X-O 1 1:500 Print Run Speculation

[apacseller]

As a person that just recently joined the board (again?) after a long absence, this new metal cover gave me happiness shivers. I worked in a comic store in my youth and can recall how Turok #1 was advertised as being a "full metal cover" back in 1993. I still remember walking past the 10 long boxes of Turok #1's for many months later when we only sold through about 5%. I tried to warn the owner "Valiant's are super cool comics, but this isn't Death of Superman. Nobody knows Turok!" He didn't listen. I hope he got a bunch of Gold Turoks, but I never saw them.

This full metal book finally comes full circle 23yrs later. The regular copies of Turok #1 and X-O Manowar #1 can jockey for prominence in the $1 bin, but I can't wait to see one of these covers. I hope there are enough that the 100 Valiant compleists can get theirs, and the rest of us find affordable copies a few years later.

It's kind of interesting to wonder what percentage of the X-O Manowars #1 will be sold simply for this promo? 80% 90%? I hope this trend doesn't catch on too much. What a waste!

If this isn't slabbable, wonder how much of a negative effect that will have on pricing?

Either way, can't wait to see one!

[DirtbagSailor]

If this isn't slabbable, wonder how much of a negative effect that will have on pricing?

Huge.

We like to believe that collectors are mature and buy the book, NOT the slab/grade; however, I strongly suspect (based on a LOT of buying/selling/observing) that most collectors are/do not.

People love to gamble in Vegas; not so much with ungraded raw books that cannot be graded.

I do hope this can be resolved as the CGC/CBCS reasoning behind NOT slabbing these is shaky at best.

[apacseller]

I totally agree it would have a profound effect on price. Not to mention some people like to have all their books to be slabbed and in boxes and look nice, or because they like to work their way up the condition chart towards 9.8.

[michael]

maybe CBCS will do the new RAW grade if they wont do slab grade.

[DirtbagSailor]

Word on the street is that CGC 100% WILL grade and slab this book!

Appears to have been a change in the wind.

This is VERY GOOD news.

[TheeBaldMoose]

Yep, Dinesh just tweeted verification. Don't know how much that news would have helped prior to the cutoff, but we will see

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[apacseller]

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but Diamond has also announced that the Variants will be shipped directly to the store from Valiant (to minimize handling). Not via Diamond distribution.

Edit: Mentioned Metal Variant, didn't say anything about others.

[jmatt]

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but Diamond has also announced that the Variants will be shipped directly to the store from Valiant (to minimize handling). Not via Diamond distribution.

Cool, I was wondering about that.

[jaspersk]

Borderlands has one for $799.
Ed is getting two because he buys a buttload
Of copies and has an exclusive.
Everyone else doing exclusives should
Get one don't see a rationale for them
Ordering 500+500 copies but who knows
So if you really want one and don't have the $$$
Now im sure you can get one. How low will they go
Though?
This might mean that most copies will be
Limited to the stores that ordered exclusives
With Valiant holding an excess unknown amount
Check your Fried pie stores/im going to take a look
Who knows they might simply ship one to a store
Maybe you get lucky

[jeremycoe]

Borderlands has one for $799.
Ed is getting two because he buys a buttload
Of copies and has an exclusive.
Everyone else doing exclusives should
Get one don't see a rationale for them
Ordering 500+500 copies but who knows
So if you really want one and don't have the $$$
Now im sure you can get one. How low will they go
Though?
This might mean that most copies will be
Limited to the stores that ordered exclusives
With Valiant holding an excess unknown amount
Check your Fried pie stores/im going to take a look
Who knows they might simply ship one to a store
Maybe you get lucky

Dinesh has said there will be 0 excess. With all the store exclusives, I'm betting there will be more of these than we originally thought.

[TheeBaldMoose]

Borderlands has one for $799.
Ed is getting two because he buys a buttload
Of copies and has an exclusive.
Everyone else doing exclusives should
Get one don't see a rationale for them
Ordering 500+500 copies but who knows
So if you really want one and don't have the $$$
Now im sure you can get one. How low will they go
Though?
This might mean that most copies will be
Limited to the stores that ordered exclusives
With Valiant holding an excess unknown amount
Check your Fried pie stores/im going to take a look
Who knows they might simply ship one to a store
Maybe you get lucky

Dinesh has said there will be 0 excess. With all the store exclusives, I'm betting there will be more of these than we originally thought.

Yep, absolute truth regarding this! there will be 0 excess, so what is out there is all there ever will be. I've handled the cover (and the test book) and that cover is thick as F! the page stock is thick as well! It didn't look like it transported finger prints (but didn't test this theory), as the brushed metal seems to hide those.

Honestly, I really don't know how low these will go, they could stay close to $1k...

[paradise]

Borderlands has one for $799.
Ed is getting two because he buys a buttload
Of copies and has an exclusive.
Everyone else doing exclusives should
Get one don't see a rationale for them
Ordering 500+500 copies but who knows
So if you really want one and don't have the $$$
Now im sure you can get one. How low will they go
Though?
This might mean that most copies will be
Limited to the stores that ordered exclusives
With Valiant holding an excess unknown amount
Check your Fried pie stores/im going to take a look
Who knows they might simply ship one to a store
Maybe you get lucky

Dinesh has said there will be 0 excess. With all the store exclusives, I'm betting there will be more of these than we originally thought.

Yep, absolute truth regarding this! there will be 0 excess, so what is out there is all there ever will be. I've handled the cover (and the test book) and that cover is thick as F! the page stock is thick as well! It didn't look like it transported finger prints (but didn't test this theory), as the brushed metal seems to hide those.

Honestly, I really don't know how low these will go, they could stay close to $1k...

Hold on, the math is not that straight here.

20 stores with exclusives equals 20 variants

All others have to come from stores ordering regular A and B covers.

I imagine most stores with exclusives won't double dip cause it is expensive. I did because of the sets we pre-ordered through here. But ordering 1,000 copies (approx. I don't know individual print runs) and THEN ordering 500 A/B on top can't be easy for store's budget

So smartest guys are out, and you are now chasing smaller, not so smart guys to order 500 copies. That is not an easy game.

Do you see where I am going with this?

[jmatt]

At my LCS today, they told me they received a message from Diamond saying that the 1:500 won't be delivered until June -- and he was a little miffed about that since they're ordering 500 copies.

I told him I'd recently heard on this board that Valiant would be sending the books themselves, not Diamond. So I don't know quite what to make of that.

[paradise]

At my LCS today, they told me they received a message from Diamond saying that the 1:500 won't be delivered until June -- and he was a little miffed about that since they're ordering 500 copies.

I told him I'd recently heard on this board that Valiant would be sending the books themselves, not Diamond. So I don't know quite what to make of that.

He is full of crap. Diamond sent out a message saying that the book will be delivered directly from Valiant, and will be at each store the day XO #1 comes out or before. Don't believe everything a retailer says (unless it's this retailer )

[jmatt]

At my LCS today, they told me they received a message from Diamond saying that the 1:500 won't be delivered until June -- and he was a little miffed about that since they're ordering 500 copies.

I told him I'd recently heard on this board that Valiant would be sending the books themselves, not Diamond. So I don't know quite what to make of that.

He is full of crap. Diamond sent out a message saying that the book will be delivered directly from Valiant, and will be at each store the day XO #1 comes out or before. Don't believe everything a retailer says (unless it's this retailer )

Mmm, I dunno. Keith is always pretty straight with me. Why would he make that up? He's planning on selling it to me. 90 days later the book will have started to cool off on Ebay, which is the basis for our price negotiations. And he knows that I will know the truth since I follow Valiant so closely.

It's entirely possible he misconstrued the message, but I can't see the benefit in telling me a fib.

[paradise]

Mmm, I dunno. Keith is always pretty straight with me. Why would he make that up? He's planning on selling it to me. 90 days later the book will have started to cool off on Ebay, which is the basis for our price negotiations. And he knows that I will know the truth since I follow Valiant so closely.

Either he lied, hoping to sell to someone else, or he's really bad at reading emails. It's in bold, for X-O's sake

[Sunlight on Snow]

Mmm, I dunno. Keith is always pretty straight with me. Why would he make that up? He's planning on selling it to me. 90 days later the book will have started to cool off on Ebay, which is the basis for our price negotiations. And he knows that I will know the truth since I follow Valiant so closely.

Either he lied, hoping to sell to someone else, or he's really bad at reading emails. It's in bold, for X-O's sake

Almost sounds like they're doing this to minimize injuries rather than protect the book.

[jaspersk]

My copy is bought
Unless the cc company freaks out
At the price and cancels it
Thinking its fraud.
Original spec on there being 200 copies
Seemed not worth it. 20-25 copies seem ok
There may be a 1:500 though for each
Convention variant they plan on doing
Which may be 5+ conventions maybe
More. Who gets the fried pie variant
Will midtown get one? Fpnyc?
Tfaw? Impulse? Newbury? Barnes $ noble
Some additional guys with $$$
Probably got their lcs to order it.
Then who's going to start grabbing up
Copies? Anyone outside Valiant fans?
I doubt it. There is something online about
How your lcs can win one.

[jaspersk]

Maybe i can take a 20000$ loan at 3% interest
From my retirement fund
Buy up 20 copies for $1000 a piece and corner
The market. Just a thought.

[paradise]

My copy is bought
Unless the cc company freaks out
At the price and cancels it
Thinking its fraud.
Original spec on there being 200 copies
Seemed not worth it. 20-25 copies seem ok
There may be a 1:500 though for each
Convention variant they plan on doing
Which may be 5+ conventions maybe
More. Who gets the fried pie variant
Will midtown get one? Fpnyc?
Tfaw? Impulse? Newbury? Barnes $ noble
Some additional guys with $$$
Probably got their lcs to order it.
Then who's going to start grabbing up
Copies? Anyone outside Valiant fans?
I doubt it. There is something online about
How your lcs can win one.

Be careful. Re-read my email. I never said it was 20 copies, I said there are 20+ exclusive variants, so that's 20+ copies automatically. Then there will be stores that will get 500 regular to get one of these. But since most of the stores who got the exclusives are the better, bigger shops who know what they are doing, it's the smaller shops that are left to order 500 copies to get a variant, and that won't be easy. I still think we are in 50-75 copy territory.

[TheeBaldMoose]

My copy is bought
Unless the cc company freaks out
At the price and cancels it
Thinking its fraud.
Original spec on there being 200 copies
Seemed not worth it. 20-25 copies seem ok
There may be a 1:500 though for each
Convention variant they plan on doing
Which may be 5+ conventions maybe
More. Who gets the fried pie variant
Will midtown get one? Fpnyc?
Tfaw? Impulse? Newbury? Barnes $ noble
Some additional guys with $$$
Probably got their lcs to order it.
Then who's going to start grabbing up
Copies? Anyone outside Valiant fans?
I doubt it. There is something online about
How your lcs can win one.

I see what he is trying to say, that each variant can/could be purchased 500 times, then they would get a 1:500 variant in that particular cover. This, my friend, won't be happening. [size 125] It clearly stated in the order that the store had to purchase covers A and B to be awarded the 1:500[/size], and that each store could only get one of these. All these companies that make a variant covers WON'T be getting their own 1:500 variant cover in their image, that's not how it works. Those are produced on the side, and have nothing to do with covers A and B.

On a side note, there are 20 different variants, and that does seem like a great deal of variants. Rest assured, it has nothing to do with the 1:500, nor do the purchases by those companies of those variants qualify them to get a 1:500

[jaden_sai]

Currently 6 copies on ebay, ranging between $799 and $999

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... 0&_sacat=0

[paradise]

I see what he is trying to say, that each variant can/could be purchased 500 times, then they would get a 1:500 variant in that particular cover. This, my friend, won't be happening. [size 125] It clearly stated in the order that the store had to purchase covers A and B to be awarded the 1:500[/size], and that each store could only get one of these. All these companies that make a variant covers WON'T be getting their own 1:500 variant cover in their image, that's not how it works. Those are produced on the side, and have nothing to do with covers A and B.

On a side note, there are 20 different variants, and that does seem like a great deal of variants. Rest assured, it has nothing to do with the 1:500, nor do the purchases by those companies of those variants qualify them to get a 1:500

You are not correct about this. There are two ways to get the 1:500.

1. store orders 500 or more copies of Covers A/B
2. Store gets an exclusive variant

Why do you think there are so many of these exclusives? And that's the reason I am getting 3 copies of the 1:500, 1 for each of my two stores ordering 500, and a third for our exclusive.

[TheeBaldMoose]

I see what he is trying to say, that each variant can/could be purchased 500 times, then they would get a 1:500 variant in that particular cover. This, my friend, won't be happening. [size 125] It clearly stated in the order that the store had to purchase covers A and B to be awarded the 1:500[/size], and that each store could only get one of these. All these companies that make a variant covers WON'T be getting their own 1:500 variant cover in their image, that's not how it works. Those are produced on the side, and have nothing to do with covers A and B.

On a side note, there are 20 different variants, and that does seem like a great deal of variants. Rest assured, it has nothing to do with the 1:500, nor do the purchases by those companies of those variants qualify them to get a 1:500

You are not correct about this. There are two ways to get the 1:500.

1. store orders 500 or more copies of Covers A/B
2. Store gets an exclusive variant

Why do you think there are so many of these exclusives? And that's the reason I am getting 3 copies of the 1:500, 1 for each of my two stores ordering 500, and a third for our exclusive.

Ah, this I did not know.

[jmatt]

Either he lied, hoping to sell to someone else, or he's really bad at reading emails. It's in bold, for X-O's sake

Thanks for that. I'll print this and ask him directly about it.