"Limited Distribution in Some Areas" - Conan #3 / SS#4

[joe_collector]

I just have never seen the fascination with trying to hunt down the price variants is all.

 

I think part of it comes from the fact that the 35-centers are the only BA comics that are truly rare in any grade.

 

It also brings back the "old days" of collecting just for the pure joy of filling another hole on the want list.

[cosmic-spider-man]

I do not have time right now to address cosmic's latest queries - later today, as the answers will be more detailed later than if i did it now

 

I can't wait where are you blbcomics

[BLBcomics-migration]

this week end I will get to it - am putting finishing touches to a new price list for my old comics business - i have to "work" before i can "play" here - bob

[BLBcomics-migration]

Hope you don't mind me asking more about this subject but I am very, very interested

 

You said;

Yes, supposedly the tale goes, and has always been told since it was a new tale, that only 5 or 6 cities had them - and is probably correct. I was part of the net work back then trying to figure out where the variants were surfacing when they were new

 

Did you ever figure out where the Variants did surface? I think I may know 4 of those cities and have some good ideals on a 5th one as well.

 

 

We were very aware of market testing by Marvel in various test cities before they did an over all price increase - people would call me up to order the different prices. I was a big buyer of every aspect of the comics world - and catered to what ever any body wanted to collect

 

 

How were you aware of it? did Marvel tell you and other Big Dealers that they were going to be doing a price increase test back in the day? If so did they explain how it would be done or why they chose the cities that they did?

 

 

 

problem was, as the cover prices increased, and at one time the price increases were averaging every 9 months we figured out in the mid 1970s, circulation would drop off

 

it was a vicious down ward spiral circle, like a vortex going down a drain

 

I distinctly remember the biggest sales drop off happening when books went to 35 cents. At that time one could not get 3 books for under a buck - and over sales really fell off for a spell, not to really come back until Byrne,Miller and Alan Moore captured the public imagination - and sales began creeping back up for a while

 

Yes I can back this up as a young kid in grade school almost every boy and even some girls read comics. At the time they were 25 cent each and we would bring them to school trade them, let each other read our copy's that they did not have and spend allot of time talking about how my Super Hero could beat your Super Hero. Well that did not last long, either the price drove them away or I was just a bigger geek than everyone else because by the time I was in 9th grade I only knew of one other boy besides myself who still bought comics, I think they were 50 cent by then. Also when they were still 25 cent you could buy comics at every Store in town Drug Stores, Grocery Stores, Department Stores almost every where you went would be a spinner rack of comics, and by 1980 I think their were only 3 places left in my area where you could still buy them.

 

Do you know why the comic company's went down this road of rapid Price increases through the 70's? They must have known it was killing sales, did they have no choice was their cost forceing them to raise prices? What is your take on this.

 

Please excuse me for taking so long, got wrapped up in life and getting my next new for sale list of old comics pre 1980 going to the printer Friday, tomorrow morn. If you want a copy, PM me your snail address and i will mail you one - lots of high grade Bronze, amongst other older cool comics & such

 

I no longer remember the cities used as the experiment sites for those cover price variants

 

We were very aware of the price experiments - as i was wholesaling recent wholesale "hot" comics with customers all over the country - running full page ads in CBG on a weekly basis, one of the first to do that, spawning lots of competition from those thinking it was easy money - and talked with dealers & collector speculators on a daily basis

 

I found out about the price increase variants after the fact as the San Fran Bay Area was never used to my knowledge - back in the 1970s we were very conscious of prices going up. When i got into new comic book sales in my first comic book store in 1972, cover prices were 20 cent each for normal size books, Wrightson's Swamp Thing #1 just came out the month we opened. Smith was still doing Conan, Kirby's 4th World was still running, Starlin was becoming a fan fave, and Neal Adams ruled supreme in back issue sales for one single creator

 

Over the 70s, the cover prices went 20 25 30 35 40 50 60 75 $1 - -seemed like a cover price increase about every 9 months on average before settling in 75 cents or $1 for a while before then going up incrementally -

 

Prices went up due mainly that inflation was a monster ut of control - it was a post Vietnam syndrome as that war wound down, Publishers felt they had no choice, paper was inflating costs as it was going up, and them there pesky creators kept wanting more bucks for creating

 

Let the queries flow again, if you like, and i will try to jog my memory

[BLBcomics-migration]

A lister PM'd me:

 

Hey Bob -

 

Sending you this via PM instead of posting on the boards/thread. Feel free to respond here or on the Limited Distribution thread.

 

-In the thread you mentioned that 'regoinal scarcity" could have been generated by only a handful of dealers ( as in the case of Star Wars #4). In your opinion were there little/few/many/abundant titles and issues that this applies to? Are some founded in reality? Which ones are broken out in guide purely due to "market manipulation"? Please, don't feel obligated to answer these questions. I will not reveal your answers or state that you were unwilling to provide info without your consent.

 

-The other question I have is purely for my own curiosity/satisfaction....You mentioned that sales fell in the late70's-early 80's, only to be resurged by Byrne, Miller, Moore, etc....Out of those (and others not mentioned) "Bronze Renaissance" creators who do you think is most responsible for the direction of modern comics (or comics since that time)? What creator laid the groundwork for the most current "age" of books? Who is your favorite creator of the "Modern Era" (so we don't get into that whole arguement, lets set the "Modern Era" at 01/80).

 

Thanks so much for your consideration, Bob. Please, don't feel obligated to answer any/all of these questions. I appreciate your time and look forward to emailing/seeing you again (You probably don''t remember me, but we did meet in Philly a few years back).

 

Thanks! These have been the best threads in years!

 

Beerbohm here: Regional scarcity sprang up here & there for a variety of reasons

 

The main reason would be the ID distributor simply had all their comics shredded that week without placing them out for sale

 

Another reason would be single issues by specific creators would be bought out completely, such as Neal Adams, Smith, Wrightson, etc -

 

Single issues being broken out of the Guide for purely spec market manipulation? I would have to think this one out - it would be better to throw some samples out you suspect and jog my memory

 

As far as creators shaping the marketplace at the time, because Xmen was so popular, one would have to classify John Byrne in the late 1970s as the #1 creator people wanted

 

Then Frank Miller came on the set with Daredevil, and he became a strong 2nd

 

Alan Moore became a sub-genre all to himself

 

I used to have artist sections in my stores, shelving all Byrne together, all Miller together, etc

 

Alan Moore was the first writer i would sectionalize all his stuff on the same racks. He truly set the comics world upside down in the comic book stores back then, beginning in the early 1980s

 

Good questions

[cosmic-spider-man]

got wrapped up in life and getting my next new for sale list of old comics pre 1980 going to the printer Friday, tomorrow morn. If you want a copy, PM me your snail address and i will mail you one - lots of high grade Bronze, amongst other older cool comics & such

 

Yes I would like one I will PM you my address.

 

Thanks so much for responding to all my questions and I will have more . This is just a great thread and your knowledge of the comics industry is why.

[BLBcomics-migration]

got my new price list done, printed, collated, stuff, and addressed - mailing Monday morn

 

if any body has any questions regarding what has appeared on this thread, or related subject matter, please, i have time to answer for a while again - up to you guys to ask

[cosmic-spider-man]

Hi; blbcomics how is your knowledge on ID Distributors practice of marking their comics on the top edges with spray or markers "Distributors ink" in different colors so they would know when it was time to pull old comics. My Questions are did you ever see this done? How did they go about it, did they just rip the top off one of those 300 cont. paper bags and spray the whole lot bag at once? Was their a set color pattern that most Distributors used? How many different types of things did they use to mark the comics with for example " cans of spray paint, felt tip markers, paint brushes" what all have you heard about being used for this? What percentage of Distributors even used this practice in the 70's? How did the Distributors in your area mark their comics? Any thing you know about this subject I would love to hear like were their other reasons to do this other than knowing when to pull old comics, like was it also to tell one ID's books from anothers ID's books ?

[BLBcomics-migration]

I never SAW it being sprayed, but it was indeed a common practice to color code by the month but i did see the results, and was dismayed when i did encounter it

 

The books were stacked, and a can of spray paint used

 

i never explored the concept if the distributors used the same color code, but not beyond the realm

 

Once we began buying comics at Gilboy Agency, they did not mark the books in any fashion - and as more comic book stores opened here & there, the practice waned as comic book store guys wanted nice shape stuff

 

The only reason to color code paint the sides of the books i know of was for the reason you state