Turtle

An upgrade like you bought a new copy to replace an 8.5 or you pressed an 8.5 and it went up to a 9.8? Either way, killer book. Love Dooney's art on these. The cover to 46 is one of my favorite covers from the run.

It's been too long since we've had an update to this thread, so I'll post a book. It's not new, but it's still among my favorite SS books:

I'd say be patient. If it's any indication, I sent a single book in for one of their signings. The book was received on 7/5/22. I just got a notification today that the book was signed and was en route to CGC for grading. Of course, depending on the circumstances surrounding a signing, the timing could vary greatly. I will say that I've submitted through Twin Cities several times over the last few years and have always been pleased with the results.

Those are really neat. Thanks for sharing!

I wish I could claim it. Just an image from google, but it gets the point across.

Rich's website It's awesome! Here are the links to @rich_TMNT's website entries for the 2 Insight edition reprints. As for the questions, I don't notice any date inside that indicates either 2014 or 2018 on my loose copy. It mostly looks like a shrunk down version of a normal 2nd print. One major difference is the Insight reprint has a layout version of the inside cover, making it look like there are creases, paste-ups, and writing when all those things are actually printed on: This picture shows the inside cover of the Insight edition. The real 2nd print doesn't have those things. Here's an example of the inside cover of a normal 2nd print:

Here are graded versions of the book you're talking about. the Ultimate Visual History had 2 printings, 1 in 2014 and another in 2018. This yielded 2 different versions of the mini 2nd print reprint that was included. One had a glossy cover while the other had a matte finish.

TMNT Indiegogo Campaign Here's an Indiegogo Campaign that is raising funds for a custom manhole cover in Dover, NH to mark the birthplace of the TMNT. There are some perks supplied by Jetpack Comics and the goal seems very reasonable.

The Christmas Aliens (Michelangelo One-Shot) is a fun light-hearted early TMNT story where Mikey meets his cat Klunk. The Leonardo 1-shot takes place shortly after the Mikey 1-shot. It's less-light hearted, but it's still one of the best issues in the whole series and snow is featured pretty well. You may want to have issue #10 on-hand as well if you don't want to end on a cliffhanger. Not exactly volume 1-4, but Tales volume 2 #65 is has an ice monster in winter and even features an appearance by Rat King.

I've always been partial to the Donatello 1-shot from Mirage. The Leonardo and Raphael one-shots would be iffy for this category since the events in those books have a direct impact on the overarching story told in the main series and the events are referenced within that same volume. This Donatello story, on the other hand, is a very self-contained story and there's really no significant reference to anything about it until volume 4 around 20 years later. In this story, Donatello meets an artist named Kirby (a not-so-subtle reference to Jack Kirby, a major influence on Eastman and Laird) who is drawing in the basement of an apartment building. Donatello notices that the drawings are coming to life thanks to a Warp Crystal that is attached to his pencil. Before long, Don and Kirby are sucked into a world full of Jack Kirby-inspired monsters and the two work to try to find a way home. It's a fun tribute issue where the reverence for Jack Kirby feels very sincere. Peter Laird has said that he sent Jack Kirby storyboards/sketches of the story and asked permission to use his likeness; offering to pay him a cut of the profits (keep in mind, this is published in 1986, so the TMNT were still a year or two off from being a cultural phenomenon). To Eastman & Laird's surprise, Jack got back to them, told them he didn't want any money, and gave his blessing on the condition that they remove the cigar that Kirby smokes. Despite being something of a trademark for Jack Kirby, he felt it would be a bad influence on the kids. Eastman and Laird met and bonded over their mutual respect for Jack Kirby's work. It must have been a terrific feeling to earn his approval for a comic they created.

Here's a straight-up copy/paste from the Comic Room Showcase thread, but as the room is exclusively TMNT, I figured I'd share it here: Hello All! FINALLY got around to doing something I've been talking about for literally years now. We've been in our house for a while and I've always had this space carved out for my collection, but it's always been an unfinished room with exposed lumber, beams, and ducts along with a concrete floor with a (non-rectangular) carpet remnant on it. Now we've added another outlet, finished the walls and ceiling, painted, and put down some carpet with a proper pad underneath. The difference is night and day. Take a look: Before: After: I made the choice to go with a green carpet with a pale green paint so the room would feel even more unique in our house. Additionally, I think it goes well with my collecting focus, which as anyone who knows me would tell you is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Current: There are a number of things I would still like to do: My main method of comic storage is the modular Comic Cube setup. I got these in 2020 and I absolutely LOVE them. The drawers are very sturdy and the fact that they're modular make them reasonable to move myself if necessary. I like them so much that I already put in another order for a smaller 2x3 setup for magazine-sized books to hold my magazine slabs and some overflow raws and hardcovers. Currently they're still in standard comic boxes in the corner that isn't showcased. I hope to provide an update later this year once the Comic Cube is done and in-place. I've got a few art pieces that are already earmarked for professional framing and now I've got the space on the wall for them. Again, I'll update once I get them. I'd like to 3D print and paint a 1/4 scale Mouser or two to display with my 1990 Turtles in the display case. Just a fun side project to work on. Now that I know the space I'm working with, I'll probably let go of a few pieces that I don't think I'd plan on displaying so I can fund these other plans. It's a vicious cycle. Anyway, I'm very excited and just wanted to share. Thanks for looking!

Hello All! FINALLY got around to doing something I've been talking about for literally years now. We've been in our house for a while and I've always had this space carved out for my collection, but it's always been an unfinished room with exposed lumber, beams, and ducts along with a concrete floor with a (non-rectangular) carpet remnant on it. Now we've added another outlet, finished the walls and ceiling, painted, and put down some carpet with a proper pad underneath. The difference is night and day. Take a look: Before: After: I made the choice to go with a green carpet with a pale green paint so the room would feel even more unique in our house. Additionally, I think it goes well with my collecting focus, which as anyone who knows me would tell you is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Current: There are a number of things I would still like to do: My main method of comic storage is the modular Comic Cube setup. I got these in 2020 and I absolutely LOVE them. The drawers are very sturdy and the fact that they're modular make them reasonable to move myself if necessary. I like them so much that I already put in another order for a smaller 2x3 setup for magazine-sized books to hold my magazine slabs and some overflow raws and hardcovers. Currently they're still in standard comic boxes in the corner that isn't showcased. I hope to provide an update later this year once the Comic Cube is done and in-place. I've got a few art pieces that are already earmarked for professional framing and now I've got the space on the wall for them. Again, I'll update once I get them. I'd like to 3D print and paint a 1/4 scale Mouser or two to display with my 1990 Turtles in the display case. Just a fun side project to work on. Now that I know the space I'm working with, I'll probably let go of a few pieces that I don't think I'd plan on displaying so I can fund these other plans. It's a vicious cycle. Anyway, I'm very excited and just wanted to share. Thanks for looking!

More Turtles!

This policy went into effect a few years ago. From a customer perspective, it's an awful policy. Basically, CGC won't allow their customers to re-route their packages to have it be more convenient for them. CGC will say that it's due to safety reasons and in the interest of security, but it's WILDLY inconvenient to the point where customers have had to come up with strange workarounds just to get THEIR OWN BOOKS. I've heard some people now put a FedEx or UPS facility as the return address so they can just go pick it up there. I don't know how reliable this method is, but I've heard several mention it. But it has to be done on the submission form. No more holding at the facility for pickup. They won't allow it, which is dumb since I always get ID'd at the facility and no one EVER checks my ID when they drop my box at the door. ANYONE could sign for it...even the driver. From my own experience, I had trouble last year trying to get a package back from CGC. No one was home during the day and after 3 deliveries, they called and told me they'd have to send it back to Florida. I was lucky that I got a very gracious person on the phone who went out of her way to schedule a 4th delivery on a Saturday when I was home. She was an angel and I don't expect every branch to be that accommodating. It's a very inconvenient policy that further drives home that CGC doesn't seem to value their customers they way they once did. I wish they would change that.

These are really cool!

I you.

Pictures!

If you're a fan of the 2012 TMNT series like me, you might like this one. It's by Ciro Nieli, the showrunner and art director from that show. No-prize if you can guess the source of the homage without looking. There's more information on it in my CAF gallery along with scans of the prints he made from it. Feel free to take a look. I will note that I was very ready to NOT like the 2012 series. The sale to Nickelodeon was still fairly new and I didn't like the designs right off the bat. The show quickly won me over and now I'd recommend the series to any TMNT fan, especially if you have young kids. Though my kids ended up watching the show sometimes when I was at work and then would spoil key plot points. Him: "This is the one where __________." Me: "Thanks, buddy..."

Really cool! That Fugitoid one seems ridiculously rare. Almost never comes up. Congrats on the great set!

Definitely. I'd be more disappointed with the signature if it wasn't such a cool event. He ran all over the place and did his level best to quickly give each person in the front row either a signature or lean in for a selfie. He seems to genuinely care about his fans...who funny enough were largely women in their 30's and 40's. Not exactly the target demographic for a movie about boxing robots. I was able to get 2 other books done, those these are long gone at this point:

I'd vote for photo covers as well for celeb signatures. I was lucky enough to get a Jackman signature many years ago at a premiere for Real Steel he attended. It's one of his quick signatures, but it is a great memento from a cool event.

So freakin' cool!

I'm so happy you like it, @SpideyFein. I'm also relieved the frame made it to you without the glass breaking. The box had so much blank space on it it was just begging to be spruced up! I just won't tell you how long it took me to do that doodle. Happy New Year, buddy!

My raffle prize came in last night from the incredibly generous @CHASEnBLUE who offered up the 12 Slabs of Christmas! He asked what my main collecting interests were and when I told him, he even included a New Age Comics slab featuring the first color appearance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and Fugitoid) on the back cover. Amazing! Here are the slabs: And if that weren't enough, he also slid some comics in with each slab: So much interesting reading material! I've actually never heard of Gun Honey, but I'm intrigued. Thank you so much for the awesome prize offering, @CHASEnBLUE! You've got my 2023 off to a terrific start!!!

You should join us next year! The gift exchange sign-up is usually first. You can ask for people to tag you there when the raffle opens up. Quite a few people do it. Plus the raffle usually has at least 1-2 TMNT-related offerings to entice you. It's a lot of fun!