Mark 1

Nobody really knows the exact counts, including Kirkman, right? It certainly appears there are less black labels than white based on historical sales. Either people are hoarding the black labels (which doesn't seem likely) or there are less of them. It's not like Kirkman printed these things himself. Granted, this is probably the information he was given by Image, but I don't think anyone really knows, including Image. That and the fact that his numbers don't add up, the print run wasn't 10k - it was 7k and change, now that's a number that is known from sales data, assuming Image is reporting the correct numbers. Long story short, the black label sells for more and commands a premium.

It doesn't always sell for more and command a premium. And when it does it is only $100-$200 above it's white label counterpart. Much to do about nothing!

(I got this information directly from Robert Kirkman....

I agree that there appears to be more of the White warning out there,

but according to him, that's not the case)

 

The black warning was ?first?, and there's more of them, around 7000 or so total.

More than halfway through the print run, the mature readers thing was corrected?

It should have been white with a black drop shadow (making it easier to see on the cover).

About 3000 or so of those, with the white warning, exist.

 

Both are considered "first prints" and there really is no difference in value

(although the white SHOULD be worth more, IMO, if the above #'s are correct)

 

I hope this helps! \:\)

 

Well, there you go....I thought I had misread something when folks questioned my assessment that white labels were printed less.

3000 = white

7000 = black

 

Considering there are only 7,000 copies printed, your numbers are wrong

In the grand scheme of things...it's not a big premium compared to true variants. I own a white copy and sure I'd like to have a black also...but given the small amount more for a black (if at all) it's not a big deal to warrant all the posturing about it.

Issue 35 is a good example of a true variant

I love this argument about less black labels...

CGC doesn't acknowledge it as a variant and won't.

If it does bring a premium it's a hundred or two hundred more expensive...

Not that big of a deal.

1ST PRINT/2ND PRINT?

 

 

Part of the first print, rest of the first print.

 

WACKY

 

 

And any price differences, or claims of one being more "rare" than the other are based entirely on anecdotal, localized, or incomplete personal or 2nd hand information regarding which is more ubiquitous.

 

Exactly right.

 

 

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA...Funniest post Ive seen here hands down

 

Really?

Did AF 15 Burst Yet...?

 

Ooooh, good point.

 

Perhaps we should also debate the relative longevity of the Rolling Stones compared to Vanilla Ice?

In all seriousness, it's hard to compare any modern to AF15, FF1, TOS39, JIM83, etc.

However, the Walking Dead #1 is not going to fade away into obscurity like Vanilla Ice. And, the comparison is not fair because honestly...Vanilla Ice was drek and Walking Dead is quality material. Just to keep the analogy going a little...

I'm not a soothsayer so I won't go out on a limb and say definitively that WD #1 will continue to be the modern equivalient of keys of the past....but I do believe this comic will have longevity.

My

Zombies......really?

It's really good writing. If it were just about zombies...I would NEVER have read the whole run.

Where it will stop nobody knows....

Walking dead fans are passionate and don't want to believe the comic will lose it's luster.

ANY collectable can lose it's value. I do think some are rooting for the comic or show to fail but not because they didn't buy a copy.

I find lots of people root for all kinds of things to fail.

With that said, I think comix4fun and others have valid reasons for believing the comic will decrease in value. Because history has shown items like this will fall.

Sometimes an item is unique and goes the other way. My hope is WD will do that. I knew going in that buying a modern was a risk. I'm willing to take the risk.

You've got to take a look at The Crow to get a pretty interesting parallel.

The Crow is a lot closer to WD than TMNT is. WD has no built in "kid factor" to keep it renewed and fresh and to restock its fan base. The Crow and WD share the same demographic and were fueled by the same basic age group of collectors and fans. Both were media and licensing darlings in the heat of their mainstream (Film/TV) spotlight.

 

The Crow:

4 studio films completed.

1 studio film in the works.

 

1 live action TV show

1 animated series developed

 

In print consistently for the last 25-ish years.

T-shirts, books, novels, posters, statues, toys, coasters, lighters, rings, etc etc etc etc licensed out the yang.

 

Original Series...Extremely low print run, with all black covers and exceedingly hard to find in high grade.

 

To this date there are only 14 copies of The Crow #1 in 9.8 and 18 copies of Caliber Presents #1.

 

Value of 1st appearance and 1st issue? Relatively flat for several years.

 

The HEAT generated by the first film and interest therein made people seek out those early Crow books. Then they fell on their face for a decade. Only when people realized the CGC + hard to find in high grade equation was in play did it start to uptick again, only to flatten.

 

Take away the heat of mass media attention (TV or FILM) and you take away the push that people feel to get those books.

 

 

The part of the comparison that is most interesting is the "CGC Factor". Obviously CGC did not exist in 1989 for people to take their Crow books and have them immediately slabbed. Also it took the series a bit of time to gain traction (as did WD) so by the time people went back to find The Crow, it was a later printing or a lesser grade copy (that impossible all black cover).

 

With WD, CGC was already rolling for several years, the mentality of picking out 9.8s and keeping them that way was ingrained. That statement is proven when taking a peek at the census.

 

For every ONE copy of The Crow #1 you will find in 9.8 or better there are about FORTY copies of WD #1. 40 to 1. Leaning on "scarcity" in discussing WD #1 is a non-starter. Looking at the numbers that matter there are so many of these books that when interest levels go back to normal it's only natural to see some decline.

 

Take away the films, take away the heat that comes with the films/tv, and we've seen what happens to overall interest. Overall interest drives prices. We've seen it over and over again. It's not a novel concept in the least.

 

The Crow as a comparison? I think not.

 

Once Brandon Lee died...that franchise died.

 

Those movies and series never had the popularity of breaking viewership records with 10-12 million people viewing weekly. The number of people exposed and hooked to WD is quite astonishing. No show with a comic has shown to rival this type of popularity.

 

I'm not saying it's sustainable but I don't think the Crow is a viable comparison.

 

 

 

I think you might be misremembering. Once Brandon Lee died the series got MASSIVE attention and had a huge opening weekend compared to expectations. Adjusted for inflation the Crow was over $100 million at the box office before the millions and millions of DVD units it's sold over the years. If you weren't paying attention around the mid 90's when the film came out you could say what you said, but if you were paying attention you would know it was actually licensing juggernaut selling everything people could possibly want from head to toe.

 

It's silly to say "The Franchise Died" when it's still going with another film in production. FIVE FILMS to be released AFTER Brandon Lee died. If the Franchise "died" with Brandon Lee someone should probably inform the franchise of that.

 

5 studio films and 25 years in continuous print are two things WD hasn't yet achieved.

 

It's great that the WD has had cable TV success. I think you are conflating people who enjoy watching a show with fans willing to pay $1k plus for a single comic. They aren't creating comic fans at the same rate they are creating fans of the show.

 

What the WD has achieved is wonderful.

 

However it's not SOOOOOO wonderful that you can ignore something that's been a viable franchise selling $100+ million in movie tickets, millions of DVDs, and spawned several spin offs, reboots, and comic series over the last 25 years.

 

The Crow has had longevity. The Crow books are far FAR more rare than the equivalent WD books. The Crow has also proven that longevity and rarity are no guarantee of future value, demand or immunity from downturn.

Valid points for sure. I lost interest in that franchise after Brandon Lee died. He was the character to me and after...I didn't follow it.

You've got to take a look at The Crow to get a pretty interesting parallel.

The Crow is a lot closer to WD than TMNT is. WD has no built in "kid factor" to keep it renewed and fresh and to restock its fan base. The Crow and WD share the same demographic and were fueled by the same basic age group of collectors and fans. Both were media and licensing darlings in the heat of their mainstream (Film/TV) spotlight.

 

The Crow:

4 studio films completed.

1 studio film in the works.

 

1 live action TV show

1 animated series developed

 

In print consistently for the last 25-ish years.

T-shirts, books, novels, posters, statues, toys, coasters, lighters, rings, etc etc etc etc licensed out the yang.

 

Original Series...Extremely low print run, with all black covers and exceedingly hard to find in high grade.

 

To this date there are only 14 copies of The Crow #1 in 9.8 and 18 copies of Caliber Presents #1.

 

Value of 1st appearance and 1st issue? Relatively flat for several years.

 

The HEAT generated by the first film and interest therein made people seek out those early Crow books. Then they fell on their face for a decade. Only when people realized the CGC + hard to find in high grade equation was in play did it start to uptick again, only to flatten.

 

Take away the heat of mass media attention (TV or FILM) and you take away the push that people feel to get those books.

 

 

The part of the comparison that is most interesting is the "CGC Factor". Obviously CGC did not exist in 1989 for people to take their Crow books and have them immediately slabbed. Also it took the series a bit of time to gain traction (as did WD) so by the time people went back to find The Crow, it was a later printing or a lesser grade copy (that impossible all black cover).

 

With WD, CGC was already rolling for several years, the mentality of picking out 9.8s and keeping them that way was ingrained. That statement is proven when taking a peek at the census.

 

For every ONE copy of The Crow #1 you will find in 9.8 or better there are about FORTY copies of WD #1. 40 to 1. Leaning on "scarcity" in discussing WD #1 is a non-starter. Looking at the numbers that matter there are so many of these books that when interest levels go back to normal it's only natural to see some decline.

 

Take away the films, take away the heat that comes with the films/tv, and we've seen what happens to overall interest. Overall interest drives prices. We've seen it over and over again. It's not a novel concept in the least.

The Crow as a comparison? I think not.

Once Brandon Lee died...that franchise died.

Those movies and series never had the popularity of breaking viewership records with 10-12 million people viewing weekly. The number of people exposed and hooked to WD is quite astonishing. No show with a comic has shown to rival this type of popularity.

I'm not saying it's sustainable but I don't think the Crow is a viable comparison.

hmmm...hot dog water for my kids....

 

hmmm...hot dog water for my kids....

Historical data is the best instrument to go by for sustained value of collectables.

I have a feeling WD is in a class of its own and might not have historical analogues to directly compare as apples to apples.

Yes, history has shown that comics that don't have the "key hero characters" can depreciate in value once the hype is over. This is certainly possible.

The only comparison I feel is appropriate to TMMT is that nobody could have predicted the lasting power those characters have had over the past 20 years with kids. Even my 8 year old son loves TMNT.

We won't see children embracing WD (for obvious reasons) to keep the interest alive for generations unless adults from generation to generation continue to keep interest in the show. History has shown that is unlikely.

I'm usually not a modern risk taker or collector. My bet (and probably misguided) is that WD1 has staying power.

I don't believe that WD 19, 27, 92, etc will contine to yield the amounts we've seen as years go on.

Time will tell. What I wouldn't advise is someone buying into the books now....it's top market and even more of a risk to see returns on your purchase.

My .02 cents.

Speculation and conjecture. That's all this is.

None of us know the future. We just use certain analogues to come up with our hypothesis of why it will go down or why it will remain the same...or why it will go up.

None of us knows what will happen to WD.

My HOPE is that is maintains popularity and grows in value. If it doesn't....I will have a set of books that I enjoy but highly overpaid for them. Oh well.

Still haven't watched more than 2 minutes of the show or even picked up a comic.

I think you are missing out. I was exactly in same boat a year ago. I watched the first episode of the show and I was hooked. Done. I watched the first season in 2 days.

I then went to buy the 1-6 TPB. Loved it. I never expected to. I've been a superhero collector for years. I'd like to think I got into collecting WD because I really like it and not because it's the new thing. I really enjoy both mediums for WD.

I think there is no rush to dump your cgc 9.8 #1. The book is blue chip.

I feel this way also. At least for the next 3-5 years. I think the show has 2 more seasons in it and then a movie or two. My guess. I'm not moving my 9.6 any time soon.

Walking Dead 1-6 will always be in demand.

You own 5 copies of TOS 39?

 

Thanks Man I appreciate it!!!!

 

Really nice set up! Im a bit paranoid about displaying my slabs but thats a great way to do it.

 

(thumbs u

Sorry to hear about your dog Jason.

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