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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

43 minutes ago, Corona smith said:

I feel it needs an extra descriptor because both editions are priced the exact same 95% of the time and for a few different years they were priced differently. I think I’m going to continue calling them that but I’m going to call the True Newsstand Price Variants just that. 
 

I know when Image had Newsstands in the very early years, they were priced lower than the direct editions. That wasn’t the only difference the newsstands has ads and lower page quality. I believe they may have had more pages but I’d have to dig into the collection to figure it out. So it’s more than just the price difference  

 

I like to keep things simple myself and try to use the minimum words necessary to get across the salient difference. A Newsstand may indeed on occasion have a different price, paper stock and / or ads to its Direct Edition cousin, but the salient overriding descriptor is 'Newsstand Edition'. If you try to shoe-horn in every physical difference it gets too complicated. 

The incidental differences aside of the main descriptor are interesting to many in their own right - if you check out my Marvel UK Price Variants thread you'll see a multitude of physical differences exist across the production period aside of the country unique cover price - indicias, mast heads, missing cover months. All of these aspects are interesting to document and be aware of but they don't - in my opinion - detract from or influence the main event which is the difference price, unique to the UK copies. Every single UK Price Variant is just that - A UK Price Variant - regardless of all other incidental differences.

I myself believe the same applies to your newsstand copies noted earlier. But I'll duck out now as I'll only be repeating myself if I carry on. 

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@Corona smith I initially typed the same thing @Get Marwood & I did but he had pictures lol

And like you Corona, I got mixed up in all the jargon, marwood does a good job because he can illustrate!

If indeed 35 and 30 cent "price variants" all had a "newsstand distribution" because barcodes like that were all with barcodes and no direct version, then the major difference is the price. Hence price variant

If like marwood was saying there were other variations to a book back then but there were too many differences then the price is the main variation hence price variant as well

The newsstand editions like you corona get to me only when I'm referring to them lol because I'm in copper which was my mistake as "newsstand edition" may have a different connotation. Hence why I tried to quickly clarify when luckily @Lazyboy pointed out my loose speech

Newsstand editions in modern are still not necessarily"price variants" because it's not apples and apples as it was before a direct edition. Direct and newsstand are two different distributions. Meaning that both had different costs, hence the sometimes upcharge or downcharge in price when distributed. So it's not the "price that changed so much" as it is the distribution, so the singularity is the "newsstand edition" can be called such for any reason: price paper or the other "trivial" stuff because it was made specifically for the newsstand distribution

What is a price variant is when there is a variation in price among it's own distribution used for newsstands. That's why it's called a "$2.49 newsstand price variant" rather than a $2.49 price variant. Cgc labels the distribution and the price as the variant....

Where I may have caught you off guard is when I was asking my question about the newsstand editions being only sought by hardcore collectors, specifically when there is a newsstand edition that is a newsstand because of price, not a newsstand because it's a variant of price among the newsstands..... Still that last sentence isn't clear, but I knew what I was trying to convey

Basically a "newsstand edition", not because of paper or trivial things, but specifically because of price versus direct, because those are easier for me to find in the wild by a quick search lol

I still probably got some of this wrong 😂😂😂 and my apologies for the whole blasted conundrum, I take full responsibility 

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5 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

May I ask why you feel we need a way to describe that? What importance can you attach to a newsstand copy that is differently priced to its direct, when only those two versions exist? I can understand why people would want to classify the ASM #13 $2.49 newsstand variant as such, to distinguish it from the other $1.99 newsstand copy, but why do the descriptors of Newsstand and Direct not satisfy you for ASM #607 when its newsstand copy is the only type extant and, therefore, just the newsstand copy?

The moment you call it a 'variant' you create the inevitable confusion that it has a sister copy out there with a different price. Again, something can only be a variant of something if the other something exists. One version type alone does not a 'variant' make. 

Exactly. If it already has a proper classification, then anything else is just muddying the waters and creating confusion.

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30 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

Exactly. If it already has a proper classification, then anything else is just muddying the waters and creating confusion.

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I bought Nam #1 CGC 9.8 in a newsstand.  Honestly, I liked the price box more than the direct.  Prices seem to fluctuate on 9.8 but sold listings show four 9.8 direct copies sold plus the one newsie I bought.  It's pretty much over a $100 difference if that aids in any research.

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On 2/19/2014 at 12:08 PM, joe_collector said:

Here's my advice:

 

If you're looking for a comic anyway, and the prices are equivalent, then definitely get the newsstand copy, but I would *not* run around investing in newsstand issues, hoping to make money, as the vast majority of collectors do not care.

And yet, some do. I saw a listing for a newsstand copy of Hulk 1 (2008) in Newsstand edition and grabbed it for (I think) $100. Turned out, it was two copies, one direct, one newsstand. I didn't even notice the direct. They were both 9.8, so I'm happy. I see Mile High selling them for low prices now ($26/direct, $170/NS), but it was so hard to find at the time I bought it that I'm happy.

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On 6/26/2020 at 5:35 PM, valiantman said:

An appropriate comparison to post-2000 newsstands may be the 35-cent variants of 1977, where all of them are certainly tougher to find, but if the direct edition isn't a key, it's going to be mainly the "hard core" collectors who are willing to pay a premium for newsstand. 

The same is potentially true for post-2000 variants (limited ratios), where the long term outlook of non-key issues isn't good no matter the rarity.  Sure, some collectors will always pay a small premium for post-2000 newsstand or 1:X ratio variants, but if the direct edition is a $3 book, it would be surprising if the newsstands and ratio variants are consistently $30+. 

The obvious post-2000 danger is non-key ratio issue variants selling for $1,000+ when the direct edition is $3.  Newsstands have a long way to go to be that dangerous, since most newsstands are barely 3 times the direct edition price... nothing like 300 times for some of the non-key issues with 1:X ratio books.

The difference between the modern newsstands and the 1977 price variants is that very few of the 1977 issues were keys. There is a newsstand version of almost every comic published since 1979, meaning that almost every key has a corresponding Newsstand edition. NYX #1 is a notable exception.

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2 hours ago, paqart said:
On 2/19/2014 at 9:08 AM, joe_collector said:

Here's my advice:

 

If you're looking for a comic anyway, and the prices are equivalent, then definitely get the newsstand copy, but I would *not* run around investing in newsstand issues, hoping to make money, as the vast majority of collectors do not care.

And yet, some do. I saw a listing for a newsstand copy of Hulk 1 (2008) in Newsstand edition and grabbed it for (I think) $100. Turned out, it was two copies, one direct, one newsstand. I didn't even notice the direct. They were both 9.8, so I'm happy. I see Mile High selling them for low prices now ($26/direct, $170/NS), but it was so hard to find at the time I bought it that I'm happy.

You do realize . . . that you quoted a post from over six years ago,  don't you? For a moment there I thought JC had RETURNED! lol

 

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22 hours ago, ramrod44 said:

Newest addition with a Mark Jewelers Insert and I only paid a 16.15% ($62) premium over last 90 days GPA(108 sales). :acclaim:

NewMutants_98cgc9.6mj.jpg?width=1920&hei

I have one of those being pressed and submitted to CGC next week.  Hoping for a 9.6 but thinking more like 9.4.

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1 hour ago, Shark said:

I have one of those being pressed and submitted to CGC next week.  Hoping for a 9.6 but thinking more like 9.4.

Even in 9.4 that's still a very desirable book. The last sale of a 9.4 MJ #98 on GPA was in April for $850.:whatthe: (12 mo. avg. is $499 tho):gossip: 

I still can't believe the deal I got on my copy. It wasn't listed as a Mark Jewelers and the only way to tell was to look closely at the scan and read the label. I won it for less than $450 and GPA for a 9.6 MJ is $791 (including my ridiculously low sale!). Last month I was bidding on an #98 9.6 MJ copy on Ebay and got out after it crossed $650, it sold for $739. 

I won a cgc 9.6 Daredevil #232 MJ on Clink this month for a great price the same way. It wasn't listed as a Mark Jeweler and the only way to tell was to again, look closely at the scan and read the label. Me thinks maybe some interns are being delegated the job of listing comics on these auction sites?:facepalm:

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On 7/17/2020 at 5:29 AM, Corona smith said:

Quite simple this is the Copper Age Forum not Modern. 

Ok, but the question, "How much of a premium are we talking for newsstand issues v/s direct editions?" asked in the OP spans the modern age also, and is more pertinent to modern age newsstand editions, which are far less common than copper age comics. If what you say is correct, then perhaps the entire thread should be moved.


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