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Speculator Corner – The Top Twenty-Five Deadpool Pool

The rule about selling comic books related to a movie is do it in the two weeks prior to release. After that, it's a case of diminishing returns. That's when there's the most hype and the least disappointment from the movie, and everyone is scrambling to get the original copies of the comic.

There are of course exceptions. Such as if anyone is actually aware of the comic in the first place. With Whiteout and The Surrogates, it's only on release that anyone bothers to mention that the originals were based on a comic. And it's only now that the back issues are getting any "heat".

Whereas with Watchmen and Deadpool, the merest whiff of their existence caused back issues to soar. And here's the dilemma for Deadpool collectors. Do you sell kow when there's a lot of hype? Or in that two-weeks prior to what may be a disappointing film?

Haven't a clue mate. But here's what the Deadpool market is looking like right now. The market prices are measured by actual online sales, not by prices offered.

1. Bowen Designs Deadpool Statue (2005). Original price $160, current market price $280. A 12 inch statue of the merc with a mouth, standing with two guns raised. Sculpted by Erick Sosa.

2. Hulk 14 Deadpool Variant (2009), with a 1:200 ratio, it's a hard variant to come by. Retailers have been free to sell this at whatever price they wished, but with the rush on Deadpool product, it's hit $205.

3. Marvel Legends Deadpool Series 6 (2004) $92. As long as it's in its original packaging,  it also comes with an issue of Deadpool #4, itself a sought after book.

4. Deadpool Bowen Mini-Bust (2008) Original price $32. Current market price $86. No arms, no legs, he's just a torso. And he's pricey now. Some versions have a removable mask.

5.  New Mutants #98 (1991). Original price $1, current market price $78. The first appearance of the wisecracking Deadpool, visually like Spider-Man with the same wise-ass mouth, but sporting guns, pouches and swords,  by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld. A remarkably high price considering that they printed half a million of them.

6. Daredevil: Merc With A Mouth #1 Sketch Variant. Given away at San Diego Comic Con 2009, this variant  goes for a whopping $65. And all they did was take the colour off.

7. Deadpool #54 (2005) Original price $2.25, current market price $40. No one's exactly sure why this Punisher two-parter became so collectible in quite the way it did.  Maybe it's just because these characters seemed always destined to meet, with different approaches to life, yet finishing up in the same ballpark. And that is a damn fine Steve Dillon cover there.

8. Deadpool X-Force Figure, current market price $40, still sealed, never played with, never stuck on a shelf of course.

9. Deadpool#1 Rob Liefeld 1:20 Variant Cover $37 – the recent Daniel Way relaunch of the title had original creator Rob contribute a variant cover, which seems to be doing fairly well.

10. Deadpool #55 (2005) Original price $2.25, current market price $35 – the second part of the Deadpool/Punisher teamup and it's another high price point.

11. Encyclopedia Deadpoolica (1998). Original price $2.99, current market price$33. For one month during Joe Kelly's run on the title, there was a concerted attempt to save the book from being cancelled due to poor sales. Marvel ran a Deadpool month with a number of special books, including this run through the history and life of Wade Wilson. Retailers didn't exactly respond, the book only got a few orders and… well is now much in demand! This one runs through the previous 18 issues of the title in an amusing summary.

12. Baby's First Deadpool Book (1998). Original price $2.99, current market price$30 – Another of the Deadpool Month books, with a number of short Deadpool stories. Again, very hard to get.

13. Deadpool #4 (1997).  Original price $1.95, current market price $33. With Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness and an appearance by the Hulk, this was definitely an underordered issue of the original ongoing series.

14. Black Panther #23 (2000) Original price $2.25, current market price $30 by Christopher Priest, part two of the Cat Trap crossover. Priest was writing both Black Panther and Deadpool at the time, this was a way to up sales on both titles. It didn't really work. Hence the high price now.

15. Deadpool Team Up Starring Widdle Wade (1998) Original price $2.99, current market price $25. Yup, another of those Deadpool month books. Did they sell any of these back then? Apart from to me that is?

16. Deadpool #12 Full Head Variant (1998) current market price $22 – a parody of the DC covers featuring headshots of characters for a month. This cover had room for little else.

17. Deadpool #44 (2000) $20. Original price $2.25, current market price. The first part of the Black Panther Cat Trap crossover

18. Deadpool #68 (2002) Original price $2.25, current market price $20 – penultimate issue of the first ongoing series, with Taskmaster as the Big Bad.

19. Deadpool And Death Annual 1998 Annual (1998). Original price $2.25, current market price$20. For a couple of years, Marvel ran character annuals where they teamed up with other Marvel characters, in order to spread a little love around the Marvel Universe. The previous year, Daredevil and Deadpool teamed up, in a popular way that hasn't bothered the back issue market too much. But Deadpool and Death? Who would order that? No one it seems.

20. Deadpool #1 (1998) Original price $2.25, current market price $20. The first issue of the fiorst ongoing series by Joe Kelly. Interestingly enough, the previous two mini-series of four issues each seem not to be sought after at all. It was the Kelly run that defined the character at Marvel for ever…

21. Deadpool #42 (2000) Original price $2.25, current market price$19 GI Joe parody cover

22. Deadpool #0 (1998) Original price Free With Wizard, current market price$17.50. Inserted into issues of Wizard, this small comic gave a brief introduction to the character in the hope a flood of Wizard readers would rush and buy the ongoing series. They didn't.

23. Deadpool #11 (1998) Original price $1.99, current market price $15. Possible the greatest ever Deadpool comic created, extra sized, in which Wade goes back in time despatches  Spider-Man and takes on his role in a previously told adventure from Amazing Spider-Man #47, while Blind Al plays Aunt May. Sensational, if only for the Mary Jane dancing scene. The best official mashup comic to date.

24. Deadpool #6 (2009) Original price $2.99, current market price $15.  Colour me baffled here. This Dark Reign spinoff came out a few months ago and it's already fetching a premium price. Any idea why anyone?

25. Cable #13 (2009) Original price $2.99, current market price $14. The second part of the Messiah War crossover, guest starring Deadpool and pulling in the punters and a remarkable jump in price.

Basically, it seems most Deadpool comics and stuff is selling at a premium – but as mentioned some are not. The original two mini-series, the GLA spinoff and the Cable And Deadpool series seem untouched, but they're the exceptions. And right now Marvel are responding in kind, putting the trades that used to reach hundreds of dollars back into print, and giving us three ongoing Deadpool series, Deadpool, Deadpool Merc With A Mouth and Deadpool Team Up. Hmm. Is it just me or is this Ghost Rider, Blaze and Spirits Of Vengeance all over again? By the time the movie actually gets made will everyone be sick of him?

How about a weekly Deadpool series? Marvel? Marvel?

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