[jamesmruddy]

I am relatively new to collecting, and have several questions.

What is the difference between a variant a chase variant and a running change?


Do the figures released to the stores, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, TRU and so on, differ from the ones that are in the Comic and Collectible Shops?


What drives the prices up on these variants are on any of them? In my searches I have seen new figures going for double to triple of what they would in stores and they have not even been released yet.


How many copies of a particular figure is released? I would imagine a single figure would get a production of several thousand if not more if the are shipped world-wide.


How does one get into the world of collecting? I see reports of upcoming figures way before they are released, I would so love to get in on that, I have plenty of time on my hands, being that I am out of work due to a disability, (Brain Tumor) and would love to have something to occupy my time.