so here's a thread I hope will generate some discussion

What are your thoughts on the recent All Star Batman & Robin #10 "potty mouth" variant?

Do you think it was deliberate just to send us running for a copy? A scam. (Well it worked, I have a potty mouth and was running all over for it).

Why would they print expletives to begin with just to block them off afterwards?

I've heard reports that 90% of the shipment was pulled, but the other 10% is quite prevalent on eBay. One guy had about 100 on auction and the good thing, some of his auctions ran concurrently so I was able to win one at $15.50 while others were buying it now for closer to $30.00.

Any estimates to just how much that 10% is? Under 10,000 copies?

Anyone who collects comics, loves rare variants. It is just so cool to own a 1 in 100 variant edition. And the rarer the comic is, the more awesome it feels to own one. I personally digg the whole variant cover concept. It keeps us fan boys shelling out are hard earned cash so, and fuels are addiction to hoard all of those hard to find items that we think are so cool.

I have to agree on the variant issues. The rarer the book the more people seem to want them. In fact, a lot of my collecting in modern books is based on low print run variant and recalled editions. Case in point, the only League of Extraordinary Gentlemen I own is the recalled #5. I have never even read any of the comics or the series but I just had to have a comic that was only one of a few to survive the incinerator. The Marvel douche ad was a big bonus, as well. I think owning a survivor of a recall or even a Gerber 9 or 10 from the Golden era is the thrill of claiming something that so few other people can claim. "I own this and you don't!"
As to on purpose, the big boys at DC would never have sanctioned this because of trouble with coding violations. If it was deliberate, someone lower on the food chain made it happen. Could there have been a wink and a nudge from higher up to generate interest in the series during an economic downturn, who knows?

I love variants too, especially from the main publishers as Marvel and DC when they have good covers, like this one.

Post your favourite variants here, maybe we'll get a good, colourful thread going...

That copy of x-men #375 looks like it is in an open top mylar bag? Didn't you say you wouldn't use those? Do you do like I do and polybag them (the comics) then put the polybag in the mylar?

Actually that's just a scan of one I recently won on eBay...when I get it I will bag it better...although I might use a mylite instead.

paglinitattoo wrote:Anyone who collects comics, loves rare variants. It is just so cool to own a 1 in 100 variant edition. And the rarer the comic is, the more awesome it feels to own one. I personally digg the whole variant cover concept. It keeps us fan boys shelling out are hard earned cash so, and fuels are addiction to hoard all of those hard to find items that we think are so cool.

I don't know - I have some issues with the whole variant thing. One is that it's often really hard to tell what makes it a variant. On some of these, after a few years, just looking at the book, would anyone but an expert even be able to tell it's a variant? IMO it would be a lot better if it were clearly noted on each, why it's a variant, and how many were made. I realize that's not always possible, as sometimes latent demand causes multiple printings and there is sometimes no clear way to distinguish the original.

starman wrote:I don't know - I have some issues with the whole variant thing. One is that it's often really hard to tell what makes it a variant. On some of these, after a few years, just looking at the book, would anyone but an expert even be able to tell it's a variant? IMO it would be a lot better if it were clearly noted on each, why it's a variant, and how many were made. I realize that's not always possible, as sometimes latent demand causes multiple printings and there is sometimes no clear way to distinguish the original.

Isn't a unique cover a good guide as to what makes it a variant from the regular cover? For example Batman #608 2nd print had a different cover, and since there were only 20,000 printed, it's worth more than the 1st print.

Then there are the Whitmans from the 70s which featured the W logo.

Other current variants only get my attention if they are worth something. Like certain Dynamic Forces books (Ultimate Spider-Man 1, Ultimate X-Men #1 etc), or special covers which are available in the ratio of 1 to 30 compared to the normal cover, like Uncanny X-Men #500.

I also got a B&W cover of X-Men #25, which I think was available 1:100.

ultimatejezebel wrote:
Isn't a unique cover a good guide as to what makes it a variant from the regular cover? For example Batman #608 2nd print had a different cover, and since there were only 20,000 printed, it's worth more than the 1st print.

Yes, as long as there is some way to easily tell which is which. Hopefully Nosto will become such a resource. Right now Premium Subscribers have the ability to provide images, creator info, and notes about a specific issue. But not many are making the effort to help provide this info. I guess my point is, if you laid out both books side-by-side, how would a novice know the 1st from 2nd print?

So I got my copy of the potty mouth variant cover batman today. Good ol' ebay. I noticed nostomania has not yet updated the price guide with this new batman and robin: the boy wonder #10. The priceguide.com website values a 9.4 NM copy of the recalled variant cover @ 100 bucks. Which would make it the most valuable comic I own, and I have well over 2,000 comics. So anyone have an idea as to how many of these recalled variants are out there?

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 10-21-2008 18:15:12

paglinitattoo wrote:So I got my copy of the potty mouth variant cover batman today. Good ol' ebay. I noticed nostomania has not yet updated the price guide with this new batman and robin: the boy wonder #10. The priceguide.com website values a 9.4 NM copy of the recalled variant cover @ 100 bucks. Which would make it the most valuable comic I own, and I have well over 2,000 comics. So anyone have an idea as to how many of these recalled variants are out there?

I've seen reports that 90% of the print run was pulled, so that 10% lefts depends on what the total print run was like. Then the variant cover is 10% of that 10%...