a "Marvel Sample" is exactly that, it's a sample piece that basically gets sent back and forth between Marvel studios, Sideshow and the factory so everyone can have input or suggestions on possible changes.
now does this one piece actually make it all the way from china to sideshow then to Marvel isn't known as there is usually serveral samples of each piece made. so it's possible that one or serval pieces may get sent to each location for viewing and then stored or given to employees etc.
i've gotten quite a few of these over the years for the
late jbinny (along with ebay) and though they're kinda cool with the story that goes along with them, i don't know if they're really worth anymore than numbered pieces. would be nice if they in fact had some subtle differances from production pieces, but none the less a cool story to tell people about.
