Houdini Variants, the Bastard Sons of Under Ordered Books #2

What Up CHU, Mel V back again with the 2nd edition of Houdini Variants, The 1st edition went very well and I would like to personally thank you…the readers for reading and commenting and requesting more. This month we have some stellar looking variants. It will take some serious hunting to get a hold of these…Let’s get started

Batman And Robin #15 Frazer Irving Joker Variant 1:15 estimated 5300 – When I first saw this cover at one of my hunting grounds I figured they would be flooded on eBay seeing how great it looked…so I checked eBay and to my surprise It was only 3 listed in America. Prices range from $23-29.Joker covers will always be desired by collectors and visually this one ranks right up there with the great ones

New Avengers #2, Spider-Man Variant by Stuart Immonen 1:75 estimated 1111 copies- This is one of those books that NOW is the right time to hunt for…let’s face it Spider-Man was fantastic in the Civil War movie (no spoilers) The “I AM AN AVENGER “series of covers were released as a whopping 1:75 variant. Add Spider-Man to anything Avengers right now and it gets noticed ,there are only a few on eBay at the moment I expect these to be picked up quickly as this book gains more notoriety

Shadowland #5 John Tyler Christopher 1:25 estimated 1770 – When I first saw this beauty I cried a little on the inside and immediately put this in my top 10 favorite covers of all time. A cover swipe of Daredevil Issue 179…by none other than Mr. Action Figure Variant John Tyler Christopher. Such a suburb cover currently NONE on eBay USA only 1 from across the pond ..Every time I see this in the wild I’m going to buy it. I won’t care how many I have, This is a BELOVED

ALL-NEW INHUMANS #5 DAMION SCOTT HIP HOP VARIANT COVER 1:100estimated 581 – I’m surprised that this one rarely gets talked about. I remember when this came out, I woke up Wednesday morning very reluctant to go to the shops so early thinking to myself “blahh this will be there at the shop whenever I get there no one is paying for a $100 Inhumans variant “BLAHHHHH” none of my shops even got one. I scrambled just about every shop in NYC…about 3 weeks later I went into Midtown and low and behold
sitting on the wall for $115 bucks was this gem. I didn’t hesitate to buy it
These pop up on eBay from time to time and sell pretty well.. Right now it’s about 4 on their which is the most I seen at a single time. I’d buy again for the right price
That’s it for this edition, in closing I would once again to thank the readers of CHU for the support and also want to give a shout out to reader dangergrimm1000 Thanks for the hook up on the Fix 2nd print check out his auctions

20 thoughts on “Houdini Variants, the Bastard Sons of Under Ordered Books #2”

  1. Just awesome, Mel V. Love the new CHU segment & the Joker & Wolvie covers are rad. I’ll enjoy hunting them down. Thanks!

    1. Thank you for reading Brother,That Joker should not be that hard to find..but that Wolverine tho …Mannnn

  2. Thanks for the shout out Mel. Glad to have been able to hook you up with that one. Shadowlands 5 variant is sick. Will definitely be on the lookout for that one. Happy hunting.

  4. I was tried to get that Inhumans #5 but missed it. Good stuff I can’t wait for the next one. More comics for me to put on my hunting list, Mel I heard you on that podcast the other day it was good and very entertaining keep them coming.

  5. Just curious; are you getting your print run numbers for the variants by taking the numbers from Comichron.com and dividing by the rarity level? I’ve always wondered if the “1:50”, “1:100”, etc, are absolutes. Sometimes there are a lot of copies of books floating around that seem like there shouldn’t have been enough copies ordered to merit so many copies of a scarce variant; as if they actually print more copies than they should have. And it’s always crazy to see 1:100 variants turning up in the Grab Bags at Five Below; especially a bunch of copies of the same 1:100 variant across several bags at the same shop.

    1. My buddy helps me out with the numbers.. the print runs are rough estimates ,but yes in the case of 5 below grab bags let me get back to ya on that ,that woukd be a pretty interesting topic to research

    2. The print runs are not absolutes. Publishers do not give the print runs. All we can ever do is estimate based on the sales number that are reported by Comichron and Diamond. It’s not the perfect system but the best anyone has. We know 100% that Unleash #1 from Amigo had a print run of 3,000 copies because they told us. Marvel and DC sadly will not tell us the print runs. On a side note I picked up a Superior Spiderman Team Up 1:100 variant at a 5 Below today.

  6. G-mart.com has the shadowland 5 Christopher variant for 25$…if somebody wants it.

  7. Great list Mel. More variants to look for lol. Thanks again for a great article. Keep them coming.

  8. Great post Mel. Ive been meaning to check out that Shadowland cover since you mentioned it on the CBSI podcast. It’s killer! Cheers bro

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