X-Men #423 Newstand Price Error Variant

Marvel Comics, June 2003.

The direct edition of X-Men #423 was sold with a 25¢ cover price shown in both the UPC box and also in a large circle just underneath the title to the right. This was part of a Marvel marketing campaign between 2002 and 2004 where a number of direct editions were sold at very low prices to try and entice new readers to various popular series. Interestingly, the rarer newsstand variants of these comics retained the standard pricing of $2.25 and these lacked the reduced price circle on the cover.

However, a good while back, Avengers #77 Newsstand Error Variants emerged, priced at the standard price but bearing the reduced price circle, and not too soon after this error variants of X-Men #423 (shown right) also emerged. This seems to have been only a very small batch of comics as only a handful have been found to date and, like Avengers #77, may have only been available in a very small number of outlets.

It is difficult to calculate the precise number of error variants but it is likely to be a very small number given the newsstand market was just over 10% of the total comic distribution at this time and also given that the error variant was only a tiny proportion of that (plus some error copies may have been returned/pulped, either due to the error or due to not being sold).

At the time of writing, only 6 Newsstand Error Variant's have been graded by CGC, mostly in the NM grade range. The lone, top graded 9.8 NM/MT (Near Mint / Mint) copy sold for just under $1,000 in September 2013.