ebb and flow to some extent, and I'd be curious to see what the distribution estimates (say, on an annual basis) look like for different titles but I suspect the trends to be less simplistic than this implies.

[Lazyboy]

On 3/10/2022 at 6:23 AM, Spawnfreak said:

Please notice; all newsstand, AND all DITKO! Wrinkles are in bags.

While those were distributed through the newsstand channel, they aren't really Newsstands. They're just those issues. The only version of those issues.

[MR SigS]

[MAR1979]

On 3/10/2022 at 7:23 AM, Spawnfreak said:

Please notice; all newsstand, AND all DITKO! Wrinkles are in bags.

 

Yes all copies of Shade are newsstands. Shade was on sale 1977-1978 way before DC had direct editions.

DC First Differentiated between Newsstand and Direct with books cover dated October 1980. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by MAR1979