TMNT

Very cool, haven't seen one of those prints in ages! 

On 3/16/2024 at 11:51 PM, Turtle said:

Great to see you around again!

Adam, my man!! 

On 3/17/2024 at 5:53 AM, SpideyFein said:

Hey! Congrats on the 11 OA and 9.8. Definitely tough. Sometimes I forget how big these covers are. Looking at the OA, I describe it as an era piece. April’s hair, jacket, the way she’s standing with her hands in her pockets, the wind blowing, the sky, the cryptic way the Turtles and Casey are in the background- Ahhh. So good!!!!! The setup looks turtleriffic!

And absolute perfect description and a big part of why I love it so much.

On 3/17/2024 at 12:40 PM, shadroch said:

That rug needs a manhole cover.

You know, I though about that

On 3/16/2024 at 6:38 PM, BeardedBubba said:

That looks awesome!  I'm very curious about your setup.  What do you have the #1-#4 books in?  Is that a glass desk/case of some sort?  I like the look of it and I've been trying to think of a better way to display my books.

Yes, they are glass display cases. It's hard to see since the case is black and the knob is black, but what's cool is that in the front you pull the knob, and it levers up the front facing glass to slide whatever in. Hard to explain, easier to show. I'll try to remember to snap a pic of that. 

This pic is a little older, but it does show the 2 cases side by side. And overall shows this side of my Sewer. I've got stuff wrapping around the room but these are the only 2 of these cases I have. 

I love them because they fit 4 magazine or 5 regular CGCs without issue, so perfect for the first 4. Found them in a local shop and had to buy them. Added some lights and they were good to go

It's so funny seeing my letter in there from 2018... 

This piece was made after Raphael #1. Eastman told me back then and is still saying as much in the HA. The pen and ink were then photocopied and used in comics interview and later in Turtlemania. The actual pen and ink board was then painted sometime in 85, possibly in 86. The painted image as seen above has never been actually published, only it's B&W pre paint version was. 

I can't say I agree at all with HAs description. But at least they kept my letter and put Eastmans thoughts as well so hopefully the buyer just really liked the image. It is an early piece, just not the first published artwork as purported. In my eyes, if we're talking "firsts" :

1. First drawings of Casey 1984, various sketches exist as they worked out the final look. 

2. First published appearance period, Raphael #1 Cover. Has his classic hockey mask on and bat. 

3. First published appearance in story, was Raphael #1, pg 7 where we see him maskless on his couch watching TV before donning his gear 

4. First painting, this piece we've been talking about (unpublished as a painting)

On 1/15/2023 at 12:39 PM, mxs7 said:

The printed comic cover is much darker than the image you show of the original painting from Kevin's book, so the painting image is different from the printed cover (assuming the image is color correct in Kevin's book). 

It was frequently the case where the original paintings appear much brighter in person than what was actually published on the comics so I wouldn't worry about that. 

Its interesting though, that I have specifically seen that "purple disappearance" on a finished painting vs the published image twice now with this piece. Where the original looks almost grey but the published is brighter purple. That said, doesn't take away at all from this amazing piece. So few of these covers ever see the light of day. 

On 1/14/2023 at 10:51 PM, comiconxion said:

The largest published cover images from around this time that I know of (outside of some one-off pieces they did for conventions and specialty projects) were covers to the the First Comics reprints of the original series that were done in 1987 by Kevin.  Those four paintings measure 18" x 13", but are front cover images only vs. wraparound covers.  

 

Good summary of the cover situation, Chuck.

I'll only add that cover size for the published early E&L issues 1-11, much like the interior pages themselves, were generally of various dimensions. They did seem to get bigger as the years went on. Regarding some of the larger wrap around covers from this period:

The TMNT Adventures RPG cover was 13 X 20:

the issue 1-11 Omnibus cover was a bit bigger at 13 X 27:

and issue #11 was the largest at 18 X 24.

These are the finished images, boards a bit bigger.  

On 11/23/2022 at 1:04 PM, Juggernaut said:

There was no issue beyond #3.  

Went up through at least issue #5

On 12/21/2022 at 9:57 PM, comiconxion said:

 

On 12/21/2022 at 9:57 PM, comiconxion said:

It is very cool.  I always wondered what happened to this cover.  The #5 color cover that sold on Hake's a year or two ago was colored on top of a photocopy of the original B&W art (therefore there were two "originals," but this one seems to be 100% original.  The only thing is that the colors looks somewhat faded vs. the published cover.  It could be because it was hanging for years at Corben's house and was exposed to light.  But, it still looks great.  Best of luck to whoever decides to go for this one.  Unlikely to see another original cover from the early part of the run come up for sale again anytime soon.  

Yes it seems like the "two originals" one pencil/inks the other paints phase stopped around 1985 as there a couple of covers out there like that. However, seeing this one from 1986 all on one board, and knowing mines from 1986 - 1988 are all on one board, and knowing of another 1986 all on one board, makes me think they made the switch around that time. 

On 5/10/2022 at 11:46 AM, 707comics said:

Nice figures! The soft heads w/ the collectors club insert are the ones I have always wanted

Yes, the Fan Club softs are the absolute originals and the most sought after. There's been some controversy in the community regarding the legitiamacy of some figures that have popped up with Fan Club inserts. Namely, the other figures from that first wave like Shredder and April, etc. Some say just the Turtles have them, others say all of them did at one point, perhaps in extremely limited print run. Doesn't help that if you are conniving and industrius enough, you can carefully squeeze an insert into the package as there is a natural small gap in the bubble along the bottom.

That said, if you get a Turtles figure with Fan Club you are probably OK. But before plunking down 20K that a recent seller was seeking for a supposed Foot Soldier Fan Club, may want to do your due diligence... 

On 4/24/2022 at 11:17 PM, Turtle said:

My old book!  I got personally got all those signatures. 

Man you had some gems!! 

On 4/21/2022 at 6:52 AM, GM8 said:

I'm not sure I understand, you were both bidding on a #1 1st print 9.8 and the other bidder had to sell his copy he already had at the same price?

 

Do you happen to have the CGC# for the one that actually sold?

Sounds like there was a #1 9.8 Signature that was auctioned for $223k. The winner of that auction decided he wanted to sell his #1 9.8 Universal first before paying for the SS. Im thinking he asked Doug for help on that end, at which point he reached out to the underbidder, BDubs, to see if he wanted a Universal 9.8 athis max bid of 215K. But BDubs does not want to spend the same 215K on a Universal when he could have (potentially) won a SS for the same price and declined. 

Which leaves the current "winner" in a bit of a jam... Did he ultimately pay the 223K for the SS? Maybe he gave Doug his blue..? 

Of course this is all speculation. Which is seems appropriate here in this official TMNT speculation thread! 

On 4/20/2022 at 4:03 PM, jaybuck43 said:

Wait I'm confused. 

Me too...

On 12/29/2021 at 10:45 PM, Turtle said:

Yes, it was a perk for a certain donation level.  He had all kinds of levels going from small marker sketches inside the sketchbook all the way up to these 2-figure paintings with about 10 levels in between.  Something for everyone!

Spectacular!! What another outstanding piece in your collection. Love Bisley's take on Casey (though never been too crazy a fun of his Turtles.) His style is definitely perfect for Casey though. Well done  and what a great way to end the year!

On 12/2/2021 at 9:26 AM, rsouxlja7 said:

Thinking about letting go of my 8.5 first print. Before doing so I was just curious what you guys think could happen to the price of that book within the next 5 years. I never thought it'd get to the price it's at today but here we are. I don't need the money but would roll it into stock investments if I did sell. 

Nobody knows the future of course. But for what it's worth, the book has always gone up in value ever since 84. Not explosively so as everything has lately during covid, but its always gone up. 

On 11/25/2021 at 4:13 PM, Turtle said:

I just got another batch back from CGC.  Here's another cover homage to add to the horde.  It's the Loot Crate exclusive from last year:

Your cover homage project is going to be never ending! Another awesome piece

On 11/20/2021 at 5:29 PM, Gump24601 said:

Nice pickup!

I saw that book on offer and missed out by a couple of seconds 😭 One of my favourite covers due to the beautiful sunset, so striking. 

Thank you for sharing the original art. How big is the piece?

Art image is 2 feet wide, but the full board is bigger. 18 inches high as well 

On 11/20/2021 at 8:22 PM, sorrenmj said:

Amazing collection!

Thanks! 

On 11/20/2021 at 9:40 PM, SpideyFein said:

I don’t think I’d ever get tired of walking in this room! EVER!! Yes, truly amazing. All those framed classics! Wowza. 

Neither do I, my friend! I hang out in there just about daily

On 10/28/2021 at 3:54 PM, jaybuck43 said:

Naw, I'm good.  I cried into this...

It's the only Raphael #1 cover material that's in public hands to my knowledge.  Kevin has the final piece for the second print as well as the First print materials.  

The finished 1st print front and back covers are out there fyi