I actually hate politics.
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Hey now, forums say do not talk about politics. First warningā¦ 
No worries, Tony. I understand the dynamics behind it all. I wasnāt insinuating anything. I know you are an honest, transparent guy and your sites reflect that. My rant was not directed towards you, or the site, in any way. Those are just my observations and Iām expressing my concern/dismay.
CHU has been my spec home from day one, and I appreciate all yours, Poyo, Alana, BAs, and everyoneās contributions to the site. As I expressed above, with all the store variant talk here lately, I feel like we are quickly becoming advocates for the crap that goes on in this industry, as opposed to being the voice of somewhat reason. 
Absolutely. That is the beauty of the forums. My point was that I always felt like CHU was more of a guardian for new collectors, to try and show them the shadiness that does go on with store books. Now, it seems like that guardianship has been replaced with an advocacy for said shadiness, all the while using money as justification. Greed is not good. Idk, maybe Iām just a grumpy old school collector, but, can we please stop giving free advertising, and subsequent validation, to all these store books. Thatās what I would want for Christmas. Idk. 
And you are always welcome.
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I myself donāt seek out store exclusives. I only do it for a few reasons:
- I know for a fact I can buy low and flip quickly to make money.
- I buy it for the cover art.
- I buy it to support the shop.
Thatās it.
As for all the recent store variant talk, it has heated up lately. Seems like a lot of people are buying. The only thing I can advise is, buy what you like and if you canāt afford it, donāt buy it. It really just comes down to common sense tactics.
As for shops who use marketing words and phrases to not ādiscloseā print runs, yes, itās pretty shady but it happens in all markets.
Use common sense when making purchases. If youāre not buying it cause you like it to tuck away in your personal collection, do your homework. Look up past trends of store variants and exclusives before you decide to spend your hard earned cash on something you think might give you a ROI.
Say your piece and leave it at that I say. If someone goes and spends all their money thinking theyāre gonna make a lot of money and lose, sometimes losing makes them better investors and speculators and they simply had to learn the hard way.
Iāve read every single topic and comment since the forums have started and I just simply ignore most of the store variant craze thatās recently become the norm lately in the industry. Itās like a roller coasterā¦ up and down, up and downā¦ in a few months if itās not store variants, itāll be something elseā¦
Thatās cool, Poyo. No argument here on that. I donāt have any problems with store books, buy 'em if you like them.
I just donāt like them being talked about as good speculation, as history has shown us time and time again that they are not good investments 99.9% of the time.
I love the transparency on this forum; a little bit of heated exchanges, and right back to speccing. I do appreciate that.
I donāt think I seek out store variants, but I think we can all agree that most of them bring absolutely, delicious covers that are just not on the mains. I have stayed away because I canāt buy them all, but it is getting harder! Some of those store variants do heat up, so they canāt just summarily be dismissed either; there is potential to some of them, as with the standard covers. I guess buy what you like, and educate yourself as much as you can. Thanks to this site!
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As I agree myself, I learned to just back off from the chatterā¦ sometimes you gotta let the children learn the hard way by failing, sometimes failing a few times and then sometimes they never learn.
If a book is selling for $60 and you can buy it for $20 i would call that a good gain.
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So what do you feel is the % for standard covers? Are they good investments 50% of the time, 25%, compared to the .01% for a store variant?
I actually talk politics a lot in daily life and my blog, but I know people donāt want to hear my liberal ranting and raving so I generally avoid discussing it here, lest you or @agentpoyo lock my threads!
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My biggest concern is the unintended consequences on the hobby as a whole. Greed will kill this fragile hobby. Look at @ToddW comments the other day. He is a lover of comic books, and retailer greed has turned him away. Unintended consequences can be a real b!tch.
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Feel free to PM and DM me with all your liberal rantsā¦ since Iām about as liberal as they come but still got a mix of conservatism in me. Probably why if I ran for office, Iād just create a new party calledā¦ Poyoismā¦ yeahā¦
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I donāt have a percentage. They are what they are. I can tell you that 99.9% of books that have maintained consistent growth for years/decades are books that were solicited through Previews.
Oh, heās back already.
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And Cover A booksā¦
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Breathe, man. Breathe.
You do this all the time. Why do you consistently step on what other people like?
Why do you consistently slander and libel shops about your conspiracy theories?
How is saying ālimited to 1500ā shady? It sounds very clear to me. There will be no more than 1500. Frankies stating ālimited to 1500ā is in no way controversial, like at all.
Why attack Alana, who by the way is by far the smartest person in the room, about what she likes?
Why try to influence CHU to censor posts?
Why have you still not answered the question with the specifics Iāve asked for when it came to substantiating your claims that these shops lie about the print runs?
Itās getting old, man.
So store variants are probably better short term spec than long term Jclu? In looking at books over the past 8 years or so, store variants do not seem to appreciate in value like those that were solicited in Previews, imo, so I would agree with that.
I guess it really depends on the person with money, and if they want the quick flip or are in it for longer term gains. I am a terrible flipper, and just continue to horde comics, so I donāt really have a horse in the race, but am trying to get there!
Anthony spoke already to jclu. Letās not incite the fire with more fuel. Letās move on with the topic please instead of posing questions that will only stir the pot more.