spracknetch23

Great looking books! I’ve always tried to collect well-presenting lower to mid grades of these books myself. As a result I found a couple qualified or coupon cut books which present very well for cheap. This is such a fun run to collect. Good luck with the rest.

I still miss those pies

You can always attempt here, but I would think you’re more likely to get top dollar for a book like this in eBay. Probably safer here though, yes. Maybe try a $1 starting price auction on eBay. Might be less likely to get scammed.

If it truly is in mint condition, I’d definitely go with the #3 NYCC. If it is signed on the inside you’ll still get a blue label.

Sorry to hear this! I was a regular at Eide’s as a college student in the late ‘90s when I lived close to downtown. I’d spend hours going through the massive amount of boxes in the comic book basement. RIP

This book has flown under the radar in dollar bins for a long time. A quick search for "1st color Turtles" on Ebay brings up TMNT #7 (full color insert story by Richard Corben) and Grimjack #26 as other "1st color TMNT" claims. Both of those books are from 1986, while this one is from 1985. However, the two I mentioned are full color stories, while this one is an ad. If we're getting technical, Leonardo appeared in the January 1985 issue of Comics Collector (image attached) and also the Turtles appeared in full color on the iron-ons in 1984. However, neither are those are proper "comics". So, as far as full color in an actual comic book, I think this is the first. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I hope this helps.

Good choice! Same grade and PQ as my copy

Wow I had no idea those had risen so much. Of course I regret selling mine now. Add it to the list of comics I’ve sold which now are worth over $1k Ive found there is a certain brand of TMNT collector who is a completist rather than caring about condition. With certain TMNT comics in particular , these and also Tales #70, I’ve found condition matters less to this type of collector.

Are those 9.8 prices? Seems high for 30 but I haven’t been following sales lately

I'm reviving this sales thread for fresh eyes because I've had some interest via PM and made a few sales. 6 of the books are still available. Thanks for looking!

I had a set, in a very cool display for a few years. I ended up selling the set and using some of the proceeds for the Michelangelo OA page I posted earlier. They are the coolest statues!

I never went to the events, but I was able to order the cool event prints from Steve.

I would probably choose ASM 24 as it is my favorite cover of the 3. The 26 cover is my least favorite but I love the early Goblin appearances, so that would be my second choice.

More great art! Still haven’t read that TMNT/Batman crossover but I like the art. Sorry about that cover loss. It always stings to miss out on something like that! I wonder about the whereabouts of some other cool Klunk covers like the 2nd printing of Michelangelo or Tales volume 2 #9.

The two I shared are from Michelangelo and TMNT #7. I was just saying I always wanted a Raphael page, but never bit the bullet.

I admit that first Casey Jones page kills my two early pages. Always wanted a page from Raphael 1.

Awesome pieces! I concur

Damn.. my Subby 1 is a raw 2.0 but perhaps it has risen as well

Yes, I’ve got it right here on the bookshelf in the living room. I love this edition since the art is a direct copy of the original art pages, including the art’s original size. It’s one of the coolest printings of this book in my opinion.

The scope and appeal of this book is much more narrow. Like TMNT or not, everyone knows TMNT 1’s importance in comics and its place as one of the top copper keys. This book really only appeals to TMNT completists. Hard to compare the two but I see where you’re coming from. As far as key criteria, this book has nothing. It’s just another issue in the story of volume 4 (which as of yet has never been completed. I suspect it never will be). The value and significance is strictly due to its rarity. This book was also released for free online before Laird decided to publish the limited $10 hard copies.

Good question. I sold the full run issues 1 through 32 for $900. This was probably around 2015 and a good price at the time.

I bought a copy at the time too. It was one of the ones Laird signed and sketched on the inside back cover at no extra charge. I sold my entire run of volume 4 a few years back, so unfortunately it’s long gone.

I don’t think anyone was buying it for investment potential either. Volume 4 was kind of niche in and of itself. Only TMNT fans were buying every issue. I remember at the time some collectors were even complaining about the 10 dollar cover price.

#29 was the first non-distributed, sold direct from mirage, $10 cover price issue. At the time it was mainly TMNT collectors and fans who ordered it, not comic book dealers. Therefore it went into more “black hole” collections. At the time it was published, TMNT wasn’t the most popular property, so very few of them went to the “mainstream”.

Twinkies, back when they discontinued them for a while and people were paying $30 a box on eBay.