VARIANTS vs. RRPs

Well I am sure that anyone that has been following Modern Comics lately is well aware of the spate of variants available from mainly DC and Marvel.  Some of DC's most widely traded and rare variants are RRPs which are Retailer Premiums which are distributed ONLY to retailers at special meetings.  Examples of true RRPs are Infinite Crisis #1 Sketch Cover, All Star Batman and Robin #1 Sketch Cover.  Marvel also produced variants of Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #1 and #2 in a 1:50 ratio Sketch Cover.

"Variant" covers, as distinguished from true RRPs, are usually available to the general public through retailers who must order a minimum amount of books to receive one "variant."  Current examples are Marvel Civil War #1 in which the Michael Turner Sketch cover was a 1:75 variant and there was also a Turner Color Variant in a 1:25 ratio. Current DC variants include All Star Superman #1, Green Lantern #8 and #9, Supergirl #4 and #6 all of which were 1:10 variants.  Because these books require retailers to order a substantial amount of books, they are more scarce and consequently more expensive. Some print runs are high quality (Supergirl #4 variant produced a lot of 9.8s and some 9.9s, but Ult. Wolverine vs. Hulk #1 produced very few 9.8s and major national dealers were scrambling to fill advance orders- try finding one for under $400).

Also a "created" variation of  RRPs and variants are CGC Signature Series books. Signature Series books are books that a CGC representative has witnessed being signed, most often at a comic convention, and then when graded CGC produces a yellow label stating who signed the book, the date and at what convention.  If you try a do it yourself Signature Series and submit a signed book that CGC did not witness, they will give it a Green "Qualified" label which makes your book virtually worthless. You may find the right buyer but ebay experience has shown these books are very hard to market. True Signature Series books command higher prices especially if the signer is "hot" or desirable for some other reason.

Variants in CGC 9.8 or higher that are listed on e-bay early tend to produce the highest prices.  The impatient, gotta haves are always willing to pay a premium to buy the first one available.  If you are collecting on a budget or can wait a week or two, bide your time and look at a number of auctions. Market prices fluctuate quite a bit and books  sold within hours of another and can vary as much as 30% or more. I often wonder if this is "shill" bidding (where a person who works with the seller artificially inflates the price by bidding the price up).  A recent example was where an identical book to one I had listed sold for $23 more than the Buy It Now I had on the book. Either people aren't paying attention or things aren't kosher.

Shown below are three variants, Green Lantern #9, Civil War #1 the Sketch cover and All Star Superman the Neal Adams variant all in CGC 9.8.  I have also included the Michael Turner first print cover of Supergirl #1 in CGC 9.9.  This is one of the two first print covers, the other was by Ian Churchill. The true Supergirl #1 variants are the Turner Sketch cover and the third print, Action 252 cover swipe which is mainly green and shows Supergirl emerging from a rocket.