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Conan 3 and other "limited distribution" stories

Started by buena_vista,

58 posts in this topic

garthgantu

garthgantu

Posted
Posted

The idea that Rosanski - or any other comic book retailer - could affect the value of a comic like Conan #3 shortly after its release is laughable. Let's see... Conan #3 came out in what, 1972 ? Rozanski was about 18 years old and living out of his car. I don't think he even had a distributor relationship at that time, but was selling back issues at flea markets and the like. What was the first copy of the Overstreet Guide to officially acknowledge the "low distribution," and what was the price differential, versus say Conan 2 and Conan 4 ?

 

I have a hard time believing any dealer or even distributor who claims they manipulated the market at this level. Not only are you talking about thousands of copies of one book, at the very least, you're also talking about hoarding them (and keeping them in high grade) for at least 5-10 years. (Remember, we're talking about the early days of collecting, at least where the OS Guide is concerned.)

 

Now, if you find 1.4 million back issues 5-10 years after they were printed, sitting in a warehouse still on the original palettes, then yes, you'd be in a position to manipulate the market...

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OldGuy

OldGuy

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Do you even know what this thread is talking about? Did you read the Rosanski article? Either you didn't read it or you did and need to work on your reading comprehension. makepoint.gif

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Zonker

Zonker

Posted
Posted

The Beerbohm article actually ran in issue 6 of Comic Book Artist. He quotes a personal acquaintance who speculated on Conan 1 when it came out, "acquiring" 25,000 copies. I use the quote marks because Beerbohm speaks of personal experience in the early 70s of dealers getting comics out the back door from the independent distributors, who then turned around and filed affadavit returns with the publisher, basically an honor-system pledge that "Yes, your Honor, I did in fact destroy all those unsold Conan #1's, now please credit my account." Anyway, Beerbohm says this same guy similarly hoarded Conan #2 and Conan #4, but for some reason missed out on #3! According to Beerbohm, this one unnamed guy's failure to hoard #3 is the sole reason for its listing in Overstreet!

 

The article is highly recommended-- hopefully his book on the subject will eventually be published. There's a quote from Paul Levitz that points out the paradox of fan-favorite titles of the day being sold in significant quantities through the back door, thereby depressing the "official" sales figures: The more popular the book with comics fans, the less its official sales.

 

Finally, some first-hand claims Beerbohm makes for his own personal speculating at the time:

 

200 issues each of:

Silver Surfer #1

Nick Fury #1

Sub-Mariner #1

Iron Man #1

X-Men #56 (he increased his 200 issue stockpile on subsequent Adams X-Men)

Adams Brave & Bold

Adams Batman

 

Beerbohm claims to have personally stocked away 600 copies of Conan #1! He implies that all his stockpile found its way onto the market after he opened one of the early comics shops.

 

Interesting read.

Z.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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Posted
Levitz that points out the paradox of fan-favorite titles of the day being sold in significant quantities through the back door, thereby depressing the "official" sales figures: The more popular the book with comics fans, the less its official sales.

 

That is EXACTLY what happened with Byrne comics before the Direct Market took off. Even into the mid-70's, this "back door" dealing was going on, and I know that Iron Fist, Champions and other Byrne runs were being hoarded, and it's amusing that comics with the most popular artist of that era were all cancelled due to low sales, and in the case of Champions, right after he took over.

 

Hrrmmmm...

 

If his stint on X-Men didn't coincide with the big move to the Direct Market, I suspect it would have been cancelled as well..

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LonAllen-migration

LonAllen-migration

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I thought I would add something here (my first post).

 

I spoke with Barry Smith at the Kansas City Comicon 3 years ago, and I asked him what he knew about it. He said that 2 pallets of Conan #3 were left sitting on a shipping dock, got rained on, ruined and thrown away.

 

I cannot verify the truth in this, but I can't think of any reason that Barry Smith would want to lie about it.

 

Lon

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shadroch

shadroch

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Thats the first time I have heard that. I'm curious to know when Mr Smith learned of this? At that time or years later. Does anyone have any idea how many books would be on a world press pallet circa 1971?

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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IHe said that 2 pallets of Conan #3 were left sitting on a shipping dock, got rained on, ruined and thrown away.

 

I gotta tell you, that was one of the favorite excuses of distributors who sold through the back-door.

 

"They were ruined by rain/snow/act of God"

 

"They were damaged in transit"

 

"My dog ate the books"

 

27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif

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musicmeta

musicmeta

Posted
Posted
IHe said that 2 pallets of Conan #3 were left sitting on a shipping dock, got rained on, ruined and thrown away.

 

I gotta tell you, that was one of the favorite excuses of distributors who sold through the back-door.

 

"They were ruined by rain/snow/act of God"

 

"They were damaged in transit"

 

"My dog ate the books"

 

27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif

 

I thought they got pulled into the Matrix..uhh..let's not go there after all, I'm trying to forget about that movie.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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I thought they got pulled into the "crappy movie"..uhh..let's not go there after all, I'm trying to forget about that movie.

 

Join the blub, and let's agree not to mention "IT" again.

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supapimp

supapimp

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I thought they got pulled into the "crappy movie"..uhh..let's not go there after all, I'm trying to forget about that movie.

 

Join the blub, and let's agree not to mention "IT" again.

 

mad.gifmad.gifmad.gifmad.gif893naughty-thumb.gif893offtopic1.gif

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garthgantu

garthgantu

Posted
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Do you even know what this thread is talking about? Did you read the Rosanski article? Either you didn't read it or you did and need to work on your reading comprehension. makepoint.gif

 

OldGuy: If that comment was directed at me, I can't understand why. Rozanski's articles - and essays, and theses, and dissertations, and diatribes - are generally full of fiction from start to finish. My comprehension of his writing has nothing to do with it, it's my incredulity that we're talking about.

 

I didn't read the particular article in question, and clearly misunderstood the timing of the supposed "event," but I'll stand behind my opinion that these sorts of claims are pretty easy to make 20-25 years after the fact, with no "witnesses" to speak of.

 

You'd have to be a real Rozanski fan to just accept the notion that he and a few of his local friends could affect the market for a given comic simply by raising their price on it and labeling it "limited distribution." And even if that were true, I give Bob Overstreet more credit than that; there's gotta be a better explanation than "well, Chuck told me so."

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aardvark88

aardvark88

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Overstreet may be more conservative, but it is actually quite easy to manipulate the comic bk marketplace. All u need is 1 dealer on the Westcoast, 1 on the Eastcoast, 1 in the mid-West or 1 in Canada, selling "key" current or back issues at coordinated prices via their shop, local/regional comicons, internet auctions. Then report the fixed regional results in monthly Wizard, (previously in CVM), or Overstreet Review. goodevil.gif

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garthgantu

garthgantu

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I would have agreed (to some extent) with this notion five years ago, Odin, but with eBay and other online sources that provide more or less up-to-the-minute feedback, I think even a coordinated network of dealers would be hard pressed to pull this sort thing off now. They might cause a momentary bump, but all it would take is a quick scan of recent prices realized on eBay and elsewhere to get a much more accurate sense of demand/value.

 

Just as the Overstreet Guide's NM 9.4 prices for many books doesn't keep them from selling for 2, 3, or 10x that amount online, the opposite would hold true as well.

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Dr_Neff

Dr_Neff

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...And it had something to do with the Mafia buying comics/running comics distribution as a front?

 

 

I am not curently aware of this "Mafia" buying comics/running comics, and would not ecourage, condone, or participate in such activity, were I to become aware of it's existence... gossip.gif

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ninanina

ninanina

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Just a bit surprised no one has touched on the "rare" star trek Gold Key books with the photos on the back cover. Every time I see one for sale, it's got this rare photo on the back cover. If it's so rare, how come I never see one without the pic. And I do mean NEVER.

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