___

MOAR Wizard list! Please

+1 Yes please

Love see the order list two. So funny reading some of the books on there. A&A barely beat out Sleepwalker 13....really sleepwalker 13

Rai #3 --- in my experience, most copies are miscut at the top, with no blue showing above the RAI logo.

 

I've always considered the "well-centered" cover more desirable, because it looks more like Rai #1-#5 at the top.

Well-centered copies aren't as common as the miscut.

 

 

GACK!

 

2002 FLASHBACKS!!!!

 

Next thing you know, someone will flash back to 1992.

 

Whoops... too late...

 

 

 

Now this brings back memories!!! What was this in Wizard? I want to see some more top ten lists with Valiant books. Folks share pretty please

I still like Magnus 12

Scott was an absolute pleasure to deal with! Great communication and super fast payment on Bronze slab.

THANKS again!

I remember unbagging and boarding most of my Valiants about 6-7 years ago because I ran out , and needed some.

 

Never did bag them back up...

 

D'oh!

 

If anyone is ready to sell an A & A #1 Gold, please keep me in mind!

I did the same thing because my mom wouldn't buy me any more bags & boards. They stayed like that until I was a Teen and thought it was too cool to have that stuff and dumped my two long boxes of variants in dumpster at a new house build in my parents subdivision.

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 think you just contradicted yourself.

Iron Man 55 is way more important than Iron Man one anyways

Well at least I know I am not loosing it. Scarcity on these or equal distribution?

It has been estimated that only about 5% of Rai #0 are glossy --- but that is from about 10 years ago and I don't remember the source.

 

The books are identical in every way, except for the "glossiness" of the cover, so it's very hard to be sure which books are glossy from a scan, in hand (if you only have one copy) or from inside a CGC case, etc.

was this a production error or did they do this on purpose?

Well at least I know I am not loosing it. Scarcity on these or equal distribution?

I am seeing some things on Rai #0.... was there a glossy and non-glossy version?

Or am I just dreaming this stuff up now? Is one more rare than the other? Any label notation that is different?

Thanks, Greg! And can you confirm the commentary in one of the issues that Magnus 12 & Harbinger 1 were ranked # 16 & 17?

 

Weird that the 2010 estimate for Solar 7 is as high as 50k given that we were all told back in 1992-'93 that Harbinger 1 (not on the list) had a print run of just ~35k.

 

I also recall that everyone thought Rai 4 was rarer than Rai 3 until the ranking came out in Valiant Voice.

 

Anecdotally, I always found more Rai 3s than Rai 4s, but Wizard was the one annointing Rai 4 as the rarest for a hot spell there...

 

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

I'm interested in tracking movement in Harbinger 17 or 18 -- whichever one was the first Livewire.

The new Livewire is an African-American woman named Amanda McKee, who has been in control of the X-O Manowar armor.

 

In the 1990s, Livewire is a Caucasian woman named Amanda McKee, and she first appeared in Harbinger #15 (1993).

There was ALSO an African-American woman who was in control of the X-O Manowar armor in the 1990s Valiant... Randy Cartier.

 

It's pretty clear that the new Livewire is a blend of the first Livewire and Randy Cartier.

Randy Cartier first appeared in X-O Manowar #12 (1993)... earlier than Harbinger #15 (1993).

 

So... the question is... would collectors prefer the two characters' first appearances from the 1990s

or would they prefer the first appearance of the new "blended" Livewire character herself... Harbinger #3 (2012)?

two more to add to my list if I can get cheap

so I have seen some issues have cards. I know now what issues had coupons. What books had cards and are they qualified if the cards aren't in them?

Did Harbinger 1 have card and coupon?

My brain power has increased these past few days. Really made me go back to my childhood years with Valiant.

Anyone have suggestions on some of the lesser keys or semi-keys to pick up that haven't been mentioned? Pre-unity or even dare I say post unity?

 

X-O Manowar 25 ?

any others?

 

So unable to tell you a definite yes on any of these books, but I will say might as well keep track of them. I pulled the Armorines 1st appearances.

Armorines cameos involve 19, 23 and 24, with 25 being 1st full appearance.

 

Here is to hoping the Shadowman #19 with Aerosmith gets some love.

I know I asked but are the 3 cameo appearances of the Armorines a stretch? Is 25 the most important out of that group or the first cameo? Dang I wish I had my childhood books back to re-read

Anyone have suggestions on some of the lesser keys or semi-keys to pick up that haven't been mentioned? Pre-unity or even dare I say post unity?

 

X-O Manowar 25 ?

any others?

 

Here's a post-Unity one that no one seems to talk about... Shadowman #10.

 

It's the first appearance of Sandria Darque.

She has been as intriguing as her brother in the new Valiant books.

 

 

Interesting, nice tip. ANYMORE?

Speaking of Darque... Master Darque is in Shadowman #8, no doubt... but he's always in the shadows.

We don't really know what he looks like until Eternal Warrior #6... a Barry Windsor-Smith cover.

Anyone have suggestions on some of the lesser keys or semi-keys to pick up that haven't been mentioned? Pre-unity or even dare I say post unity?

 

X-O Manowar 25 ?

any others?

 

Here's a post-Unity one that no one seems to talk about... Shadowman #10.

 

It's the first appearance of Sandria Darque.

She has been as intriguing as her brother in the new Valiant books.

Interesting, nice tip. ANYMORE?

Anyone have suggestions on some of the lesser keys or semi-keys to pick up that haven't been mentioned? Pre-unity or even dare I say post unity?

X-O Manowar 25 ?

any others?

I had a decent day of unboxing, and a trip to the lcs.

 

BWS Signed A&A, Chen Signed Rai &FF, and some 1st appearances

Nice! I love seeing these. Seems like everyone is on the hunt. Wish I had more places to hunt!

Key Winter Soldier's continue to see movement . 6 and 14 in particular. Had cooled off for a while .

Good to hear!

It's all about high grade copies. Not seeing many of those in the wild like MOS 18. I alone trashed 2 long boxes in the dumpster of valiant books when I was a teen. I am sure I wasn't the only one.

Valiant Voice (25cent "newspaper") from comic shops had a list of the Top 15 Rarest Valiant pre-Unity books. Valiant Voice #2-#4 had the countdown (5 issues each).

 

The rankings match the Valiant Voice publication... the quantities listed are guesses from about 2010:

 

15. Solar 7 (50,000)

14. Shadowman 2 (35,000-40,000)

13. X-O Manowar 3 (40,000-45,000)

12. Solar 8 (50,000)

11. Harbinger 6 (40,000)

10. Harbinger 2 (40,000)

9. X-O Manowar 4 (40,000-45,000)

8. Solar 9 (45,000)

7. Harbinger 5 (35,000-40,000)

6. Harbinger 3 (35,000-40,000)

5. Harbinger 4 (37,500)

4. Rai 2 (35,000-40,000)

3. Rai 5 (35,000-40,000)

2. Rai 4 (35,000)

1. Rai 3 (35,000)

 

I found a quote from myself when this was discussed about 5 years ago on ValiantFans.com

 

The Valiant Voice info is definitely from Valiant, however, there was a lot of marketing going on in those days...

and the rumor that a book was rare was a good way to keep people talking.

 

I was told by more than one former Valiant employee that the rumors swirling about Valiant's print runs

and character appearances (or "hidden" character first appearances) were not discouraged by the marketing department.

 

Hype was money.

Thanks so much for sharing !

I'm surprised that the print run of Harbinger 5 is shown as lower than that of 4, given that back when Valiant itself was publishing their list of "15 rarest" (regular) issues, Harbinger # 4 was listed as having the lowest print run after Rai 2-5.

 

Can anyone pull this up? It would be great to see again

 

It has been posted on the valiant boards. From an issue of the Valiant Voice, I believe.

Link? I have googled as much as I can to find anything about this

I just don't see much collectible appeal for the current valiant stuff unless it had a new character introduced. Print numbers on most of the valiant keys we discuss aren't that high compared to other keys. Yes current books have very small print runs but are all not walking dead type of numbers.

Thanks for sharing....really starting to bring back some memories

Went to a LCS at lunch, over the last few days they have been cleaned out of EVERY Valiant comic from the 90s.

Same here! Still re-learning what the keys and semi-keys are. Its been 20+ years since I read a Valiant book but sure was fund during childhood.

I wish there was a thread just for speculation on what is the next Valiant key book to have. I think we know all the majors now as some folks on this thread have done a great job sharing info. The lesser known books are still out there to be had, and I need more brain power

I'm surprised that the print run of Harbinger 5 is shown as lower than that of 4, given that back when Valiant itself was publishing their list of "15 rarest" (regular) issues, Harbinger # 4 was listed as having the lowest print run after Rai 2-5.

Can anyone pull this up? It would be great to see again