Am I the only one who doesn't care about variant covers?

manga4life · Post by **manga4life** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:02 pm

I don't know what it is but I just don't care about the variant covers of not only Valiant comics, but all comics on the stands. I remember back in the late 90's I was all about the variant covers, especially when I was heavily supporting a lot of Image books and other smaller companies like Awesome Entertainment, I remember going nuts trying to find all the cool variant covers. I have gold logo covers, 1:25's, 1:50's, acetates, gate-fold, chromium, and other such gimmicks and at the time I absolutely LOVED buying collectors editions but in this day and age I just care about owning and reading the comic.

One of the best variant comics I ever got was the white covered Ultimate Spider-Man #1 which eventually earned me $750 back in 2003 thanks to it's insane rise in value shortly after the book came out, but that was literally one of about 2 thousand variant comic books that I owned/own. As it pertains to Valiant, I've seen some of the variant issue's at random comic book shops but I also pass, I love Valiant and all but there is just something about me that doesn't care about alternate covers like I did when I was 17-20.

drmirage · Post by **drmirage** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:22 pm

I think most of the members are collectors and Valiant fans want to acquire variants. I maybe wrong but that is what I have realized. Most also want to acquire the cleanest copy available.

These books are considered for collecting, for investment and most of all for enjoyment.

If most don't care for variants and conditions. Most will just get digital copies.

I also want to point out that each hard copy issue cost $3.99. If these books cost a few $ each, I would skip the variants altogether.

Coming from a publishers point of view. I believe Valiant would not sell as many copies without variants.

Dr. Solar · Post by **Dr. Solar** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:28 pm

Yes, you are the only one that does not care.

betterthanezra · Post by **betterthanezra** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:31 pm

Dr. Solar wrote:Yes, you are the only one that does not care.

-Brian

Aram · Post by **Aram** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:57 pm

Does it count if I WISH I didn't care?

Zaphod · Post by **Zaphod** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:04 pm

I don't care. I'm picking up the pullbox variants, just 'cause. I really like how the Aja A&A variant is a cover I'd love to have but I am not bent out of shape if I don't get it.

There are alot of completionists who are Valiant fans and that is understandable. Valiant existed from 1992-1996, Acclaim lasted from 97-99/00. at best that is 7 years of books. A manageable feat when those fans who aren't Valiant fans consider them pretty much garbage.

The games changed and it's change suddenly, depending on your lcs or your online hookups, the variants aren't easily accessible to all of us.

at the end of the day, I am buying these books because I am curious about the stories inside not the artwork on the cover but I am certain I am in the minority.

Zaphod · Post by **Zaphod** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:08 pm

I further contend that those who are frustrated with the inability to be able to get/afford/find easily seems to sound speculative....just what I take from it when I read it.

lorddunlow · Post by **lorddunlow** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:56 am

As far as the variants go, I would love to have them all, but have no intention of putting out that much cash just for different covers. I'm sure the ones I really like, I'll try to pick up at a later time, but for now I'm just happy I have Valiant stories to read. I did run out to get a X-O #1 2nd print because I like the cover and it seems like it will be very hard/expensive to come by later. It also helps that I got it at cover price.

tarheelmarine · Post by **tarheelmarine** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:28 am

lorddunlow wrote:As far as the variants go, I would love to have them all, but have no intention of putting out that much cash just for different covers. I'm sure the ones I really like, I'll try to pick up at a later time, but for now I'm just happy I have Valiant stories to read. I did run out to get a X-O #1 2nd print because I like the cover and it seems like it will be very hard/expensive to come by later. It also helps that I got it at cover price.

I like the variety of covers as well. I am not getting all of them, but I like being able to pick between the cover price covers and get one I prefer. I think it's great for the collectors and completists to have lots of of covers to chase.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:43 am

I've made my opinion known. And that's about all I have to say about that.

grendeljd · Post by **grendeljd** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:07 am

tarheelmarine wrote:I like the variety of covers as well. I am not getting all of them, but I like being able to pick between the cover price covers and get one I prefer. I think it's great for the collectors and completists to have lots of of covers to chase.

That kind of choice makes me happy too - my lcs had lots of the regular & pullbox X-O #1 & Bloodshot #1 covers on the rack - I was glad to see them as an option out for any potential new collectors to choose from.

The Dirt Gang · Post by **The Dirt Gang** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:24 am

lorddunlow wrote:As far as the variants go, I would love to have them all, but have no intention of putting out that much cash just for different covers. I'm sure the ones I really like, I'll try to pick up at a later time, but for now I'm just happy I have Valiant stories to read. I did run out to get a X-O #1 2nd print because I like the cover and it seems like it will be very hard/expensive to come by later. It also helps that I got it at cover price.

I feel exactly the same way. Although, I didn't pick up the XO 2nd printing but wishing I had. It is a great cover.

MarkRoseHFX · Post by **MarkRoseHFX** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:44 am

for me and variants I won't lose any sleep if I don't get any. I like trying to find 'em for cover price yesterday i made a random stop by my local LCS and found the X-0 #1 Aja sitting right on the shelf. I think trying to win them or earn them is fun too. I've won the Harby #1 and Bloodshot #1 Aja so far on twitter and I think trying to earn a Gold is cool like a badge of honor. I'll never buy a Gold i'd rather earn it.

manga4life · Post by **manga4life** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:01 pm

I suppose if I didn't have such a massive list of comics to buy every month I'd look toward getting variants of the Valiant titles, but as it is I'm just happy reading these stories and putting them into my monthlies box (toward the front now!) for constant enjoyment through the month until the next issues come out. I've literally read everything 5+ times each so far, anything in my monthlies box is constantly read throughout the month until the following issues come out.

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:03 pm

manga4life wrote:I suppose if I didn't have such a massive list of comics to buy every month I'd look toward getting variants of the Valiant titles, but as it is I'm just happy reading these stories and putting them into my monthlies box (toward the front now!) for constant enjoyment through the month until the next issues come out. I've literally read everything 5+ times each so far, anything in my monthlies box is constantly read throughout the month until the following issues come out.

Yeah, a lot of guys think they have a big list until they pull them out.

dbngaa · Post by **dbngaa** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:07 pm

Chiclo wrote:
manga4life wrote:I suppose if I didn't have such a massive list of comics to buy every month I'd look toward getting variants of the Valiant titles, but as it is I'm just happy reading these stories and putting them into my monthlies box (toward the front now!) for constant enjoyment through the month until the next issues come out. I've literally read everything 5+ times each so far, anything in my monthlies box is constantly read throughout the month until the following issues come out.
Yeah, a lot of guys think they have a big list until they pull them out.

What the hell, let's derail this thread...

My wife always complained that my list was too long, but I've done some cutting so it's more do-able now.

manga4life · Post by **manga4life** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:26 pm

dbngaa wrote:
Chiclo wrote:
manga4life wrote:I suppose if I didn't have such a massive list of comics to buy every month I'd look toward getting variants of the Valiant titles, but as it is I'm just happy reading these stories and putting them into my monthlies box (toward the front now!) for constant enjoyment through the month until the next issues come out. I've literally read everything 5+ times each so far, anything in my monthlies box is constantly read throughout the month until the following issues come out.
Yeah, a lot of guys think they have a big list until they pull them out.
What the hell, let's derail this thread...

My wife always complained that my list was too long, but I've done some cutting so it's more do-able now.

I remember back in 2003 my monthly list was huge (by my standards). I had 16 Crossgen books, 2 Marvel books, 2 DC books, a few random Image books, and I was also buying lot's of random stuff like Voltron, Thundercats, and Masters of the Universe comics that were being published at that time out of the love I had for the cartoons as a kid. So on average I was getting about 26-28 books a month. For some that's nothing, for me that's a lot of titles and I've never had that many to buy a month since or before (not counting random back issues, only counting monthly releases). Right now would rank as my highest monthly list since then with 12 DC titles, 3 (soon 4) Valiant titles, and 9 (soon to be 7) Dynamite titles.

I once knew a a guy back in the mid 90's who was a teacher of mine in high school who had 58 monthly books, that is just insane but he loved his hobby.

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:37 pm

manga4life wrote:I once knew a a guy back in the mid 90's who was a teacher of mine in high school who had 58 monthly books, that is just insane but he loved his hobby.

Oh, this does tickle me. In an average month, I order between 100 and 110 comics.

manga4life · Post by **manga4life** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 1:02 pm

Chiclo wrote:
manga4life wrote:I once knew a a guy back in the mid 90's who was a teacher of mine in high school who had 58 monthly books, that is just insane but he loved his hobby.
Oh, this does tickle me. In an average month, I order between 100 and 110 comics.

See, anything much more than what I'm getting now would cause a huge issue with me being able to follow the storylines and keeping up with everything that's going on, it would be a tall order for me to maintain everything even if I read them all 3 times a month. As it is now, I read all of my monthly books multiple times before the next issue comes out so I can remember everything that happened in every book without fail, anything over 30 books a month and I would be a mess.

As for the variant cover thing, I have a friend Kenny who was a HUGE completionist back in the day and he felt the need to own every cover for every comic he collected and since he was a fan of Image and Awesome Entertainment like I was back in the day he would have like 8 issues of a single comic at any given time. He would spend hundreds of dollars on variant covers over the course of a few months that it looked like he had a massive comic book box full of hundreds of titles but it would only be like 20 comics or so. But he was a man who needed to complete everything he touched.

David_Cody · Post by **David_Cody** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:13 pm

I wouldn't say I don't care about variant covers. I've been to two comic shops lately looking for the Harbinger one I like. But I'm not about to pay big money to get them. I did that back in 1994-5 and I ain't gonna do that again.

BugsySig · Post by **BugsySig** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 3:49 pm

I don't care about variants. I picked up two because I liked the art (XO 1 Aja 1:20 and second print wrap around) and bought all the pull-box variants to support the launch. I also would like to get my hands on the Harby 1 1:20 because it may be my favorite of the launch thus far (well probably second after the XO Aja) and I'd be willing to buy the BS 1:20 or A&A 1:20 because I'm a fan of Aja's (for the right price). In fact these Valiant books are the first monthly floppies I've purchased in 3 years.

R Daneel · Post by **R Daneel** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:06 pm

I would like to have them all ... I'm just not up for the chase right now. I tried and my LCS screwed me and I lost the motivation.

I only say I got screwed because ahead of time I talked to them and they said they would get the variants ... they would be fairly priced and I could buy them. Later after many requests for info, they let me in on the fact that I could "buy them online" but likely would not be available. I was like NO *SQUEE* u can buy them online ... not exactly what they conveyed to me while setting up my pullbox.

Anyway one day I will try to track'em down maybe .... maybe not. I like them though.

manga4life · Post by **manga4life** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:17 pm

BugsySig wrote:I don't care about variants. I picked up two because I liked the art (XO 1 Aja 1:20 and second print wrap around) and bought all the pull-box variants to support the launch. I also would like to get my hands on the Harby 1 1:20 because it may be my favorite of the launch thus far (well probably second after the XO Aja) and I'd be willing to buy the BS 1:20 or A&A 1:20 because I'm a fan of Aja's (for the right price). In fact these Valiant books are the first monthly floppies I've purchased in 3 years.

Wow. Do you still have a collection of comics or have you sold off everything in favor of digital? I remember you said you were using digital on some Dynamite books a while back and was wondering if you still had your collection or if it's all on your tablet or whatever you use? Also, that's quite a testament to Valiant to be the first physical monthlies you've purchased in over 3 years, but what brought you to that decision instead of sticking with digital?

BugsySig · Post by **BugsySig** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:44 pm

manga4life wrote:
BugsySig wrote:I don't care about variants. I picked up two because I liked the art (XO 1 Aja 1:20 and second print wrap around) and bought all the pull-box variants to support the launch. I also would like to get my hands on the Harby 1 1:20 because it may be my favorite of the launch thus far (well probably second after the XO Aja) and I'd be willing to buy the BS 1:20 or A&A 1:20 because I'm a fan of Aja's (for the right price). In fact these Valiant books are the first monthly floppies I've purchased in 3 years.
Wow. Do you still have a collection of comics or have you sold off everything in favor of digital? I remember you said you were using digital on some Dynamite books a while back and was wondering if you still had your collection or if it's all on your tablet or whatever you use? Also, that's quite a testament to Valiant to be the first physical monthlies you've purchased in over 3 years, but what brought you to that decision instead of sticking with digital?

For the most part my collecting days ended when I went off to college in the late 90s. They still reside comfortably in the closet of my old bedroom at my parents house

.

I returned to buying floppies about 5 or 6 years ago after working at a boring unfulfilling job which led to an excessive amount of Internet surfing. That pastime to pass the time led to the discovery of some intriguing new comics and story lines which prompted my return. That interest led me to start buying TPBs for the first time in order to catch up with some series i wanted to read. Eventually I enjoyed the trades so much that it became my sole form of comic book purchase.

If anyone is to thank for moving totally to digital, it would be Marvel Comics. Not because of their digital offerings or strategy, but their decision to cancel every series I was readin through trade. Then DC announced day and date digital releases, and Dynamite came out with Kirby Genesis, and I purchased an iPad. The rest, as they say, is history.

As far as my Valiant purchases, I made the decision to pick up all the new #1s in floppy form for both nostalgia purposes and to support the launch. I don't plan on collecting any further floppies except the occasional new #1 or first appearance (I may pick up XO #5 for example). The rest I plan to read digitally and possibly order the trades to have in hand eventually.

In the mean time, my collectors urges have crept back in with this whole launch. I have decided to harness those urges in a hunt to complete a pre-Unity Valiant set. But I am doing so old school, no Internet, only on the ground LCS shopping. Already I am about 1/4 of the way there...if not for those darn Harbinger, Rai and early Solar and Magnus issues...*shakes fist*

Sorry if this is

but Manga asked, so

and

him.

manga4life · Post by **manga4life** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:19 pm

BugsySig wrote:
manga4life wrote:
BugsySig wrote:I don't care about variants. I picked up two because I liked the art (XO 1 Aja 1:20 and second print wrap around) and bought all the pull-box variants to support the launch. I also would like to get my hands on the Harby 1 1:20 because it may be my favorite of the launch thus far (well probably second after the XO Aja) and I'd be willing to buy the BS 1:20 or A&A 1:20 because I'm a fan of Aja's (for the right price). In fact these Valiant books are the first monthly floppies I've purchased in 3 years.
Wow. Do you still have a collection of comics or have you sold off everything in favor of digital? I remember you said you were using digital on some Dynamite books a while back and was wondering if you still had your collection or if it's all on your tablet or whatever you use? Also, that's quite a testament to Valiant to be the first physical monthlies you've purchased in over 3 years, but what brought you to that decision instead of sticking with digital?
For the most part my collecting days ended when I went off to college in the late 90s. They still reside comfortably in the closet of my old bedroom at my parents house .

I returned to buying floppies about 5 or 6 years ago after working at a boring unfulfilling job which led to an excessive amount of Internet surfing. That pastime to pass the time led to the discovery of some intriguing new comics and story lines which prompted my return. That interest led me to start buying TPBs for the first time in order to catch up with some series i wanted to read. Eventually I enjoyed the trades so much that it became my sole form of comic book purchase.

If anyone is to thank for moving totally to digital, it would be Marvel Comics. Not because of their digital offerings or strategy, but their decision to cancel every series I was readin through trade. Then DC announced day and date digital releases, and Dynamite came out with Kirby Genesis, and I purchased an iPad. The rest, as they say, is history.

As far as my Valiant purchases, I made the decision to pick up all the new #1s in floppy form for both nostalgia purposes and to support the launch. I don't plan on collecting any further floppies except the occasional new #1 or first appearance (I may pick up XO #5 for example). The rest I plan to read digitally and possibly order the trades to have in hand eventually.

In the mean time, my collectors urges have crept back in with this whole launch. I have decided to harness those urges in a hunt to complete a pre-Unity Valiant set. But I am doing so old school, no Internet, only on the ground LCS shopping. Already I am about 1/4 of the way there...if not for those darn Harbinger, Rai and early Solar and Magnus issues...*shakes fist*

Sorry if this is but Manga asked, so and him.

You're a good man, lol. The thrill of the hunt is the absolute BEST way to go when hunting comics, I'm very much the same way unless I come across something that I need that's so rare that I have no alternative but to use the web to get it. So many people forget that back in the day there was no internet and I remember the 90's where I had to bug my mom to drive me to multiple comic book stores to find what I needed or taking the bus to various cities to try to hunt something down, once I got a car in 1997 it was much easier. I bought my first comic online in 2001 and since then I've only bought maybe 200-250 because I sold much of my collection in 2003 and when I decided to get the stuff back that I sold I found much of it in a huge package deal for a steal, so I had to act on it. But I've literally spent thousands since 2006 to get back most of what I sold off and I will never make that mistake again.

Admit it, you love comic book stores and you will eventually fold and go nutty buying "floppies".

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