rich_TMNT

Thanks for remembering the details on this. I had totally forgotten about the damaged copies being the catalyst for the reprinted orange copies.

Wow, I was pretty darn close, huh? Thanks for clarifying. I knew my memory was a bit fuzzy on that.

Last year at Shellback Artworks in Wells, ME for FCBD there was a guy with a copy of this that he let me take a look at. If I remember correctly, he was a close family friend and said the copy he had was originally Peter's copy that was gifted to him. I also think he told me (but my memory is a bit fuzzy on this) that he actually was the kid shown on the cover on the man's shoulders giving a high-five to the alien/creature. This guy had the actual picture of that man and the kid inside the comic bag that this book was in. Really a remarkable piece of TMNT history. Just for accuracy...the error copies were the orange-ish color. The corrected copies were the deep red.

I've recently started reading cereal:geek (which is a UK 80's cartoon-themed magazine). Every issue has a wealth of fun 80's cartoon stuff and there's great TMNT stuff inside nearly every issue. There are currently only 14 issues but the earlier issues (esp. 1-3) are difficult to find. I've not yet read issues #2 or #3 yet since I can't find them. Just this weekend I finished reading all the issues I own and documenting the TMNT content on my website in case you're interested. I've really enjoyed the magazine but it only gets like one or two issues published per year (if that). Kinda sad that I don't have any more to read at the moment.

The signature looks to be authentic and the sketch itself looks very close...but the coloring job doesn't do anything for it. Could be because it was a rush-job at a con...but if it's real it's not his best work.

What was it?

Love them Chad! Great pickups. Coming from TMNT I knew it had to be good.

Turtlemania Gold? Silver? Gobbledygook? Sounds like its original art, as he said he is having it framed. Good point. Guess we'll just have to wait it out...

Turtlemania Gold? Silver? Gobbledygook?

So I just picked these up They are sitting in the passenger seat of my car as I speak. More to come soon but I can say that the original owner bought them at an estate sale 30 years ago... Some interesting info. I went to my company's print shop and asked about what these might have been used for. They said these were almost definitely used at some point in the production of a comic book (and that negatives would fit with the processes used back in the 80s). They also said that the way they were laid out is another good sign they were something of significance. However, they cautioned that printers can go through numerous sets of these negatives on the road to final production plates...the plates being what the presses use to print the comic book. They also said that, while all print shops differ in procedure, that many printers give back the final negatives to the owner after the final print run (although very large print shops might store them on file for years). One guy said that his previous shop never allowed employees to take discarded (or unused) negatives home, especially with copyrighted material. He also mentioned that his shop destroyed old negatives when the original owner couldn't be found. Anyway, one thing they recommended to determine their use was to compare them very carefully to an actual final comic book (of course, being able to determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd printing would be the first hurdle). They said to look for areas in the negatives (artwork, words, and shading) that differ from the printed book. Differences could indicate that a given negative was not the one approved for the final book (and was a negative used in one of the unapproved proof copies). Also, missing negatives could indicate that these were not the final negatives. One other thing they mentioned was to look for writing on the paper around the negatives which might give clues to approval of the image or instructions of what might need to be fixed. I also asked whether missing negatives for the outside and inside cover would indicate anything. They said that it's very common for covers to be on a different paper stock (which TMNT #1 was) and so those images were likely kept separate from this set of negatives. I couldn't tell from the eBay listing if there were images for the outside and inside front/back...at least there were no pictures of them. Hope that helps. Looking forward to hearing what you find out about these. Do we know the name of the print shop E&L used for 1st, 2nd, 3rd printings? It could be they are out of business now but that might be a cool place to investigate. Keep us updated! So glad these are in good hands.

I was thinking the same when I saw it...where is #2?

I seem to remember the negatives being placed on some type of paper or board but I don't remember if there was a logo or any type of company marker on them.

I worked in the printing industry (back in the 90's) and negatives were used in the production of the final printing plates themselves. I found this article a few days back that appears to describe a lot of what I saw going on in and around the press room. I wasn't directly involved in the printing process though so I am only able to go from memory of what I saw happening. I also found this online regarding offset printing (which is how nearly everything was printed in the past 30 years before digital presses). "...an image is shot onto film and a full-sized negative is used to burn that image onto a thin metal sheet. The metal plate is then attached to a rotating cylinder on the printing press and inked by roller (that part has never changed). The cylinder continues to roll and the inked surface of the plate is then transferred onto a rubber mat on another cylinder, which then continues to rotate and offsets the image onto paper. Instead of sheets, this paper comes from one continuous roll." So, these negatives could have definitely been used to print a version of TMNT #1 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, counterfeit). However, these could have come from anyone with access to offset printing technology and they could have just been created but never used to create the actual printing plates. The negative for the inside front cover would be the first indication of which printing but, even then, someone could just make those after the fact from the real book and produce counterfeits. The TMNT #1 (and #2) counterfeits were no easy feat. I've always believed they came from someone in the printing industry. You don't just photocopy newsprint...they were good knock-offs. Very cool stuff though. Fun to be talking about at least.

I have no idea. I didn't see the inside front cover as part of the negatives which would indicate which printing this might have been from. Cool stuff but hard to verify authenticity.

That is sweet! Very, very cool. And the smarta** in me was saying, "Doesn't it look like the jacket cover?"

So, was it the grade the books received that you didn't like? or that you couldn't see the sketches? both? Cool to see the sketches I guess...

If it were me, I'd leave them as is. I definitely wouldn't take them out of their slabs if you aren't going to re-sub them. What would be the point of that?

How much is insurance to cover a $15K book? USPS only insures packages up to $5,000. However, for your reference, $5K insurance on a Priority Mail package is currently $65.

The faded cover issues aren't necessarily in high demand but they are fairly rare. However, I bet with a little work you could find them somewhere in a back-issue bin for $1. That's how I found mine...and how I find a lot of my rare stuff. Searching through boxes upon boxes of old comic books from either estate sales or closed comic book stores.

That's a really nice display. Very classy.

They will be among the harder to find in high grade just because they are typically issues that get stuffed into bulk back-issue bins (usually not bagged or boarded). This is especially true for the "Martial Arts issues" due to the black covers. I used to see them quite a bit back in the 90s but they don't appear all that often.

Yep, that's a great cover...and in 9.8 no less. Superb! Those are really hard to find. That's the only TMNT cover (if you don't count the "Museum Variant" cover that was later appended to the Mask of the Gargoyle version for Boston Comic Con a few years back). Kind of an odd little book.

Solson published 8 books in total with 2 of them having cover printing errors. There could be more errors though...Solson did a crappy job and they even misspelled Raphael's name (i.e., Rafael). These books were creative ideas that were poorly executed.

Awesome! I am so happy for you ! Glad you were able to complete the full set...which I still hope to do some day. Plus, I think that's the lowest number on a Silver I've seen to date. Very, very nice! Congrats man!

Congrats Chad! Great book. My ungraded one is #66...we're like brothers. How did that get a Blue Label? My #57 is CGC but it got a Qualified green label. Hmmm. I feel like I've seen that book before but I can't place it. Did that come from Brian Tatge's TMNT collection that Motor City Comics bought years ago? Good luck on the Gold search. I've had the chance to buy one 2 different times in the past 5 years and each time the asking price has been out of my reach.