Star Wars Hot Topic Recalled Variant unrecalled

I’m an odd twist, probably because the image is out there, the recalled Star Wars #1 Hot Topic Variant has been ordered back to the shelves.
This means stores can sell the Star Wars #1 Hot Topic Variant if they have not destroyed them. This also means prices on the books have dropped from the high point of $180 to about $40. Hope you guys have been able to move your copies. People have been asking if they should hold or sell and myself and several others have been saying to move them while you can. It is still a desirable book for fans of recalled comics, but since it has been un-recalled it will be interesting to see where the book bottoms out at.

46 thoughts on “Star Wars Hot Topic Recalled Variant unrecalled”

  1. I was gonna flip, but with over 120 listed last time I looked and them going for under $100 now.. Just going to hold onto it now. I don’t think most made it to the chopping block since the original recall told managers to hold until a certain date, then destroy.

  2. Wow! I took a look on EBay last night & was watching 2 seperate listings go for over $200. No way I was dropping that. How bad does it suck to the folks who dropped big bucks on it!? Ouch!

    1. Yeah, my own top amount was about $100. I nabbed one exactly at that Wednesday night when there only a handful listed and it was just taking off. I actually got it in the mail today, in great NM shape too, too bad I can’t flip it now to give it a really nice home.

        1. Yup, I actually bought for collection but also told myself if I kept going up I’d flip. Looks like it’s staying in the collection now.

  3. I’ll go find a copy in store for cover now. Desire for this variant has gone from NEED NOW to MEH, I GUESS I WANT IT.

      2. All the auctions I was following seem to have halted on the bids. Most kept creeping up and up, now it’s just a dead halt. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people backed out of their bids and some start to drop towards the end of the auctions.

      3. How much are you willing to part with for the comic? I have an open copy that is in real nice condition. As well as 3 others that I doubt I will get payment for.

    1. Ehhh, I remember when edge of spider-verse #2 was going for 20 and people considered that hype.

      1. This is a different scenario though. No one cared about this until it was recalled to be destroyed. Now the recall is canceled. You can literally see the decline in demand now. I was watching like a dozen auctions and when the news hit of the canceled recall, it seems all bidding stopped. EOSV wasn’t recalled, it’s demand only increased as more people got their copies and are now holding onto them, making less available while the demand is still strong.

      2. Ehhh, as I said wait for the hype to end and a Spider-gwen new series announcement check back next year and see how much this #2 will be. There are so many out there stored away eventually the demand will diminish then you can pick it up for cheap.

        1. That is why I am always a fan of selling books quickly for profit and holding a copy or two to see what shakes out. If you sell for a profit right away you will never be left holding the bag, even if prices dip down on your remaining copies

  5. Got mine and put some up for sale. Not looking for 100-200 (although that would have been nice) but just looking for a nice profit. Now my thought would be “how many books made it though this debacle- total number left”?

  6. At this point…condition is everything to collectors…when buyers bought the store issue and resold on Ebay…most sellers did not know the condition before they sold because they were in the polybag but at least they were better than when the ones that were put in the backroom after management told them to remove them and the comics were almost discarded or at least some were. All the handling from store employee to buyer to shelf, you just don’t know what you are getting. So, I think the first issues that were sold on eBay in the first couple of days may have been better than the ones that were snagged at a lower cost on eBay later after the announcement to put the comics back on display, since the sellers who bought them first snagged the better copies. That’s my opinion on that.
    Moreover, I think the people who ordered online and the books that were sent from the warehouse to the buyer most likely had the better issue(s). Only way now is to open the bag and get a better visual check of what you got…Big difference in getting a 8.5-9.0 or 9.8 or better. So wait a week or so when people starting getting shabby comic books, you will see another demand for better copies. Just my thought…and a positive spin on the people who paid higher initially…The great thing is that I think a re-print isn’t going to happen since management decided to release the rest that were not discarded. Do you imagine if you have two polybags of the same issue and you can’t tell which is pulled book and the re-print. Now that would be a logistical nightmare for a collector. In any case, it has been interesting.

    1. I took mine out of the poly bag (which was really beat up and in bad condition) but luckily the comic was in really great condition. Mine wet straight into a mylar bag with a Full backing board.
      Some might believe to keep such comics in the original polybag but that thing would likely eat your comic as the years pass by. Since the bag is likely just to keep people from reading at the store and isn’t a special bag that all the Star Wars issues came in, I say, take it out, put it in a better bag I say.

      1. Always take mine out of the polybags as well. Whether I’m selling them or keeping them. I don’t think you can accurately grade a poly bagged book and definitely not good as far as storing It that way. I’ve gotten books in polybags that were slimy.

  7. Does anyone think that CGC is going to put recalled on the slab if we send our copies in? Or just too early to tell?

  8. After HT have the green light to put them back on the shelves I think it may have void the very likely recalled label. Yet it should be one sought after in a 9.8 and like said above those are going to be pretty rare in SW’s land.

  9. Dont be so quick on the trigger, i went to all the Hot Topic stores in Connecticut, asked to talk to the manager, showed them the image of the official Hot Topic Corporate email which was posted online and asked if they had any copies, all the managers did the same thing, they checked their computers, confirmed that the email picture i showed them was in fact legit, then proceeded to the stock room emerging after couple of minutes saying that all their stock was “shredded” and this was in 3 different locations and all used the word “shredded”. The books were on the shelves on the 21 i believe, the recall announcement was made on the 25th and the UNrecall announcement was made on the 30th so that would have been 5 day time period to destroy stock, Let me remind you all that east coast was hit with a blizzard which would give CT Hot Topic managers less time to destroy their stock due to closings etc. Now if CT has no stock with the short time frame i can only imagine that all the other locations who had more time most likely destroyed their stock as well, its simple logic, but i am hearing that California had some folks pick this book up at a store, and i also had info from a manager in Miami FL stating his books were shredded as well. you can take that info as you wish but in my opinion this book is still and will be highly desirable not only to comic book collectors but Star Wars collectors as well, remember what happened with the recalled C3PO “Penis” trading card a while back ? Also another thing to keep in mind is that Star Wars has a wider range of fans than comic book collectors because Star Wars is not limited to comics only. I bought 2 copies for about $115 each and i plan on having both of them graded providing they come in great shape, you should consider your options before you blindly follow internet hype. Just my two cents…..

      1. Im in central CT, New Britain to be exact, I have 3 Hot Topic stores within 10-15 min drive from me, all of them were out of stock due to destruction requested by corporate. The store i mentioned in Miami FL, that info came from a friend who is the manager of a store there. The CT stores i personally checked with managers, supply = non existent.

      2. Kelly which con do you speak of ? There was the Hartford Comic Con, went there it was ehh ok met Joe Benitez got him
        to do a badass portrait of me in a steampunk baron style and got my books signed so that was a highlight for me, then there was another Comic Con out in either Bridgeport or Waterbury I forget but I didn’t go to that one. As far as the book stores I go to my list is Eye Opener ( Newigton ) Omni ( Wethersfield and Bristol ) Heroes and Hitters ( Wethersfield or Rocky Hill can’t remeber ) my favorite is Legends of Superheroes in Middlebury cuz they have te widest selection , Newbury Comics in Manchester Mall and DJs Comics ( Wallingford ) the bad thing is that all of those stores are cherry picked beyond the point of making any digging efforts for back issues and they never get resupplied with stuff worthy to pick through. I hate CT for comic book shoppin.

        1. There is a difference in the hulk colors I believe. Is there another toy version of the hulk that is gray and the other is green. People are not opening the books and should be comparing the back ads. I put a picture on CGC…topic is modern books that are hot…or do a search on the star wars hot topic.

    2. I did pick up issues in CA way after the recall. It took some convincing on my part to the manager on Hot Topic as he had read his email late, but since he did hold them for me he went ahead and sold.
      I think after the hype and now the bottoming out we will see the true value of the book in about a week when the current supply on ebay runs dry and no new issues are hitting the market.

    3. Well, the recall caused the demand to go up as most only wanted it because it was going to be hard to find, etc. Now that the recall is canceled, the demand is no longer what it was. So with that in mind, even if half the copies were destroyed, if there’s no demand, then the value is going to continue to drop. No one wanted them before the recall, now no one wants them after the recall (except us die hard comic nerds).

        2. Has anybody really looked the ad and compared it to other opened ad prints on the back cover. Comparing three so far. 2 were the same gray/green color and the other was gray (grey). Is there a color printing error?

  10. You mean Hard Hittin’ New Britain. lol
    You’ve go quite a few shops out your way. Spent most of my life in Danbury before escaping a few years back. Not so many shops in that area. Always liked New Haven best for comics.
    Curious, if you have been to the CT con how is was?

  11. I posted some halfway between the hype and the dying down. Sold 3 out of 4 copies for a total of about $350. However, I have not received payment and I doubt I will. I am almost positive that the people that bought for $200 will request a refund and the seller will have no choice but to refund the money once they receive they receive the comic in the mail. Even if you list the auctions as “no refunds” ebay will still side with the buyer and allow them to get a refund and put a hold on your funds in paypal until you complete the refund.
    What is worse is the buyer just has to mail it back however they see fit and might not even make an attempt to protect the book.

      1. Waiting for at least the 3 days to be up for the first one I sold. I will file it tonight. Even if you do file, all they do is say they are noting the buyer’s file or some other nonsense.
        I know at least I will get credited the final value fees and then I can sell the book eventually.

      2. Yeah, I always wait after 3 days. I also remind people filing a non-payment can cause them to have their eBay account halted (where they can’t make bids), etc. I had one non payer once, he sent me a nasty email after I reported him as non-payer saying he couldn’t bid or buy anything. Of course, his nasty email got reported as well since that’s against the rules as well.

      3. I also file the non-payment cause then if they don’t pay, you do get your fees back and it also disallows them to leave feedback.

  12. News is spreading that a second print is not happening. This may see an uptick in the price after the plummet once it’s common knowledge if it’s true.

      1. Let’s look back at the whole reasoning of why Hot Topic temporarily pulled books. They didn’t want to expose the idea that a gray(grey) was printed on the back ad. to promote Avenger/gray hulk/ I have been looking at the toy hulk colors and they seem different. One is gray(grey) and the other is green (darker). Is it possible that two versions are out there to promote a green hulk toy and a gray hulk toy. I am sure we know that variants of toys are out there that are done by toy companies (so many in a box). So is the grey(hulk) toy a limited edition in the box? So if you have the grey hulk back ad it would be worth and the green hulk ad not so much..So has this company done a variant toy before?

        1. Can you provide pictures? The copy I have shows it to be gray Hulk. The only reason I heard of the recall was because it gave clues to the upcoming Avengers Age of Ultron where a gray Hulk might be appearing, a recall requested by Marvel.

            1. I had my wife look (cause I can be slightly color blind in some areas) but all 3 of those look like different shades of gray without much green according to myself and my wife. Unless I had them in person to see, I’d say it’s just the way they were printed on why they turned out that color, just lighter and darker shades.

  13. With the print run of 3000 , no reprint happening and most books destroyed the only books you will be able to get are the ones on eBay and whatever leftovers can be found in stores. Good luck folks , let the force be with you !!!

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