Newstand Version vs Direct Editions Modern 1 1

[Chester Cheetah]

Still unclear why the market values Newstand versions more.  I purchased all my Moderns originally from what was in no way an LCS but was rather a newstand/candy store that also sold comics, among other things, yet turns out they are Direct editions.  Guess the guy who owned it bought directs.

Is the idea that “Newstand” versions are rarer based on volume of publication or exposure to the actual street?

Edited May 20, 2022 by Chester Cheetah

[shadroch]

At the beginning of the Direct Era in the 1980s, newsstands accounted for most sales so those books are the most common. Early Marvel Directs with the BIG Diamond were possibly 10% of the run, maybe less.  By the mid-80s, sales were pretty split but by the mid 90s, newstand copies were in the minority. 

Newsstand versions of some of the smaller companies are very tough to find. 

Many store owners sought out newstands to sell their unwanted books. I supplied two or three candy stores at different times. They could only get Archies from their regular distributor so I'd supply them with leftover books from the week or two before.  Newsstands lagged comic shops by two or three weeks so shop owners could give them two week old books that still hadn't been made available via the newsstands.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 5/20/2022 at 9:00 AM, Chester Cheetah said:

Is the idea that “Newstand” versions are rarer based on volume...?

That's the only way I could make any sense of it.

[revat]

The idea that they are rarer (especially post-2000) is that there were less of them printed and sold, less places to get them, and less of them in high grade, as they weren’t cared for on news stand shelves and weren’t bought by careful collectors.   At least relative to direct copies.

This becomes less and less true the farther back in time you go.

 

[Sigur Ros]

[MAR1979]

This post pertains to pre 1982 only

The prevailing thought is Direct Sales are more likley to be high grade due to being purchased by more "seasoned" collectors. I personally dispute that during the early direct sale years.  If you were a child and happened to be located near an early Comic shop that did not make you more likley to treat comic books with gentle love and care than if you have purchased them from a Card/Candy/Cigar shop or a newsstand.

Of course it's all subject to debate and the Social Media talking head speculators + others have currently elevate newsstands as being more valuable... I was a young child in the early to mid 1980's and I recall most children, teens and adults, going into the 2 LCS's near me and simply grabbing which ever comic was at top of each pile.  One of the shop owners would get annoyed at those like me regardless of our age for going through the pile looking for the nicest copy. I was tolerated as I was very careful and would always yield to another customer to allow them to grab their top copy. 

Anyhow the current market has spoken.  Newsstands are now held in higher regard by many even if they are the more populous book than the direct sale.  Since the data is not recorded by CGC census there is no way to know if one version is more or less rare in high grade than the other.

This post pertains to pre 1982 only

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by MAR1979

[Lazyboy]

On 5/20/2022 at 8:31 AM, Sigur Ros said:

Note: this chart is complete and utter bull!

[shadroch]

On 5/20/2022 at 6:56 AM, MAR1979 said:

This post pertains to pre 1982 only

The prevailing thought is Direct Sales are more likley to be high grade due to being purchased by more "seasoned" collectors. I personally dispute that during the early direct sale years.  If you were a child and happened to be located near an early Comic shop that did not make you more likley to treat comic books with gentle love and care than if you have purchased them from a Card/Candy/Cigar shop or a newsstand.

Of course it's all subject to debate and the Social Media talking head speculators + others have currently elevate newsstands as being more valuable... I was a young child in the early to mid 1980's and I recall most children, teens and adults, going into the 2 LCS's near me and simply grabbing which ever comic was at top of each pile.  One of the shop owners would get annoyed at those like me regardless of our age for going through the pile looking for the nicest copy. I was tolerated as I was very careful and would always yield to another customer to allow them to grab their top copy. 

Anyhow the current market has spoken.  Newsstands are now held in higher regard by many even if they are the more populous book than the direct sale.  Since the data is not recorded by CGC census there is no way to know if one version is more or less rare in high grade than the other.

This post pertains to pre 1982 only

 

Pre-1982, there were few comic shops so the number of kids living around them would be pretty slim.  The first explosion of shops was in the 1983-86 range. Thats when distributors were opening everywhere and often giving ridiculously easy terms to business novices. Got a credit card? You too can open a shop.

[Sigur Ros]

On 5/20/2022 at 4:59 PM, Lazyboy said:

Note: this chart is complete and utter bull!

I'd ask why but honestly it really doesn't matter.  All charts are based off estimates.  No one has records of this.  One thing experts agree on is that the 50/50 time period was mid-80's.

I found a simple-to-read chart to post for the OP.  Not to win a court case.

[MAR1979]

On 5/20/2022 at 6:05 PM, shadroch said:

Pre-1982, there were few comic shops so the number of kids living around them would be pretty slim.  The first explosion of shops was in the 1983-86 range. Thats when distributors were opening everywhere and often giving ridiculously easy terms to business novices. Got a credit card? You too can open a shop.

As child in the 80's our family dog received several pre-approved credit card offers by mail.  Many of our neighbors envied his credit limits.

Edited May 20, 2022 by MAR1979

[shadroch]

Those are estimates and as such are okay but newsstand sales don't tell the whole story.  Fraud was rampant and tens of thousands of books that weren't sold and were supposedly destroyed were going out the back door.  If 300,000 copies of Spiderman 126 were printed, and 150,000 were sold, thats the circulation number but the blackmarket on these were huge.  Newsstand and magazine distribution was long run by organized crime types who were laundering other money and had no problem swearing they destroyed the book while selling it to a third party.   Warehouses of supposedly destroyed books used to routinely show up and there still could be some out there.

Edited May 20, 2022 by shadroch