Zap 0. Yellow variant copy 0

[Dr. Cyclops]

Hello

Can someone enlighten me more on the yellow variant cover of Zap 0, Apex, 1967? The last information that I had is that it sold on Heritage some time back. I do believe it was graded at 8.0 and was a file copy was the only graded copy. Seems to be a rare issue.  Any information would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Edited March 21 by Dr. Cyclops
grammar

[revat]

You may get an answer here but you may get more answers if you pose this question in the bronze forum.  There are some real experts who lurk there.

[OtherEric]

Try here:

 

[Qalyar]

On 3/21/2024 at 6:43 PM, Dr. Cyclops said:

Hello

Can someone enlighten me more on the yellow variant cover of Zap 0, Apex, 1967? The last information that I had is that it sold on Heritage some time back. I do believe it was graded at 8.0 and was a file copy was the only graded copy. Seems to be a rare issue.  Any information would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Sure. It's (probably) a printing error that CGC has accepted as a variant. The "yellow variant cover" is a 2nd printing* copy that was printed without the blue ink, resulting in an entirely yellow-and-black front cover and a back cover with a white background behind the kid's mother tearing up his comics. I've seen estimates that there are < 100 of these. I don't think there's anything concrete, but that seems plausible. The Heritage copy was Don Schenker's file copy of the error.

*It's not a 1st printing book because it lacks the scratch in the Z on the front and the extra yellow on the back. It's not a 3rd or 4th printing book because it lacks the damage to the front cover character's spine. Heritage's scans are detailed enough that you can compare it to known copies of the 2nd printing (as originally intended) and the 5th printing (second attempt to retouch the spine damage), and it clearly does not have the more heavily-filled in spine elements of the 5th printing. Everything later has a higher cover price. Therefore, the error books are from the 2nd printing.

Honestly, since the 2nd printing was the Print Mint's first, it wouldn't surprise me if these weren't errors at all per se, but pre-production proofs. In any case, Don passed all the way back in 1993 and so we'll very likely never know for certain.

Edited March 22 by Qalyar