GarBear

Well, McFarlane's court battle is over and Al Simmon's book is still out there. For all the up-to-date happenings about Al Simmon's signature out there, go to: https://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2012/10/todd-mcfarlane-vs-spawn-lawyers-dream.html . You'll find the background of McFarlane's and Simmon's early friendship in baseball of all things! The actual court documents are in the blogspot and, at the bottom you'll find Comic Con ads for McFarlane along with Al Simmon dressed as Spawn, walking around keeping busy by signing books for people. So the question is, "Is it an actual signature of someone associated with the comic book, Spawn?" Kind of sorta in a very round about way that is disputed by McFarlane. Is it a real signature of a person? Yes, more of an actor in costume with the same name and color as the Spawn character. This all stinks for everyone that thought that signature might be of some value though. I'm sure CBCS wouldn't verify the signature, since it has nothing to do with the book. Oh, wait, didn't an actor lately come up with a comic and his signature has been validated. Let me see, who was that BRZRKR in the comic anyway? Oh well, just a thought...

Just so it shows a real case: Issue #238A Amazing Spider-Man (1963 1st Series) #238A for sale at $995 on MCS. I sold my CGC 9.0 October 2018 for $220. At that time I really didn't know about the Newsstand, fool that I was! Let's see, that would be roughly 3 years ago. So, now the Newsstand is supposedly 448% more valuable 3 years later? Often wondered why that comic went up so high so fast, meaning it was really less than 3 years when it jumped in price. Oh, what a 'fool' I was....

Hey Valiantman, I,m really sorry, it was actually Lazyboy that was cranking against 'rare' editions being newsstands. He basically said anyone that believes that is a fool. Hope he read your analysis on the subject here! It seems to be pretty clear, at least by the numbers, that Direct Edition copies far out weigh the Newsstand copies within those time frames and proves pretty clearly Newsstands during that time are much rarer. Thanks for your clarity in this discussion!

It looks to me like you've done a 180 on newsstands being more rare somewhere around 1983, at least for Spider-Man stuff. The over riding complaint was the J-Monty knows nothing, lies through his teeth but in the end, you agree with his points even to the degree that you'll support it in 1983. My thought was from 1988 to somewhere around 1998 or a bit later. Have I not been listening?

Well, thanks for all the input. Too bad the discussion had to go sideways. That newsstand 101 was great and seemed very solid and easy to understand. I agree that it's a personal preference for newsstand vs direct. The problem is that once I know what the difference is, I tend to gravitate toward newsstand, leaning more to the 1988 through 1998 comics. These do seem to be the dates that Marvel really cut distribution down and currently there are fewer in recent sales which shows good proof that "rare" is truly showing up within that era and a little later. I only am dealing with Marvel and DC mostly. We all know the market will change many times in the next 10 years and, speculation has always been a collector's way of life. I was able to glean much from some of every-ones thoughts on the issue. As to those who think its all fake, well, it's a free United States for now and we all can think what we want. I just wanted some honest input on the subject. I believe for the most part I got that. There will always be opinions, good and bad but I like to look over the information and make my own conclusion rather than go with the herd. Thanks to all that participated! GarBear

Well, gee, could you take the time to share those "very, very incorrect and potentially very harmful" parts of the article so I am no longer a fool about that specific topic? I'm being serious, no bashing or crazy stuff, just would like to know 'the truth' from someone that knows this stuff better than others. Of course, if you don't have the time, I'll understand too. Good Day To You

I have newsstand edition of Punisher #1 (second series) and direct edition. Have you seen what they're going for on eBay? Easy to say everyone but you is a fool. I quit being the smartest guy in the room years ago!

I looked for any topic related to Newsstand vs Direct Edition without any success. I use MyComicShop to sell my comics. I was a collector for about five years starting in 1988 with my 14 year old son. Stuck them away and close to retirement I was nudged by my son to start selling them, I start that in 2016 the year I retired. Soon after I got setup selling them I noticed some comics would sell immediately and others at the same price wouldn't. This puzzled me so I went back to see what I could see. The only difference I could see was each comic that I sold right away had a UPC code and was dated after 1979 and prior to 2013. After some fumbling around I found a few discussions on general internet sites about newsstand edition comics. Walaa! Some comics got rare for a reason! Smart collectors were taking advantage of my ignorance and snapping up those more rare comics because they knew more than me. That's the name of the game I suppose. Well, since then I've been pretty careful about not just sending my comics in for grading, noting the difference of the newsstand vs direct edition but also how CGC noted if a comic was a Newsstand Edition or not. Well, this week, I find CGC has a "policy" about this. It's at the discretion of the grader whether a comic is "different enough" being a newsstand vs direct. This doesn't mean the UPC vs Spider-Man's face (UPC missing) but rather "the grader" at CGC must decide if the whole cover is different enough to get the prize of being noted as a "NEWSSTAND EDITION"! After reading a very good article by J-Monty Comics: What's the Difference Between Newsstand and Direct Editions in Comics? - J-MONTY COMICS There is a lot of confusion in the market about the difference between newsstand and direct editions. Knowing which newsstands are rare and which ones are common will keep you from getting taken advantage of and also help you find deals - and there are a lot of deals to be had if you know what to look for. jmontycomics.com I found someone was pretty succinct on the matter! This made me even "more well versed" in the overall issue! So, when I noted a couple of my issues on MyComicShop were placed without noting its being a newsstand edition I contacted them and, as a customer, requested they add this notation to the description of my two comics. Not-so-easy-I-found! Their statement was if CGC, those "discetioned graders" don't put that in the label, MyComicShop "generally" doesn't either. When I called CGC, noted above, their policy was very strict, thanks for calling, bye! So, back to MyComicShop. Did you know they've changed their pricing for consignment comics? Coming by the end of the year is a monthly charge for comics that have not sold. So, not only the 10% but now a monthly "storage fee" as well. Oh, and CGC upped their prices as too! Now to get the "professional grader" to do the "research" the cost went up another 10%, pressing went up 87.5% (no more quick press at $8 each, 15 comic minimum). So a comic used to cost $28 (non-member) now costs $37. My math tells me I just got dinged an additional 24.3% off the top. So, after the initial charges for pressing/grading (not to mention handling fee and shipping back fee) I make that much less per comic. For me those costs, which typically run around $550 for 15 comics when all is said and done CGC has jumped my fee to roughly $683.65. I'm a small guy competing in a corporate world of comic sales. To stay even isn't an issue, I have no overhead but with taxes on my additional income, with the additional costs now by both CGC and MyComicShop, it's just getting a bit much! My hobby just got a little less fun.... And now back to my original thought. Newsstand Edition vs Direct Edition. No help from either company in that arena! Although I know they need to make money to stay alive, I'm not asking for something that costs a lot. Simply, I'm asking for CGC to do the work I pay them for and note my Newsstand Editions. It really doesn't take any extra time. Gee, between 1979 and 2013, has a UPC code with only 2 numbers! Goodness, that took me about one-second. OK, now everyone can sound off on this when there's time. Good Sales To You All!! GarBear

Get Marwood & I Thanks for the straight up answer. That one on Ebay, although not CGC is much cheaper than MCS. I missed it, since it was only offered yesterday, thanks! It says NM but... I guess that's the risk one takes. They did a good job showing all the corners. Looks very good. Now just have to decide if I buy an ungraded or graded book. I tend to go for the graded but...

Yeah, I asked for a straight forward answer to a straight forward question and get back a bunch of "Mr. Cools" with cute sayings and 'Self Important Grandiose Remarks'. Oh, how impressive you bunch of two year olds think you are. I've been a collector for over 35 years and have never run up against the likes of you guys. Hey, please don't answer back, I just don't need any more "comic geeky cool " from people that believe they're better than the rest of us collectors. Too bad this type of is allowed. And note, my tag, which, I sold, Hero for Hire three years ago for $910 at a CGC 9.0. I don't need to push new comics, I have enough old stuff to keep me busy for many years. Yeah, I've been around the block a few times myself, funny guys!

Don't know what to make of your response? I gather it's a put down of some sort? Very not helpful.

Great.....now did I just infect my computer???? It started scrubbing everything out below...is this the effect or did I just do a no, no? Not computer savvy but at least my paid protection did end up flagging me. In this age one can never be too careful. Scared the out me!!

Gotta love this one! Marvel Comic Presents #87 - Sam Keith cover

Are there any sales of this variant? No one seems to be offering this anywhere, except one that's "a tad bit out there". What is everyone waiting for? What is this, a, no you go first, no you, no you?? Just curious?

Underrated? Well..., I sold an Albedo #3 CGC 9.8 recently for $475, second appearance of Yusagi Yojimbo. No other recent sales that I could find but since there's recent verified discussions of a deal with Sakai about a Saturday morning anime thought it might be better than what it sold for in 2012 (last noted sale). Yes, there are sleepers out there if you do the research.