From: The 2024 Newsstand CPV Price Guide for Canadian Price Variants (Type 1A) by Bill Alexander, Tim Bildhauser, Paul Clairmont, Greg Holland, Jon McClure, Jayden Mitchell, Benjamin Nobel, Conan Saunders, Doug Sulipa, and Angelo Virone  [ introduction, table of contents, all titles, other price guide editions ]

 

 = Stand-out value  

 

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This page: Smurfs (#1-3) Newsstand CPV Price Guide [ Jump to: list of all titles in the price guide ]

✔️Accepted answer: Yes, Type 1A 75¢ cover price variants exist within the Smurfs title.

✔️Accepted answer: There are Type 1A cover price variants for issues #1-3 of Smurfs.

✔️Accepted answer: The Smurfs 1980s cover price variants were exclusive to the newsstand distribution channel (by contrast the well-preserved direct edition type sold in comic shops were not price variants). Within the newsstand distribution channel, the price variants were distributed only to a restricted geographic area within the larger North American newsstand market: that restricted area being Canada. Canada had one tenth the population of the United States in the 1980s. As a result, Smurfs cover price variants from the 1980s are a dramatically more rare newsstand type, and collectors who care about relative rarity are keen to target the price variant version of issue numbers they seek for their collections of interesting and rare comic books.

✔️Accepted answer: Yes, by definition Smurfs Type 1A price variants are first printings which were published simultaneously with the other types, on the exact same manufacturing equipment, at the same time, on the same paper, using the same ink, and with publication origin being the USA. The indicia, interior pages, and all other aspects of the variants beyond the cover price box are 100% identical to their regularly priced newsstand counterparts. The Smurfs price variants, having originated in the USA as first print originals, were then shipped North to their destination market.

✔️Accepted answer: Yes, as seen in more detail in the Smurfs price guide page above, the variant values represent a sizable premium over the values of the commonplace direct editions in the same grades.

✔️Accepted answer: We recommend lowering your grade expectations for all of the 1980s cover price variants, including those in the Smurfs title. Remember, the price variants were exclusive to the newsstand distribution channel, which means they were treated as reading material, not as collectibles, by both the staff that handled them, and the typical buyers who as a general rule were members of the general public actually interested in reading the comics. Collectors buying comics from newsstands was the exception, not the norm. As a result, surviving copies in the 9.8 NM/MT grade tier can be exceptionally difficult to find among the Smurfs cover price variants. A more reasonable grade to shoot for would be 9.0-and-up.