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That is my feeling as well. Eastman & Laird signed ALOT of the initial 3,000 print run on the inside cover, though there are ovisouly a good amount that have not been signed. From what I have seen, few have been signed on the cover unless a) its a sig series or b) it was signed recently with the last few years. I dont know if thats why they still get blue though. Maybe they are still knocking down the grade a little? I don't think the 1 9.8 and 5 9.6s are signed so maybe there is a max grade this book gets if signed (most of the signed blue have been 9.0 and below I've seen)? As far as I know, if a book has a blue label with an interior signature, it has taken a hit in grade. You can do the same with sigs on the cover but I think those will take a much bigger hit for the universal label.

Big Kudos to mschmidt for the Bone slabs. He continues to be a great seller!!! (thumbs u

Some sweet pick-ups Mr. Schmidt! This #6 though is a reprint. I see the "3rd print" notation on your #1 so I don't know if you knew this or not about the #6. The first print has a red title.

I strongly prefer the black and white.

I wish I had been paying attention when he did a few with the Bone characters about 10 years ago. One showed up on eBay last year but the auction ended early (probably for a private sale ). My avatar is a small piece of one of them.

Looks great Colin!

Don't we deserve a better shot of your 9.2 #1?

Look at bomber-bob's post in this thread on 12/31. They look the same to me. What's the date on the dark green?

I believe that's the 7th.

Yeah, that has puzzled me too considering I have yet to see a "regular edition". If anyone has a scan of this phantom book, please post...

Ok, here is the beginning of the end: Bone #50. It started the 9th & final storyline, The Crown of Horns, and was the first of the character covers set against a black background. This was also the only issue in the entire regular series with a cover enhancement (red foil lettering on "Bone").

Wow. You got yourself quite a deal on that beauty!

And it's signed. Nice copy!

How much did the interior sig bring down the grade?

Even a bad movie can have a great teaser trailer. I'd sell it right after the first preview.

Whoa, I've never seen that before. Pretty sweet!

I've seen the rust in the mid-teens and the thirties. Haven't seen it on the Image books yet. It will knock down the grade considerably. I'd say 8.0 or below.

Sorry to say this, but your post comes as a relief to me. I've run into many rusty-stapled Bone books and I thought I was the only one (mine have always been rusty on the outside though). I think this qualifies as a "known problem".

And the 4th is yellow as you said.

Those are a couple of nice books. If you have multiples, let me know Bob!

This is one of those books that is just a pain in the azz to search for in HG (black all the way around). I've never seen one raw that I thought would hit 9.6 or above so I jumped when this was offered. It has a nice cover too that would look fantastic as an SS.

The image below depicts the way Jeff illustrated Thorn's dream sequences throughout the saga. This was the only first print cover that reflected the style (the Image reprints of Bone #8 & #12 were the same). Obviously it's a tough black cover but a single 9.8 made an appearance a couple months ago.

Here's one of the more recognizable Phoney Bone covers as it was also the cover for the Dragonslayer TPB. This was the final issue in that storyline as well as the final Image publication. The guy I bought this from had a stack of pre-screen rejects, so this can be difficult to find in grade (the lone 9.6 popped up in February '08).

Great pickups! (thumbs u

That thing is heavy. Hope you enjoy it!