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Walmart Marvel Comics Variants
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160 posts in this topic

5 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

Right, that was how they used to be. But they don't make newsstands anymore. However, Marvel is now apparently. Walmart would be considered a newsstand, correct, not a comic shop?

They're not newsstands (in the traditional sense) because A) The barcode is wrong and B) They don't sell individually at the same time direct editions were sold.  They're reprints for sure, and they're specific to a "pre-pack" for a non-comic shop. They're not direct, not newsstand... they're a third thing, like the comics included with action figures.

EDIT: A better example might be the 1994 JC Penney reprints.

Edited by valiantman
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4 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

Right, that was how they used to be. But they don't make newsstands anymore. However, Marvel is now apparently. Walmart would be considered a newsstand, correct, not a comic shop?

They may not be Direct editions, but there is no way these are distributed through the newsstand system. They are exclusive editions, distributed to only one store (chain).

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1 minute ago, Lazyboy said:

They may not be Direct editions, but there is no way these are distributed through the newsstand system. They are exclusive editions, distributed to only one store (chain).

Right, but what is the difference between Walmart and Barnes & Noble. They are both newsstands in the general sense.

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10 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

Right, but what is the difference between Walmart and Barnes & Noble. They are both newsstands in the general sense.

Two major things:

1) The Walmart books aren't returnable for a refund - which is the definition of the newsstand market from publisher to retailers.

2) The Walmart books aren't being sold at the same time as the direct editions in comic shops.  These are later reprints, not current issue newsstand alternatives.

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47 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Was the giant size superman #7 ever finally recalled? Still ebay listings claiming such, and I didn't know if it ever became official....? 

I don't think it was recalled but not 100% sure. All the articles I have read about it do not mentioned it was recalled

Also they will no longer be exclusive to Walmart they will sell them @ all the LCS's now under a different format.

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7 minutes ago, masterlogan2000 said:

IMG_20190409_114257.thumb.jpg.9e3f4f70a3724403543e41d62926c1f0.jpg

Picked these up yesterday.  Came out to be $7.98 per 3-Pack.

They also had new Avengers, Guardians, Venom, and Captain Marvel books, but I didn't pick any of those up.

Congrats :) 

Looks like the Captain Marvel Artgerm is doing well :foryou: 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=captain+marvel+artgerm+walmart&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_fsrp=1&_sop=16&_osacat=0&_odkw=amazing+spider-man+50+cgc+signed&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&LH_TitleDesc=0

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I'm so confused as to what these are.  It sounds like they're reprints as they have different UPC's from what you find in the shop?  Yet all these books seem to be identical in that even the cover art is the same.  To the uneducated like myself, I would almost see this as an easy way for Marvel to re-package any excess inventory they have just to get some money out of it.  (Yet, apparently this isn't the case?)

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6 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I'm so confused as to what these are.  It sounds like they're reprints as they have different UPC's from what you find in the shop?  Yet all these books seem to be identical in that even the cover art is the same.  To the uneducated like myself, I would almost see this as an easy way for Marvel to re-package any excess inventory they have just to get some money out of it.  (Yet, apparently this isn't the case?)

Yes, the art is exactly the same on the majority (if not ALL) of these issues.  However, upon close inspection, you'll notice the title and/or issue number box (or their borders) are a different color or shade.  It's subtle, but does distinguish between the regular versions.

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51 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I'm so confused as to what these are.  It sounds like they're reprints as they have different UPC's from what you find in the shop?  Yet all these books seem to be identical in that even the cover art is the same.  To the uneducated like myself, I would almost see this as an easy way for Marvel to re-package any excess inventory they have just to get some money out of it.  (Yet, apparently this isn't the case?)

Retail UPC's are different than Direct UPC's.

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Here's one I got a few days ago; with the regular cover from the Grand Comics Database for comparison.  The UPC code is different, ending in 00129, not 00111.  And I'm pretty sure the logo color is different, but that might just be the scan on the 00111 version.

The other two books were the lenticular ASM 789 and 2nd printing Champions #1

Gotg_1_walmart.jpg

gotg1_gcd.jpg

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I was afraid that I wasn't going to enjoy this, but all of the confusion (at least in my mind, even if other people are crystal clear about these books) has my comic senses tingling.  :whatthe: I think the main question for me is this: are there books (other than the Captain Marvel Artgerm hair variant) that were produced by Marvel for Walmart exclusively or is Marvel selling off its overstock of 2nd prints and other editions/formats to Walmart for them to package and sell in these bundles?  If there is some level of exclusivity that's cool, but I still don't see any real monster books unless the start slipping in special editions of one or more already key books (and even then, the numbers don't add up for me).  If my thinking isn't clear on this, please help.  I think the guesstimate on Captain Marvel Artgerm hair variant was reasoned as follows: there's in the neighborhood of 5K stores and according to Artgerm/Walmart there's only 2 copies of the book at each regular store (but some people believe there are more for super stores).  If there's no overprinting (highly doubtful) there's at least 10K copies, but probably a better guesstimate is more like 15K - 20K copies of the variant.  Please correct me if you think my reasoning is wrong.  Legitimately, I sort of tuned out when I was listening to someone talk about this earlier in the week after I didn't find time to go grab any copies or look at the display.  I assume that there are at least as many if not many more copies of the other books in these packs.  Again, I haven't seen the displays, but I imagine that there's more copies of the other bundles than two per store.  Also, did anyone get any information from store employees/managers about the program, etc.  Thanks! 

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2 hours ago, Nico Esq said:

are there books (other than the Captain Marvel Artgerm hair variant) that were produced by Marvel for Walmart exclusively or is Marvel selling off its overstock of 2nd prints and other editions/formats to Walmart for them to package and sell in these bundles?

The answer here is Yes and Yes.

These are 3-packs with the very top book book of the pack being visible.  This top book is a Walmart exclusive.  Yes, the cover art is the same, but these were special printed just for Walmart and contain different colored titles and/or issue number boxes.

The other two comics included in the 3-pack are hidden from view.  These are NOT Walmart exclusives and are recent issues.  Sometimes you get a second printing, sometimes you get the latest Spider-man issue.  The last pack I opened contained the All-New Wolverine #19 Walmart exclusive, a True Believer's Wolverine: The Origin, and a Monster's Unleashed #1 (the latter two being just regular issues).

So... are these produced by Marvel for Walmart exclusively?  YES (for the top, visible issue)
Is Marvel selling off its overstock in these bundles?  YES (for the two additional issues)

Now, I can't say definitively whether the other two issues are overstock or sourced from somewhere else... but for the purpose of this discussion, two of the three issues in this pack are NOT Walmart exclusives, and one issue IS an exclusive.

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