Contrarian Fanboy: Your 3-D Villains Month Issues Will BE WORTHLESS!


Today is the day I normally stand on the street corner and scream at random pedestrians.  Upsettingly, my weekly rants were interrupted rudely by the police.  This means you are in luck, because today I am screaming at you through the fancy robot box!

September is Villains Month throughout the DC universe, and many fans are expecting to get RICH of it.  Fanboys and fangirls are going bonkers over these comics.  BONKERS!  That is crazier than bananas and more insane than cooky.  Too bad the comics are not going to be worth $#%^in a few months. 

The reason fans think these issues are going to be worth gazillions of dollars is because DC didn’t print enough copies of the fancy 3D lenticular covered versions (oooooooh, I used a fancy word) to fulfill the demand.  DC established a print run long before the store’s had to order and they underestimated the demand.  Comic fans are ready to brawl to get these issues as if they are fighting to get Furbys during the Christmas craze of 1998 (and those freaky monsters are worthless now too).

 

The reason the Villains Month issues are not going to be worth anything is… EVEN THOUGH DC DID NOT PRINT ENOUGH TO FULFILL THE DEMAND, THEY STILL PRINTED CRAPLOADS!  While DC has not printed as many of these issues as they do for their normal titles, the issues still have large print runs.  The demand will be high at first but will drop quickly soon after.  Also, the shipments are sporadic- some stores will get a lot less than they ordered while other stores will get their full orders.

If you want to invest in comics, save up your money and buy a Golden or Silver Age comic book.  Those are actually great investments that are skyrocketing daily.  The main difference is- Golden and Silver Age comics are actually uncommon while everyone and their mommas are going to be hoarding the DC Villains Month issues.

Another problem is that the covers are incredibly well made.  That means that there will be tons and tons of the issues in perfect condition that will soon flood the market.  To repeat my point, the issues will be worthless.

Some schmucks are already paying crap-loads for the issues on EBay.  If you are planning on selling them, sell them fast before people realize they are valueless.  One full collection of all 52 titles pre-sold for $412.99, and many others are pre-selling for over $349!  People are fools.

That said, enjoy this promotion!  I love it.  I am nostalgic over the special edition covers of my 1990’s youth and think the covers look awesome.  I do not expect to get rich off of the issues and look forward to admiring their beauty.  It is a really fun promotion as long as it does not get over used by the main companies.  

There is no doubt this promotion will be a hit for DC.  The danger is that when the fans who expect to pay for their college education with the comics realize their issues are rubbish, they will stop buying.  This was one of the main problems with the comic market explosion in the early 90’s.  Fans thought their comics were going to act as their retirement fund.  Everyone bought special edition comics, but again, when EVERYONE buys a special edition comic- it is not worth much.  Fans realized their prized items were not worth anything and stopped buying.  This lead to the collectors market crashing.  Soon after over two thirds of comic stores went out of business along with many of the comic companies (even the industry giant Marvel declared bankruptcy).  

So when the Villains Month comics drop, have fun.  Buy the titles you enjoy and the covers you think look cool.  But don’t spend your life savings on them.  If you want to throw your money away I am taking donations.

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Jay Deitcher, LMSW(@mrdeitcher) is an educator on comic history and runs successful Free Comic Book Day events yearly.  You can see a listing of his incredible articles at JayDeitcher.com.