You know what I don't get? Variant covers, that's what I don't get.
Looking at a story on the Santa Claus variant covers for the Fall Of The Hulks books, I started thinking--who actually buys these things? At least the "rare" higher-priced ones?
Maybe it's just me, but there's pretty much no way I would pay extra--especially several bucks extra--for a variant cover. Jack Kirby could come back from the grave and draw a zombie-monkey-robot-Twilight 3-D cover for Fantastic Four #600, and I'm still not gonna pay $8.99 for a comic I can get with a boring old normal cover for $3.99.
Granted, I'm not a mint-condition-must-have-everything type of collector; I buy my books to read 'em, not as an investment. For me the cover is just 1/23ish of the package, and damn few variants covers--if any--are going to substantially improve my reading experience enough to justify extra bucks.
So, unless you're a deep-pocketed ultra-completist, the main reason to buy these alternate covers is as an investment. But are they really that much of an investment? Again, just my anecdotal experience, but I see those things sitting around my Local Comics Shoppe, but never actually selling, and never seeming to appreciate in value from their original marked-up sticker price.
I guess from the comic companies' point of view, it makes great sense--even if the existence of a variant cover only bumps sales up a few thousand, that's a pretty significant percentage increase in the sales of most books these days. And some comic shoppes must be selling these, right? And it means a few extra bucks for the store if they can sell 'em, which is a good thing. But I just wonder who's buying these critters.
None of this is meant to give offense to any of you out there who do buy these variant covers...I just don't get it...
Looking at a story on the Santa Claus variant covers for the Fall Of The Hulks books, I started thinking--who actually buys these things? At least the "rare" higher-priced ones?
Maybe it's just me, but there's pretty much no way I would pay extra--especially several bucks extra--for a variant cover. Jack Kirby could come back from the grave and draw a zombie-monkey-robot-Twilight 3-D cover for Fantastic Four #600, and I'm still not gonna pay $8.99 for a comic I can get with a boring old normal cover for $3.99.
Granted, I'm not a mint-condition-must-have-everything type of collector; I buy my books to read 'em, not as an investment. For me the cover is just 1/23ish of the package, and damn few variants covers--if any--are going to substantially improve my reading experience enough to justify extra bucks.
So, unless you're a deep-pocketed ultra-completist, the main reason to buy these alternate covers is as an investment. But are they really that much of an investment? Again, just my anecdotal experience, but I see those things sitting around my Local Comics Shoppe, but never actually selling, and never seeming to appreciate in value from their original marked-up sticker price.
I guess from the comic companies' point of view, it makes great sense--even if the existence of a variant cover only bumps sales up a few thousand, that's a pretty significant percentage increase in the sales of most books these days. And some comic shoppes must be selling these, right? And it means a few extra bucks for the store if they can sell 'em, which is a good thing. But I just wonder who's buying these critters.
None of this is meant to give offense to any of you out there who do buy these variant covers...I just don't get it...
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