pursuit of value (on 2nd prints, alternate prints, etc)

[CBT]

Traditionally there have been a few alternate or 2nd prints that have commanded a premium, but for the most part they tended to not have much value.

 

In the last few years (be it a bubbly time or not), there seems to be a strong movement (especially on these boards), to turn almost any lower print run books into something valuable.

 

Ultimately, it should only be completionists, or specialized collectors that drive the market/value for these books.

 

Sometimes it seems like an intentional conflict of interest where; because the books can be hoarded by those who missed the boat on the "real" book, and then talk up their hoarded "18th print,only 37 copies made".

 

Curious on people's thought on this trend of 2nd print type books to "suddenly" become valuable. Certainly the CGC registry has helped to push this for hard to find older books with competitive sets, but anecdotally I feel like its become a lot more pervasive in the post Walking Dead, TV/Movie optioning era.

[RockMyAmadeus]

"Completist."

 

There is no such word as "completionist."

 

 

[vaillant]

I always prefer a first edition, but there are cases in which the second (or subsequent) printing is nice, and so I don’t mind picking it if I lost the first printing.

 

This happened to me with Divinity #1 as I lost the first printing initially and I purchased the second which I like more as the light blue Valiant brand matches very nicely with the color scheme of the cover.

 

I care very little for speculation, I just like it better.

 

 

Another example could be FF#1 (not a book that I care much about, but just as an example): I do not like the cover to #1 so I picked this variant. Not that I would have done so if it was costly, if this answers to your question…

 

[PhoKing]

I want an ASM 362 2nd print

[the blob]

"Completist."

 

There is no such word as "completionist."

 

 

it is in urbandictionary.com so, irregardless, any day now it will be in websters... ;-)

[valiantman]

This is a situation where the "market cap" concept can help us. The "market cap" concept is to multiply the approximate print run (or number of copies on the census) by the average price for a copy.

 

When it comes to later printings being more valuable than a first printing, we can usually see that the market cap for the later printing is still lower. For example: If there are 100,000 copies of a comic and it sells for about $3, then the "market cap" is about $300,000. If there is a second printing that sells for $10, it would need to have a print run of more than 30,000 copies to match the $300,000 market cap of the first printing. It's more likely the second printing is about 10,000 copies... for a market cap of $100,000.

 

Even though the second printing sells for $10 and the first printing sells for $3, the market is still three times larger for the first printing. When it comes to "the market" we're usually talking about "the whole market" even though we might focus on individual book prices that seem confusing. The market does value the first printing more as a whole... but any individual copy of the second printing costs more because there are far fewer of them.

 

I want to see a situation where there are an equal number of first and second printings, but the second printing has more value. If that exists, we really have a "Why?" that needs answering.

[the blob]

except for the third print of hulk 377 or whatever it is

[valiantman]

except for the third print of hulk 377 or whatever it is

Is there really a big supply of third prints vs. the first printing? I doubt it.

[Bomber-Bob]

I love 2nd prints. In reality, they are 'variants' with either a different color scheme or a different cover. I'm not a completist, it's simply a fun genre to collect. Often, as pointed out, the 2nd print has better eye appeal than the 1st print.

[Bomber-Bob]

except for the third print of hulk 377 or whatever it is

Is there really a big supply of third prints vs. the first printing? I doubt it.

 

Pic of all three printings of Hulk 377. I think the 2nd print has the most eye appeal but the 3rd print is not easy to find in grade. IMO, the classic example of multiple printings.

 

http://www.myslabbedcomics.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=30942&GSub=2181

[CBT]

"Completist."

 

There is no such word as "completionist."

 

 

I'll use whatever word I feel like thanks, I happen to be a completionist, and if its up for grabs, you can throw my on it.

 

Completionists are far superior to Completists anyway

 

(oh and by the way, just in case you dont know. Modern web browsers, like firefox, automatically underline words in red that dont exist. The whole "thanks captain obvious", or "we all know" responses just arent as fun as what I typed above though )

[CBT]

This is a situation where the "market cap" concept can help us. The "market cap" concept is to multiply the approximate print run (or number of copies on the census) by the average price for a copy.

 

When it comes to later printings being more valuable than a first printing, we can usually see that the market cap for the later printing is still lower. For example: If there are 100,000 copies of a comic and it sells for about $3, then the "market cap" is about $300,000. If there is a second printing that sells for $10, it would need to have a print run of more than 30,000 copies to match the $300,000 market cap of the first printing. It's more likely the second printing is about 10,000 copies... for a market cap of $100,000.

 

Even though the second printing sells for $10 and the first printing sells for $3, the market is still three times larger for the first printing. When it comes to "the market" we're usually talking about "the whole market" even though we might focus on individual book prices that seem confusing. The market does value the first printing more as a whole... but any individual copy of the second printing costs more because there are far fewer of them.

 

I want to see a situation where there are an equal number of first and second printings, but the second printing has more value. If that exists, we really have a "Why?" that needs answering.

 

ok, but towards my question, do you think that is valid, and has the proportion changed in recent years?

 

Second prints should be worthless, because they are "not the real thing". They should all be cover, unless "something" else drives them to have a value. It's a given that they have a lower print run, because its for those who missed out on the real deal.

 

When it has a special or unique cover, that for example, can give a reason to value it. But, as to my original sort of comment/question posed, there seems to be a lot more push from certain directions to value ALL second prints, as if they were of equal desire and demand (and clearly lesser supply).

 

Note, this is not a knock to those who collect them, and I certainly have some in my collection. Just pointing out for most of their history they were worthless, and now it seems like a sentiment change has crept in during the current boom cycle

[ttfitz]

This is a situation where the "market cap" concept can help us. The "market cap" concept is to multiply the approximate print run (or number of copies on the census) by the average price for a copy.

 

When it comes to later printings being more valuable than a first printing, we can usually see that the market cap for the later printing is still lower. For example: If there are 100,000 copies of a comic and it sells for about $3, then the "market cap" is about $300,000. If there is a second printing that sells for $10, it would need to have a print run of more than 30,000 copies to match the $300,000 market cap of the first printing. It's more likely the second printing is about 10,000 copies... for a market cap of $100,000.

 

Even though the second printing sells for $10 and the first printing sells for $3, the market is still three times larger for the first printing. When it comes to "the market" we're usually talking about "the whole market" even though we might focus on individual book prices that seem confusing. The market does value the first printing more as a whole... but any individual copy of the second printing costs more because there are far fewer of them.

 

I want to see a situation where there are an equal number of first and second printings, but the second printing has more value. If that exists, we really have a "Why?" that needs answering.

 

ok, but towards my question, do you think that is valid, and has the proportion changed in recent years?

 

Second prints should be worthless, because they are "not the real thing". They should all be cover, unless "something" else drives them to have a value. It's a given that they have a lower print run, because its for those who missed out on the real deal.

 

When it has a special or unique cover, that for example, can give a reason to value it. But, as to my original sort of comment/question posed, there seems to be a lot more push from certain directions to value ALL second prints, as if they were of equal desire and demand (and clearly lesser supply).

 

Note, this is not a knock to those who collect them, and I certainly have some in my collection. Just pointing out for most of their history they were worthless, and now it seems like a sentiment change has crept in during the current boom cycle

 

Yeah, I get what you are saying. There's a lot of that - back in the day, if you had the Whitman version of a comic, you kept that book on your wantlist, because you didn't have the "real" one. Now they are listed in Overstreet at a premium. Same thing for newsstand vs. direct, except for a few exceptions like Spider-Man #1, nobody treated them as "variants", just the same book distributed differently.

[jcjames]

I love 2nd prints. In reality, they are 'variants' with either a different color scheme or a different cover. I'm not a completist, it's simply a fun genre to collect. Often, as pointed out, the 2nd print has better eye appeal than the 1st print.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

"Completist."

 

There is no such word as "completionist."

 

 

I'll use whatever word I feel like thanks, I happen to be a completionist, and if its up for grabs, you can throw my on it.

 

Completionists are far superior to Completists anyway

 

Oh, by all means, you're free to use whatever word you wish, for whatever reason you'd like, and don't need anyone's permission to do so. I only mention it for others who might be interested in using the correct word.

 

(oh and by the way, just in case you dont know. Modern web browsers, like firefox, automatically underline words in red that dont exist. The whole "thanks captain obvious", or "we all know" responses just arent as fun as what I typed above though )

 

Oh, I knew. I wasn't sure you did, though.

[TheLiamSturgess]

"Completist."

 

There is no such word as "completionist."

 

 

I'll use whatever word I feel like thanks, I happen to be a completionist, and if its up for grabs, you can throw my on it.

 

Completionists are far superior to Completists anyway

 

Oh, by all means, you're free to use whatever word you wish, for whatever reason you'd like, and don't need anyone's permission to do so. I only mention it for others who might be interested in using the correct word.

 

(oh and by the way, just in case you dont know. Modern web browsers, like firefox, automatically underline words in red that dont exist. The whole "thanks captain obvious", or "we all know" responses just arent as fun as what I typed above though )

 

Oh, I knew. I wasn't sure you did, though.

 

Sass level set to extreme.

 

I personally like them because of the differences between them, and the history behind those changes.

 

Why is the New Mutants #87 2nd Print gold instead of red-orange? Did they decide it would look better than the original? Or, did they decide it looked slightly worse and went with that for the purpose of muting it compared to the original?

[GM8]

I collect a number of 2nd and later prints because they are more valuable. Why? Because the market says they are. Logically, a "first printing" of "first edition" sounds the best and that's what we've been taught from collecting in general. In a world where all printings are about the same number that completely makes sense. But that's not the comic distribution model. Often later printings are a fraction of the first printings.

 

Here's just a few examples of this:

 

Superman Man of Steel #17 and 18: only 2 printings of #17 and the second had been selling for more than the first, lately they seem even but I expect the price disparity to return. For #18, the 4th and 5th printings are far more rare. The market seems to think the 5th print is more rare, but just from my observations the 4th print is rarer and is seen far less often. Number 19 has 3 printings but don't seem to attract much attention. However, the 3rd print of #19 is extremely rare. I would guess in the low thousands because one comes available very rarely, about once every month or two on ebay.

 

Batman New 52 #1: similar story here. 2nd and 3rd printings are rarer than the 1st but its the 4th and 5th printings that are much harder to find. Market prices them higher than the other printings but not like the 1st. Yet.

 

I expect Star Wars #1 (2015) to eventually price these discrepencies in to the 7? current printings eventually. The 2nd print is assumed to be rare and the 6th has the error double cover.

[FineCollector]

ok, but towards my question, do you think that is valid, and has the proportion changed in recent years?

 

Second prints should be worthless, because they are "not the real thing". They should all be cover, unless "something" else drives them to have a value. It's a given that they have a lower print run, because its for those who missed out on the real deal.

 

The show-off factor plays into this: some collectors want what they want, but others want what someone else wants, just so they can hear "wow, so lucky, so jealous". Since the dawn of eBay, most books became readily available to everyone. Now that everyone has the same books, the challenge now is to have a better copy than the next guy, or to have a book he doesn't have. If that's an unloved 3rd print, or a German reprint that you can't even read, whatever. I have it and you don't. Aren't you so jealous?

[valiantman]

Lots of factors to consider...

 

What is the general availability of the later printing (total print run)?

 

What is the relative availability of the later printing when compared to the first printing (ratio)?

 

How long between the first printing and the later printing?

 

What is visibly different about the later printing (specifically on the cover)?

 

How popular is the first printing?

 

[vaillant]

except for the third print of hulk 377 or whatever it is

Is there really a big supply of third prints vs. the first printing? I doubt it.

 

Pic of all three printings of Hulk 377. I think the 2nd print has the most eye appeal but the 3rd print is not easy to find in grade. IMO, the classic example of multiple printings.

 

http://www.myslabbedcomics.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=30942&GSub=2181

The first print is just perfect (for a number of reasons). The second, by reverting the colors' tonal values, is weird but loses all the impact of the original concept.

That is why the third is quite good, as it partly preserves it, but the first one is a…

 

(I am a graphic designer, if it helps… )