spracknetch23

It was a great feeling. The coolest part was getting to the end and seeing the Gobbledygook ad..never saw it in person before. This was about 2014.

Nope, mine has been trapped in a CGC case since I bought it in 2013. I have a friend who has a raw copy, and I did leaf through it one time. But not to read. I can always read one of the 30+ reprints.

This is kind of insane. Just saw that an original page from Raphael #1 sold for over $11k on August 31st. I remember thinking Eastman's price of $5k per page was ridiculous back when he started selling pages from this book on his site. https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FPreviewCode%3D2021aug%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Deastman%26GO%3DGO%26ItemType%3DCA%23Item_1504728&id=1504728&itemType=1#detail

I was referring to mid grade. I’ve never seen a #11 4.0 break $700 until now. I agree that the disparity in high grade prices and scarcity has been present for a long time.

ASM 11 and 12 were about the same price in mid grade for a long time. Now 11 has left 12 behind with mid grade sales over $700 on eBay. Perhaps either the 9.0 sale has raised all tides, or people are priced out of #3. In this age of keys on fire, 2nd appearances are starting to have their day.

Laird is the one who sold the property to Viacom/Nickelodeon for $60 mil in 2009. He had already bought out Eastman in 2000 as stated above. I don’t think either of them have a stake now, but as part of the deal, Laird kept the right to publish a certain amount of new TMNT comics per year through Mirage, although he hasn’t.

Third print’s cover has a more “pink” tone than 1st and 2nd print’s more reddish tone. The printed ink on the interior is lighter in the third print. It doesn’t have the Gobbledygook ad. 3rd print is also sized slightly different. And of course, the “3rd print” on the inside front cover. Those are about the only differences. I once had a “first print” which was actually a third print interior with a reproduced “1st print” cover (complete with Gobbledygook ad), and the interior ink quality was the telltale sign. Kudos to this very message board for helping me figure it out.

This episode was dark and depressing. Just the way What If...? should be. At least from my memory of reading the comics. Best episode yet.

Catching up. I've had this 31 since I was a teenager in the '90s. The only copy I've ever owned.

There is also a version of this book with a blank white back cover, which is the version I have. I think the rest of the book is the same outside of the back cover.

Ideally, I prefer raw. In a slab, it’s like you just have a picture of the book. I’ve owned 3 copies of ASM 3, all slabbed.. so I’ve never actually looked through the book. I do like slabs for their protection and ease of resale. Basically if it’s worth over $1k I feel better with it in a slab (the recent price hike makes me think about slabbing some of my raws which have gone crazy..ASM 14, 50, DD1, etc.. especially with a kid/pets in the house).

I'd say I regret selling my Albedo 2 in 2003..but the truth is, had I not sold it then, I probably would have in 2006 or 2011 or some other year. Highly improbable it would have stayed in my collection until 2021 anyway.

As a longtime collector, I definitely recognize some of those specific pieces. I've seen that season 1 animation cel in a couple different collections, but now it has more autographs. And I made a similar framed display of that pinback button set for a Technodrome forum member a few years back. I don't think this is his collection though, as his collection was focused on action figures. Whoever it was, I hope they got a good payday. What a dedicated collector!

Love this book. Here’s mine

You could sell a 9.8 and get an 8.5 and still buy a house.

I have a bunch of Pete signatures from the one time I met him in ‘93, but of course they weren’t witnessed by CGC. I think it’s unlikely Pete will do another public signing period, but I hope I’m wrong. He might do it if it’s along with Steve or Stan Sakai.

Sure but these things cost 15 cents. No one knew at the time they would be so valuable today. Which is why they are. I think clipped coupons, writing inside etc is a relic of the simpler times of comic collecting and adds an almost charming “coolness” factor to the book. That being said, I would probably go with keeping the coupon in a baseball card sleeve with the comic and not trying to restore it.

Good to see all of these in one place! Great collection.

What’s the point? Even if someone does buy it for $1k, they’ll know something isn’t right once they receive the book. And if they don’t, then they shouldn’t be spending $1k on a 2nd printing

Yeah, I have that book and the reprint of the 2nd printing is actually a pretty awesome printing. Not $2k awesome though.

I hope it was trolls. Final price just over $2k.

It’s over $1200 now and ending in 9 hours. I can’t watch.

I went through a similar phase myself, focused on only ASM. I completed my 1-400 run on my 40th birthday in 2018. (Never acquired AF15 and probably never will.) my next goal which I tried for a while was to collect all the single digits of marvel superhero silver age titles. Finished Daredevil 1 - 9 but then hit a roadblock with FF. Too expensive! I’ve also thought of trying for a super low grade Spidey run too, find out the cheapest I can complete the run. But some of the keys will break the bank even in low grade these days.

Interesting. I wonder if it’s surpassing 42? Outside of the iconic final panel of 42, 43 is the superior book (story/cover) in my opinion.