Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates, Speculator Corner | Tagged: Comics, ebay, image, walking dead

The Race For The Walking Dead

Published Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:00:45 -0500

Last updated Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:30:05 -0500

It's not just the first few issues, and the first appearances of Michonne and The Governor that are going for big bucks on eBay. The most recent issues are as well, in a rather predictable fashion.

The Walking Dead has just published its 95th issue. The most recent trade paperback, volume 15, reprints issues 85-90. The 16th volume, out in June will collect 91-96. But some people just can't wait. Here's how recent issues have been selling on eBay – no CGC, no variants, no signed editions, just the comics.

#85 – $6, #86 – $10, #87 – $11.50, #88 – $14, #89 – $10.50, #90 – $10.50, #91 – $13.50, #92 – $21.50, #93 – $20, #94 – $7, #95 – $6.50

Retailers are getting the comics they order, but month by month by month, demand exceeds supply fast. Image Comics prepare a sizeable overprint, but it is vanishing faster. And people who are collecting the series could make a small fortune right now by selling their recent copies. It seems to be the comic that, in terms of sales keeps on giving. It dominates the bookstore sales, it dominates the comic collection sales, but for some reason it isn't bothering the top fifty monthly comic sales, and is outsold by the Mighty Thor. Of course, it has to be ordered by retailers in sufficient numbers to make it up there.

And for those retailers who are ordering enough, why sell them for cover price off the shelf when you can just stick on eBay the next day and get twice the amount or more?

It is possible that the arrival of the sixteenth volume of the trade collections in June may help. But as you can see from the figures above, the fifteenth volume satisfied some of the demand but hardly put it out.

And with Image confirming to me that they are not publishing second prints for any recent Walking Dead comics, this situation may just exacerbate as we reach the hundredth issue… Can we expect the next issue at least to be in the top fifty?

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