Variants for unsold comics (Comic Book Forums)

• Variants for unsold comics

Author	Discussion
dough boy I have no life moderator lifetime member Location: Kansas City Posts: 12061 My Collection	Posted: July 20, 2010 7:52:39 am http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.13296.marvel_expands_comics_for_comics Are you kidding me? I have explained numerous times how the whole variant setup works. This was the downfall of the industry in the early to mid 90's. It is happening all over again. Marvel now realizes this, so to make things more palatable for stores and to remove "extra" copies from the market they are offering exclusive variant covers for stores returning covers to overbought books. So to rehash a store bought 100 copies of a book even though they normally only sell 30. By doing so they get 2 extra variants at 1:50 ratios to offset their cost. They now have say 55 covers sitting around begging for the quarter bin. Marvel now comes in and says "Hey, send us the covers to 50 of them (thus removing 50 from circulation), and we will send you this super exclusive cover to a hot series. Now the ratio on this new exclusive book is going to be what 1 per store? Probably less than that as some won't have enough. Talk about encouraging stores to over order on books to hopefully get a future exclusive cover. Favorite Quote: "You're not just some guy in a bat costume are you? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! - Justice League #1, 2011" Hunting for (mainly reprints/variants) - Please help! - See My Profile
weinreich Wise Beyond the Years lifetime member Location: Denmark Posts: 1225 My Collection	Posted: July 20, 2010 8:10:03 am This would just double the problem the way I see it... Now the retailers buy twice as many as they need to get the variants in order to get the variants for returning the issues... Last edited July 20, 2010 8:10:18 am Not collecting any more but I still enjoy comics now and then...
dough boy I have no life moderator lifetime member Location: Kansas City Posts: 12061 My Collection	Posted: July 20, 2010 8:55:02 am Exactly. It is almost rewarding them by over ordering. They are out the cost for the return comics, but hopefully they sell this highly exclusive variant for enough to offset those costs. And to make matters worse it is likely that because so many were ordered initially anyways they did a reprint as well. This also will mess up the estimated sales data. Yes, it is estimated that they sold say 50,000 of one issue, but what does it do if 10,000 are returned? This creates 200 variants, and it makes the initial book "scarcer". Favorite Quote: "You're not just some guy in a bat costume are you? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! - Justice League #1, 2011" Hunting for (mainly reprints/variants) - Please help! - See My Profile
donuil23 Comic Guru lifetime member Location: Ottawa, ON Posts: 845 My Collection	Posted: July 20, 2010 7:29:26 pm I just see it as another phase that the industry is going through. Ten years from now, only we, the few, might actually remember, lol. I have confidence in market equilibrium. Mostly anyways.
paul nolan Wise Beyond the Years moderator Location: Southampton, UK Posts: 1059 My Collection	Posted: July 20, 2010 11:22:08 pm It was mooted when Marvel did this with DC covers that this was effectively a survey. Get retailers to send back unsold copies of a series back and then rather than only knowing the number of comics Diamond has sold, they have a more accurate view of what the Comic Shops have sold. with the FInal Order Cut-Off system in place, where retailers can change quantities ordered without penalization up to three weeks before shelf date, they should theoretically should be ordering accurately. And its the FOC system that buffers variants doing what they did to the 90's in this decade. Last edited July 20, 2010 11:29:21 pm
durer73 Teacher Location: Georgia Posts: 288 My Collection	Posted: August 13, 2010 6:34:56 pm This just makes no since. It seems that they are trying to increase the rarity of the books that are returned in an attempt to drive up their value along with the variants. I guess that this is why I don't go for variants.
Spa-fon Wise Beyond the Years lifetime member Location: Tampa Bay Florida Posts: 3780 My Collection	Posted: August 16, 2010 2:15:27 pm Variants are coated bastards with filling! Oh wait, someone said that already .... Variants - Pooo! The joy is in the journey, not just the destination.
sonny_1313 Grasshopper Location: DeLand, Florida Posts: 115 My Collection	Posted: September 6, 2010 9:13:29 pm I have no interest in paying an extra $50 for a the same comic book with a variant cover. I was a teenager when the "speculators" nearly ruined the industry in the nineties and I just started buying comics again about four months ago. Now I only buy what I want to read and don't care if it will be worth money in the future. I think that's the only sane way to go about collecting current issues. I'd only get a variant if it was something I thought was really cool and different, like the Steve Carrell Spider-Man from a few years ago. But I still haven't picked that one up. If I'm going to spend more than ten dollars on a comic it would be for a collectible that I really want.
wildwonder Comic Guru Location: Texas Posts: 757 My Collection	Posted: September 21, 2010 6:04:27 pm dough boy said: Talk about encouraging stores to over order on books to hopefully get a future exclusive cover. Sounds like the whole rebate scam with other industries. Companies offer "free" products by sending you a rebate check for the money you paid for that "free" item, knowing full well most people won't send or will forget to send the confusing rebate paperwork. The comic companies get retailers to order more copies for the variants and with a promise they can return them for a nifty variant, yet how many retailers will actually do that? But, hey, at least a company is actually taking a step in the right direction to at least appear like they're helping retailers in some way. It seems like every other decision is designed to snuff them out. BTW, what happens to the books that are returned to the comic companies? I can't imagine they'd destroy them. Or would they?? And would Diamond still keep their profits from the initial sale of the returned book? How does Marvel benefit from this? And what about the retailer? The offer is good only on very select titles. So what about the other dozens of issues they've ordered that still sit on their shelves unsold due to crappy art, stories and the economy? donuil23 said: I just see it as another phase that the industry is going through. Ten years from now, only we, the few, might actually remember, lol. The way it's going there may not BE a comic book industry in ten years. Just a handful of digital titles to support the films and TV shows as well as the merchandising for both. And it's that cheery thought (and the fact that people keep telling me I'm bat insane for even considering it) that has kept me from making a final decision on opening my own comic store. durer73 said: I guess that this is why I don't go for variants. I actually love some of the variants. Great art vs. the cheesy gimmicks from the 90s like weird shaped covers, funky holograms and even plastic gems glued to them. CLASSIC SIGNED COMICS ON EBAY! http://bit.ly/vCaTGQ
cgfcollector Grasshopper Location: Texas Posts: 147 My Collection	Posted: October 13, 2010 3:10:57 am They may be trying to dry up the LCS stock in order to push DIGITAL downloads. Eventually I forsee "tangible" comics going back up in price as a premium despite the respite we will see in January per DC / Marvel. WIth digital sells surpassing some of the largest known Comic stores, its just a matter of time. String Theory, now thats a Concept to wrap you mind around.
13 posts • Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next >>

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.