I also go by WoolyWooky when my winter coat has grown in.
Lol. Sorry stupid autocorrectā¦
So thatās 4Q 3 packsā¦not the 3Q.
Ok, so Iām getting reports that these black āreaderā copies were sent out with other āsuper limitedā variants.
For example IG Comic Store sent out black blank āreaderā copies with their Gist WOBH Alpha issue.
So my working theory is that shops who want to get around the 3,000 copy Marvel exclusive minimum print run order 3,000 of a black āreaderā then put the real art on the 1,000 copy second variant. Obviously, there would be a lot of these left over, so they have somehow made their way through whoever packs these Wal Mart packs.
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The thing about it, though is that there really isnāt any āsuper limitedā store exclusive variant, so I donāt think that theory helps us explain why #4 ended up this way in the Wal Mart packs.
Soā¦Diamond strikes again, releasing copies meant for store exclusives?
But why would a shop order 3000 of a āblankā book just to have to order 1000 more of a variant cover? Why not just destroy 2000 copies and save yourself the trouble? Unless youāre saying itās cheaper to order 3000 blank and 1000 āartistā copies than just 3000 artist copies.
I dunnoā¦seems like 4000 books would still cost more than 3000.
Unless they pool together with other stores to get the 3,000 order?
Told you guys, not an error. And is there ANY proof people are pulling this out of Walmart packs. A store exclusive black variant that wont sellā¦and somebody on Ebay says WALMART ERROR to sell itā¦and people believe it ???
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But, itās on the internetā¦ it MUST BE TRUE! 
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The internet wouldnāt lie to us!
Perhaps The error is that Walmart should not be selling them if they were store exclusives. And āIām getting reportsā is also not a confirmation of it being an error or not an error. Still up for debate until actual facts are presented.
Unhhhā¦.
So, what Iāve been told by a couple people who run exclusives is that this is what the books look like with the exclusive cover ripped off. So, it looks like whoever puts these Walmart packs together is taking dead store exclusive stock and (Iām speculating) maybe damages, tearing the front cover off and putting them in the packs?
Maybe that was their reaction after they were called out for putting store exclusive covers in the last round.
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After what Iām sure was some ānegative feedbackā from those victimized by Diamond including store exclusives in the Walmart packsā¦.it wouldnāt surprise me if their solution was to rip the cover off. Destroy the evidence!
I bought a live Unicorn at Target today. Just because someone states something doesnāt make it true. Theyāre probably store exclusives with the covers ripped off.
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I was just speculating. I think I got to the bottom of it this morning. Iāll post an update later.
Article body:
There have been reports recently that customers have been pulling a War of the Bounty Hunters #4 issue with a blank black cover from Wal Mart 3-packs. This may or may not be true that they are coming out of Wal Mart 3-packs, but the comics are also being advertised as āerrorā variants and people are attempting to sell them for hundred of dollars on Ebay.
Do not pay hundreds of dollars for these alleged āerror variants.ā What you are buying is a store exclusive variant without a cover- effectively defaced, destroyed, or otherwise incomplete.
Example of Listings of War of the Bounty Hunters #4
Iāve learned from a few sources who own stores who produced War of the Bounty Hunters exclusives that these issues look like the āreader copiesā that those stores sent out with their exclusives to their customers. What these stores would do is tear off the front and back cover with the exclusive art and store name on them and send out the resulting comic below.
Now, the listings are showing a War of the Bounty Hunters #4 issue that has a black blank front cover with trade dress at the top stating the name of the comic and a back cover with a Hulk Citizen watch ad.
Front Cover of alleged āWal Mart Errorā
Back Cover of alleged āWal Mart Errorā
Looking at the TFAW exclusive for War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha, we can see what Marvelās practice is for printing store exclusives.
First, the front cover shows the exclusive cover art for the store.
TFAW Exclusive front cover
The back is blank with trade dress except for the store name.
TFAW Exclusive Back Cover
This is where it gets interesting, though. Inside the exclusive cover is a second front cover that is black and black except for the trade dress displaying the comic name. Just like the alleged War of the Bounty Hunters #4 āerrorā variant.
TFAW Exclusive second interior front black blank cover
The back cover, when opened, reveals a normal ad for that month. Just like the Hulk Citizen watch ad.
TFAW Exclusive second interior back ad cover
So, speculating here, I think damages or dead stock of a store exclusive for War of the Bounty Hunters #4 made its way into the hands of whoever packs and distributes these Wal Mart 3-packs. In previous 3-packs, there was controversy over the fact that store exclusive covers made their way into the packs. See the example of Patrick Gleasonās Amazing Spider-Man #55 virgin web-head cover.
Again, speculating here: To avoid such a controversy again, those who distribute these 3-packs to Wal Mart have taken to removing the exclusive cover and packing the second interior covers into the 3-packs.
Do not pay hundreds of dollars for these alleged āerror variants.ā What you are buying is a store exclusive variant without a cover- effectively defaced, destroyed, or otherwise incomplete.
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Now that is forceful backup!
One addition thoughtā¦this seems very similar to the lenticular covers marvel had a while back, where the outside was cardboard, and the first page and back cover were a āreplicaā of the non-lenticular book (which eventually become the cover art for the 2nd prints).
However, the quality of that āinterior coverā was the same as the rest of the interior pagesā¦not a higher quality that regular comic book covers have.
Where Iām going with this is, I think one way to confirm whether an outside cover ever existed is to feel the blank cover paper quality. If itās identical to the interior pages, the cover was removed.
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Yeah, you might be on to something there.
The cover stock of the TFAW exclusive seemed a little different and matte finish on the inside.
Might be imagining that, though.
I had to name drop you last night. I was watching Tales From the Flipside and when they got to pickups BluegreenArtifacts was showing off one of the black covers and talking about the crazy eBay sales. I chirpedup and mentioned your research and dropped your link in the live chat. I appreciate your expertise and looking out for people and didnāt want to see someone else get burned by bad spec. He ended by saying he would check out the article, but wasnāt quite believing it.
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