There are youtube channels that address another aspect of this. Comic book shop owners describe receiving something like 30% of their delivered copies as being newsstand versions with barcodes, piled right into stacks of direct copies inside distributor boxes. This was more about the mid to late 80s, through the early 90s.
Right. I collected in the late 70's-mid 80's and a lot of my books, that were purchased at my LCS, were newsstand. We weren't even thinking about that back then, though, so I never even paid attention to it. Only paid attention to it when I saw they were being differentiated a few years ago.
My preference has always been direct copies. I will especially pass on newsstands over $10. If I'm going to add a book to my collection it's gotta be in a condition I'll except and be the version I'm looking for. I've experienced exactly what you're talking about in this video. I'm happy you presented data. This is not an opinion. Thank you.
Don’t get why someone would be so insulting. You bring great info and content and for free. It’s pretty phenomenal Agreed with your thoughts on newsstand vs direct
I think your comment about ASM #252 also applies to Thor #337. The early 80s was my prime buying period and I bought exclusively from an LCS , or a mail distributor when I was off at college. When I got back into comics recently, I noticed I had Thor 337 and 339 in direct and Thor 338 in newsstand even though I never bought from one. I also have a number of other random newsstand issues from that era (original owner, not back issues). I recall reading on the CGC forums a while back that these Thors were very hot from the outset, so they were probably spec'ed just like ASM 252. Thanks for the video! I think this will be a never-ending debate, but it's a fun one!
I had to comment on Thor 337 and ASM 252!! I was in the Army in Germany where I'd get my Comic Buyers Guide weekly. Comic books took almost two months to get to Germany after release in the USA. There was all that buzz in the CBG for those two books. I was ready to go! When those books arrived at my fort and another one a short train ride away I snatched them all up! I bought about 10 or so copies of each! They would have been newsstands and maybe had Mark Jewelers inserts too ( as MJ went primarily to military installations from what I've read)!! I used to have a chain of comic book stores where those all sold out for a hefty profit in the early 90s! You are spot on about people like me buying multiples!
Nova and Star Wars aren't going to have directs. Directs didn't start until 1979 around June/July I believe. There are Whitman Variants before that for some but weren't considered direct. Edit: I do agree the 1979 directs with the line through the UPC rarer then the newsstands.
I think 1979 newsstands still rarer. For example, if you look up ASM 194 on heritage, first black cat that was in 1979, 9.8s and 9.6s is roughly 85% direct.
I don't care too much about the difference until about 1987/88. I'm a copper age guy, and id wager thats the first run where it begins to really make a difference. I think as we get into X-Men 1/pre-image era, 9.8+newstands are a bit rarer than a lot of people think. The census is close to capping off on a lot of these.
Yeah 1979 as shown on the plot from go collect featured in video - still does not see to stop people from advertising those earlier issues as rare newsstands though…
From the opinion of a shop owner of 34 years they are not rarer...up until a few years ago every corner store sold comics...the difference is what issues were most likely to see the inside of a comic bag with board. What circulated issue was more likely to be better preserved...that would be issues that were shipped to comic shops. Spinner rack books were all beaten up within a couple of days...
The bottom line is that newsstands are hardly produced anymore. It began in the early 1970s when comic publishers shifted to producing direct comics, leading to a decline in newsstand availability over the next 10-12 years. Consequently, newsstands are now rarely produced compared to direct editions. As a result, newsstands have become significantly rarer, making them potentially more valuable. Feel free to discuss whether they're worth more.
I took the time posting a reply with links you asked about Canadian Price Variants and my comment was removed. Curious as to why a comment with good information gets removed. NOT COOL GUYS
I did not remove it. Constructive comments are always welcome. TH-cam does auto delete some stuff which is unfortunate. But not me. Feel free to repost
@@TopComicsPressing I'll post the links again in a few minutes, let me go find them again. Thanks for your reply. Strange how good clean info and links get removed from TH-cam for no apparent reason...lol
I just posted the 3 links as a standalone comment. Hope this good information doesn't get lost or removed by TH-cam again because it helps collectors know how to navigate these scarce to rare books and avoid scammers.
*_In the '90's we thought that Newsstand comic were worth less because of the quality of the paper being of a lower grade._* *_In a way, we were not wrong._*
Not wrong go at all! Star Wars heir to the empire direct has a nice cardstock cover. Newsstand is crappy print stock. I would take direct any day on that (or other DH books of era)
A couple of things that get lost in a superficial discussion of newsstand vs Direct scarcity is remaindered copies of newsstand books. It is very well known among dealers from the 1970s and 1980s that unsold newsstand copies were not all destroyed. Tens of thousands of copies of these books (which were supposed to have been destroyed as "affidavit returns") were stored in large warehouses on the east coast and likely elsewhere. Comic dealers could go and buy unsold, uncirculated newsstand copies for 5 cents each. Chuck Rozanski addressed this in his excellent columns on the birth of the direct market. These unsold "remaindered" copies never hit a spinner rack or bookshelf and probably never got unwrapped from the shipping pallet in many situations. The only truly scarce newsstand issues were the ones starting in the 1990s when newsstand issues started dying off. The ones from the 2000s are extremely scarce compared to direct copies. Direct copies from 1977 to early 1979 (the "fat diamond" copies, with or without UPC, sometimes called "Whitman variants") are much rarer than newsstands and can be impossible to find in high grade.
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There are youtube channels that address another aspect of this. Comic book shop owners describe receiving something like 30% of their delivered copies as being newsstand versions with barcodes, piled right into stacks of direct copies inside distributor boxes. This was more about the mid to late 80s, through the early 90s.
Right. I collected in the late 70's-mid 80's and a lot of my books, that were purchased at my LCS, were newsstand. We weren't even thinking about that back then, though, so I never even paid attention to it. Only paid attention to it when I saw they were being differentiated a few years ago.
My preference has always been direct copies. I will especially pass on newsstands over $10. If I'm going to add a book to my collection it's gotta be in a condition I'll except and be the version I'm looking for.
I've experienced exactly what you're talking about in this video. I'm happy you presented data. This is not an opinion. Thank you.
Don’t get why someone would be so insulting. You bring great info and content and for free. It’s pretty phenomenal
Agreed with your thoughts on newsstand vs direct
I think your comment about ASM #252 also applies to Thor #337. The early 80s was my prime buying period and I bought exclusively from an LCS , or a mail distributor when I was off at college. When I got back into comics recently, I noticed I had Thor 337 and 339 in direct and Thor 338 in newsstand even though I never bought from one. I also have a number of other random newsstand issues from that era (original owner, not back issues). I recall reading on the CGC forums a while back that these Thors were very hot from the outset, so they were probably spec'ed just like ASM 252. Thanks for the video! I think this will be a never-ending debate, but it's a fun one!
I had to comment on Thor 337 and ASM 252!! I was in the Army in Germany where I'd get my Comic Buyers Guide weekly. Comic books took almost two months to get to Germany after release in the USA. There was all that buzz in the CBG for those two books. I was ready to go! When those books arrived at my fort and another one a short train ride away I snatched them all up! I bought about 10 or so copies of each! They would have been newsstands and maybe had Mark Jewelers inserts too ( as MJ went primarily to military installations from what I've read)!! I used to have a chain of comic book stores where those all sold out for a hefty profit in the early 90s! You are spot on about people like me buying multiples!
Nova and Star Wars aren't going to have directs. Directs didn't start until 1979 around June/July I believe. There are Whitman Variants before that for some but weren't considered direct.
Edit: I do agree the 1979 directs with the line through the UPC rarer then the newsstands.
I always thought 76 but you could be right - I did not research start other than graph.
I have the last two issues of House of Secrets that has a slash across the UPC (printed).
I think 1979 newsstands still rarer. For example, if you look up ASM 194 on heritage, first black cat that was in 1979, 9.8s and 9.6s is roughly 85% direct.
Very good analysis
I don't care too much about the difference until about 1987/88. I'm a copper age guy, and id wager thats the first run where it begins to really make a difference. I think as we get into X-Men 1/pre-image era, 9.8+newstands are a bit rarer than a lot of people think. The census is close to capping off on a lot of these.
FYI- UXM first direct edition is 122. Whitman version for 118 only
Yeah 1979 as shown on the plot from go collect featured in video - still does not see to stop people from advertising those earlier issues as rare newsstands though…
From the opinion of a shop owner of 34 years they are not rarer...up until a few years ago every corner store sold comics...the difference is what issues were most likely to see the inside of a comic bag with board. What circulated issue was more likely to be better preserved...that would be issues that were shipped to comic shops. Spinner rack books were all beaten up within a couple of days...
I suspect GoCollect got their information from Mile High Comics:
www.milehighcomics.com/newsletter/031513.html
The bottom line is that newsstands are hardly produced anymore. It began in the early 1970s when comic publishers shifted to producing direct comics, leading to a decline in newsstand availability over the next 10-12 years. Consequently, newsstands are now rarely produced compared to direct editions. As a result, newsstands have become significantly rarer, making them potentially more valuable. Feel free to discuss whether they're worth more.
Newstands are rare in Late 90's, Extremely Rare early 2000's plus 👍🔥🔥👍
Mint hunter comics did a great video on newsstand direct cpv and years break down
Link it?
@@TopComicsPressing th-cam.com/video/8xAH4OMFXjk/w-d-xo.html
The first direct comics came out in 1979. If you find any prior to that it’s a real gem because they don’t exist!
Exactly what chart from go collect shows - 1979 - that’s my point in featuring the SW1 - 💯 newsstands.
I worry about getting scammed.
I took the time posting a reply with links you asked about Canadian Price Variants and my comment was removed. Curious as to why a comment with good information gets removed. NOT COOL GUYS
I did not remove it. Constructive comments are always welcome. TH-cam does auto delete some stuff which is unfortunate. But not me. Feel free to repost
@@TopComicsPressing I'll post the links again in a few minutes, let me go find them again. Thanks for your reply. Strange how good clean info and links get removed from TH-cam for no apparent reason...lol
@@kentA205my guess is they remove the links
I just posted the 3 links as a standalone comment. Hope this good information doesn't get lost or removed by TH-cam again because it helps collectors know how to navigate these scarce to rare books and avoid scammers.
@@kentA205thanks - I won’t delete
Books before 84 direct comics are more scarce. After 87 Newstand more rarer. 84, 85, 86 are basically 50/50.
Whitman's are more rare but no one gives them the value they deserve.
*_In the '90's we thought that Newsstand comic were worth less because of the quality of the paper being of a lower grade._*
*_In a way, we were not wrong._*
Not wrong go at all! Star Wars heir to the empire direct has a nice cardstock cover. Newsstand is crappy print stock. I would take direct any day on that (or other DH books of era)
A couple of things that get lost in a superficial discussion of newsstand vs Direct scarcity is remaindered copies of newsstand books. It is very well known among dealers from the 1970s and 1980s that unsold newsstand copies were not all destroyed. Tens of thousands of copies of these books (which were supposed to have been destroyed as "affidavit returns") were stored in large warehouses on the east coast and likely elsewhere. Comic dealers could go and buy unsold, uncirculated newsstand copies for 5 cents each. Chuck Rozanski addressed this in his excellent columns on the birth of the direct market. These unsold "remaindered" copies never hit a spinner rack or bookshelf and probably never got unwrapped from the shipping pallet in many situations.
The only truly scarce newsstand issues were the ones starting in the 1990s when newsstand issues started dying off. The ones from the 2000s are extremely scarce compared to direct copies.
Direct copies from 1977 to early 1979 (the "fat diamond" copies, with or without UPC, sometimes called "Whitman variants") are much rarer than newsstands and can be impossible to find in high grade.
There's an easy answer to this question. Anyone who knows anything about comics knows they are much rarer.
They are not uniformly rarer. It depends on year of publication and the specific book in question.
@@TopComicsPressing No not always, most are definitely rarer.