When the Overstreet Pride Guide is not your friend

I am returning from a length sabbatical from blogging about Marvel Price Variants. While I was gone, there were some exciting things that happened. I will try and catch up over the next few weeks.

Someone got a crazy-good deal on this lot, and the seller offered volume pricing and shipping for the whole Weird Wonder Tales lot. Weird Wonder Tales 15 is still one of the keys to the 30 cent price variant series. Kid Colt 208 and a couple of the other westerns might be just a smidge tougher but this was one of the last two books I needed to complete the series.

There are still only nine copies of this issue certified by CGC, with the condition census grades being 9.2, 9.0, 7.5, 7.0, and 6.5. There is some writing on the cover of this book, but from just looking at the picture, this copy might be close to condition census. 

Buy the set of three for $50? Absolutely, I would have. 

...and sometimes more than one Variant collector finds the Hidden Western Variant lot.

There is nothing quite as exciting for a variant collector than finding the needle in the haystack.  In this case, the "needle" is the hidden western 30 cent price variant lurking in an ebay auction but not described as such in either the title or the description.  Every once in awhile, several variant hunters find the same needle and that is where the fun begins.  I suspect that seller porkyscomics was surprised when his listing for 45 well read bronze age westerns fetched $178.49 at a recent auction.  Or maybe he was just cagey because the one extremely rare Two-Gun Kid 131 30 cent western variant is inserted right in the middle of the picture.  Yes, the tell-tale starburst is almost in the middle of the picture.  Anyway, if the buyer is a collector of 30 cent price variants, he got a good deal on this one.  If the buyer is a speculator, he may have paid a bit more than he thought he was going to have to pay.

There is still hope...

for finding rare raw western hidden variants.  Here is proof.  An ebay seller recently posted a "beater" lot of eleven western bronze age books with an auction start of $23.95.  Ebay is filled with lots like this of beat-up bronze-age books that sit forever because they are overpriced.  No one is going to pay $2 bucks a book for dreckage like this except there is that Rawhide Kid 134 30 cent western variant sitting in the bottom right of the picture.  You would think that a seller going with the handle "sherlockseller" might have checked a little more closely, but the fact that the Rawhide Kid is a western price variant is not noted in the title or in the description.  Hidden lots like this get a variant collectors crazy excited when they see one.  They get even more excited when the hammer hits for the minimum bid which means that none of the other variant collectors out there found the listing.  They get even more excited when the book actually arrives in the mail. 

If you don't currently have the budget to collect 30 cent variants, start looking for the needles in the hay stack and you just might find them cheap.  Warning!  It may take a long time.

Finding a Needle in a Haystack Marvel Price Variant Style

Even though the Marvel Price Variants are very sought after, and even though they always bring strong prices, there are still unknowledgeable sellers out there, particularly on ebay who don't know what they have when they list something for sale.

Here is a case in point.  The Marvel Reprint Titles like Marvel Tales and Marvel Super-Heroes are some of the toughest to find.  Low sales and collector interest whene they were released led to very few being saved.  Even today they are many more Incredible Hulk series collectors than there are for the Marvel Super-Heroes title which reprinted the Hulk stories.  But two of the issues were issued as 35 cent price variant issues and are among the toughest to find.  Recently an ebay seller listed this book correctly as Marvel Super-Heroes 65 but forgot or didn't know to mention that book was a 35 cent price variant.  It was found by the best ebay variant hunter in the business and purchased for $8.  After he received the book from the seller, he immediately relisted the book correctly on ebay and it brought $91 at auction.  Yes, $91 for a book in Good condition.

The moral of the story?  Sometimes if you look hard enough, you can find the needle in the haystack.

Listing Correctly is Important Redux

One additional listing tip is in order.  Here is a very nice example of one of the very hard to find Marvel Reprint Issues - Marvel Super-Heroes 57.  There are only three of these certified by CGC with the nicest being a CGC 8.5. 

This book was listed as "MARVEL SUPER-HEROES # 57 PRICE VARIANT ISH LOOK FN+."  Putting "LOOK" in the title may seem like a good idea, after all who doesn't want their listing looked at by as many interested parties as possible.  On ebay, unless you think that all of your potential variant collector/buyers are looking at all TWO MILLION current listings of comic books to find your price variants, you should put "30 CENT VARIANT" in your listing rather than "ISH or LOOK."  Unless of course, you want to continue selling a really neat rare book for $3.25.

Spelling is Important, and Putting the Important Information in the Header is Important too!

Like the Inhumans 35 center in the previous post, this nifty 30 cent variant was well researched and the seller knew that they were listing the 30 cent varint rather than the standard issue.  Her spelling was correct.

Unfortunately for the seller, her header was simply "MARVEL TEAM-UP #44 VG+ SPIDER-MAN & MOONDRAGON!"  There are more comic collectors who collect Spider-Man than any other character.  However, I am certain that Moondragon does not crack the top 100 list.  If you are selling a Bronze-Age Marvel Variant, put 30 Cent Variant or 35 Cent Variant in the title.  Putting Moondragon in the title instead of 30 Cent Variant is like inviting friends over to your house for dinner to talk NASCAR when in reality Danica Patrick is doing the cooking.  The book sold for $3.54.  I guess Moondragon isn't really that popular...

Spelling is Important

This really nice Inhumans 12 35 cent variant was recently listed on ebay.  The listing was well researched and the seller knew that she was selling the very rare 35 cent version of the book. 

Unfortunately, she made one mistake, and it was a big one.  She listed the book as a 35 cent variEnt. Your elementary school teacher was correct, spelling is important.  Guess what? This book sold for $1.86 since it was the equivalent of a hidden listing.  "Varient" does not show up when you do an ebay search for "variant."  Likewise, "Double CVR" does not show up when you do a search for "Double Cover." 

The moral of the story?  I search for "Scoobie" and "Scooby."