Oddly, not all that much demand for Deathlok.

§ February 24th, 2014 § Filed under collecting, retailing § 4 Comments

So I recently acquired a few of these Whitman comic book three-packs (still sealed!), and this particular one has something I’ve never seen before:


…two copies of the same comic! That’s Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids #25 (from June 1978) on the front there, there’s a copy of Woody Woodpecker #168 on the other, and, in the middle, another copy of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids #25, espied by me by carefully separating the comics while still inside the polybag. Well, I don’t know about you, but if I shilled out my 99 cents and got two of the same funnybook for my troubles, I would have been a tad miffed.

I don’t know how common an error this was, as at the time these were in stores, I wasn’t going around from toy store to department store carefully examining each three-pack and doing a little amateur quality control. It was more like “MOM! Can I have this pack of Star Wars comics?” and the depth of my examination was mostly restricted to “do I already own the outer two comics visible in this package?”

Anyway, none of the comics in any of these pre-packed bags are in particularly high demand…I mean, there’s some demand for cartoon comics like Fat Albert, but the packs themselves as is will sell more quickly for us as novelty items than waiting for collectors to request the specific issues therein.

Of course, that’s not always the case. There are a handful of issues from various series that were only distributed via the Whitman three-packs and not as a racked single issue, most famously (and expensively) Uncle Scrooge #179. A copy we had about — oh, ten years ago, maybe? — sold in the $300 range on eBay, and it was around a Very Good to Fine copy, if I remember correctly.

Speaking of collectability and also awkward transitions, I’ve started to have some inquiries into the first issue of Preacher, a comic that long ago stopped having any back issue demand since the primary way anyone wants this series now is via the trade paperback/hardcover editions. Which is fine, I sell plenty of Preacher books, which has more than made up for any dead Preacher backstock we’ve had sittin’ around, but now that people are getting wind of a television adaptation, I’d better dust off that section of the back issue bins for the brief period of time that they’ll be sought after again.

Plus, the return of Doomsday is resulting in multiple requests for Superman: The Man of Steel #17 (Doomsday’s first appearance) and #18 (the start of the “Death of Superman” story). I assume that’s what’s causing it, and not some spontaneous uprising of Doomsday nostalgia. Or maybe he’s in that Batman/Superman movie and I haven’t heard about it? I mean, everyone else is, so why not.

I’m also looking forward to the eventual revival of interest in Heroes comics and merchandise. I mean, all you folks loved Heroes, right?

4 Responses to “Oddly, not all that much demand for Deathlok.”

  • Snark Shark says:

    ” but if I shilled out my 99 cents and got two of the same funnybook for my troubles, I would have been a tad miffed”

    yeah! not that buying a FAT ALBERT comic is a good idea in the first place.

    “The Black Hole #4”

    according to that site, ALSO a rare one. That one, I’d like to have! I have #3 and enjoy it.

    “Doomsday”

    that character had no CHARACTER.

    ” I mean, all you folks loved Heroes, right?”

    I liked the cheerleader! Other than that… I didn’t really watch. I mean, I’ve already READ lots of X-Men comics, and it looked like basically the same thing.

  • Adam says:

    I totally can’t wait for Heroes Reborn! Sylar and the Cheerleader drawn by Rob Liefeld? Amazing!

  • It sounds like it’s the same creative staff but not necessarily the same actors. I don’t think the problem lay in the performances…

  • David G says:

    Best pickup I ever made in one of those sampler bags: Saga of the Swamp Thing #21. Man was I excited.