valiantman

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

When? Yes. CGC certification numbers reference notes that include the grading date. Who? No. CGC doesn't reveal what clients submit which books.

The book being discussed deserves a better photo.

In an "opposite case" from the UPC editions, Acclaim published two comics which were "blister pack exclusives" where the UPC code was removed (so as not to confuse the barcode scanner for the blister pack). Not every blister pack includes a "no UPC" variant. It seems like the design of the blister pack must have been changed to block the UPC box on the comics inside... maybe the initial designs of the package would have left the original UPC in view. For whatever reason, there are two Acclaim books that exist as "no UPC" variants, blister pack exclusives. Apparently they were printed specifically for the blister packs. The UPC box is visible on the front cover of all the "normal" editions of these two books. Take a small publisher (Acclaim), create a small number of blister packs (Heroes & Legends), and include a "no UPC" variant in only some of those packs... and you're left with a big question mark when it comes to the number in existence.

no believe it or not that book had a print run of over 300,000, yes the other version is over a million.This was an incentive for the lcs to order over a million. So this is not rare, I would say NM 87 and 98 are rarer than this. Not true... notice the UPC. The book you're thinking of has Spidey's head in that spot. The Gold UPC version is probably the "rarest" thanks to the stacks of Platinum turning up, but "rarest" of Spider-man #1 is still about 10,000 copies. thanks for clarifying this, what do you think the print run was for the gold and how many version of this McFarlane Spidey are there? 300,000 is probably correct for Spider-man #1 Gold with Spidey-head in the UPC area. 10,000 is the "guesstimate" for Spider-man #1 Gold with UPC code... it is probably higher than 10,000... but if they are Wal-mart distributed "reprints", then they probably didn't survive as often because no one was looking for them, or because they went to a lot of kids (how tragic ), or because collectors didn't realize the UPC version was different from the Spidey-head version (at first).

no believe it or not that book had a print run of over 300,000, yes the other version is over a million.This was an incentive for the lcs to order over a million. So this is not rare, I would say NM 87 and 98 are rarer than this. Not true... notice the UPC. The book you're thinking of has Spidey's head in that spot. The Gold with UPC version is probably the "rarest" thanks to the stacks of Platinum turning up, but "rarest" of Spider-man #1 is still about 10,000 copies.

None of the 1st volume SIP's are particularly difficult to find - in 9.8, sure, but if you don't care about condition, they show up on ebay pretty regularly. I was trusting Overstreet's comment of "2,300 printed".

Strangers In Paradise #2 (1993 edition, Antarctic Press)

Has anyone mentioned the Elseworlds 80 Page Giant? [ANOTHER EDIT] Looks like there are 74 of these on the census... maybe Magneto #0 Gold is tough.

I just went looking for the answer, but couldn't find the story. I own a copy purchased from RMA back in '08... he purchased it in '04. My best recollection of the story is that Marvel did not like the look of the Gold adhered to the Magneto #0 books, so they basically decided not to do the incentive. A few do exist, however, I don't remember the distribution story. All other copies of Magneto #0 have the purple foil logo... the Gold version is not mentioned in Overstreet. [EDIT] I see that there are 32 copies on the CGC Census, so it probably doesn't qualify for this discussion.

What was the story on Magneto #0 Gold?

Right... if there are books numbered under 1000, then there are more than 10,000 copies in print. If the numbering is 1000 to 10999 (or 1001 to 11000), then there might only be 10,000 copies.

Unfortunately, I went through it last year trying to find a second high-grade copy to go with my OO that was sent to me years ago by Valiant. Twice CGC 9.2's were posted, with one being a Qualified Label example (believe it was signed by Shooter). They sold in the $30 range. But four times over the year supposed high-grade raws were posted, and the bidding went crazy. I won two of those books, and one was a 9.0 at best, the second was a solid 9.6/9.8 and the seller shipped in an envelope with two pieces of backing board for protection. Guess what didn't arrive in the same shape? Sorry to hear that the gambles didn't pay off...

I actually looked for that, and mine does not have an "A." More mystery! I was hoping that books numbered higher than 10000 could be explained as "different" because of the "A". Now we've got your book numbered above 10,000 (higher than the supposed print run), and we've got my book numbered above 10,000 with an enigmatic "A". The thot plickens.

You may not be familiar with the comic, but Archer & Armstrong 0 Gold. I've watched CGC 9.2's sell for low prices, but then if someone posts a raw guaranteed 9.4, the bidding goes crazy. I haven't noticed that happening on Archer & Armstrong #0 Gold. I have noticed something similar, though... there is a strange effect in raw books that people buying raw on Ebay BELIEVE they might get a 9.6 or a 9.8 buying a raw book, even though it's only a remote possibility... and they pay extra to gamble. Once a book is in a CGC 9.2 slab, there is no "gamble factor" and the price being paid goes down, even though some of those "raw 9.4" books selling for more money are probably closer to being 8.0 than 9.8. People who avoid CGC altogether tend to convince themselves that their raw books are "just as good", however, I'm sure many would be surprised (and very disappointed) to know what portion of those "Ebay NM+" books they bought are under 9.2.