Welcome to this weeks spec and drek. This is where we pick the winners each week we think will be spec worthy, a great read or just cool looking art on the cover. I also dive into the pesky drek, the book you should probably avoid if you can or perhaps not invest so heavily into.
I hope everyone had a super great Holiday Weekend.
It’s a light week for books being the last new Comic book week of the year. I got a DC and a few Marvel picks though. And just to please D-Rog, I got a drek pick as well since he thinks I’ve been slacking on the drek.
DC Picks
It’s a small week for DC. It’s probably not going to heat up or be anything spec worthy but Jinny Hex gets her first solo title in a one shot, called Jinny Hex Special. If you’re onboard with Jinny Hex, her first appearance was in the Wal-Mart exclusive Giant Batman #4 which appears to have come down in price so now’s a good time to buy if you must have it in your collection as it could go back up in the future.
There’s also the design variant so if you find for cheap or cover, flip it fast as it’s also the dreaded drek pick as well.
Marvel Picks
The book I mentioned way back in my FOC Highlights. Yes, talked so much pre-FOC yet here we are with pre-sales now hitting the $20 and $25 mark (and that’s for the regular, not the store exclusive virgin of this cover) for Amazing Spider-Man #55. So no more of that “pre-FOC hurts spec nonsense..” cause time after time it happens all too often….
It’s going to be tough finding in minty fresh condition with it’s all black cover. If you ordered a handful, flip a few if you can to pay for them and then stash a few, this is one of those covers that will be seeked out in the future.
A pick for it’s awesome cover goes to Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance #1 (Stegman Variant). Midtown already sold out but TFAW has them still in stock. There’s a virgin ratio of this but meh, save your money, buy it at cover price.
Now on with the dreaded “drek” pick, every writer and artists worst nightmare when it comes to selling their hard work.
The book to avoid or not fall victim to in buying at ratio inflated prices.
Do not buy the Jinny Hex Special design variant for more than cover price. I mean unless there ends up being a new first appearance in the book where people are going nuts for, I expect prices to drop once these hit the wild. Not even sure if people are on the Jinny Hex bandwagon yet…
Amazing #55 could be a $50 book if people didn’t talk it up pre foc.
Lol, more dumb comments about FOC talk ruining future spec.
Why do you keep making these same comments over and over again Jared? I think we all get the picture that you want to keep all spec picks to yourself.
Do you remember Batman Beyond #37 and the same argument?
B U L L S H I T !!! 😉
Nobody was talking about Legends of Dark Knights 1 and it’s now a $10 book only on a good day. The latest NM auction ended at $5.51…
We talked the crap out of Something is Killing the Children and now look it’s going prices?
So, you’re ideology of pre-foc ruins spec is moot, has been moot and will always be moot. Stop drinking the FACTS koolaid, it went sour years ago.. Demand drives value, not pre-FOC talk or pump and dumping after it’s past FOC.. demand in the end drives value. Sometimes books are quick flips, other times books are long term contenders..
So saying ASM55 would be a $50 book is just you talking nonsense. It still could be a $50 book one day, could be tomorrow, could be 20 years from now. It could be a $200 book 5 years from now.. maybe it’s the next TEC880.. but enough of this bullshit pre-foc nonsense dude.. it’s like you’re brainwashed by a cult with really horrible ideas.
Here’s another good example. Way before FOC I told people to buy a few extra copies of High Republic. The print run is going to massive. I didn’t say go overboard but buy a copy to read and buy a copy to hold. Go look at the pre-sales? The prices might come down after FOMO wears off but over time, I think it’s a long term hold with all the stuff being promised with Disney+.
I’m so tired of the pre-FOC “quib” nonsensical shout outs though.. time and time again, it’s proven wrong. You can’t just say a book will be worth $50 instead of $20 if it wasn’t talked about pre-FOC.. there is no way in hell you could ever prove that anyways. So just stop Jared, stop. You’re nonsense just makes you look foolish.
I just made a quick $100 off a set of King Thor books which I never would have bought if the 2nd print of issue 1 wasn’t mentioned here. Maybe if it wasn’t mentioned here pre-FOC it would be selling for $1000, maybe not. Either way, I wouldn’t have had it to sell for anything. So, THANKS CHU!
In 50 years it could be worth $10,000… we can claim all we want. Doesn’t make it true though.. 😉
And even talking about King Thor #1 2nd Print, it’s still miniscule… nobody was banking on it. It’s not a first for Gorr, just a cool cover..
ah yes the good old prefoc talk doesn’t matter because it’s selling for 20 bucks rebuttal….hmm since demand is what’s driving value, I’m pretty sure it would of been a $50 book if less copies were available on the secondary market. I blame spec groups more than I do these posts, but its all the same.
Not even close. You’re talking about the main cover of Amazing Spider-Man, a title that constantly prints 60k-100k. Plus, it has a 1:10 ratio, so shops are happy to order. There was never going to be a shortage.
Well there’s actual shortage and there’s “gone from the shelf immediately after opening” shortage.
I ordered three copies of the ASM 55 when we saw the art. I ordered 35 more when the spec talk boomed. Specifically I ordered 15 in the morning the day after FOC a few weeks ago from Golden Apple and later that night when I went back for more they had raised the price to $15.
Unless there’s a first appearance inside the pages, there was never going to be a gone from the shelf shortage. This is ASM you’re talking about, not Batgirl. Plus all the store variants that is will pump up the numbers.
Golden Apple is really quick when it comes to “raising the prices” though… If I bought from them exclusively, I would be broke and never have any extra money…
We’re no longer allowed to talk about comics according to some douche nozzles. Get of your soapbox because people are always going to talk about books they like. You can’t stop it to increase your profits. Get a better game and stop whining.
“I’m keeping this ‘super-secret’ Spider-Man spec All To Myself!!
*Looks in mirror* You are the true spec GOAT.
You made my day Scott. Haha.
Is the 2nd print to Phantom Starkiller out this week? Not showing up on MCS or Midtown.
I don’t think it is but yes, Previews says it should be.. https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/SEP209324 but we all know how accurate Previews and Diamond is…
sharing is caring
Spec sites, facebook, retailers, publishers, creators. The information is out there. Everyone (including retailers) talk about it. Pump it. Leak it. Listen to it. Order from it. Take away (as an example) CHU and someone will fill the void, be it retailer or a Fan. You and ur mentality just need to adapt.
What’s hilarious is, if a book is mentioned on CHU or another site pre-FOC, it’s likely coming straight out of Diamond Previews itself. It’s not some big super secret.
Oh no, someone talked about a book that’s in Previews… the horror? I was gonna keep that info all to myself until after FOC so I can pump the crap out of it cause I bought meeeee-self 100 copies to dump on eBay.. lalalala lala la la…
Amazing spiderman 55 is beautiful simplicity. Possibly black ink on white paper illustration reversed negative by printer? Easier to draw than other covers.
That was what drew me into it. Simple and yet sort of elegant at the same time while being unique from other covers.
It’s not going to make you rich but it’s that type of book and cover that will at least be that easy $10 or slightly more for the foreseeable future.
It just amazes me because how on Earth had nobody thought of it before? It seems such a great idea that is so obvious.
For what it’s worth that Lego variant might be a nice one to have also.
Agreed. If the Cover A this week weren’t so cool, Lego variant would be my pick on this issue.
Demand drives price. Demand is greater when supply is lower. Supply is settled in the pre-FOC process. This basic comic distribution and basic economics. How is it moot?
Ummmm.. wrong. Demand is not greater because supply is lower. Demand is simply demand. Supply is key when demand goes up. Availability comes into play as well. But demand is what it is, demand, without demand, supply and availability are removed from the equation.
Let me explain yet again…. There could be 2 million copies of X-Men printed but only 1 million people wanted it. Supply is plentiful and it’s easily available at any retail shop. Now let’s say out of the million copies left over, a character within makes their way into the MCU, now 2 million more people want this issue and 500k of the first million wanna cash out by listing their copies. Supplies start to run dry but availability actually goes back up now, cause half of the first million sold are back on the market now. So now you have people buying and trading, people trying to get their hands on a copy. You have 500k of the people who already have a copy want another copy.. so yes, supply and availability play their part yet without demand, supply is moot and so is availability if there’s no demand for the book (or item).
Again, it’s exhausting explaining it over and over…. It’s one step further than basic economics, it’s basic common sense at this point.
So yes, I stand by my statements when I state that demand is the driving factor to push the value of an item because without it, the item is retail or less than what it’s initial costs were.
“Supply is settled in the pre-FOC process”
Also, the pre-FOC process settles the initial demand as well, which retailers base not only their own subscribers and pulls with customers but walk-ins and shelf copies they hope to sell. It just happens after something is released, more people might want it, thus causing demand (yes, that very demand I keep preaching about cause without it, supply and availability are moot without it) pushing the value to go up since supply is limited until those willing to sell their copies (availability) comes back into play.
So if retailer has 100 people ask to order SuperDuper #1 and he thinks 50 more people might want it after it’s released, he orders 175 copies just to have even a few extras. All too often some of those extra and shelf copies never sell cause there’s no “demand” for the book. Now supply and availability exceed demand, cuasing the prices to drop. This is why we see books sell for under cover.
So yes, it annoys me when people say “supply” drives price cause that’s moot until there is demand. Demand is like gas in the gas tank, you can have all the car you want with the biggest baddest fastest engine but without gas, you’re going nowhere.. 😉
I also haven’t dived into the whole.. “some people buy more than one copy for themselves” as well. We had people admit they were pre-ordering 300-400 copies of Venom books speculating on Virus and Codex. So if these people are true to their word and are waiting to sell, this plays into availability. Initial demand might of caused some of these books to go up since demand exceeded supply and availability but once it reaches a threshold these heavy speculators can’t refuse, they’re going to start releasing their stock into the availability pool and thus likely start causing the prices to come down again, since demand starts to fade away as the people who want their copy (cause they missed out initially or weren’t collecting) but supply and availability start to back up.
So yeah, I understand the effing economics of it all and yet again, I go back to the point of, without demand, everything is worthless until more people want something that’s readily available and for sale. But never in the real world when supplies are limited automatically make demand increase. If that was the case, we would never see the $1 comic bins…