Why is this cbcs slab of 2001 #8 labeled newstand edition prior to direct market? 2 2

[wolverine180]

I was just browsing the auction list at MyComicShop and seen this 2001 #8 graded by CBCS and I noticed that it was labeled "NEWSTAND EDITION" as if there was any other version of book. This book came out in 1977, direct market started in June 1979. Is there any reason or explaination as to why this would be labeled as such. It almost feels like false marketing.

[mr_highgrade]

I also noticed that a while back. They even label "newsstand edition" to books from the mid 70's. 

[Timely]

The upc boxes started having different versions as early as 1977. Check out all the different versions of Star Wars #1 from 1977!

[RockMyAmadeus]

The Direct market started about 1974.

The publishers realized they needed a way to distinguish non-returnable Direct market books from returnable newsstands.

Marvel's solution was the "fat diamond" price boxes,which began in November/December, 1976:

This IS NOT a "Whitman variant", as some claim. It is a Direct market version. Yes, Whitman was a big early adopter of Direct market distribution, but it was not the only one. 

Marvel toyed around with the idea for 2 years, then finally went company wide in March of 1979, with their June 79 cover dated books.

Gold Key's solution was to have their books carry the Whitman cover dress:

 

DC's solution came in 1978, with their expressly Whitman books....BUT...there is some doubt whether or not these were ALSO distributed to the couple of hundred comic stores in existence at that point around the US.

It's interesting to note that DC did not institute a cover-wide Direct market cover dress program until October of 1980....nearly a year and a half after Marvel.

So....yes, it makes sense that CBCS would mark even late 70s books as "newsstand" since there were, by that time, Direct market versions that existed.

What does NOT make sense is that they decided to stop doing that at the very odd cutoff date of 2000. Makes no sense. Marvel's newsstand copies continued until 2013, DC's until 2017, and I imagine Archie's does still.

[ADAMANTIUM]

Just now, RockMyAmadeus said:

The Direct market started about 1974.

The publishers realized they needed a way to distinguish non-returnable Direct market books from returnable newsstands.

Marvel's solution was the "fat diamond" price boxes,which began in November/December, 1976:

This IS NOT a "Whitman variant", as some claim. It is a Direct market version. Yes, Whitman was a big early adopter of Direct market distribution, but it was not the only one. 

Marvel toyed around with the idea for 2 years, then finally went company wide in March of 1979, with their June 79 cover dated books.

Gold Key's solution was to have their books carry the Whitman cover dress:

 

DC's solution came in 1978, with their expressly Whitman books....BUT...there is some doubt whether or not these were ALSO distributed to the couple of hundred comic stores in existence at that point around the US.

It's interesting to note that DC did not institute a cover-wide Direct market cover dress program until October of 1980....nearly a year and a half after Marvel.

So....yes, it makes sense that CBCS would mark even late 70s books as "newsstand" since there were, by that time, Direct market versions that existed.

What does NOT make sense is that they decided to stop doing that at the very odd cutoff date of 2000. Makes no sense. Marvel's newsstand copies continued until 2013, DC's until 2017, and I imagine Archie's does still.

i thought about tagging you and thanks for this  

much more knowledge than I ever would know a way of finding out  

[wolverine180]

Thank you @RockMyAmadeus for the excellent insight and information. I had no idea that direct market started earlier. 

[Lazyboy]

17 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

What does NOT make sense is that they decided to stop doing that at the very odd cutoff date of 2000.

That's for sure, but it still doesn't make sense to mark an book as "Newsstand Edition" when there wasn't a different version of that issue made for the Direct market.

[Joosh]

16 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

That's for sure, but it still doesn't make sense to mark an book as "Newsstand Edition" when there wasn't a different version of that issue made for the Direct market.

Agreed. I looked at about 30 of these #8’s on eBay; all are newsstand. CBCS is technically correct in stating Newsstand Edition, but it’s superfluous information in this case (slab pun) unless someone provides a direct market edition. 

The CBCS newsstand designation cutoff of 2000+ is asinine. The most HTF high grade newsstand books are post-2000 and are some of my prized collection. 

I really want CBCS to succeed to give proper competition to CGC. All of us consumers benefit from that. They have a lot of catching up to do but at least they’re trying.

[The Lions Den]

5 minutes ago, Joosh said:

Agreed. I looked at about 30 of these #8’s on eBay; all are newsstand. CBCS is technically correct in stating Newsstand Edition, but it’s superfluous information in this case (slab pun) unless someone provides a direct market edition. 

The CBCS newsstand designation cutoff of 2000+ is asinine. The most HTF high grade newsstand books are post-2000 and are some of my prized collection. 

I really want CBCS to succeed to give proper competition to CGC. All of us consumers benefit from that. They have a lot of catching up to do but at least they’re trying.

Some folks just can't resist showing off...

[FlyingDonut]

On 8/17/2019 at 9:03 PM, wolverine180 said:

I was just browsing the auction list at MyComicShop and seen this 2001 #8 graded by CBCS and I noticed that it was labeled "NEWSTAND EDITION" as if there was any other version of book. This book came out in 1977, direct market started in June 1979. Is there any reason or explaination as to why this would be labeled as such. It almost feels like false marketing.

Because outside of Steve Borock, no one at that company knows what they're doing in the comic book realm and they don't have any understanding of comic books. Don't overthink it.

[Mijael.Levy]

15 minutes ago, FlyingDonut said:

Because outside of Steve Borock, no one at that company knows what they're doing in the comic book realm and they don't have any understanding of comic books. Don't overthink it.

They are doing a nice job on the foreign editions , but i guess you dont care that because its only for a small cultured niche.

Edited August 19, 2019 by Mijael.Levy

[Stronguy]

9 minutes ago, FlyingDonut said:

Because outside of Steve Borock, no one at that company knows what they're doing in the comic book realm and they don't have any understanding of comic books. Don't overthink it.

West and Ricketts are still there.  That makes 3...

[FlyingDonut]

4 minutes ago, Stronguy said:

West and Ricketts are still there.  That makes 3...

Fair.

[valiantman]

This graphic still wrong, but still a quicker explanation than most others online:

[musicmeta]

On 8/17/2019 at 9:49 PM, RockMyAmadeus said:

The Direct market started about 1974.

The publishers realized they needed a way to distinguish non-returnable Direct market books from returnable newsstands.

Marvel's solution was the "fat diamond" price boxes,which began in November/December, 1976:

This IS NOT a "Whitman variant", as some claim. It is a Direct market version. Yes, Whitman was a big early adopter of Direct market distribution, but it was not the only one. 

Marvel toyed around with the idea for 2 years, then finally went company wide in March of 1979, with their June 79 cover dated books.

Gold Key's solution was to have their books carry the Whitman cover dress:

 

DC's solution came in 1978, with their expressly Whitman books....BUT...there is some doubt whether or not these were ALSO distributed to the couple of hundred comic stores in existence at that point around the US.

It's interesting to note that DC did not institute a cover-wide Direct market cover dress program until October of 1980....nearly a year and a half after Marvel.

So....yes, it makes sense that CBCS would mark even late 70s books as "newsstand" since there were, by that time, Direct market versions that existed.

What does NOT make sense is that they decided to stop doing that at the very odd cutoff date of 2000. Makes no sense. Marvel's newsstand copies continued until 2013, DC's until 2017, and I imagine Archie's does still.

Most informative! Thank you! 

[kav]

All of my silver age books are highly valuable newsstand editions-

[theCapraAegagrus]

9 hours ago, kav said:

All of my silver age books are highly valuable newsstand editions-

Pfft.

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 8/18/2019 at 1:46 PM, Lazyboy said:

That's for sure, but it still doesn't make sense to mark an book as "Newsstand Edition" when there wasn't a different version of that issue made for the Direct market.

Agreed, but that would require thinking, and you know how CBCS is about that...better to just do an "across the board" label....soooooo much easier.

[RockMyAmadeus]

22 hours ago, Stronguy said:

West and Ricketts are still there.  That makes 3...

I'll give you West. 

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

On 8/17/2019 at 7:49 PM, RockMyAmadeus said:

Gold Key's solution was to have their books carry the Whitman cover dress:

Let's make this accurate and say "Western Publishing", rather than "Gold Key." Gold Key was their newsstand imprint.