>We've been looking at the 1:500 and 1:1000 ratio variants for the Batman #1 blind bag, which also has 1:25 and 1:50 variant covers for its release this week, but it has been pointed out to me that there are fewer and fewer other ratio variant covers after the end of the month from DC Comics. Because in August, DC Comics had 43 ratio variants, September has 36, October has 6 and November has 6 again. That's a massive drop. DC/Marvel Batman Vs Deadpool, with 21 variant covers, has no ratio variants. I understand that this a reflection of new DC Comics policy, in agreement with Lunar Distribution, to reduce the number of variant covers being made available to the direct market.>What does that mean? Retailers tell me that this, in effect, reduces their discount by around 10%. Because retailers can sell ratio variants for multiple times the cover price, and can add to the profitability of ordering those issues. Let's break that down. Say you have a 55% discount from DC Comics as a store, and comics are $4.99. Take a 1:25 ratio variant comic. You order 26 comics for 55% off the cover price and are charged $58.38, which works out at $2.25 per copy. You sell 25 comics and bring in $124.75 but that ratio variant cover you can easily sell for $14.99, which brings in $139.74. That's an extra $12-$13 than the $127 you would have made if you had just sold the 26 standard comics. That's about 50 cents less per copy sold. With a 1:25 ratio variant cover, a store is effectively getting a 65% discount, not a 55% discount. And so the retailer has an incentive to order those titles above others. And also, sometimes they can go for a lot more than $15.
>But there had been some concerns in the latter days of Diamond Comic Distributors over just how well the ratio of the distribution for those covers was being preserved, and their value was based on the confidence that collectors had that they were as rare as they were advertised. Also the whole system is harder to maintain, and I understand it has been a challenge for Lunar, and a cost that someone has to bear. So, as a result of all this, the number of ratio variants for new comic books has been massively reduced. November and October solicitations only have them for the following.
>DC K.O #1 has additional blind bag variants for 1:100, 1:250, 1:500 and 1:1000, but unless stores open them all, they are unlikely to get the value benefit that a ratio cover would bring them. And blind bag variants are based on a $10 cover price, harder to achieve, stores are less likely to order $10,000 worth of K.O. blind bags to get one Greg Capullo variant – if they even get it. And would have to open all those bags to find it. Either way, while it may be easier for publisher and distributor, it has made life harder for certain retailers who care about this kind of thing.
>October 1:25, DC K.O #1, Justice League: The Omega Act, Absolute Batman Annual, Absolute Batman #13, Batman #2 and a 1:50 for Absolute Batman #13.>November 1:25, Batman/Static Beyond #1, DC KO #2, Absolute Batman #14, Batman #3, Batman/Superman World's Finest #45 and a 1:50 for Absolute Batman #14.source: rich the leech from fooling tool
I don't care about variant covers.
Isn't the point of really rare variants so they can appear in your shop potentially and be sold for absurd amounts? Like a lottery.
>>150167513DC's selling them in randomized poly bags like a pack of trading cards, they stores would rather buy 50 copies of comic X for variant to guarantee them variant cover Z they know they can flip to a costumer. it's another scheme to bring casuals into variant collecting, buy a blind bag comic for $10, maybe you get a rare book that only has 100 copies printed you could sell for $1000, DC did a similar idea with Rebirth, until the LCS had a revolt, and sold all the variants at a 1:1 ratio, allowing fans to to get the cover they want but killing any mark up a store would normally be able to put on a variant cover.>>150167511variant covers aren't for you, they're for real comic collectors
>>150167454Sexo
>>150169070>variant covers aren't for you, they're for real comic collectorsThey're for faggots who are retarded and think they can flip comics to pay for their retirement. The fact comic shops are so reliant on variant covers shows you how bad of shape the industry is in. Once people wise up (again) that you can't sell this shit for anywhere near what you want to the industry will crash again. This time with no survivors.
>>150167454Variant covers are for retards.
>>150167474Why are you advertising for him? Are you his cum receptacle?
>>150167462Companies forget that rare comics having value is also dependent on people caring about that book. Look at Spider-Man and Batman. There's a reason I walk into a store and all those are picked clean while Captain America and FF has a whole run by one writer sitting there basically.Why would I get a variant with one character on the cover of another character's book? Now I'm not too knowledgable about the storeowner side, but they can't return books anymore like how the DM used to work right?Why would I the store owner, risk getting a glut of inventory because of one book possibly being rare enough and popular enough to offset all those other books? Is that how that plays out? Because there's now way even in places like Midtown that they don't end up with a huge amount of unsold books. But maybe I have too much faith in humanity and there really are that many retard collector/variant hunters out there.
>>150170750I want you to be this hard when shill anon post his news and his stupid headlines with capital letters.You are awful, analblasted anon.
>>150167454This shit should just be regulated like what it is: gambling.
>>150167454It pisses me off when I see a variant cover thats great but has a stupid price tag. I would have bought the comic if they made the cover accessible for a normal price.
>>150172109Laws say gambling involves the primary purpose being gaining money and the possibility of losing all of the money you put in. Since you're buying a card with at least some value and that it can be played in a game or a comic book to be read then the gambling argument goes out the window.Yeah lootboxes exist but those have uncertain outcomes with uncertain value and they are mostly cosmetic. It is more of a grey area on that. That's why you see kids buying trading cards in the first place and why lootboxes are regulated in places.>>150172636Variants are something for me to download and post on here. Yeah a physical issue looks prettier but good thing I can just go to website and have all the variants for free.
