Houdini Variants, the Bastard Sons of Under Ordered Books

It hasn’t been long since I made the switch from collecting major moderns to hunting the variants and in that time I learned to appreciate the value of under ordered ratio variants. I decided to do some
research and some “market analysis” (I’m by no means an expert, I’m just looking at the numbers.) Some Variants require some pretty funky ordering, for example order 90% of one book to receive an x amount of another variant. Some variants may just require you to order 25 copies to get one variant
(1:25) or order 100 to get one (1:100) and etc. Point being, that there are some really great variants that are super hard and rare to find even on eBay because most stores didn’t meet the requirements to receive these elusive variants that are otherwise known. No many of them show up on the secondary markets, they have vanished like a magician. Let’s take a small look at some recent “Houdini variants.”
Hyperon 1
Hyperion #1 Keron Grant 1:25 Black Panther 50th Anniversary Variant – only a couple domestically, one with a $59.99 price tag. I remember when this first came out, these were so hard to find in my area (NYC). I like this because not only is it an awesome cover, but Black Panther is pretty hot right now. I would like this to surge around the time Black Panther kicks arse in the Civil War movie ,and in a couple of years when the Black Panther Solo comes out.
howard the duck 4
Howard The Duck 4 1:25 Shirahama Cover Ms Marvel– A true Houdini NONE on eBay right now I remember hearing that there might only be about 400 floating around. I love this variant, it introduces a new Marvel Character SCOUT, best described as a female bronze Silver Surfer. If Scout was to ever explode this book will go berserk. Recent sales have been in the $30-45 range.
Red Wolf
Red Wolf #3 Tedesco Variant 1:25– I never even tried to chase down this rare beauty recommended to me by a buddy. Looking at recent sales of the book, it seems like this makes an appearance on eBay about once a month. It is a very cool cover. Priced usually under $20.
sun bakery
Sun Bakery #1 1:25 Paul Pope Variant This rare gem came out a couple weeks ago, and was impossible to find out in the wild. Out of 7 of my local stores I shop at I was only able to find one. Only 5 have been listed on eBay with the highest selling for $89. A couple of damaged ones sold for $33-35 dollars. Issue 1 was a very interesting read, and I could see it adapting well on Adult Swim. If it ever makes it that far. Two currently listed, one domestic and one international…cant wait to see the numbers on this, I’d be surprised if this cover has over 300 print run
wolverines
WOLVERINES #3 X-23 PAREL VARIANT This book has a lot going for it: X-23 on the cover, 1st appearance of Fantomelle, BEAUTIFULLY drawn by Gerald Parel. Only one up on eBay. The last one sold on Apr 12th. This is a fantastic buy and hold book…it will do nothing but go up in value
Well that’s it for the inaugural edition of The Houdini Variants, let me know how you liked this in the comments below

25 thoughts on “Houdini Variants, the Bastard Sons of Under Ordered Books”

  3. Awesome article! Great new addition! I should have grabbed the Ms Marvel variant when I could of got it for $6. Love the new info!

  6. Great article! I’d like to see this become a semi-regular piece!
    I remember passing on the Wolverines #3 the first time around and kicked myself as it shot up to $75. Then I found three copies at $13 each and bought them all!

  7. thanks for the comments ,im glad you enjoy the article,im going to work on some more in the up coming weeks

  10. Nice write up Mel. I grabbed the Hyperion #1 1:25 when it came out, but I put it back since it was between picking that one or the Harley Quinn #26 1:25 lol.

  11. I had the Hyperion Black Panther, but sold it. I should had hold on to it. Oh well, easy comes. Easy goes

  12. Nice job on this article as well. Any print run info on that Mockingbird #2 1:25 Chang variant?

  13. I was definitely going to add that Mocking bird # 2 to this article,but im gathering more Intel on it ..That was a pain in the arse to hunt down when it came out

    1. Looking forward to it. I really love the cover and for what I gather it was under ordered. Been holding onto my copy just because I like it and have a hunch that it has room to grow.

  15. Great article Mel. I know we’ve discussed some of these very variants ourselves. Great picks!

    1. LOL Niceeeee i used the term in this weeks Mel V Variants of the week

  19. Great stuff. I’m just getting into the variant game. I usually don’t go for the variants since they cost more. But recently I’ve been buying for the art work more than the story.
    I just got the black panther 2 weeks ago. Also just picked up the Maleev Punisher yesterday.
    Keep it up and can’t wait for your next list.

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