Unknown Comics, collectable, fad? 0

[Silver Surfer]

I appreciate the artwork, the virgin covers are neat too but does anyone here actively collect them or is this just modern day overkill and a manufactured collectible?

[Tnexus]

Seeing how 99%+ of store exclusives go for cheaper than retail a year later, I think we know the answer to that already. Pure pump and dump.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Tnexus

[shadroch]

On 12/26/2023 at 10:49 AM, Tnexus said:

Seeing how 99%+ of store exclusives go for cheaper than retail a year later, I think we know the answer to that already. Pure pump and dump.

Do you think that will also be the case ten years from now? Today, people pay premiums for comics with ad supplements and different price tags. Who is to say that future collectors might value small print run copies more than mass-produced ones?  If you'd told me in 1992 that later printings of some books would sell for a small fortune, I'd have laughed, but that is the market today.  A fifth printing of Superman 18 sells for many multiples of the going rate for the original.  Many DCU logo books sell for many times that of the originals. 

[Silver Surfer]

If I was collecting them I’d try to scoop up high grade raw copies but let others do the grunt work of submitting and grading 9.8 copies then try and buy them cheap at auction. I buy the odd cover simply for the art work. The Dell’Otto Cosmic Ghost Rider covers for example are awesome. 

[ygogolak]

On 12/26/2023 at 12:49 PM, Tnexus said:

Seeing how 99%+ of store exclusives go for cheaper than retail a year later, I think we know the answer to that already. Pure pump and dump.

I don't think there is even pump on these. Just marketing communication from the retailer.

On 12/26/2023 at 2:42 PM, shadroch said:

Do you think that will also be the case ten years from now? Today, people pay premiums for comics with ad supplements and different price tags. Who is to say that future collectors might value small print run copies more than mass-produced ones?  If you'd told me in 1992 that later printings of some books would sell for a small fortune, I'd have laughed, but that is the market today.  A fifth printing of Superman 18 sells for many multiples of the going rate for the original.  Many DCU logo books sell for many times that of the originals. 

Many ratio variants have smaller print runs than store variants.

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

On 12/26/2023 at 2:42 PM, shadroch said:

Do you think that will also be the case ten years from now? Today, people pay premiums for comics with ad supplements and different price tags. Who is to say that future collectors might value small print run copies more than mass-produced ones?  If you'd told me in 1992 that later printings of some books would sell for a small fortune, I'd have laughed, but that is the market today.  A fifth printing of Superman 18 sells for many multiples of the going rate for the original.  Many DCU logo books sell for many times that of the originals. 

The difference I see is that store exclusives have very limited availability, unlike the other books that you mention, which weren't really intended to be a limited collectible. It might be different if the number of exclusives was limited to one retailer per issue, but that's not the case. Often, a book will have exclusive covers available for a large number of retailers. I think any exclusive that holds demand down the line will be because the content of the cover is highly desirable, whether it's because of the cover artist, or a first cover appearance of a character that takes off later, etc.

[ygogolak]

On 12/28/2023 at 11:12 AM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

The difference I see is that store exclusives have very limited availability, unlike the other books that you mention, which weren't really intended to be a limited collectible. It might be different if the number of exclusives was limited to one retailer per issue, but that's not the case. Often, a book will have exclusive covers available for a large number of retailers. I think any exclusive that holds demand down the line will be because the content of the cover is highly desirable, whether it's because of the cover artist, or a first cover appearance of a character that takes off later, etc.

They are talking about store variants. Not ratio variants.

[shadroch]

The point is that the tastes of collectors and the hobby have changed over the years and will continue to change. Most people scoffed when it first proposed that a few test-marketed books would someday be the most valuable books Marvel produced in that era.   That fans would want people writing on the covers of their books. That manga would prove more popular than superheroes. 

Yesterday, I bought two B&W comics for sixty cents each that I sold in 1988 for $25 each, and I only bought them as I remembered they were a good read.

 

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

On 12/28/2023 at 11:20 AM, ygogolak said:

They are talking about store variants. Not ratio variants.

I get that. In the part you bolded, I was referring to the fact that often, there will be a large number of retailers that have their own exclusive cover available for a specific issue. It's less special if there are 20 different covers available, but I can only get those covers by patronizing a specific shop. I think the cost of shipping to get all of the store variants is one of the things that keeps demand down.