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Kinky_Jazzer
Collector in Training
Posts: 15
My Collection
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- Posted: February 2, 2019 7:03:44 pm
- As I start to get back into collecting comics... mainly due to my daughter's interest in Marvel....I'm just in shock with the Variant covers exploitation and immediate price elevation.
There's 3-5 limited variant covers of each title, the normal edition, some special very variant covers for each shop and then 2nd, 3rd and 4th printed editions.
I remember looking at a FF title and that particular release had a cool cover and I noticed the dealer already had it bagged and boarded. They wanted $25 and it was just released at that time... one per shop they said. I was just like wow!
And then as I get emails from online shops, some of them are shouting 50% variant covers. I login to look and they are 50% off of.... $250!! It's a steal at $125, right?
What's everyone else's opinion on all this?
Do you buy the variants for speculation and hope that the price will jump sky high?
If so, do you buy all of them for that title each time?
Of course I don't want to miss out on any collectible price hikes as it could help with supporting the comic book addiction by buying and selling. Or is it all just hype and then the price will fall in a few years as the market gets flooded with people wanting to sell them?
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AmZoMBiE
Wise Beyond the Years
moderator 
Location: Michigan
Posts: 6832
My Collection
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Kinky_Jazzer
Collector in Training
Posts: 15
My Collection
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- Posted: February 2, 2019 7:18:31 pm
- Thanks AmZombie!
I'm actually a returning collector. I started to buy comics in the late 70's and early 80's. Then took a break and started again in the late 80's/early 90's. Took another break and here I am again.
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AmZoMBiE
Wise Beyond the Years
moderator
Location: Michigan
Posts: 6832
My Collection
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Spector
Comic Guru
Location: LA
Posts: 630
My Collection
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Kinky_Jazzer
Collector in Training
Posts: 15
My Collection
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- Posted: February 3, 2019 12:03:46 am
- Thanks guys!!
I guess I just need to start to be more vigilant about finding out when titles come out and try to get there before the regulars pick all the nice covers that I like the art. I guess if I get lucky with a good pick then I'll try to profit from it so I can keep buying more books for my daughter.
I just remember buying all those die cut and embossed covers back in the 90's. Not sure if they are worth much but I remember buying multiples hoping. Now that these books are $4+ a pop, it's a little hard to do that now.
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Big Boss
Teacher
Posts: 282
My Collection
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- Posted: February 3, 2019 10:09:01 am
Kinky_Jazzer said:
As I start to get back into collecting comics... mainly due to my daughter's interest in Marvel....I'm just in shock with the Variant covers exploitation and immediate price elevation.
There's 3-5 limited variant covers of each title, the normal edition, some special very variant covers for each shop and then 2nd, 3rd and 4th printed editions.
I remember looking at a FF title and that particular release had a cool cover and I noticed the dealer already had it bagged and boarded. They wanted $25 and it was just released at that time... one per shop they said. I was just like wow!
And then as I get emails from online shops, some of them are shouting 50% variant covers. I login to look and they are 50% off of.... $250!! It's a steal at $125, right?
What's everyone else's opinion on all this?
Do you buy the variants for speculation and hope that the price will jump sky high?
If so, do you buy all of them for that title each time?
Of course I don't want to miss out on any collectible price hikes as it could help with supporting the comic book addiction by buying and selling. Or is it all just hype and then the price will fall in a few years as the market gets flooded with people wanting to sell them?
In most cases, if you see a high priced modern variant, it's because the publishers required the store to order hundreds of copies of comics for which they have no customers. The high price on the variant is to offset the cost on all the comics they will not be able to sell. Most modern comics are not going to sell if they don't sell within the first three weeks, so they have to sell the variants at high prices to get their money back. You'd think comic shops would just quit ordering the extra comics and not worry about the variants. Unfortunately, their customers insist on owning the rare variants and will shop elsewhere if their store doesn't get it for them.
Variants are destroying collectibility of modern era back issues. My advice is to only buy 80's back issues or older and quit supporting the publisher's games that they play by making artificial collectibles. You are wasting your money on something that will either be very hard to sell or worth only a fraction of what you paid. Some 90's back issues are not bad purchases, but that's when the hobby started down this messed up path.
Make your hobby an investment and down the road, you will benefit from the entertainment AND have something worth more than you paid. This became very important to me when I was unemployed for awhile. I had no income, but comics I'd bought for a few dollars were worth $30 or more. When you have no money to spend, you think more carefully about how you spent it in the past.
Last edited February 3, 2019 10:11:58 am
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junobeach
Wise Beyond the Years
moderator 
Location: Victoria, BC Canada
Posts: 2148
My Collection
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- Posted: February 3, 2019 10:46:48 am
- If you are looking to resell I would avoid the incentive variants (1:10, 1:25, 1:100, etc) unless you can get them for under ratio. Rule of thumb is a 1:10 costs $10, and so on. Exceptions are hot artists like Campbell, Hughes, Dell Otto and a few more.
Most super high ratios have not held their value. You can find many 1:100 variants for $40-50 on ebay today.
I have been buying the 'B' covers that cost the same as the regular ones by Middleton and others that have shot up in price greatly.
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AmZoMBiE
Wise Beyond the Years
moderator
Location: Michigan
Posts: 6832
My Collection
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Tex75455
Wise Beyond the Years
lifetime member Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 1871
My Collection
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- Posted: February 3, 2019 1:32:18 pm
- Yup, as others said, ignore variants unless you like em for some reason. I'm a sucker for venom variants for example, because I like to see various artists takes on various characters venomized. But that's a personal choice. About the only variants I ever buy are "venomized" variants and skottie young variants (because the wife likes those too).
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