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How much of a premium are we talking for newsstand issues v/s direct editions?
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1,113 posts in this topic

4 hours ago, mr_highgrade said:

Might as well throw in the cape crusader

 

Batman 651 CGC 98.jpg

are we sure this is copper? although it is lovely.

 

is this one even copper?

 

IMG_1544.JPG

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On 10/10/2019 at 12:50 AM, RockMyAmadeus said:

Of course. This is what I said yesterday:

However...this is the Copper Age section, and the year 2000 is long after that era had ended.

I, personally, don't care if we don't know how many were printed. The issue I have is with people who ALSO don't know trying to claim they do, applying whatever kind of wonky rationalizations to arrive at their conclusions. THAT SAID, however...the issue isn't how many were printed...but how many survived. I would be willing to bet a large amount of money that even by 2005, the publishers were still printing "to the old model", and were printing MORE newsstand copies....60-70% of which did not sell and were returned and presumably destroyed...than Direct copies.

When I was working/managing a newsstand in the 90's, I can't even begin to tell you how many comics I destroyed because, as you said, newsstand copies that weren't sold were returned, and our company just stripped the covers with the UPCs on it and threw away the rest of the book to save on shipping. I know I tore the cover off of at least 15 New Mutants #98 myself, because X-titles we were getting 30-40 of (the more popular, the higher the number, so Uncanny was probably the only 40) and would sell-through about half every month.

 :eek:



-slym

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Barnes and Noble would have real data in their system. And Barnes and Noble was about the only company selling newsstand issues from roughly 2008 until the demise of the DC newsstand issues in October 2017.   I've seen B&N data with my own eyes on their computerized inventory system. Each store had a record of how many newsstand issues they received for any given title, and how many were actually sold. So I am pretty sure someone at the corporate level could get a roll-up of exactly how many issues of each comic book were received and how many were sold.  The variables would be the accuracy of the "sold" data, and how many of the unsold were actually destroyed.

p.s.  Recently, @Lifesuggs on this website found a bunch of newsstand issues that were 'rescued' from the pile that was to be destroyed.  Thanks to him, I was able to find the last newsstand issue that I was missing from my collection (namely, Superman New 52 #8).

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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2 minutes ago, Cpt Kirk said:

Barnes and Noble would have real data in there system. And Barnes and Noble was about the only company selling newsstand issues from roughly 2008 until the demise of the DC newsstand issues in October 2017.   I've seen B&N data with my own eyes on their computerized inventory system. Each store had a record of how many newsstand issues they received for any given title, and how many were actually sold. So I am pretty sure someone at the corporate level could get a roll-up of exactly how many issues of each comic book were received and how many were sold.  The variables would be the accuracy of the "sold" data, and how many of the unsold were actually destroyed.

p.s.  Recently, @Lifesuggs on this website found a bunch of newsstand issues that were 'rescued' from the pile that was to be destroyed.  Thanks to him, I was able to find the last newsstand issue that I was missing from my collection (namely, Superman New 52 #8).

I haven’t read through the whole discussion but “heard” my name. 
 

I would doubt that even Barnes and Noble could truly clear up the numbers. Between UPC cycling and their change to an SBT system, it became less about what it sold and just how many issues in general were sold. 

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1 hour ago, Lifesuggs said:

I haven’t read through the whole discussion but “heard” my name. 
 

I would doubt that even Barnes and Noble could truly clear up the numbers. Between UPC cycling and their change to an SBT system, it became less about what it sold and just how many issues in general were sold. 

which, of course, was the same at any retailer, and at marvel and dc as well. it's all pulp fergawdsakes . . . it never mattered to any party how much of which sold, just how many. "it was business, jacob."

although, admittedly, with the application of the bar code, this information became available for anyone's use. but remember, no one ever got rich in the comic book business until movies happened. 

Edited by divad
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On 10/8/2019 at 8:51 PM, paqart said:

Try, for instance, to find newsstand editions of Marvel comics from 2013. These are almost impossible to find. I've never seen even an image of some of these though they definitely exist.

AP

Since I decided to read through all of the theorizing I ran downstairs and can at least help here. 

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BDCE1547-FBD5-4F3A-96E1-EBA1BFAEB9B2.jpeg

46A6F418-B3EF-4384-BD07-FA893F9417AD.jpeg

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4 minutes ago, divad said:

which, of course, was the same at any retailer, and at marvel and dc as well. it's all pulp fergawdsakes . . . it never mattered to any party how much of which sold, just how many. "it was business, jacob."

 

Well not totally. As any store that tries to control their inventory would want to carry what it’s selling. If they’re selling 5x more ASM then Hulk they’d order accordingly (you’d assume). When they switched to an SBT model and were no longer responsible for their inventory, they could freely take anything sent without being fiscally responsible.

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Just now, Lifesuggs said:

Well not totally. As any store that tries to control their inventory would want to carry what it’s selling. If they’re selling 5x more ASM then Hulk they’d order accordingly (you’d assume). When they switched to an SBT model and were no longer responsible for their inventory, they could freely take anything sent without being fiscally responsible.

by retailer, i was referring to newsstands and all those on that delivery model. unless you were a big block retailer, you had neither the tracking or wherewithal of telling the distributor what you wanted.

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On 10/12/2019 at 5:29 PM, paqart said:

How many people on this thread have stopped buying direct editions? I have almost completely stopped buying them, treating them as fake comics for the most part. The ones I have were either bought before I knew the difference or were given to me instead of the newsstand copies I ordered, and it was too much of a hassle to send them back.

If there are others who feel the same way, I wonder if there will be downward pressure on directs, in addition to a premium on newsstand comics? For me, the issue with newsstands is partly about rarity but also what they represent: a different time and a different way of buying comics. I would prefer them even if direct edition were the rare ones, not the other way around.

speaking for myself, I’ve recently realized that a dealer can not reduce a price enough to make me want to buy a direct edition, unless it is so far below profitability that I could turn it into a profit without half-trying. For instance, a 9.8 slabbed copy of Daredevil 168. Going price around $200 (for the sake of argument) I’d be a buyer at $45 or so, but that’s it.

I don't really care if the comic is direct or newsstand.  As long as the comic is in the condition and price range I want, I'll buy it regardless if it's newsstand or direct.  

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Here's a couple tough Batman newsstand issues to find.  The regular cover still sealed in poly and the deluxe cover.  Both of these covers are easily found with the Direct Sales UPC.  To pile on, there's also the DC Universe UPC variant of this comic book.

2137166817_batman535.thumb.jpg.7bcedb983c1c73cbae7759144aabdfe4.jpg

Edited by Cpt Kirk
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37 minutes ago, Cpt Kirk said:

Here's a couple tough Batman newsstand issues to find.  The regular cover still sealed in poly and the deluxe cover.  Both of these covers are easily found with the Direct Sales UPC.  To pile on, there's also the DC Universe UPC variant of this comic book.

2137166817_batman535.thumb.jpg.7bcedb983c1c73cbae7759144aabdfe4.jpg

:golfclap::golfclap::golfclap::golfclap:

Nice, i don't have either of those, nor did I even have an entry for the DCU variant on my spreadsheet. Trying to do all the regular/deluxe/newsstand/DCU/reprint variants in the late 400's and through the 500's is a real challenge.

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1 hour ago, Cpt Kirk said:

Here's a couple tough Batman newsstand issues to find.  The regular cover still sealed in poly and the deluxe cover.  Both of these covers are easily found with the Direct Sales UPC.  To pile on, there's also the DC Universe UPC variant of this comic book.

2137166817_batman535.thumb.jpg.7bcedb983c1c73cbae7759144aabdfe4.jpg

Was the DC Universe Variant for the regular,  deluxe or both?

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13 hours ago, exitmusicblue said:

If we're talking newsstands...

 

I was totally shocked to find a Daredevil with a Mark Jeweler's insert at a flea market for a dollar. Didn't know it was there until I got home. Would be really hard to find those in most situations involving bagged comics.

 

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