joe_collector

Release date for Star Wars 1 was Friday, April 15, 1977. Two and a half weeks. That sounds about right to me.

BTW. it's commonly stated that Star Wars #1 comic came out "several months" before the movie, but I don't remember it that way, and at least for me, it was very close. I think the Star Wars #1 hit the shelves slightly before the movie, but I don't believe it was "several months" as I remember waiting for issues 2-4 to come out, and I had already seen the movie. Star Wars #1 has a cover date of July 1977, which if you back-dated it the usual 2 months, would make the shelf date May 1977, the same time as the Star Wars movie release. That's about how I remember it.

Although initially Star Wars was not considered to be a major release, but once the previews and pre-release response came in, they knew it was a "crowd pleaser" but had no idea it would break every box office record imaginable. Star Wars was much like a previous Lucas film, American Graffiti, whereby the studio didn't feel it was a major release (they were even thinking of shelving it and selling it back to FFC), but once the preview audiences saw it, the film exploded and the studio heads started singing a different tune. Then it was released theatrically and made bank. I knew about Star Wars well before its release, Marvel knew about Star Wars (Stan saw the movie and highly praised/promoted it on BB), and it was hyped before the comic book came out. Although I only bought 1 copy of SW 1-4, some of my friends bought a pile, just like PPSSM 1, MM 1, Nova 1, etc. This book is out there in mass quantities - just look at how many 35-cent variants of SW #1 are available compared to any other issue, and that should tell you something about the print run.

Hahaha! Years ago I used to pick up early DHP and Concrete back issues from the 50-cent bin, knowing they would be worth something someday and it looks like my ship just rolled in. Now I just Mindwalk and Trekker to take off. They're still worth diddly until you sell them. I'm rich in my mind baby, rich in my mind!!

Hahaha! Years ago I used to pick up early DHP and Concrete back issues from the 50-cent bin, knowing they would be worth something someday and it looks like my ship just rolled in. Now I just Mindwalk and Trekker to take off.

No, but I did find a big stack of old hockey cards stuffed in a hand-me-down jacket I got as a kid. One of my mother's friends or one of my relatives gave it to her. Funny thing is, I never wore the jacket (it sucked) and it wasn't until years later I was cleaning out my closet, decided to toss it, and then discovered it had 3-4 pockets just crammed with hockey cards.No idea why I didn't notice them before, but I think I hid that ugly thing pretty quick. They were a mix of 69-70, 70-71 and 71-72 cards, and I got Bobby Orr, Tony and Phil Espo, Rod Gilbert, Bobby Clark (2nd), Gordie Howe, some checklists, and even a Darryl Sittler RC (I know that for sure as he's a big Leaf fan) along with a pile of semi-stars and commons. No Guy LaFleur, Ken Dryden or Marcel Dionne RCs, unfortunately. Gave them all to my Dad, who collects cards and he still has them.

Here's what they look like:

Yep, I bought Wolverine and an X-Men Authentics when they were on clearance, and I think I have them somewhere. Didn't like the Iron Man car at all and I think the ASM was sold out. I thought there were more than 4, but that's probably because there *seemed* like there should be more.

Who knows, movie-hyped prices are so out of whack these days it makes my head spin.

Nice, and it's only got limited ink stains on the title logo - all my copes have far more and that's probably the best I've seen.

That's the thing- sure it would be fun to own a freakshow book like this, but you'd have to be insane to pay market value for it.

Yeah, sure, just like the Elephant Man used to be.

So which statement do you agree with? That people in the future will shake their heads at HIGH-GRADE vintage comics being scrawled on, or that they be MORE appreciated. You can't have it both ways. No one is saying there will be future-hand-wringing over a scrawled-on CGC 4.0 book, but I think there will be over a CGC 9.6 Key.

How does everyone feel about this one:

I'll cede to awe4one on that, as he was the first guy I noticed who actively collected them and I was no better than second onto that CGC ship. I always liked the books, but never really segregated them like he did. His only fault is the sucky "Picture Book" moniker he had for them, so I had to set him straight on the proper English terminology. "They look like a frame, not a book"

I also remember in the early days of the CGC Forums, I think awe4one and I were talking about how much we liked collecting these books, and he started calling them "Picture Book Covers" and I didn't like that descriptor, and some others joined in and we settled on "Picture Frame" covers. I think "Picture Book" was the old term some people used, but does anyone remember "Picture Frame" being used prior to 2000?

I haven't seen the term "Picture Frame" at a show, but I have seen boxes filled with HG copies labeled as "1971-72 Marvels", and with none of the outliers that aren't PF.

Because then you couldn't get it authenticated or sell it as a Stan Lee sig. This way, you satisfy both the comic purists and the sig specualtors by having it both ways. I also think it opens up the market, as if this method was used to protect the comic, I would be interested in some sig series books. But CGC will never change it to the proper method, as then the initial run of "scrawled on books" will have a serious stigma attached to them. Then again, demand for CGC sig grading would increase with people wanting both high-grade books and a verified sig-on-plastic/Mylar, so you never know.

Nope, but this has to be at the top of the list.

I've recommended this a million times before, but the optimal solution is: To have the creator sign a comic-sized piece of clear, flexible plastic/Mylar and have that encapsulated on top of the sealed and graded comic.

I meant the overall "signing and encapsulating rare, high-grade comics" fad, not random fanboy outliers. And I also think that if Leonard Nimoy scrolled a big black spider on high-grade ASM,even fanboys would be irritated.

Years from now, people will be laughing at the stupidity of getting a signatures scrawled all over a high-grade vintage comic book, and the fact that a company actually promoted this insane practice.

I don't really see this as a positive. No one in their right mind buys a property for $60 million, invests hundreds of millions into production and advertising for a big budget movie, only for the theatrical release to make back its initial investment. I'm sure when they made that movie, they had images of a $300-$400 million domestic take, or they wouldn't have gone down that path. Long-term it's good business, but remember, studio execs *never* worry about anything longer than their current release schedule, as it cold be their last.

Want some fries with that shake?