valiantman

You want to call the 1980s the RMAge, right?

Because the artwork was the same, reprints were viewed as "too bad you didn't get a 1st print" books. It wasn't until reprints (printed months after the originals) changed the artwork (new cover, sketch cover, etc.) that people started caring about them and calling them "variants". If you can just wait a few months and print something again with a new cover, that seems like easy money for publishers.

1988 was Bronze? We've seriously got to stop using these metal era labels... they mean nothing. Agreed. Why not just say Era 1, Era 2, Era 3...yada yada. Thats how it should be done. No. 1930s. 1940s. 1960s. 1980s. That's how it should be done. You are just too darn smart for our own good. Describing comics by decade is common sense, so of course, collectors/dealers will fight it all day long. But I like to try.

Yes. The UPC barcode version is very tough on most of these books (if they exist).

1988 was Bronze? We've seriously got to stop using these metal era labels... they mean nothing. Agreed. Why not just say Era 1, Era 2, Era 3...yada yada. Thats how it should be done. No. 1930s. 1940s. 1960s. 1980s. That's how it should be done.

1988 was Bronze? We've seriously got to stop using these metal era labels... they mean nothing.

Too bad it doesn't have a UPC instead of the Spidey-head.

This is interesting. I think that it was established (on the ValiantFans board) that Deathmate Golds were 2 per 100 copies. The Standard Guide lists the Darker Image #1 Black and White variant as 1/LE (Limited Edition) which would seem to indicate that it is rarer than the Gold. So if we take the lower number of 1,000,000 and use the same ratio as the Deathmate book (Valiant and Image colluding)... That could mean there are at least 20,000 Darker Image Golds out there. If the LE was more limited (like say 1 out of 100), there could be at least 10,000 copies out there. Sounds familiar...

More evidence that the print run was between 1Million and 1.7Million: http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/1993.html Darker Image is between Deathmate Prologue (1,000,000) and Turok #1 (1,750,000).

I googled the hell out of it and came up dry. The regular #1 had CapCity orders of 250k+, so the actual print run is bound to be a lot higher than that. I have seen longboxes full of the regular editions. I wouldn't be surprised if it were double that or more. CapCity in 1993 was roughly 15%-25% of the market. 250K for CapCity would be a print run around 1Million to 1.7Million. Gold and Black & White were probably at least 10,000 if not at least 20,000, which was pretty standard for Image. Image ashcans were their own story.

Choose: Share > Grab the HTML/BBCode Then switch to the BBCode and copy-paste. Kirby Wall by ledocq, on Flickr

What's that you say? That's not Dave Stevens art... it's Alberto Vargas. While they are clearly both masters of "Good Girl Art" this book doesn't belong in this topic about Dave Stevens... I agree. This book doesn't belong in this topic... except for the fact that it was Dave Stevens' personal copy.

Maybe later. It's a busy week. Probably this one: http://www.comics.org/issue/60755/cover/4/

HP Scanjet 8250

I'll assume you're joking because this book is extremely common (200,000 copies) and basically worthless, but it does have the distinction of being the only Neal Adams cover in Valiant.

Here's one way to look at "high grade" by decades and visually see the shifts. The page is a little slow loading, about a minute to load... but I think it's probably worth the wait. http://www.cgcdata.com/cgc/statsbydecade.asp

My source would have been someone who was in Valiant at the time... possibly Scott Friedlander or Kevin VanHook. (I would have talked/emailed with them in the 2000-2006 timeframe.) Anyway, it made sense to me that the print run for the Gold editions of the "two-company" books would have been enough to cover the needs/obligations of both publishers. The distribution method for premium editions varied depending on the distributor. Valiant would have had the books printed and shipped to the distributors, but the distributors may have had their own rules for obtaining the premium books. Sometimes it was based on initial orders and sometimes it was based on large re-orders. In a couple of instances, several dozen copies (or a case) of Gold editions has turned up. Bloodshot #0 Gold and Psi-Lords #1 Gold, for example, have turned up 100+ copies in one spot. If certain Gold editions are harder to find, it's possible that they weren't distributed very well... and it's also possible that there are hundreds still sitting somewhere waiting to be found. It's unlikely that premium books from early (1991-1992) Valiant are in any "unsold" quantities... but the later Gold editions (1994) are definitely potentials for some type of "warehouse find".

OPG still has Unity #0 Red at $3. That book hasn't sold for under $30... ever.

The shop probably closed by the time Deathmate Red - Gold editions arrived. Seriously. It was so late that many of the comic shops that closed during "the crash" were already closed.

I doubt if the print run on the Deathmate Gold editions was 5,000... they were both Valiant and Image products, so they were probably at least 5,000 for each company... so a minimum of 10,000. i thought i got the 5,000 estimate off your website...so any # there should be doubled to account for each company? Hmmm... Looks like my references show that the Deathmate books that were put out by Valiant most likely had Gold editions at 5,000.... while the Deathmate books that were put out by Image most likely had Gold editions at 10,000. Deathmate Blue and Yellow were put out by Valiant (and, not surprisingly, on time). Deathmate Black and Red were put out by Image (and, not surprisingly, very very late).

I'd say around $30 for a 9.2 unslabbed.

I doubt if the print run on the Deathmate Gold editions was 5,000... they were both Valiant and Image products, so they were probably at least 5,000 for each company... so a minimum of 10,000.

Was that like the Woodstock of comics? you know like Woodstock was considered the end of the 1960`s by most, could ComicFest '93 be considered the end of the comicbook speculators 90`s bubble? if not that then what con was? When people realized the word had spread these Turok 1`s and Image books are worthless and nothing but dreck? I think October 1993 is a very good estimate. Turok #1 was six months old. Don't forget that Turok #1 was the 5th best selling book in its MONTH. The first four were the "Return of the Supermen" die cut (not-the-real-Superman) books. Those would have been six months old as well. Six months after all that happened, it was pretty clear that those particular books were worthless as "collectibles". The white-bagged Adventures of Superman #500 was EVERYWHERE and unsellable... seven months old. Six months is still a very good test for the staying power of the latest "hot" comics. Think about how many "can't miss" books we've seen in the last decade that weren't even half their "peak value" when they hit the six month mark.

Jason vs. Leatherface #3 was about 10,000 copies. It's likely that #1 and #2 were slightly higher.

I traded for Booz's 9.8. In over a year, still no more 9.8s. Dino (the new owner of the Valiant properties, VEI) got three copies of the TPB in the Acclaim warehouse. They all graded at 9.8. That's where mine came from. Coming soon to the census. There are at least 4 copies in CGC 9.8. CGC appears to have created two different records for the same book (the 1994 edition). http://www.gregholland.com/cgc/customissues.asp?title=Predator+vs.+Magnus+Robot+Fighter&issuestart=0&issueend=99999&yearstart=1994&yearend=1994