variant issue?

[carter3175]

http://www.thedigitorial.com/when-varia ... ng-crisis/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here is a good read...enjoy and share your thoughts

[skot]

i dont buy variant covers for the product inside. i buy it for the cover.
im a collector like the article describes. i buy my regular issues to read. then my "collector" comes out. the completest in me has to buy everything that (in my case) valiant makes.
just for the same reason i buy all the crap valiant and acclaim put out in later years. i dont read it but have to have it. i cant describe it really.
im only a handful of regular issue away from having 100% of VH1. now i started buying the acclaim junk. i dont know why. but i have to have them all. its sick.
my reply as a junkie.

skot

[MoonChild]

There's some suprise gems in the acclaim run. As far as variants, treat it like anything else: Too much of anything is BAD, in moderation it's good!

[kevinbastos]

Absolutely true. And absolutely sale-able. If we will buy it, they will sell it. Related, if the book sucks, no one will continue to buy... Good or bad. My LCS has a bin for variants, most sold at half-price of original cover. No interest when they came in, and less now.

Many books, I am buying just for the stories. Had no interest in any Before Watchmen variants, but am buying the line.

Balance makes a sale, and keeps sales going.

[sanman]

Pardon me if I come off a bit negative, but I think the blogger is an idiot. I don't need to be protected from the comic book industry. Reading and collecting comics has been my choice for over 20 years. If I feel I need to "collect em all" that's part of the fun.

On some books - especialy with the new Valiants - I will buy the affordable variant. But, rarer books (such as the Neil Adams A&A) sell for more than I'm comfortable spending, so I just don't bother - no big deal. But if someone here acquires one - congrats! Like wise, as I was putting my VH1 set together I enjoyed tracking down those golds, reds and other HTF issues.

In contrast, I also read IDW's TMNT, and I just by one copy with no compulsion to acquire every variant.

All in all, I do agree that variants have become too common place again. But comic book collecting is a hobby that is hopefully funded by discressionary income. If the enthusiast is so strapped for cash that a HTF issue breaks the bank then he or she should know to buy only what he or she can responsibly afford.

[kjjohanson]

"Can you imagine what the better business bureau would say if General Mills started selling variant covers for their cereals?"
Well, General Mills has done that pretty much forever by creating Wheaties boxes feature athlete du jour and society appears to have come through that just fine. The other analogies are flawed in different ways (second-hand smoke affects those who choose not to smoke, the junk food analogy involves minors who society agrees do not fully possess the capacity for making their own decisions, etc.).

The simply reality is comics are a luxury, not a necessity. For now, I'm buying the common variants and avoiding anything that has a jacked-up price because I won't buy into artificial scarcity. If I can find some of the rarer variants at close to cover I'd probably add them to my collection, but contrary to what the article suggests, I don't have to have them. If Valiant starts to print multiple cover-priced variants per issue then I'd say that would be getting out of hand and I'll cut back to just the cover that I like.

[GGSAE]

That article is ridiculous! I know it's a bit tongue in cheek, but I was hoping for more substance to it than a few random comparisons.

[nutflush76]

That article is ridiculous! I know it's a bit tongue in cheek, but I was hoping for more substance to it than a few random comparisons.

I was thinking the same thing.

I don't mind variants. I just buy the ones I want and that's about it.