Archon_Turtle

Yeah they're fairly uncommon. When they come up, they usually sell for $75-$100 each.

Here you go. They actually mislabeled it. It technically should say Tales of the TMNT rather than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However; since the actual Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 2 didnt go anywhere near 64 issues, I haven't decided how much I care. I'd hate to have them relabel it and have something happen to my nod.

Finally got my Turtlemania Gold and White back from the CGC. The Gold got a 9.4, which considering that there is only one other graded copy, and its a 9.2...mine is now the highest graded. Woo! Pretty pleased with the white as well. It's hard as hell to get a 9.8 with these books, as the staples stress the cover paper. ANNNND the money shots: Oh and in case you are wondering why a book as nice as that silver gets a 7.0; There is a one inch split in the spine of the cover.

The entire cover is wrong. Thats is the art for Tales of the TMNT Volume 1 #1, with the header and overlay for TMNT Volume 1 #4 second printing over it. The Interior is TMNT #4. Heres a blurb about it: http://www.recalledcomics.com/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles4Error.php

First official Turtle image out of Nickelodeon. Discuss!

I know Kevin doesn't have one, I'm not sure if Peter does or not. As there were only 10, I doubt they would have tied up two copies. As far as i know, there are currently 3 located copies out of the original 10.

Fantastic news from the CGC! Just got my grade back online. My Turtlemania Gold got a 9.4. Making it currently the highest graded. Also, they agreed to note the GoGreenMachine (my blog) ad that's in Tales volume 2 #64!

Arriving at the house today is one of the most significant art pieces to the TMNT in my collection. This is the original concept art for the Shredder. Pre-dating TMNT #1, this art was used as a style guide by Kevin and Peter as they drew him in his first comic book appearance. Acquiring something like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am thrilled to have been able to make this happen. This is exactly the reason why I had to drop out of the running for the recent sale of the Gobbledygook #1 cover. I felt a stronger pull to this piece, and couldn't have both.

I don't think a number of you understand why these books are actually significant; carrying on about how these "aren't the first turtle app". The major significance of these books isnt the "turtle appearance". The significance is that these are the first project that Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman did together. These books started Mirage Studios. Any self respecting turtle collector doesn't consider these books the first turtle app; we consider them the beginning of a dynasty that the Turtles are merely a significant part of. THAT is why they are worth what they are worth. NOT the ad in the back.

Until we can get confirmation that the auction is paid, I will remain skeptical. My heart of hearts wants to believe that someone with 17k to spend on these books would have the common sense to do enough research to know the idea is not_in_tune_with_social_norms crazy. Kevin and Peter are both still alive and publicly accessible. Authentication is NOT difficult to get for these books. Those letters are not worth enough to make up the difference.

So that gobbledygook #1 is up to $11,352.50 by itself? I'm sorry, I don't buy that. That just can't be real.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd be interested in it for the history of the books. I'm not interested in buying the ones that any board member prints out and staples together, however I AM interested in buying a set that was "signed and numbered" (fake) before much public knowledge was really known about the real books. If nothing else, it'll be helpful to show as a side-by-side comparison. Between the boards and shows, non-turtle fans ask me about Gobbledygook books because they're curious. They know CGC won't grade them and want to know why they're so desirable. Giving them all the info is helpful, and that includes showing people what to look for in rooting out a counterfeit. I've got a real set and a counterfeit #2 that's signed and numbered...again, fake. I'd love to find the matching counterfeit #1 someday. There are two "original" types of counterfeit Gobbledygooks I have found so far (Original in the sense that they were created around the same time period of the actual publication): Those with an obviously fake "Kevin Eastman" signature and numbered out of 150 (these are the books that Peter Palmer is talking about). And these "Yellow Covers". Mine are 1 of 3 sets I've found in my travels so far ( Another example of them are pictured in this thread ). Aside from the cover color, they're also poorly aligned, but otherwise identical to the originals. However; some of them are "signed and numbered" and some of them aren't. These books were not created by board members, and are as "valid" an example of counterfeit Gobbledygooks as the black&white cover numbered ones. Simply issued from a different counterfeiter.

I'll take bootleg or counterfeit copies. Good luck. They are has hard to find as the real ones How much do they go for? If I remember correctly Archon_Turtle bought the last public set for sale off Dave (forget his board name). I think it was in the 400-500 range. At the time I remember thinking the price was crazy, but now that i have a real set and would love to compliment it with some counterfeits... If memory serves, he was asking $500 via ebay, and took my offer of $300. You guys are right though, they are just as hard to find as the originals. And yeah, a lot of people thought I was crazy, but as I see myself as a historian of sorts when it comes to the TMNT, I thought it worth every penny to be able to say that I had that part of the Gobbledygook history. Here are some pictures: Counterfeit Issue 1 Counterfeit Issue 2

Gotta wonder if the market will get flooded with sets after this. All the set owners should be pleased as punch. They are basically watching the market value of their books soar.

Nope. its at just under 5.4. I think it COULD pass 10 on auction day

http://comics.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7030&Lot_No=92082&Lot_Id_No=30001 This sure is getting to be a spicy meatball! I was hoping to contend seeing as I have the #2 cover, and it would have been nice to make the set. But I was out at 4k. Good luck to those going for it.

Knowing Isaac, being familiar with that transaction, and being a book owner, I will vouch for those books authenticity as well.

Not strictly COMIC related, but definitely TMNT related, so I thought you'd enjoy it: So as you may know, Turtles in Time is really really hard to find. Even harder if you want it in good shape. Klov.com rates the game a 12 out of 100 for rarity (100 being most common). Anyway, I've wanted a Turtles In Time 4-player upright for a long long time, but have never been able to find one in good enough shape that is close enough to me. Then today I see this on ebay: When suddenly I am reminded that I purchased a working Turtles In Time JAMMA board several years ago: So I swoop down on the Side Art, since complete sets INCLUDING the control panel overlay are few and far between. On a lark, I then do a quick search for a Turtle in Time marquee. And low and behold there is one for pretty cheap! Swoop! "But Archon, you still don't have a cabinet!" Well friends, the cool thing about all of the 4-Player Konami Titles (TMNT, TMNT:Turtles In Time, The Simpsons, Sunset Riders, G.I. Joe, X-men) is that they ALL use the exact same cabinet. So I get on the horn with a few distributors I know, and it turns out that there is a guy in Los Angeles proper with a Sunset Riders cabinet. It is currently sight unseen, but I am going to be checking it out in the next couple days. If it is indeed still in a 4-player konami, I'm nabbing that . Costs so far: NOS Side Art + Control Panel Overlay: $300 Marquee: $20 JAMMA Board: $0 (Already had it in the collection) 4-Player Konami Cabinet:

I feel ya. That is never an easy decision. I've never sold a TMNT item that I didn't regret selling later. So I've just stopped. :-)

Not sure that I would totally agree with that, only because Turtlemania Special #1 gold edition has sold for $4000+ on more than one occasion.

That's what I am afraid of. Embrace it. Just remember...your children can pay for college their damn selves!

So I've got a question. Tales of the TMNT Volume 2 #64 has an advertisement for my TMNT blog (GoGreenMachine.Org) on the inside cover. It's special to me because not only is it my website, but it's the first and only time Mirage ever advertised in one of their books for something they didn't own or were directly affiliated with. I'd like to get a copy graded, but would like them to denote the advertisement on the label. Could I get them to do that?

Today I bring you another installment in "Things so obscure that Archon is probably the only one that cares!" But, I think it's interesting, so I'm making you read about it. So this last week, my amazing wife heather and I finally took our honeymoon. We spent the week in Orlando Florida, and did all the Touristy stuff (Disney World, Universal, etc). The last night we were there, Heather and I had the opportunity to have dinner with our very own TMNT and his beautiful wife (Dinner was fantastic by the way). But we aren't here to talk about my social experiences! After dinner, before parting ways, Danny presented me with a gift. A 1984 Bud Plant Catalog! "A What?!" You say? Well...honestly, as of now, I can't really tell you a whole lot about it; other than it appears to be a comic and pop culture mail-order catalog from California. Danny couldn't tell me much more about it either. As I said, the catalog is dated 1984, so it was printed around the time of the publication of TMNT #1. The paper has some pretty cool stuff in it. Doctor Who books, Various Marvel Properties, and even Indiana Jones! But why would Danny have given this to me? Weeeeelllll.... In the middle of the catalog, there is a little advert for TMNT #1! As the catalog is dated 1984, this has to be one of the earliest advertisements for the book. The interesting thing is that it is a California publication, and much of the initial advertising for the original book didn't circulate very far from New Hampshire. So if you're like me, and enjoy little obscure things like this, I am glad to be able to share this with you. If not...then...you should probably stop reading my posts :-P Thanks again to Danny for this awesome gift! Happy to have it in my collection!

I CAN tell you that the seller was asking $6000 minimum for the Gold privately before he decided to take it to pedigree. If he got that for it, or ended up getting more, I do not know. This is a photo of that book prior to grading. I believe it graded out as a 9.4.

After it was pulled from the pedigree auction, it was sold to a private party (I do not know who) along with a graded silver for an undisclosed lump sum. Though I do know it was a cash/trade combination deal.