GM8

As far as I know there is no 4th print of MoS #19. There's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the white variant you mention. I have a couple of those and don't recall any print notation on it.

The only one upset is the unicorn who's frustrated trying to even follow your logic. If that book started to all of the sudden sell for $300, the comic market is so inefficient and slow that it would take weeks or months before the buying frenzy would slow down for all the stragglers to think it through and "perceive". I'm sure you'd be there on the sidelines saying "gee, is this world-famous comic with a micro print run still worth it? Hmmm..." You'd miss out on the greatest buying opportunity in a generation. The fact is that there is no bad news to stop the inevitable climb in value for this book. There are pauses for recessions and even backtracking during those times but make no mistake the direction is ultimately up. This glut talk was all initiated by you. The original comment I made on the boxes was just a factual statement. The $300 was thrown in to show you how it was factual and how nonsensical your trip to the weeds was but now you've blamed this whole glut talk on the opposing view. That's just silliness. I know of course, but ok thanks for reassuring me. I feel better now. I agree with that mostly.

Yeah, his trail of thought is just like banging your head against the wall. Brutal.

If all copies came on the market at the same time, the value would plummet. If many copies came on the market at the same time, the value would plummet. And that's assuming all these copies even exist, much less could be sold for an average of $3,000. It's fun to speculate that the boxes would be "worth millions", but it's not realistic. If all 3275 (or thereabouts) copies came on the market at the same time, they may not even be worth $1,000,000. For the boxes to be worth millions, you'd have to have buyers willing to pay millions for them. But that's something we will never know. Sorry to throw sunshine on your rainy parade but all 3275 copies would never come to the market at once. That is correct, as I already stated here: In case I wasn't clear, that's what "that's something we will never know" means: not only will all those copies not come to market at once, not even all of those copies exist anymore. Correct. That's what makes it speculation. Even in "black Monday", there were still buyers....not *everyone* sold. No, there is potential, and speculation. There aren't millions of dollars in that picture. There's only potential, and that potential isn't likely even in the nearly impossible scenario of all extant copies coming to the market at once. It's nothing but speculation. The market for TMNT #1 is so thin, even 100 copies coming on to the market at the same time would substantively affect the value of the book. No rain. Just facts. Oh how I love stubborn negativity. As bronty said previously, at $300 pretty much every comic collector who has a brain is a buyer of TMNT #1 1st print. That makes that stack worth at least 7 figures. It's just a fun point. Don't attach so much absoluteness to it and focus on a glut just to disprove a fact. There is no glut now, nor is there likely to be one with this book. The turtles are still in mainstream pop culture and when the 90's kids get into their mid-lives who knows how many tens of millions those 3,275 will be worth.

If all copies came on the market at the same time, the value would plummet. If many copies came on the market at the same time, the value would plummet. And that's assuming all these copies even exist, much less could be sold for an average of $3,000. It's fun to speculate that the boxes would be "worth millions", but it's not realistic. If all 3275 (or thereabouts) copies came on the market at the same time, they may not even be worth $1,000,000. For the boxes to be worth millions, you'd have to have buyers willing to pay millions for them. But that's something we will never know. Sorry to throw sunshine on your rainy parade but all 3275 copies would never come to the market at once. There is/was no comic "black monday" when everyone wanted to sell at the same moment in time. The comic book market isn't that efficient. It's no speculation. There are millions of dollars in that picture.

Those are definitely taped to the outside...you can see the tape on the top box. Probably some damage to those, huh? Nevertheless, it is a great photo for historical purposes. Who knew those boxes stacked into a corner would be worth literally millions?

Ok glad all that is settled. It seems that its a slow week in MoS 18 land for the 1st prints. Prices are softening somewhat with higher grade issues being $15-22. The 4th and 5th prints have not softened (sorry 1st print purists!). A couple bundles with 4th and/or 5th printings have sold north of $100.

We agree that MOS 18 fifth printing is from years later, right? No, we do not. The 5th printing of MOS 18 is dated the very same month as the 1st printing of MOS 18. The 5th printing of MOS 18 is from 1994, or later. They didn't change the date... it's a reprint. It isn't actually from 1992. If that's the basis for your argument then... You've written a veritable (<-- that's how you spell it) treatise while thinking a years-later reprint came out the same month? Anyone can produce rare reprints years later. And they do. When do those reprints years later have more value than the originals? Man of Steel #18... and... The only way that Man of Steel #18 maintains values of reprints higher than the first print value is that Man of Steel #18 reprints continue to break the decades-old market standard of lower-valued reprints. Amazing Spider-man #1 has a nearly 50 year old reprint from 1966. It is 5 times "rarer" on the CGC census. It's not worth anywhere near the real thing. Batman #1 1st print & 5th print are about equal now for NM copies, printed 1 year apart. Spawn #1 direct & Spawn #1 B&W, printed 5 years apart. There's probably others. I just don't understand your take on this. You almost want to will this "problem" away. It's the market...it just is.

That's a really interesting question. The simplest answer and the one that sounds most correct to me is that the demand for Superman keys has got to be thousands of times greater than Bone. Superman is Superman. Action Comics #1. Icon. I'm a collector and just happen to know its a rare issue, but beyond that I know zero about the Bone comic. Look at Spawn #1. One of the most un-rare comics there is but still with a lot of demand behind it. Collectors have gravitated to ANY issue that can be considered a first appearance and is rarer than Spawn #1: Spawn #1 Newsstand, Spawn #1 B&W, Rust #1. Collector's want something the other guy hasn't got or is hard to get. Anyone with $20-25 right now can have a NM copy of MoS #18 1st print. To get the 4th or 5th print you need $50-100+ as of now.

You got it. You mentioned the Bone #1 reprints, which I'm not familiar with. What was/is their story?

This is absolutely correct. Presently, yes. But do you really think that will hold up? I don't. I think it's stoopid. Heck, why not release a 6th (VI) printing in conjunction with the movie? (DC are you listening?) I thought it was stupid too but now I can see how it makes sense. Those months it took for the successive printings to be released look like the same time now many years afterwards. Who knows what a 6th printing today would do. Look at Batman Adventures #12 with the new variants. It's 2 decades later! We'll see how those values hold up but I just shake my head with that one. Its all about scarcity there but its just like your 6th print of MoS 18 example.

This is absolutely correct. What time frame are you referring to? Until Batman #612, the market universally rejected later printings as having any value. It's taken a long time for that stigma to dissipate. I didn't see Batman 612 play out. I just got back into collecting comics last year (though I've been doing it on and off for a looooong time). That's when I noticed these later prints surpassing the originals. My frame of reference on these is the original TMNT series with value descending on successive prints. But the increasing print run numbers were very important to those market prices. Perception was too. Today they blast the first prints and then later prints are only fractions of the first. The market knows the supply. The higher pricing of scarcer prints will only continue in my opinion.

^ Collector's aren't treating them as reprints, and certainly not valuing them as if they're not first appearances. They're treating them like variants at the same level as all printings of the same issue. The scarcity will hold up because that's exactly what their limited print runs created. A 2nd print of MoS #18 will never be as valuable as the 4th or 5th. It irked me in the beginning as to why these comics had these errors (in my mind) in value. But they're not errors at all - the market is always right.

Great analysis. I wouldn't compare this to the later printings of Wolverine #41 for the reasons you cited. I would guess that any key book that has genuine long-term demand like a first appearance can sustain bigger prices on rarer, later printings. But we'll see. A lot of people still don't have the memo. A 5th print of #18 sold BIN just the other day for $12.97 or so.

2015 December average $143, with 51 sales November average $95, with 9 sales October average $99, with 12 sales September average $94, with 11 sales August average $97, with 16 sales Great stats. GPA right? Keep 'em coming!

Does anyone know the price and date of the highest sale ever for this book? This summer/fall I saw a comic link pending sale for 22K I believe but I have no idea how accurate that was.