Ultimate variant insanity

jmatt · Post by **jmatt** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 10:04 pm

This prolly belongs in the "Other Publishers" section but I just read in CBG about an upcoming variant scheme from DC.

In December, DC is publishing some Harley Quinn vs Wonder Woman book. The book will have ten variants. BUT! Each of the variants comes in three flavors: full colors, pencils and inks; just pencils; and just pencils and inks. BUT! All of the books come blackout bagged, so you don't know which one you're getting. The bags will state which variant of the 10... but not which of the three variants of that particular variant.

So even though there are 30 different covers, you can't know which ones you actually purchased without removing the bag. So you could buy three copies of variant #7 and get one full and two pencil & inks, leaving you without the pencil cover. And of course, removing the bag lessens its value in the eyes of purist nutjob collectors.

Has this industry lost its effing mind, or what? I really think they are just testing to see how stupid comic collectors are.

For that much effort, the book had better start with some hand to hand combat that melts into a kiss and ends up with some Young/Mature action in a hot tub. Maybe there will be a statue.

nycjadie · Post by **nycjadie** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:39 pm

LOL! Ridiculous!

nscc · Post by **nscc** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:08 am

wow.... that is just... wow....

FormerReader · Post by **FormerReader** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:44 am

jmatt wrote:
Has this industry lost its effing mind, or what? I really think they are just testing to see how stupid comic collectors are.

I predict high sales, which will lead to more of the same.

jeremycoe · Post by **jeremycoe** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:11 am

I guess on the bright side there won't be much point in keeping the books poly-bagged.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 12:18 pm

FormerReader wrote:
jmatt wrote:
Has this industry lost its effing mind, or what? I really think they are just testing to see how stupid comic collectors are.

I predict high sales, which will lead to more of the same.

I agree.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 12:18 pm

jeremycoe wrote:I guess on the bright side there won't be much point in keeping the books poly-bagged.

Yes. You will have to open these to see which one you will get.

ShadowTuga · Post by **ShadowTuga** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:14 pm

nscc wrote:wow.... that is just... wow....

My feelings exactly. I pity the fools who will fall for this *SQUEE*.
WHAT THE SERIOUS F***?!?!

mkb28 · Post by **mkb28** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:38 pm

It is like opening up a pack of baseball cards to see what you get, only you damage the package to do it.

Speaking of a crazy number of variants from DC, did you see all the variant covers for Dark Knight 3? I wanna say there were dozens of retailer variant covers plus some very expensive Jim Lee variants.

mkb28

Dr Noel · Post by **Dr Noel** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:23 pm

I'm definitely feeling some valiant variant fatigue. I gave up trying to get all the store exclusive variants a while back. It was too time consuming and annoying to track them all down since it was hard to know exactly how many there were. Now I'm starting to question why I keep buying the normal variants. Part the of the fun of being on board since the beginning was owning every comic the company put out. But that's gone due to the store exclusive thing. So what's one more step?

Also, due to my schedule, I rarely get to read the comics before the trades come out. Even now I have at least six unread tpb's on my bookshelf. Logic is starting to beat down my OCD...

mkb28 · Post by **mkb28** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:02 pm

Dr Noel wrote:I'm definitely feeling some valiant variant fatigue. I gave up trying to get all the store exclusive variants a while back. It was too time consuming and annoying to track them all down since it was hard to know exactly how many there were. Now I'm starting to question why I keep buying the normal variants. Part the of the fun of being on board since the beginning was owning every comic the company put out. But that's gone due to the store exclusive thing. So what's one more step?

Also, due to my schedule, I rarely get to read the comics before the trades come out. Even now I have at least six unread tpb's on my bookshelf. Logic is starting to beat down my OCD...

I feel your variant fatigue, Doc, and I also gave up on collecting the retailer variants. It was frustrating to buy these #1 package deals, only to find out you still needed just as many, if not more, retailer variants to have the whole set.

I used to collect all the number 1 variants, but it was quite liberating to buy just one copy of Dr. Mirage and Faith #1.

I let the individual issues pile up until I have a story arc and that is when I read them. Next step will be to stop buying the individual issues, but logic has not prevailed just yet.

Michael
Mkb28

Ricomortis · Post by **Ricomortis** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:16 pm

Dr Noel wrote:I'm definitely feeling some valiant variant fatigue. I gave up trying to get all the store exclusive variants a while back. It was too time consuming and annoying to track them all down since it was hard to know exactly how many there were. Now I'm starting to question why I keep buying the normal variants. Part the of the fun of being on board since the beginning was owning every comic the company put out. But that's gone due to the store exclusive thing. So what's one more step?

Also, due to my schedule, I rarely get to read the comics before the trades come out. Even now I have at least six unread tpb's on my bookshelf. Logic is starting to beat down my OCD...

Finally! Now you can sell me some of those sweet slabs. Doesn't make ANY sense whatsoever to own those.

jmatt · Post by **jmatt** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:23 pm

mkb28 wrote:It is like opening up a pack of baseball cards to see what you get, only you damage the package to do it.

That's the analogy that kept coming to mind, for me. You can't know what you're buying until you've bought it. I foresee a lot of buyers organizing impromptu onsite swaps with other customers just beyond the cash register.

A smart LCS would just buy a boatload, open them and put together full sets for sale on Ebay.

It's preposterous.

Dr Noel wrote:I'm definitely feeling some valiant variant fatigue. I gave up trying to get all the store exclusive variants a while back. ...Now I'm starting to question why I keep buying the normal variants. Part the of the fun of being on board since the beginning was owning every comic the company put out. But that's gone due to the store exclusive thing. So what's one more step?

Exactly, they're killing the golden goose. If you have no chance of getting them all, why get any of them? And while I will still occasionally buy a VEI publisher variant, for the life of me I can't understand why anybody cares about the store variants.

kevinbastos · Post by **kevinbastos** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:32 pm

Peace came when I stopped buying all of the variants. Now, it has become difficult to even find pictures of all of the variants. Now, more time to read them?

nscc · Post by **nscc** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:25 am

kevinbastos wrote:Peace came when I stopped buying all of the variants. Now, it has become difficult to even find pictures of all of the variants. Now, more time to read them?

Yeah now I get 1 copy of each book on my pull list. When there are Variant covers, I just asked Nick (the guy who does up the orders at Eds shop) to just send me the coolest looking one. So much easier

I am also in the same boat with reading. I am easily far enough behind I could wait for trades or hardcovers... but I am just not there yet. Maybe some day...

nscc · Post by **nscc** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:34 am

mkb28 wrote:It is like opening up a pack of baseball cards to see what you get, only you damage the package to do it.

Speaking of a crazy number of variants from DC, did you see all the variant covers for Dark Knight 3? I wanna say there were dozens of retailer variant covers plus some very expensive Jim Lee variants.

mkb28

71 as of a few weeks ago! Apparently there is a 1:5000 Jim Lee variant too, Holy *SQUEE*!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/10/26/ ... -can-find/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Crazyness!

I guess these are the ways DC will take back some market share from Marvel. By raping the wallets of the ones who still support them. Sad.

depluto · Post by **depluto** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:57 am

You lost me at "DC."

Dr Noel · Post by **Dr Noel** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:26 am

depluto wrote:You lost me at "DC."

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 9:18 am

If it was announced today that Adventures of Superman #500 (1993) had 6 golden tickets inside the unopened bags that had never been found, it would still take decades to find them.

leonmallett · Post by **leonmallett** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:58 pm

nscc wrote:
mkb28 wrote:It is like opening up a pack of baseball cards to see what you get, only you damage the package to do it.

Speaking of a crazy number of variants from DC, did you see all the variant covers for Dark Knight 3? I wanna say there were dozens of retailer variant covers plus some very expensive Jim Lee variants.

mkb28

71 as of a few weeks ago! Apparently there is a 1:5000 Jim Lee variant too, Holy *SQUEE*!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/10/26/ ... -can-find/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Crazyness!

I guess these are the ways DC will take back some market share from Marvel. By raping the wallets of the ones who still support them. Sad.

Yet thankfully no other publisher has yet gone down VEI's irksome route of making actual story content limited access.

I would also deride DC for this plethora of variants, but at least it isn't story content with consequently limited availability due to the way international distribution works.

It is easy for some of us to take or leave variant covers, but stories....

iggy101us · Post by **iggy101us** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:12 pm

nscc wrote:
mkb28 wrote:It is like opening up a pack of baseball cards to see what you get, only you damage the package to do it.

Speaking of a crazy number of variants from DC, did you see all the variant covers for Dark Knight 3? I wanna say there were dozens of retailer variant covers plus some very expensive Jim Lee variants.

mkb28

71 as of a few weeks ago! Apparently there is a 1:5000 Jim Lee variant too, Holy *SQUEE*!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/10/26/ ... -can-find/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Crazyness!

I guess these are the ways DC will take back some market share from Marvel. By raping the wallets of the ones who still support them. Sad.

It's too many when you cannot fit all the cover variants of 1 issue in a short box.

kjjohanson · Post by **kjjohanson** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 12:58 pm

I'm going to do myself a favor and just not try to get any copies on this one.

Offering up multiple covers is one thing, but making it so you don't know what you're paying for is another thing entirely.

jmatt · Post by **jmatt** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:53 pm

I don't know for sure how this plays into it, but I think the covers are spread around ten different titles. So there are three Harley covers for #7 but the interior pages are Green Lantern. I think.

If so, it could be a clever way of getting cover collectors to try new titles.

mkb28 · Post by **mkb28** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:16 am

Adding to the variant insanity is 23 covers for Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #1, when you add all the retailer variants. I have really grown tired of these gimmicks when this book should be at #9.

Another loyal Valiant fan that is spending less going forward.

Mkb28

jduran2 · Post by **jduran2** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:50 am

Jmatt enjoyed your post. Like your writing style. I presumed that when these gimmicks started collectors would be flipped off since some of us remember
the gimmick multiple No 1 issue comic crash in the 90's. So far I have no clue why this sales ploy is still working. Maybe the small prints is a big factor.
As old school I don't like it. I haven't read all the posts but what does Greg feel about all this.

JD

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