So....what were the 30 and 35 cent variant cities?

[realitytrip]

While I was aware of the variants and their higher prices, I wasn't aware of their value to some people until I came to these boards. I can certainly believe in their rarity because I have seen all of one variant in person. And that was at a show! Now, granted, I was never looking for them, but the 30 cent variants are very obvious (and UGLY). Maybe I passed over a 35 cent variant without knowing it, but I doubt it. I know that these books were test marketed to certain cities ONLY and that these cities changed for the two different periods. I have seen posters mention both San Antonio and Baltimore. Do we know all the cities these books were distributed to and for which period variant? All I know is that San Francisco isn't one of them . Thanks.

 

 

[Darthdiesel]

I always thought San Francisco was a test city Just talk to 4gemworks (on eBay) all about it...

[realitytrip]

Hmm....well I assumed SF wasn't because I have helped look through bronze age collections that stores bought looking for valuable books and have never seen any variants! I have seen all the books that are 30 cent variants in the "Still only 25 cents!" variety here, but never the variants. Now, like I said, the 35 centers not really looking any different could have thrown me off and maybe they were tested here.... Anybody else out there with info?

Thanks

 

[murph0]

I had heard that Memphis was one, as well as some Southern Cali cities.

 

Brian

[FlyingDonut]

While I was aware of the variants and their higher prices, I wasn't aware of their value to some people until I came to these boards. I can certainly believe in their rarity because I have seen all of one variant in person. And that was at a show! Now, granted, I was never looking for them, but the 30 cent variants are very obvious (and UGLY). Maybe I passed over a 35 cent variant without knowing it, but I doubt it. I know that these books were test marketed to certain cities ONLY and that these cities changed for the two different periods. I have seen posters mention both San Antonio and Baltimore. Do we know all the cities these books were distributed to and for which period variant? All I know is that San Francisco isn't one of them . Thanks.

 

 

30 cent variant cities:

Baltimore

San Antonio

Grand Rapids, MI

Albuquerque

San Jose

another one that I'm not sure of

 

35 cent variant cities:

Wilmington, NC

Memphis

Pascagoula, MS

Somewhere in northeastern Ohio (Xenia? Youngstown? - definitely NOT Cleveland, Akron or Columbus)

Somewhere on the west coast

Somewhere in the southwest

 

again, 35 cent letter:

[HighVoltage]

Donut,

 

I've always wondered if Salt Lake City was a test market for the 35 cent variants, as I've found several there (in fact, I've found more there than any other West/SW city - I'm equidistant between Phoenix, Denver, Albq-NM & SLC) - in note of 'somewhere in the Southwest' as a test market city. Any thoughts?

[lighthouse]

An interesting thing to note about that letter... (which I thank you for posting btw)

 

It indicates that copies of THAT 35c variant were sent to six cities...

 

It does NOT indicate that all 35c variants were sent to those six cities, or even that there were only six cities used to test them.

 

I know for an absolute fact that there were locations that received 35c variants on only a few titles and 30c regular copies of the rest. (As opposed to the 30c variant testing which was done on all titles in each city with specific months receiving 25c covers as a control group).

 

Barring the release of long-hidden records at Marvel, I doubt we will ever know the full story. Clearly an intentional test of this nature, run twice in two years, would result in paperwork recording the data. But whether that paperwork survived for 25 years is anyone's guess.

 

PS for Donut: I don't recall the original source of the info, but one of the earliest tips I received about 35c variants indicated that the Ohio city was Bowling Green... Which may explain why Motor City Comics wound up with such a healthy stock of them.

[underthebigw]

Man, you go away for a few days and a topic near and dear to you heart comes up.

 

There are some definite other areas for both sets. I've given up finding the few issues I need in person, so I'll add to the list.

 

30 cent variants: FD definitely has the list right, and the one he was unsure of is Springfield, MA. I've found quite a few there (nothing like Baltimore or San Jose, though). Lighthouse-I'm not so sure about your idea of blanket distribution. Definitely true for Batl, but then Springfield is one city where certain issues consistently show up and others never do, much like the 35 centers.

 

35 cent variants. All of NE Ohio and some of NW PA.

[lighthouse]

Silverandbronze... you know the source of my data on the 30c books... And while I can't speak to the exact method used to provide a control group in all the cities, it's pretty clear on the ones in my source.

 

As far as the 35c books go, I recently located an original owner collection with back cover store stamps that had three titles as 35c variants and seven that were not. I wish the gentleman had more diverse collecting interests 26 years ago, but there is not much I can do about that now.

 

I suspect that in both cases, Marvel may have used a few locations that received lots of variants (if not all), and some additional locations that received just a few, as a method of validating the research.

 

What amazes me, is that given the amount of data that would have to be recorded and processed, there aren't more records to be found.

[Paladin]

So, this answers my question in comics general bout British variants. There weren't any cause they were only in those six cities!