pubmonkey

$56k the #2 went to $2800 too...

TMNT #1 9.6 on ComicConnect.com up to $53k with 6 hours to go... This one is signed by the duo on the inside too

very well said! The exception to this might be if the yellow label was signed by both Laird and Eastman. It's fairly common to find an Eastman sig but rare and expensive for a Laird one.

I have a few stories like that

now at $25,000! https://www.comicconnect.com/item/901554

That was your book? Congrats on a great, even historic, sale!

wow! almost double the yellow label from a couple weeks ago... I posit this one will go for around $20k (maybe more) The #2 on CC is at $2020 which is ok but should jump before the end. I see this one at $4500 or more. Only one copy has sold (at least in GPA) since December. The 9.6's are catching up but my copy on Ebay is collecting dust at the moment. Hopefully this auction will kickstart the #2's again. The 9.6 at $38277 Should be in the $60k-$70k range when this is over. More would icing on the cake...

To top it off, the books that are signed inside were likely signed at the convention in NY on that day. I'm not sure if you can pinpoint those details to many other books.

I'm not sure I get the whole #1 counterfeit thing ...maybe for $40 or something like that, not $1750...

https://www.comicconnect.com/item/901554 #3 variant at $9284 on comic connect with 6 days to go. This already surpasses the yellow label that sold on heritage last month. The blue labels with the sigs inside may be making a bold leap ahead of the SS labels here. The main difference being there is only one sig on the SS. What do you guys think? Or is it just timing? I can't believe two 9.8's have popped up for sale this year, these generally sell privately. Very cool to see

I get what you're saying and I share the sentiment although my version is that yes there are more 2nd prints but there are fewer in high grade. This to me says there is a lot of room for the 2nd print to catch up (in high grade) to 50% value of the 1st print. There were still only 6000 printed and 2nd prints were treated as readers in my day. The mid to lower grades I cannot speak for but they will tag along at some level. How many 2nd prints were damaged by trying to make them look like 1st prints? bleaching, scraping of the "2nd print"...It was a real thing, I remember it well from those days...

This

very nice sigs! great book! I'd still get it graded but ask for a blue label.

This is very true. The variant of #3 has always been on my radar and I couldn't find one pre-internet. For the TMNT fan it is the must have #3 as there are only 500 of them. Overstreet's, back in the day, had it listed as the NYCC variant and I always wanted to get my hands on one. I don't think the general population of comic collectors care so much even though this is the 'Variant Age'.

I doubt there will be any sinking like a stone for these comics. The fact that only a few 9.8's have surfaced recently shows there is a demand for these books and those who have them are holding them close. Remember these books are now 36-37 years old, are much scarcer than the mainstream books of the time, and everyone and their grandmother (except Lou_fine) wants one.

Heritage has another #3 variant 9.8 yellow label: https://comics.ha.com/itm/modern-age-1980-present-/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-3-variant-cover-signature-series-mirage-studios-1985-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/a/7242-92159.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515 This is getting interesting...

Latest 9.8 sale is $2021 on March 7

sounds about right. I personally think it will go for more than 60k, more like 70k. It's the first high grade (9.6/9.8) copy that's been available since the market went nuts and for some time before that too. If this sells well we will see more come to market.

somewhere about 180 pages back the boardie who bought those 2 copies announces he just made the purchase. I can't remember exactly where in the thread but it's there. I think about it often...

I dunno, this seems like bait to get you in the store. What do you guys think these should really go for? $120k? more? less?

UY #1 (1987) has been quietly getting pricier and pricier: 9.8's were selling for $650 in Jan, $900 in Feb, and already in March there is a sale of $1700... I know what you are thinking (I was), this is the 9.8/9.6 gap effect and 9.6's and below will be radically cheaper. Not so it seems. 9.6 was selling for $350/$450 all Jan and then in late Feb there is a $648 sale. It trickles down more: 9.4 has seen a steady climb from $150 range to $400 in Feb. So too the 9.2's ($245) and below. 2-3 years ago I was buying these raw for a few dollars and there were loads of choice. Not now. I haven't seen or heard much commotion about this, all eyes have been on Albedo #2 up to this point. "hard finding high grade Usagi keys " I couldn't agree more. I have been looking for high grade 1987 series and before for over 30 years and they are few and far between.

everything?!?

Your collection amazes me! every time you show something it's the pinnacle of that issue... do you have a pic of that special missions #1 with the sketch by Zeck handy?

It always bothered me that she has mini missiles pointing at the cab of the truck but she chooses to shoot the lights out with her handgun

Im tempted to agree with @Icculus308win on this one but it's dependant upon the grade. From what I've seen over the last 15 years a high grade 2nd print (9.6/9.8) is far harder to get a hold of than a lower grade 1st print. The second print was only a few months after the 1st and had a low print run too. Collectors were not as interested in 2nd prints in those days and it was seen as a reader or something you could bleach to make look like a 1st print. I have often wondered how many were damaged in an attempt to fake them into a first print. There are very few 2nd prints in high grade on the census compared to the 1st and 3rd prints: 1st print: 980 total slabs, 32 in 9.8, 56 in 9.6 ---- print run 3200 2nd print: 529 total slabs, 9 in 9.8, 37 in 9.6 ---- print run 6000 3rd print: 1214 total slabs, 66 in 9.8, 142 in 9.6 ---- print run 35000 So I think the predominant factor is value. 1st print blows 2nd print out of the water, it's not even close. A 9.6 2nd print went for $6250 in Jan 2021 whereas you can't get a 1st print 4.0 for less than $10k. What's interesting is that the print run for 2nd print is closer to first print but the values are in line with the 3rd print even though there are more than 5 times as many. For this reason I think the 2nd print is undervalued and will rise accordingly over the next year. Getting back to the temptation of @Icculus308win (and this is from the perspective of 2 collectors who own 9.8's of every issue discussed so far) I would be far more likely to hold onto my 2nd print 9.8 than either of the other prints in 9.8 - but that wasn't the scenario provided. Here I would choose the low grade 1st print. but here: $12,000 for a 4.5 1st print or 9.8 2nd print? I would choose the 2nd print all day every day