spracknetch23

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. 

I only bought IH 181 because I was trying to complete a Hulk run. That’s also the only reason I bought 271. I’m sure I’m in the monitory here. 

I found mine at a flea market in the early 2000s for $25,  but it’s a lowly 2.5. 

Good point but the Turtles themselves could also be subject to the same standards. They didn’t have multi color bandanas, love of pizza or say cowabunga constantly in the original comics. Also the cartoon Leatherhead had an even different origin. He was originally a regular Florida swamp gator accidentally mutated by disposed mutagen. He was only originally Jess Harley in the Archie books. 

8 hours ago, cbmitch said:

Wow...$1k for tales #4.  Crazy price for first rat king...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353465000296?hash=item524c27e168:g:jH4AAOSwGSpgf2s4

 

Wow, that was dollar box stuff for so long. Cool thing is that is his actual first appearance in anything, not just first appearance in comics like Bebop and Rocksteady in Adventures #1. Tales 6 is the same way with Leatherhead. 

In order to get my Spidey 1, I traded my 2, 3, and 4, then re-bought them later. Unfortunately the 2 and 3 shot up in value right after the trade. But I probably would still not have a #1 if I had not done the trade. 

I like them in certain situations with a minimal amount. I love this ASM 3 I got for a decent deal a few years ago. I'm not exactly sure of the details of "staples cleaned" though. I think it means "staples removed, cleaned, and reattached"?

My ASM cuts off at 400. I did have up to 441 but realized 400 was the last issue I really cared about. I’ve debated cutting it back to 129. But actually 1-50 are the books I’ve focused on the most (in terms of upgrading etc). 

My biggest regret is probably all the time wasted on EBay looking for deals when I was single. I found some really good deals occasionally, but many times came up with nothing. I could have used all the time more productively (focus on growing my career, get more sleep) and now, with much less free time, I realize that. 

My wife is set to give birth to our first child any day now. I’m 42 and she’s 32. Life changes are coming fast! 

As for comics, my wife has a small box of Red Sonjas, Swiss Disney comics and some other stuff. She doesn’t mind my collection of four long boxes, even though she’s generally a minimalist. I think the fact that some of them are valuable is a plus. 

I was offered a Gobbledygook #1 for like $50 at a 1989 Holiday Inn show. I passed on it to buy a TMNT #3, 1st printing for the same price. Never saw one in person again. As a ten-year old, of course I went for the Turtles book over some weird robot on the cover of a book I never heard of. 

5 hours ago, Ryan. said:

 

Wow, nice! I think those are my old books, no? Lookin good!

6 hours ago, Icculus308win said:

This finished today on eBay, totally blown away (yet again) with TMNT winning bids

 

 

Well, it is “very rare”... 

It's crazy to me that the signatures could bring that much of a premium, but crazy is the current market.

2 minutes ago, pubmonkey said:

 

The9.2  #1 adventures is still going too: $610 and counting

$84k now

 

I don't know how that 9.2 Adventures 1 is going so high. It just broke $1k while there's a 9.4 on Ebay right now for BIN $300....

4 minutes ago, pubmonkey said:

still going! $76k!

Wow...just cracked $80k!

Re the #3 variant, I wonder how many of them aren’t signed at all? I’ve only run across one unsigned. I assume a high percentage of them were signed at the con back in the day. 

14 hours ago, pubmonkey said:

I have a few stories like that 

I keep track of all my sales records so I can go back and face palm.  I've owned 3 copies of the #3 variant.. but they're all gone.   A couple of other regrets include selling Albedo 2 for $600 in 2003 and an MOC Scratch for $250 in 2008. I do still have a 1st printing of #1, so I can't be too sad.

I used to be a run collector. Some of the most fun I’ve had in the hobby was going around to cons in my teens and 20s looking to complete my Hulk and ASM runs in whatever grade. I will say that while upgrading is fun, there’s nothing like the feeling of initially acquiring the issues, no matter what grade they’re in.. for me at least. 

What possessed me to sell my #3 variant a few years ago, I’ll never know   

I have a copy of UF4 2nd printing variant that I got in a dollar box. Tried to sell it a few times for $5 to no avail. Buried it in a box and forgot about it. Lo and behold it goes for like $100 now