rich_TMNT

Cause he's already had to cover insurance for the TMNT #1 Negatives. LOL I think the insurance underwriters might be a bit overwhelmed with PMC40.

CGC SIGNATURES SERIES FACILITATORS WILL BE ON HAND FOR PORTSMOUTH MINI-CON

Does anyone here have an ungraded TMNT #1 Counterfeit from the 80's that would be willing to provide me pictures of the interior pages (one in particular)? Even if you have one but it's been graded and slabbed, if you took pictures of all the interior pages before grading that would also work. If you don't have one, do you know of anyone with one that you can connect me with? This would be an actual counterfeit copy and not one of the 2nd or 3rd printings that had the printing info bleached out. Just doing a bit of research and I'm not really wanting to crack my #1 counterfeit if I don't have to (and I didn't take a pic of this specific page for some reason). So, first trying to find one in the wild. DM me if you have any info and/or pics. Thanks everyone!

I don't know the print quantities of these two but they were the two main covers for the book and so they were likely much higher print quantities than any of the limited editions. I remember seeing those two covers in back-issue bins for years and years after release so I don't think they are all that rare. Still cool though. I personally think these books are must-have for TMNT comic collectors. They are a neat part of TMNT comics in the late 90's when TMNT was waning in popularity.

@shadroch The Creed and TMNT crossover is a unique one. That issue had the most variant covers for a TMNT book until IDW started publishing in 2011. But, the crossover itself came to existence from Trent Kaniuga asking Peter Laird for permission to put Turtles in his Creed property. Lightning didn't have an ongoing Turtles title or anything but Image was just starting TMNT Vol. III at this time so Peter must have been thinking it was good for business. Here's a neat bit of info. about this directly from Trent. There are seven different variants for the Creed and TMNT crossover, with the Subscriber's Hybrid (Blue/Bronze) edition being the most rare version - although the Signed & Numbered edition with COA is pretty rare as well. The Subscriber's edition was limited to only 500 copies and was available only to those that held a subscription with Lightning Comics at the time. I'll list the variants here for you with print runs but you can see images here on my site. Trent Kaniuga Edition - regular/main cover Peter Laird Edition - regular/variant Laird cover American Entertainment Exclusive - limited to 3,000 (with numbered COA) Platinum Edition - limited to 2,000 (with numbered COA) Gold Collector's Edition - limited to 1,200 (with numbered COA) Signed & Numbered Edition - limited to 700 (with numbered COA) Subscriber's Direct Hybrid (Blue/Bronze) Edition - limited to 500 (with COA)

I have a couple of the yellow counterfeits with the fake signature and numbering on the interior. You can see them here.

This write-up has been on my "to-do" list for a while now. I had been saving all the data but it finally just seemed the time to get it done with the 40th anniversary coming up. Hope you (and everyone else here) have a fantastic holiday season!

How To Tell if TMNT #1 Is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or Counterfeit Printing Using Only the Front Cover – Three Easy Steps

Like the proverbial bad penny...it's back. He's persistent, I'll give him that.

@KCOComics The original full counterfeits (like the one you linked to) are pretty valuable since they are part of Turtles comics lore - Overstreet warned of counterfeits in their pricing guide and their description of them matches these. I sure would like to figure out where these counterfeits came from because they are VERY well-made. The cover of these counterfeits is really the piece that makes them fairly easy to identify - but the internal pages are actually really good. I have quite a bit of info. about these counterfeits on my site. The "counterfeits" that are just 2nd or 3rd printing copies with the printing designation erased or bleached out wouldn't be as valuable - since they are just damaged 2nd & 3rd printing copies. The counterfeit this guy has been trying to pass off lately is a much newer counterfeit - one I haven't seen before. And it isn't nearly as well-made as the other and the internal page images are much too small for the pages. And, of course, the price is missing from the back cover.

A one-day auction. Interesting. Someone needs cash fast.

They definitely do grade counterfeits. Here's my #1 Counterfeit - and my #2 Counterfeits (Copy #1 and Copy #2). It makes me sad when I see SS graded counterfeits like the one you shared because it was likely submitted as authentic and the owner only found out it was counterfeit when they got it back. I do wish CGC would indicate "why" or "how" they determined these issues to be counterfeit (especially for issue #2). Many copies of the first few Turtles books had quality issues that required hand-trimming by Kevin & Peter (TMNT #1 2nd Printing & #2 1st Printing). If evidence of hand-trimming on books is what CGC uses as an indication it's counterfeit (especially with #2), they may actually be incorrectly identifying authentic copies as counterfeit. I haven't yet figured out exactly how to identify a TMNT #2 as a counterfeit but some day I'd like to do a comparison between them to see if anything stands out.

I suppose it's just like authenticating any other #1 - look first for all the signs of authenticity and go from there. This is one of those books that's risky to buy raw - even if you know what you're looking for. Not even sure I'd trust a graded one I didn't submit myself given all the scammers out there - seeing inside the book is the key for me.

Yes, the mid-week date might make it a bit tricky for many. But it was the only date we could make work. I'll definitely have pictures to share. And, there might just be a neato documentary piece in the near future about the negatives if all goes according to plan.

I'll be exhibiting the TMNT #1 Negatives at Jetpack Comics on Nov. 1. If you haven't seen them in person yet, definitely try to make it. They are amazing pieces of TMNT history. https://jetpackcomics.com/2023/10/05/join-us-at-the-megastore-on-11-1-from-1-7-pm-for-a-unique-tmnt-event/