Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, dynamite, idw, marvel, variant

Diamond UK Launches Charity Variant Bonanza For Comic Stores

Published Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:59:57 -0500

Last updated Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:00:35 -0500

Variant covers are a way for publishers to get retailers to up their ordering numbers slightly, by making them available for order if retailers hit certain sales targets. Which can make them rare and valuable to some. For a short period at least until the next variant comes along. It's enforced scarcity and it can work, often as a result of everyone believing it will work.

Of course, sometimes publishers will put out too many variants, or enough to cover damages which never happen. But it's important to preserve that feeling of scarcity of the entire edifice may come crashing down. So what do to.

Diamond UK are offering random variant packs, each containing at least ten variant comics from the likes of IDW, Marvel, Dynamite, Boom, Aspen and more, for the wholesale price of £5, or around $8. Given a typical markup of 50-60%, that's retail value of £10 or around $16. However it shouldn't be too hard to get anywhere from $30 of more for them. The variants will mostly be 1 in 10/1 in 20 variants from IDW, Dynamite and Boom with at least one much rarer variant in each pack. And random packs will also include Stan Lee signed copies of Traveller, Starborn, Fantastic Four #587 and the Michael Turner sketch variant cover of X-Men #500.

And to sweeten the pot, every retailer who orders a pack can nominate a charity, and one will will be drawn after all 250 packs have been sold, with half the money Diamond received for the packs going to the chosen charity, around £1250.

British retailers? Fill your boots. ANd then sell those really hot variants back to Americans…

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