Spawn 306 Netherrealm Variant Someone lying? 1 1

[fastballspecial]

So this book was supposed to be impossible to find with huge slab sales. 

Now employees are showing up selling dozens of copies of this book. 
So who is lying here about the print run? Company? Spec Sites? 
Reddit? 

I figured this would be some interesting conversation as this book value
plummets as more and more copies come out.

Edited August 31, 2023 by fastballspecial

[Lazyboy]

On 8/31/2023 at 6:22 PM, fastballspecial said:

So who is lying here about the print run? Company?

What did they say about it?

On 8/31/2023 at 6:22 PM, fastballspecial said:

Spec Sites?

Absolutely not! That would never happen.

On 8/31/2023 at 6:22 PM, fastballspecial said:

Reddit? 

[ADAMANTIUM]

@newshane

Lol idk

 

[newshane]

On 8/31/2023 at 7:21 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

@newshane

Lol idk

 

No clue. This was a long time after I stopped collecting/following Spawn. 

EDIT: and this sort of "variant" buffoonery is precisely why I burned out and turned away with disgust.  

Edited September 1, 2023 by newshane

[WolverineX]

They discussed this in the new bronze and modern god's episode.  Check it out.  Market is flooded anyway. 

[ygogolak]

On 8/31/2023 at 7:22 PM, fastballspecial said:

So this book was supposed to be impossible to find with huge slab sales. 

Now employees are showing up selling dozens of copies of this book. 
So who is lying here about the print run? Company? Spec Sites? 
Reddit? 

I figured this would be some interesting conversation as this book value
plummets as more and more copies come out.

Nobody ever said it was low print run. It was just never distributed. Someone still had them all and now they don't.

[Ryan.]

On 9/1/2023 at 8:38 AM, ygogolak said:

Nobody ever said it was low print run. It was just never distributed. Someone still had them all and now they don't.

Yup. It was hyper inflated value based solely on assumed rarity that never was. Let this be a lesson for us all. 

[fastballspecial]

On 9/1/2023 at 7:55 AM, Ryan. said:

Yup. It was hyper inflated value based solely on assumed rarity that never was. Let this be a lesson for us all. 

Agreed I just want some responsibility here. Seems spec sites are laying it on Image while employees are boasting
at Netherrealm they could be quite a few copies. Very cautionary tale.

[fastballspecial]

On 8/31/2023 at 9:40 PM, WolverineX said:

They discussed this in the new bronze and modern god's episode.  Check it out.  Market is flooded anyway. 

I am just interested in the recent churnings about this book especially since it involved sites that were actively
highlighting the book as rare.

[SpineTic]

 

[newshane]

This is just sickening. 

The best thing to do is stop buying them. Publishers are milking collectors dry, and they are literally laughing on the way to the bank.

Seriously folks. Stop these ridiculous chases. 

Collect what you love. Don't chase a registry slot. 

Speaking as someone who has been there. 

 

 

[godzilla43]

I don't see this as a publishers wrong doing.  They made a limited comic book for a gaming event and they thought that they destroyed the copies that were not given out/or did not care. The problem with this was these youtubers and Keycollector who hyped the book and gave the wrong information. Also the collectors who bought this can blame themselves because even if there would have been 50 copies why pay thousands for this?!? Like did they think that damn if I don't buy this now it will be 2X in five years?!?  

Edited September 2, 2023 by godzilla43

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

According to Key Collector:

Variant 'Netherrealms' Mortal Kombat DLC game edition

Intended for distribution at the 2020 Final Kombat live gaming competition in Chicago which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdowns

⚠️ Buyer Beware: in January 2022, we alerted the comic book community about potential market manipulation for this issue based on concerns that the greater portion of its inventory was being held back to give the illusion of scarcity

The Editor-In-Chief at Todd McFarlane Productions relayed to Key Collector the following quote, transcribed to this description directly:

"So this was a small event to begin with. Only a couple hundred issues were produced. It was canceled to the public but it was still held in private for the players. What we were told was that less than 50 copies were distributed by the event organizers to the players and their +1’s. The rest, along with all the other free swag was trashed due to the cost of shipping it back to the MK offices. We have worked with them before so there is no reason to believe that this was not the case. I think it would be fare to say that less than 50 copies exist out in the wild at this point."

As of August 2023, it has been disclosed publicly that at least one seller made a bulk purchase of approximately 70 issues. The seller claims that he purchased 1/6th of the entire print run which would equal 420 copies - far more than what the Editor at McFarlane Productions relayed to us in his email

The canceled Mortal Kombat event was held at the Park West in Chicago which has an occupancy capacity of 1,000 persons

It is still unclear how many copies of this issue exist but as of August 2023, it is far greater than what has been communicated by those behind the scenes

In October 2022, a 9.8 sold for $5,500. In August 2023, 5 copies in 9.8 sold for an approximate average of $900

[Masakari Prime]

I tried posting about this on the Spawn subreddit either late last year or early this year. Someone there was messaging users trying to sell lots of copies of this book. His story was that many of the books weren't destroyed and someone at the company still had them. One day they just put a tower of these on a coffee table at Netherrealm and told employees could grab them for free, this person apparently grabbed around 3 dozens of them from the table.

He tried selling me copies at $2000 each. Glad I didn't take him on that offer.

These types of shenanigans are why I'm now quitting the variants game and selling most of my Spawn collection.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Masakari Prime

[RockMyAmadeus]

[newshane]

On 9/4/2023 at 9:36 AM, Masakari Prime said:

I tried posting about this on the Spawn subreddit either late last year or early this year. Someone there was messaging users trying to sell lots of copies of this book. His story was that many of the books weren't destroyed and someone at the company still had them. One day they just put a tower of these on a coffee table at Netherrealm and told employees could grab them for free, this person apparently grabbed around 3 dozens of them from the table.

He tried selling me copies at $2000 each. Glad I didn't take him on that offer.

These types of shenanigans are why I'm now quitting the variants game and selling most of my Spawn collection.

Is this even legal? 

Sounds very sketchy. 

[fastballspecial]

On 9/2/2023 at 9:31 AM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

According to Key Collector:

Variant 'Netherrealms' Mortal Kombat DLC game edition

Intended for distribution at the 2020 Final Kombat live gaming competition in Chicago which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdowns

⚠️ Buyer Beware: in January 2022, we alerted the comic book community about potential market manipulation for this issue based on concerns that the greater portion of its inventory was being held back to give the illusion of scarcity

The Editor-In-Chief at Todd McFarlane Productions relayed to Key Collector the following quote, transcribed to this description directly:

"So this was a small event to begin with. Only a couple hundred issues were produced. It was canceled to the public but it was still held in private for the players. What we were told was that less than 50 copies were distributed by the event organizers to the players and their +1’s. The rest, along with all the other free swag was trashed due to the cost of shipping it back to the MK offices. We have worked with them before so there is no reason to believe that this was not the case. I think it would be fare to say that less than 50 copies exist out in the wild at this point."

As of August 2023, it has been disclosed publicly that at least one seller made a bulk purchase of approximately 70 issues. The seller claims that he purchased 1/6th of the entire print run which would equal 420 copies - far more than what the Editor at McFarlane Productions relayed to us in his email

The canceled Mortal Kombat event was held at the Park West in Chicago which has an occupancy capacity of 1,000 persons

It is still unclear how many copies of this issue exist but as of August 2023, it is far greater than what has been communicated by those behind the scenes

In October 2022, a 9.8 sold for $5,500. In August 2023, 5 copies in 9.8 sold for an approximate average of $900

They like everyone else preached the book until this came out. All give them credit for posting the information after the 
fact its better then some will do.

[fastballspecial]

On 9/4/2023 at 9:36 AM, Masakari Prime said:

I tried posting about this on the Spawn subreddit either late last year or early this year. Someone there was messaging users trying to sell lots of copies of this book. His story was that many of the books weren't destroyed and someone at the company still had them. One day they just put a tower of these on a coffee table at Netherrealm and told employees could grab them for free, this person apparently grabbed around 3 dozens of them from the table.

He tried selling me copies at $2000 each. Glad I didn't take him on that offer.

These types of shenanigans are why I'm now quitting the variants game and selling most of my Spawn collection.

Thats pretty much what I read on it. The guy was thrilled that he got some of those books. Had he been quiet about it he could have made  a killing and nobody would have been the wiser for awhile. I think he just saw $$ signs. 

Edited September 4, 2023 by fastballspecial

[Masakari Prime]

On 9/4/2023 at 9:20 PM, newshane said:

Is this even legal? 

Sounds very sketchy. 

Doesn't seem illegal, just unethical. They were free to grab, so he didn't steal anything.

The whole thing is strange. Blaquebox (Spawn's Editor in Chief) hangs around the subreddit and I even asked him directly about this last year, I remember that quote from above. Whatever went down he had no idea of the real print run, nor that they hadn't been destroyed.

Found the thread: 

For clarification, that guy didn't take three dozens, he took 20-something and sold 18 of them at the time.

[fastballspecial]

On 9/4/2023 at 3:20 PM, newshane said:

Is this even legal? 

Sounds very sketchy. 

Its happened for years with different books. Couple of years ago I found 3 copies of Conan 241 McFarlane cover. They had lightly stamped Complimentary copy on them. After some digging I found out the company that produced them allowed workers to take copies from the production run in a bin as they left for the day. Similar issue letting employees have copies as a perk. I dont see any issue with it.

Edited September 4, 2023 by fastballspecial