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X-Men 1.95 vs 1.99 cover price - variants?

Started by Aweandlorder,

173 posts in this topic

fastballspecial

fastballspecial

Posted
Posted
I lost track of what were discussing here already.

Is there a list of 1.99 newsstand (?) variants somewhere. would definitely love to chase those

Thanks in advance!

 

I believe I answered this 3 posts up for UXM. #337-#345 all newsstands were $1.99.

 

This applied for all Marvel books dated Oct 96 to June 97 that were priced at $1.95 for direct market.

 

All the other posts concerning Direct Deluxe, Direct non-Deluxe and Newsstand pre Age of Apocalypse have no bearing on your original question. None of those various editions were $1.99

 

Excelsior! (thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u

Thats kinda like the modern version of the 30/35 cent invasion. Care to guess which 1.99 cents variant is the rarest/most in demand?

 

No, not at all. There's a newsstand version and a direct version. Their cover prices are moot.

 

The Deluxe/regular editions being discussed as a tangent to your original question are closer to a 30/35 cent variant equivalent... but still not actually close at all.

 

I read this a couple of times and it still doesnt make sense. A price variant is a price variant. Thats it. Having a variant doesnt make it close or further from being a price variant. Its just a whole diff beast

I dont think a 1.99 price variant is considered a newsstand variant more than a 40 cent whitman variant is called that.

Look you can call it what you want, I just think that a price variant is simply that - a price variant

 

I can understand your logic, but drawing a comparison to the 30/35 cent variants is really a stretch. The parameters when comparing the two aren't even close.

 

Its a cool novelty that isn't hard to find. I found one yesterday not even looking hard.

 

Sometimes you are lucky if you find 30/35 variants a few times a year. Except for Harry who just falls into them not matter where he goes.

 

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Aweandlorder

Aweandlorder

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I can understand your logic, but drawing a comparison to the 30/35 cent variants is really a stretch. The parameters when comparing the two aren't even close.

 

Its a cool novelty that isn't hard to find. I found one yesterday not even looking hard.

 

Sometimes you are lucky if you find 30/35 variants a few times a year. Except for Harry who just falls into them not matter where he goes.

 

Maybe because up until recently (at least based on the inquiring replies initially, INCLUDING mine) no one was really aware of this. I get that none of these were recalled, or distributed to exclusive districts (?) but a price variant, as well as other comic monstrosities, is a trend. So now, as some other have suggested, theres an additional search critiria for this growing genre.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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I can understand your logic, but drawing a comparison to the 30/35 cent variants is really a stretch. The parameters when comparing the two aren't even close.

 

Its a cool novelty that isn't hard to find. I found one yesterday not even looking hard.

 

Sometimes you are lucky if you find 30/35 variants a few times a year. Except for Harry who just falls into them not matter where he goes.

 

Maybe because up until recently (at least based on the inquiring replies initially, INCLUDING mine) no one was really aware of this. I get that none of these were recalled, or distributed to exclusive districts (?) but a price variant, as well as other comic monstrosities, is a trend. So now, as some other have suggested, theres an additional search critiria for this growing genre.

 

I've been aware of these for a decade+, maybe as far back as when they were published. Since it's the newsstand version, and even in 1997, newsstand versions weren't off a cliff in terms of print run, it's not really a "variant"...it's just the newsstand version, and the newsstand versions had a different price.

 

It's the same for certain Valiant books of the era, too, only in reverse: the newsstand books are CHEAPER than the Direct books (Visitor vs. Valiant Universe, etc.)

 

It's interesting, but not earth shattering.

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Lazyboy

Lazyboy

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Posted
I can understand your logic, but drawing a comparison to the 30/35 cent variants is really a stretch. The parameters when comparing the two aren't even close.

 

Its a cool novelty that isn't hard to find. I found one yesterday not even looking hard.

 

Sometimes you are lucky if you find 30/35 variants a few times a year. Except for Harry who just falls into them not matter where he goes.

 

Maybe because up until recently (at least based on the inquiring replies initially, INCLUDING mine) no one was really aware of this. I get that none of these were recalled, or distributed to exclusive districts (?) but a price variant, as well as other comic monstrosities, is a trend. So now, as some other have suggested, theres an additional search critiria for this growing genre.

 

I've been aware of these for a decade+, maybe as far back as when they were published. Since it's the newsstand version, and even in 1997, newsstand versions weren't off a cliff in terms of print run, it's not really a "variant"...it's just the newsstand version, and the newsstand versions had a different price.

 

It's the same for certain Valiant books of the era, too, only in reverse: the newsstand books are CHEAPER than the Direct books (Visitor vs. Valiant Universe, etc.)

 

It's interesting, but not earth shattering.

 

I have also been aware of these (and others) for a long time.

 

If you are going to chase "price variants" that are actually just newsstand editions which happen to have one or two different numbers than the direct versions, congratulations on adding thousands of books to your want list. Have fun!

 

And go and buy newsstand copies of every other issue while you're at it. Why not?

 

 

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Aweandlorder

Aweandlorder

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I can understand your logic, but drawing a comparison to the 30/35 cent variants is really a stretch. The parameters when comparing the two aren't even close.

 

Its a cool novelty that isn't hard to find. I found one yesterday not even looking hard.

 

Sometimes you are lucky if you find 30/35 variants a few times a year. Except for Harry who just falls into them not matter where he goes.

 

Maybe because up until recently (at least based on the inquiring replies initially, INCLUDING mine) no one was really aware of this. I get that none of these were recalled, or distributed to exclusive districts (?) but a price variant, as well as other comic monstrosities, is a trend. So now, as some other have suggested, theres an additional search critiria for this growing genre.

 

I've been aware of these for a decade+, maybe as far back as when they were published. Since it's the newsstand version, and even in 1997, newsstand versions weren't off a cliff in terms of print run, it's not really a "variant"...it's just the newsstand version, and the newsstand versions had a different price.

 

It's the same for certain Valiant books of the era, too, only in reverse: the newsstand books are CHEAPER than the Direct books (Visitor vs. Valiant Universe, etc.)

 

It's interesting, but not earth shattering.

 

I have also been aware of these (and others) for a long time.

 

If you are going to chase "price variants" that are actually just newsstand editions which happen to have one or two different numbers than the direct versions, congratulations on adding thousands of books to your want list. Have fun!

 

And go and buy newsstand copies of every other issue while you're at it. Why not?

 

No quotation needed in "price variants". These are price variants. If you need a dictionary to assist you in defining the term I can help you with that.

You knew that these price variants existed before me/others, Yay. That certainly entitles you to belittle someone's collecting preferences over yours. Congrats, you just joined the club of elitist doucheries which is another growing trend in the industry of late btw.

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Lazyboy

Lazyboy

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Posted
I can understand your logic, but drawing a comparison to the 30/35 cent variants is really a stretch. The parameters when comparing the two aren't even close.

 

Its a cool novelty that isn't hard to find. I found one yesterday not even looking hard.

 

Sometimes you are lucky if you find 30/35 variants a few times a year. Except for Harry who just falls into them not matter where he goes.

 

Maybe because up until recently (at least based on the inquiring replies initially, INCLUDING mine) no one was really aware of this. I get that none of these were recalled, or distributed to exclusive districts (?) but a price variant, as well as other comic monstrosities, is a trend. So now, as some other have suggested, theres an additional search critiria for this growing genre.

 

I've been aware of these for a decade+, maybe as far back as when they were published. Since it's the newsstand version, and even in 1997, newsstand versions weren't off a cliff in terms of print run, it's not really a "variant"...it's just the newsstand version, and the newsstand versions had a different price.

 

It's the same for certain Valiant books of the era, too, only in reverse: the newsstand books are CHEAPER than the Direct books (Visitor vs. Valiant Universe, etc.)

 

It's interesting, but not earth shattering.

 

I have also been aware of these (and others) for a long time.

 

If you are going to chase "price variants" that are actually just newsstand editions which happen to have one or two different numbers than the direct versions, congratulations on adding thousands of books to your want list. Have fun!

 

And go and buy newsstand copies of every other issue while you're at it. Why not?

 

No quotation needed in "price variants". These are price variants. If you need a dictionary to assist you in defining the term I can help you with that.

You knew that these price variants existed before me/others, Yay. That certainly entitles you to belittle someone's collecting preferences over yours. Congrats, you just joined the club of elitist doucheries which is another growing trend in the industry of late btw.

 

No, they are just newsstand editions. That's what defines them. The fact that they are priced differently than direct editions is trivial.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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Posted
I can understand your logic, but drawing a comparison to the 30/35 cent variants is really a stretch. The parameters when comparing the two aren't even close.

 

Its a cool novelty that isn't hard to find. I found one yesterday not even looking hard.

 

Sometimes you are lucky if you find 30/35 variants a few times a year. Except for Harry who just falls into them not matter where he goes.

 

Maybe because up until recently (at least based on the inquiring replies initially, INCLUDING mine) no one was really aware of this. I get that none of these were recalled, or distributed to exclusive districts (?) but a price variant, as well as other comic monstrosities, is a trend. So now, as some other have suggested, theres an additional search critiria for this growing genre.

 

I've been aware of these for a decade+, maybe as far back as when they were published. Since it's the newsstand version, and even in 1997, newsstand versions weren't off a cliff in terms of print run, it's not really a "variant"...it's just the newsstand version, and the newsstand versions had a different price.

 

It's the same for certain Valiant books of the era, too, only in reverse: the newsstand books are CHEAPER than the Direct books (Visitor vs. Valiant Universe, etc.)

 

It's interesting, but not earth shattering.

 

I have also been aware of these (and others) for a long time.

 

If you are going to chase "price variants" that are actually just newsstand editions which happen to have one or two different numbers than the direct versions, congratulations on adding thousands of books to your want list. Have fun!

 

And go and buy newsstand copies of every other issue while you're at it. Why not?

 

No quotation needed in "price variants". These are price variants. If you need a dictionary to assist you in defining the term I can help you with that.

You knew that these price variants existed before me/others, Yay. That certainly entitles you to belittle someone's collecting preferences over yours. Congrats, you just joined the club of elitist doucheries which is another growing trend in the industry of late btw.

 

They aren't price variants. Don't pull a Ween, here. They are the regular newsstand versions, which happened to have a different price than the Direct versions. They aren't "variants" of anything regular to begin with.

 

And tone down the rhetoric, there's no need for name-calling just because someone didn't agree with you.

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Aweandlorder

Aweandlorder

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(shrug)

 

What am I missing here? Didnt see any discussion about the 1.99 price variant in this... Sorry, the "1.99 price variant".

Further, suggesting that a 1.99 variant is just a "regular" newsstand edition with a price correction is dubious at best. Historically, newsstand editions never carried a different cover price than their direct market counterparts, so what brought to that change at the time? Do we know what Marvel was experimenting with then? Does anyone have an insight on what the print runs were with those because of that price change? And why?

 

 

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Lazyboy

Lazyboy

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Posted
Oh and heres another person who thinks that these should be notated as price variants:

 

http://milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=list&title=97993536520&publisher=MV&snumber=761&instock=0

 

mhc.jpg

 

Even ignoring Mile High's other faults, their duplicate listing of an identical book means... what exactly?

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Lazyboy

Lazyboy

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Posted

 

(shrug)

 

What am I missing here? Didnt see any discussion about the 1.99 price variant in this... Sorry, the "1.99 price variant".

 

The point was that thread contains a discussion about other newsstand copies with different prices than the direct edition. Not sure how you managed to miss that. Oh, and some guy who knows nothing about price variants ( :eyeroll:lol ) was correcting the false notion there that they were price variants.

 

Further, suggesting that a 1.99 variant is just a "regular" newsstand edition with a price correction is dubious at best.

 

Unless you can produce a newsstand copy with a 1.95 (U.S.) price, it's nowhere near dubious.

 

Historically, newsstand editions never carried a different cover price than their direct market counterparts, so what brought to that change at the time? Do we know what Marvel was experimenting with then?

(shrug)

 

Does anyone have an insight on what the print runs were with those because of that price change? And why?

 

 

In line with the previous issues/trend at the time? (shrug)

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jaeldubyoo

jaeldubyoo

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I think the term "price variant" is very narrow in definition to those that collect the 30¢ and 35¢ variants. Others see an issue that has different prices and call it a "price variant," but it doesn't fit within that narrow definition. If you're going to be adamant about it one way or another, you'll just have to agree to disagree.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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(shrug)

 

What am I missing here? Didnt see any discussion about the 1.99 price variant in this... Sorry, the "1.99 price variant".

Further, suggesting that a 1.99 variant is just a "regular" newsstand edition with a price correction is dubious at best. Historically, newsstand editions never carried a different cover price than their direct market counterparts, so what brought to that change at the time? Do we know what Marvel was experimenting with then? Does anyone have an insight on what the print runs were with those because of that price change? And why?

 

 

Because Marvel felt like they could get an extra 4 cents at the newsstand (at least in the US; in Canada, it was 15 cents MORE for the Direct version)...?

 

Because Marvel wanted to see if the by-then vastly shrinking newsstand would support the price increase from $1.95 to $1.99, which happened as of Aug 1997 cover dates?

 

Who knows? The real coup was convincing the market to go from $1.50 to $1.95 a year and a half earlier, by promising a higher quality X-Men family product, for a higher price, and then going back to the lower quality about a year later. The rest of the Marvel line quickly followed suit, and never even bothered with the "deluxe" route in the first place. By early 1997, every Marvel book was $1.95, and they never looked back.

 

Perelman was in charge of Marvel at this point...he was trying to pump the market for everything it could be pumped for, and then some.

 

In any event, they aren't variants. A variant must, by definition, have a regular version. Otherwise, the purported "variant" is, itself, the regular version.

 

They are the regular, newsstand versions. They were priced differently than the Direct versions, but that doesn't make them variants, UNLESS you're willing to call Direct and newsstand variants of each other (and then you'll have to go back to 1977 to do so.)

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Aweandlorder

Aweandlorder

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I think the term "price variant" is very narrow in definition to those that collect the 30¢ and 35¢ variants. Others see an issue that has different prices and call it a "price variant," but it doesn't fit within that narrow definition. If you're going to be adamant about it one way or another, you'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

Wow. Is this what it comes down to? classifications?

Those "30/35 cent" collectors would probably be mocked by far more people who are clueless about our medium than "1.95/1.99 collectors" who currently pay far less of a premium on those variants respectfully.

No one is entitled to say whats allowed to be collected based on ones preference nor to mock it.

And if they do, than they are the problem with the collectors society. And far more so in society as well

 

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