Variants - How do they work? 0

[Mirkinator]

Greetings Friends,

I am back to collecting for the first time since I was a teenager in the 90s. One of the first things I noticed is just how many variants are available now.  My LCS told me to get the Previews catalog to see whats available and order them 2months in advance(Ex. DCeased #1 Mattina variant).  I did that, ordered the variants I liked and all was well for a bit.

Fast forward a few weeks, I start to see all kinds of beautiful "exclusive" variants from companies Ive ordered from before (Ex. The Comic Mint DCeased #1 Shannon Maer variant).  These are not in previews and I am trying to find a way to see whats available BEFORE my previews order is due.

How do exclusive variants work?

Are they all sanctioned by diamond/publisher (or some authority)? 

Are these variants printed along with the regular comics or are these not related and basically people just replacing the cover on their own (I hope not)?

Is there any ways to see WHATS available for a particular issue before my LCS is on my case about not getting my previews order in on time? Ive had some success with midtown publishing the cover image before I see it other places, but only have their exclusives and its hit or miss.

Can any company that is willing to pay for 5000 cover printings and commission an artist do this? Or only some approved "partner" by some "authority"?

Im guessing they do this on purpose to try and drive more sales and I am probably out of luck, but I would like to stop ordering multiples of an issue just because I didnt see it on time.  How do YOU find the variants available? Thanks!

 

[ExNihilo]

25 minutes ago, Mirkinator said:

How do exclusive variants work?

 

Are they all sanctioned by diamond/publisher (or some authority)? 

They are sanctioned by Diamond/Publisher.  I believe in order to get an exclusive variant, you have to request a certain number of copies from the publisher and then commission the artist.  Diamond is still the distributor of the books (I believe).

26 minutes ago, Mirkinator said:

Are these variants printed along with the regular comics or are these not related and basically people just replacing the cover on their own (I hope not)?

Yes, printed by the publishers.

27 minutes ago, Mirkinator said:

Is there any ways to see WHATS available for a particular issue before my LCS is on my case about not getting my previews order in on time? Ive had some success with midtown publishing the cover image before I see it other places, but only have their exclusives and its hit or miss.

Most of the covers you see are probably store exclusives and your LCS is unable to purchase them.  A lot of times, you kinda just need to follow artists on instagram as they'll often give a sneak peek of upcoming covers.  For bigger issues, there are some comic sites that will aggregate covers.  For example, comicburst compiled all the Detective 1000 covers here.  Unfortunately, a lot of these covers aren't necessarily revealed until after your Previews orders should be placed.

[Mirkinator]

Thank you ExNihilo. And of course you say instagram, lol, ugh. My teenage daughters have taught me to hate that site! 

[ExNihilo]

23 minutes ago, Bravest said:

You're better off not buying variants in the first place.

True story.  There are so many variants these days it's kinda disgusting.  If there's art that you like, sure, go for it (assuming it's priced within reason).  But i hate when books have like 20 variants as it just feels like it's watering down the marketplace.  Half of those covers don't even look good.

[Mirkinator]

1 hour ago, ExNihilo said:

True story.  There are so many variants these days it's kinda disgusting.  If there's art that you like, sure, go for it (assuming it's priced within reason).  But i hate when books have like 20 variants as it just feels like it's watering down the marketplace.  Half of those covers don't even look good.

Agreed. Ive seen several for hundreds of $$ that really weren’t all that special. But I dont mind spending $10 for some decent art. Does seem to be a slippery slope tho and creates problems. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

11 hours ago, Bravest said:

You're better off not buying variants in the first place.

This.

[Ride the Tiger]

Variants always seem to cause speculation and many people buy them up to get graded and quickly flip for a profit before interest in it does down. I purchased a few variants but won't go down that road again.

[Mirkinator]

20 hours ago, Ride the Tiger said:

Variants always seem to cause speculation and many people buy them up to get graded and quickly flip for a profit before interest in it does down. I purchased a few variants but won't go down that road again.

It does seem that you can find a lot of the old variants for cheaper then the newer ones.  But its just hard to pass them up sometimes.  Would have never seen some of my favorite artists without them (Kirkham Venoms, SKAN, Maer, Del'Otto). But yes I do agree it can create a cluster of false value.