Rant: I thought that first printing hype was total nonsense

I used to roll my eyes at people paying $80 for a new #1 issue just because it said 'first printing' on the cover. Like, come on, it's the same story inside no matter what. But then I grabbed a copy of Batman: Damned #1 off the rack back in 2019 for $6, and last month I sold it for $150 at a con in Pittsburgh. I still think the speculation game is mostly luck, but I guess I can't call the whole thing a scam now. Has anyone else accidentally stumbled into a big flip like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

eva6661mo ago

Honestly I used to be the same way but after I snagged a first print of something random for cover price and watched it climb I had to eat my words. It's pure dumb luck but it's hard to trash talk it now.

troy_adams1mo agoMost Upvoted

The first time I pulled off something like that was with a random Image comic called "Die" from 2018. Picked it up for cover price at my LCS, no big deal. @eva666, around issue 4 I saw it start moving online and sold my set for triple what I paid. Felt like a total fluke but now I grab every first print of a new number one that looks halfway decent. It's not a strategy exactly, just feels better than sitting on social media watching other people get lucky.