Conan 3 and other "limited distribution" stories

[Bugaboo-migration]

While discussing price guide manipulation, Chuck discussed the "limited distribution" label that Conan #3 has in Overstreet. He claims that back in the day, the Conan comics that adapted the original Howard paperbacks sold heavier than other issues. Essentially, he claims he and other Denver area dealers decided to call that particular book "scarce" so they could charge more money for it. The label stuck and wound up in Overstreet.

Is this too over simplified......or did Chuck actually admit to lying to people in order to con them out of more money? I didn't think he ever actaully "admitted" to doing this before......has he?

[COI]

By the way, I'm sure more people had Silver Surfer #4 CGC'd for the exact reason that it's considered rare (or lower distribution or whatever)

 

It also dosen't hurt that it guides for $400+.

[sckao]

 

If you look at the Capital City figures for Spawn 18 and 21, supposedly the low distribution issues, you'll see the following:

 

Spawn 17 - 130,950

Spawn 18 - 119,400

Spawn 19 - 93,700

Spawn 20 - 93,400

Spawn 21 - 103,900

Spawn 22 - 110,550

Spawn 23 - 106,225

 

At least from Capital City's ordering perspective, the print runs for 18 and 21 weren't appreciably lower than the previous or later months.

 

Cap City accounted for about 17% of all comics ordered according to CBG's Standard Catalog.

 

 

 

[buena_vista]

[quote Is this too over simplified......or did Chuck actually admit to lying to people in order to con them out of more money? I didn't think he ever actaully "admitted" to doing this before......has he?

 

I didn't want to plagerize Chuck's copy but I suppose if he's credited.... He claims that the comics that were adapted from Howard's books were more popular than others. Conan #3 was always selling out while #1 was still available. He writes "To rectify this problem, all Denver area dealers started marking #3 as "scarce" and pricing it above #1."

 

You tell me, what does that sound like to you?

[shadroch]

This is just Chuck being chuck. A very creative mind who lives, breathes and works in a world he created. If he wasn't selling comics he'd be spinning for the administration. As one of the dealers offered the MH2 books before him, I was amazed to read his take on the whole thing. Bottom line is that the intial distrubution of a few books was not up to snuff, but thirty years of collecting has made that point moot. Books were not printed in lower numbers, just delivered that way.Why Overstreet continues to list it his way is a whole differnt question. Perhaps Arnold T who care to explain.

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

Afraid to say I have absolutely no knowledge of the origins of those notations, but I do suspect that it might be one of those things that has lingered well beyond the original need for the notation. Just a guess.

[BestOf7-migration]

I remember hearing a theory that cited how books like Conan 3 and Silver Surfer 4 were used as a form of copyright protection. The way I remember it, this information would help Ovestreet establish if someone attempted to copy information from the guide that the research was not done independently. I believe it mentioned how similar to how CBG reports Capital City distribution figures, that Overstreet was privvy to the same information, and was be able to determine that the distribution was lower on these books. Anyone who tried to copy the informaton would easily be caught because they just woudn't be able to provide those exact figures. Any truth to this theory?

[Smokinghawk]

I think it's pretty obvious that Overstreet needs to lose the "Low Distribution" notation, since it's usefulness disappeared long ago.

 

We're due for a new mantra here:

 

"Buy the book, not the Overstreet notation."

 

[Warlord]

Hmmm, any chance that limited distribution might cause a dip in the surviving population? Too many comics go to one newstand/bookstore. The usual number sell. A larger than usual number get destroyed/credited?

 

I've seen the comments that claim that #3 doesn't seem any scarcer than others, but if there really was a distribution anomaly then I have to wonder if there wasn't an impact on the number of copies extant.

 

[Zonker]

Afraid to say I have absolutely no knowledge of the origins of those notations, but I do suspect that it might be one of those things that has lingered well beyond the original need for the notation. Just a guess.

 

Hi Arnold,

Appreciate your continuing participation on these boards. This is the 2nd or 3rd time where some question has come up on the content of the Overstreet notes or other editorial content being a bit out of date. (I think the 'cameo' controversy was 1 of the previous instances).

 

My suggestion is we use this forum as a way of collecting feedback on notes that at least deserve a second look. I seem to recall one of your previous comments to the effect that your team collects input and reviews it during the course of the year. If so, would our time be well spent now collecting this feedback, or is there an editorial review or other event in the future that we ought to target for gathering our input?

 

Thanks in advance,

Z.

[awe4one]

As one of the dealers offered the MH2 books before him, I was amazed to read his take on the whole thing.

 

Just curious.... why didn't you buy the collection? What did you find different in Chuck's story?

 

 

Jim

 

 

[Kevin Boyd]

My suggestion is we use this forum as a way of collecting feedback on notes that at least deserve a second look.

 

Especially on the "which book started the Bronze age?" thread!

 

Kev

[shadroch]

As one of the dealers offered the MH2 books before him, I was amazed to read his take on the whole thing.

Just curious.... why didn't you buy the collection? What did you find different in Chuck's story?Jim

A whole lot of reasons why we did not buy MH21) Money2) Our lawyers felt the books were stolen property3) Money4)Do you have any idea the amount of storage space and labor it would have involved.5)Money As far as Chucks version goes, lets let sleeping dogs lie. He had the balls to take a huge risk,and we didn't.Anything else I say may come off as sour grapes.

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

I think it's a wonderful idea to keep feedback coming to us about these kinds of things, it can only help to shake out the stuff that's long out of date and make the book more relevant and more consistent. The one problem I have with doing it on message boards is that it's very difficult for us to remember to 'harvest' info from these threads without actively going in and checking constantly - and we'll probably miss something important. So if it's valuable feedback, I think it would be far more useful to e-mail us directly with the suggestion so we don't lose it amongst tons of other conversations.

 

But there's no reason these topics can't be thrashed out on here first before sending them in to us.

 

Arnold

[shadroch]

Hey Arnold: When would be the best time of year for this forum to give you its list of things that may need changing in the guide. What kind of lead time would be perferred?

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

Well, since we usually get into the real thick of it around the late fall, towards the end of the summer would probably be the best time.

[Zonker]

Well, since we usually get into the real thick of it around the late fall, towards the end of the summer would probably be the best time.

 

Good deal! I'm imagining a thread started up in early August so we can get some focused attention, and thrash out the divergent points of view. If it is confined to a single thread, it would likely be fairly easy to wade through. If need be, one of us could keep up with and re-post a current 'collective wisdom' list (similar to what Murph0 is doing on the Mile High 2 list elsewhere on these boards). The problem with email is you might get hundreds of duplicate suggestions to wade through. Also, by having it here on the forum, we might be able to do 80% of the fact-checking for you!

 

Cheers,

Z.

[read_em-migration]

Didn't Robert Beerbohm write an article about this subject in an issue of Comic Book Marketplace? And it had something to do with the Mafia buying comics/running comics distribution as a front?

Did I read that or are my meds just kicking in?

[greggy]

Didn't Robert Beerbohm write an article about this subject in an issue of Comic Book Marketplace? And it had something to do with the Mafia buying comics/running comics distribution as a front?

Did I read that or are my meds just kicking in?

Yeah...I read something like that in the past. Don't recall the source of the information though!

[Zonker]

Thank you-- that must be the source. Just flipped through some early issues of Comic Book Artist but no luck; it must have been CBM instead. I'll see if I can find the correct issue tomorrow and post a summary.

 

Beerbohm has come up a lot lately, here and in the Golden Age print run thread.