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Hi everyone, don't usually post. Anyways, I recently was enticed back into comic book collecting after giving up back in the eary days of "The New 52."

It seems like a lot has changed (or has it) since I left. The big thing that's confusing me right now are "store exclusives."

One of the big names involved seems to be "Unknown" comics. So say you can buy Wolverine 23 at your local store. Now there is a variant cover and now there is a variant cover for "Unknown Comics" and sometimes it's a virgin cover. I am not sure, but I think this virgin cover can exist in the local store as a "Marvel Variant" but there is also an identical version for the store that bought enough regular copies so they can sell the same book "with a different back label proclaiming it as an "Unknown exclusive." Nerd Pharm. is another store doing it.

Am I correct on how that works?

If I am, how do you all view this practice? Is one more desirable than the other? Like I said earlier, I've been out of current comics pretty much since 2012. But to me, I feel like these store exclusives are like reprints or something. Like if there is a first appearance of a character, wouldn't the official standard marvel be more desirable than "store x's" version?

Or does Store X truly have the only version like the one they are selling and it can be hot? It seems to me like an exclusive in this format would basically just be a reprint.

Hey Havok! For me, I rarely care about variants but the books I ended up getting most of the variant covers I could find were Detective Comics #1000 and Action Comics #1000. From my experience, the main thing that matters in that case is the cover artist's popularity and the difficulty level of obtaining that. Like sometimes it's a con exclusive variant. As a result, that could jack up the price on secondary. The cover gimmick can play a part in its value as well like the subject matter and composition. I initially didn't think that was important but it actually seems to play a role. Combine that with a super popular artist and difficulty getting a copy and you've got a recipe for a valuable comic. Typically the person who would want a virgin cover would likely want every variant. Such as an un-inked variant, etc, if they have it.

Hi Havok, listen to what Acid said but for Me, these variant covers are like action figures IMO. How many versions of Batman, Wolverine & John Cena do we really need Companies make the same stuff over & over again that has been made so many times over the decades, I've complained about this time & time again. Sure it's cool to have another version of whatever but when it boils down to it you got 2 extra variants of a figure when you could have 2 different characters or something else Well this also goes the same comics as well IMO. Many types of books & magazines including comics have at least 1 variant, there's been ones that have had 3 variants and once you have those variants its all so cool but the reality of it is, that effort could have been done for something else. I know cause I have variants Myself of figures & comics and sometimes I think of this Myself. I say unless you really want those variants or really need them for a certain desired display or just to know you have the whole collection and today's depressing insanely marked prices isn't a prob and you have the moolah then by all means do it and feel like a happy collector cause I've been there, done that Otherwise I would just get the one you can get and just be glad you got it, it's all up to you Havok

Thanks guys. Oh so maybe I should explain why i am baffled on whether the variants in question are desirable. So, on this "what not" app I won a Wolverine $100 bundle. It included a cgc early wolverine from late 80s or early 90s and a virgin wolverine comic allegedly worth $20. The same comic on ebay can be bought now for 15, so most likely it's only worth like 10 now. But what raises red flags for me is the store exclusive aspect to it. The store is "unkown comics." Is this version (issue 23) the only version or is there an official non store exclusive version and if so . . . then it comes off to me like some sort of knock off.

I agree with the previous poster on how this makes me feel with efforts and resources that could have gone somewhere else. This gimmick hurt comics for me back in the day and doesn't help. No one wants that first appearance issue you got that is the landmark issue, not when the rarer variant is out there. And I see people paying $20 or $30 for these variants but generally it looks like you should just wait 6 months or something and most if not all will become half of the price while most collectors are after the hot new variants.

Hey Havok,

I don't think it's a knock off or a bootleg but definitely a goofy gimmick to take advantage of certain collectors who might be a bit on the obsessive side. Some collectors collect every variant, like literally every variable including printing error unofficial variants. There are a lot less of these kinds of collectors but they also are willing to pay more than the average collector for the item which might be scarce.

I've seen a handful of "variants" where the cover is exactly the same but the BACK cover just says "Forbidden Planet" and is therefore considered a variant. The art is otherwise EXACTLY the same. The only difference is that back cover. But again, it's like when someone wants an action figure who has a light grey stripe and then the variant with the white stripe and then the variant with the dark grey stripe. It's capitalizing on those kinds of collectors and I'm not judging because at some points, I fell under that umbrella as well with certain things. I -do- see -some- value in "pick your favourite" variant covers. For example, sometimes there's a milestone like the #100th issue or something and they have 8 superstar artists each do their cover and all 8 versions of available at every store and you can take your pick.

It gets a bit much when it's every issue and every issue has 5 or so covers. Another thing that sometimes irks me more than it probably should is the inconsistent art if you're a real collector. I don't mind the one off Alex Ross special but when I go 10 issues in a row and literally every issue's cover looks like random people did it, it's a little weird. But then, I guess, we don't really HAVE to buy these things.