Gatsby77

Why? Your % return's likely higher on the normal one. As in, A+A 0 could go from $3-$4 to $30 or $40. While the A+A 0 gold could go from $30-$35 to $200. Again, I'd rather have a longbox of the regular version than 10-20 of the gold.

Add Solar 3 to the list above; it's a lot harder to find than Shadowman 8. And I still maintain that X-O 4's not even in the league of the other's listed. Yes -- it was a 1-page cameo but primarily a Wizard-hyped book. I'd take Shadowman 1 over it any day. And I did -- last December I had 3 copies of X-O # 4 to 26 copies of Shadowman 1. And X-O's my favorite Valiant character.

Haven't checked prices this week but I'd wager it'd be: 1) Harbinger 1 2) Solar 3 3) Solar 10 4) X-O 1 5) Eternal Warrior 4 **I know that the print run on EW 4 is higher than the rest, but if I were selling at a convention, I think I'd make more money selling 10 copies of EW 4 than 3 copies of Solar 10.

While Rai's my favorite Valiant character, I'd go for Harbinger. It was the most-expensive pre-Unity title back in the day because it was the 1st original Valiant title and a tad harder to find because of the coupon promotion. Rai books are great but suffer from a lack of 1st appearances. Also, the traditionally expensive books (Rai 3-4) were so only because of "low print runs" & relative rarity, but their 38k print runs would put them in the top 50 monthly titles today. And Rai 0, the break-out movie rumor key of the run so far, had a print run of well over 100K and was hoarded as a key from day 1. It's the opposite of rare, particularly by today's standards. For comparison, the # 1 Valiant book on the stands last month (Divinity # 1) sold barely over 12,000 copies, clocking at # 172 on Diamond's list. Last month's issue of Rai couldn't even hit 7,500.

Love that HARD Corps 5 cover! Here's my only Bloodshot cover so far, by Mike Zeck!

Another reason EW 4 trumps # 5 and Rai 0 as the "1st Bloodshot" -- it was the one most-hyped by Wizard. Perfect case of the early collectors' market being indoctrinated to think of EW 4 as the primary key, and it was arguably harder to find than Rai 0 because it wasn't ordered / hoarded beforehand, whereas Rai 0 was (just see the old-school American Entertainment ads for proof of this). As said a few pages back, Rai 0 became an important book not for the "first full Bloodshot" but because it showed the future history of the whole Valiant universe.

Perfect time to capitalize, particularly as she may be as mis-used and/or cameo-fied as were Bishop and Kitty Pryde in the last film. Kitty Pryde was arguably important to the plot, but that was what? 5 minutes of screen time? See also, Angel in X-3 (more like 3 minutes of screen time)

While I really liked the story in X-Men 244 itself, she grated on me after about a dozen issues. Like a low-rent, proto-hipster Asian Kitty Pryde. Always preferred Kitty Pryde's relationship to Wolverine, and Dazzler's character and powers, to those of Jubilee's. Also, hasn't she already been in at least two (if not three) of the films? Or is this a Kitty Pryde situation, where we're supposed to ignore the cameos in X-Men & X2 because she actually figured in two full scenes in X-3 & Days of Future Past? I'd take X-Factor 6 or 24 over another dozen copies of 244 any day.

The reason I hoard Magnus 0 (&, to a great extent, built that CGC silver age Gold Key set)? The very first Previews I ever saw highlighted Magnus # 1 as a "Gem of the Month" and explained the Magnus 0 (w/ BWS art) coupon giveaway. While I ultimately passed on the stack of Magnus 1s at my LCS when they were released (even with a sticky noting it was the employees' favorite book released that month) because it was too "sci-fi" rather than "superhero" for my taste, I jumped aboard with Magnus 12 off the shelf. But as to why I hoard Magnus 0? My LCS had a copy (with card) in their Showcase with a $90 price tag, right next to Platinum Spider-Man 1, ASM 129, AF 15 and (yes) Detective 27. For a time it was seen as that exclusive. Harbinger 0 pink never had that hype because it was so delayed that by the time it was released it never really matched Harbinger 1 in price (say, $60-$75 for Harbinger 0, vs. $125 for Harbinger 1). Also, Harbinger 0 was readily available via the blue version w/ the trade paperback. Magnus was the cornerstone of the VH1 ('91-96), just as Solar was the cornerstone of VH2 (Acclaim) and (arguably) X-O is the cornerstone of VEI today.

My bet's on EW 4 (raw & slabbed) over Rai 0. Rai 0 was a key (& hoarded as such) from day 1, whereas EW 4 wasn't hyped beforehand and likely had orders drop off from EW 1-2.

Hah! Pretty sure I paid $8 for my 1st Bloodshot 1 -- the same price I paid for my 1st X-O 1 & Magnus 1 earlier on. I remember right before the bubble burst someone sold three longboxes of Valiants to my LCS. While they weren't yet priced, they allowed me to look through them. Full pre-unity run (minus Solar 10 -- the lone copy in there was the 2nd print), with _heavy_ dupes on the # 1s & other early issues, like 10-12 each of Harbinger 1-6, 20+ X-O 1, etc. And the collector was good. Very few unity or post-Unity commons, but heavy dupes on Shadowman 8, EW 4-5, etc. Notably, the set basically ended at Nov. '92, with Bloodshot 1. A solid 100+ copies (1/2 a longbox or so). It was still a $12 book at the time, but I took it as a good sign to get out.

Yeah - I don't really blame folks who pre-ordered cases of Turok 1. It followed the exact same format as Turok 1, but with an arguably hotter artist. Given that Bloodshot 1 sold out on day of release & was selling (in the Philly region) at least for $12 within a month, Turok 1 seemed like a no-brainer. It was the customers themselves who then opted not to buy all the copies they'd pre-ordered when it didn't have a similar pop (wasn't it 1.7 million vs. Bloodshot 1's 600k or so -- or 1 million _more_ copies?) and a ton of comic stores were left holding the bag.

Quick -- stockpile the other Top 10 books, like New Warriors 1+2, Darkhawk 1, Gen 13 mini # 1! My favorite of Wizard's speculation "spotlight on" column was back when Marvel made the big media splash with Northstar coming out as gay in Alpha Flight 106. Wizard pointed out that DC did it more than a year earlier when the Pied Piper came out to The Flash in Flash vol. 2 # 53 (also a Superman v. Flash race issue). Like a sheep, I went out & got like 7 copies of Flash 53, only to see it do nada. Cool story though (both on the Superman & Pied Piper fronts).

What strikes me about that list is that HARD Corps # 1 -- which had the then-highest print run for a Valiant comics & a great Jim Lee gatefold cover, clocked in right above Spectacular Spider-Man 189, which went to a 2nd printing. Also note Man of Steel 17's paltry showing at # 97 on the list. EDIT: Just noticed that this was my high school collecting heyday. I bought 23 of the top 25 books of the month off the shelf for cover price, 10 of them in multiples. (Damn the Ghost Rider polybags & X-Men X-cutioner's Song polybags in the same month.) Wow...

Exactly -- per GPA, those 10 recorded sales in 2014 averaged out to $337. In 2015, there was a sale in Feb. at $339. It's just disingenuous to say "sales of $300-$400 even before the announcement" when the average over 15 months & 11 recorded sales was consistent at $337. In my mind, $337 is a far cry from $350, let alone $400. Per GPA, the low was $300 and the high was $395 in 2014. Despite an average of $337, "sales of $300-$400 even before the announcement" seems like an accurate statement. If you click on the link within GPA, it gives you that same range for 2014 - $300-$395. I don't think he was disingenuous at all. [/quote Exactly what I was thinking. Maybe disingenuous doesn't mean the same thing to you and I that it does him? Maybe in slang disingenuous means 100% accurate nowadays? Jim I stand by my statement because I've been actively buying Harbinger 1s (raw and slabbed) since December. I know the pre-movie announcement market (raw, as well as CGC 9.2-9.8) extremely well. And the fact was there were at least 5 copies of Harbinger 1 in CGC 9.8 available via well-known dealer &/or auction sites that were sitting unsold for weeks at $325 asking prices a month ago today. Nobody wanted them (December to present) at those prices. _I_ didn't even want them, and was waiting for a true auction that I thought would would finish in the $290-$310 range. So instead I bought raws, a few CGC 9.2s, a 9.4 and (I'm glad) a 9.6. Sure...maybe this was a cyclical downturn, due to post-holiday doldrums as folks typically pay off their Dec. credit card debt, but it's not a "$300-$400" book if _multiple copies_ sat unsold at $325.

Exactly -- per GPA, those 10 recorded sales in 2014 averaged out to $337. In 2015, there was a sale in Feb. at $339. It's just disingenuous to say "sales of $300-$400 even before the announcement" when the average over 15 months & 11 recorded sales was consistent at $337. In my mind, $337 is a far cry from $350, let alone $400. Likewise, considering that three weeks ago there were literally three copies sitting unsold at $325 BINs via eBay alone. While one $325 sale shows up in GPA the day of the announcement, the others may not if they were sold via Lone Star, which often cross-posts books to their own site & eBay.

Hah! Bait taken...Now, maybe, but not 25 years ago, around the time the Infinity Gauntlet came out. A book no one cared about shot from $8 to $55 to as much as $150 in less than 90 days. It was a big deal at the time for IM 55 to surpass IM 1 in both price and demand.

Patently false. The week before the announcement 4-5 copies CGC 9.8 copies sat unsold at ~$325 Buy-It-Nows on eBay & at least one retailer site, while the CGC 9.6s sat unsold at $100 Buy-It-Nows but sold for about $78 at true auction (with the occasional $100 true auction for 9.6). There's a world of difference between "sold for $300-$400 in 9.8" and "sat for months unsold at $325 BIN asking price in 9.8"

I will find it absolutely ludicrous if, simply because VEI does not have the license to the Gold Key characters, Magnus 5 (1st appearance of Rai) ends up being far more valuable than either Magnus 0 (origin, 1st Valiant incentive) or Magnus 12 (1st Turok) just because Rai *may* appear in a movie 3-4 years hence. No problem with it being more valuable than Magnus 1, since I believe it's also notable for being David Lapham's first professional work, and Stray Bullets was awesome. But for Magnus 5 to overtake Magnus 0 & 12 for me would be right up there with Iron Man 55 overtaking Iron Man 1 for a spell. Oddly, I don't feel that way about Solar 3 or Solar 10 -- each deserves to be more valuable than Solar 1, and -- back in the day, each was. Harada is a keystone villain & the print run is far far less than that of Shadowman 8. It's a major disturbance in the force to have half of the pre-Unity books (the bulk of the Magnus & Solar runs) no longer as potentially valuable as those of the other lines simply because today's collectibility is movie hype driven.

I don't doubt your experiences, but I have the opposite view. I have always, always, straight back to 1993, seen fewer Rai 3s than 4s. And still do today. +1 That's fair. I have always held the books co-equal as "semi-keys" in my mind (i.e., for relative scarcity only & a tier down from Harbinger 1, Magnus 0 & 12, & Solar 10). They peaked in the Philly region at $65 each back in '93. Through passive collecting over the years, I've now got 6 copies of # 3 vs. only 2 copies of # 4, and I never paid more than $8 per.

Yeah - the 43's an 8.5, so I left it off. 29's the real one that drove me crazy. That's by far the hardest one to find in strict 9.0+ -- a 3+ year gap between 28 & it, and no painted cover = nobody collected them. If anyone has a line on 33, or 43 in strict 9.2 or better, I'll pay stupid money. Heck, I'll even trade you some VEI movie-related first appearances

What grade is the #1? 9.4 But the # 2's a 9.8 The single 9.4, with only a single 9.6 above it... wow. Yeah...but it's only off-white to white. Proud of my set: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=44535

What grade is the #1? 9.4 But the # 2's a 9.8

All I know is people done lose their minds with movie hype. If Spawn 9 can spike, I have no doubt that some of those 1993 mega-print Valiants can as well. Bloodshot 6 is already garnering $15+ on eBay. That's close to what it peaked at back in 1993. And I (barely) restrained myself from ordering 15 copies of Shadowman 8 at $8 per the other day. Not because I believe in the book (which is the opposite of rare), but because experience shows it will only go higher over the next three years. Sigh...at least I've got this: