Bone Appreciation Thread 11 11

[DocGo]

On 2/21/2023 at 3:14 PM, videoloop said:

What's the sketch card you're referring to? Is it still elusive?

It was part of the first series of Bone cards by Comic Images in 1994 and only 100 were done. Elusive is putting it lightly

On 2/21/2023 at 3:14 PM, videoloop said:

I bought a 1st print #11 in 9.8 from Heritage a couple months ago, and this one went for double what I paid! Crazy!!

Yeah, I don’t know. Some people like the multiple printings of the first CB books and it’s currently the only 9.8. I’ve only ever been interested in the second printings with completely different cover art.

[DocGo]

Here is part 2 of my Bone "comic card" series featuring the Autograph Card from the third and final set: Dragonslayer. Comic Images made a more traditional set this time as opposed to the all chromium series 2. As the description says on the back of the card, 500 of these were produced and it happens to be the only card from any of the sets without art on the front side by Jeff (with the exception of the Checklists).

Found it on eBay not too long ago for a reasonable price. I don't know anything about card grading but I'd guess it's in VF condition. Fortunately, they didn't stack these on top of each other so the autograph itself is very clean.

Edited February 24, 2023 by docgo
grammar

[DocGo]

Back to comics.

For whatever reason, I've never had a solid copy NM/MT copy of #35. Most of my buying of raw Bone comics occurred between 2008 & 2010 with infrequent purchases between 2012 & 2016. I probably have 8-10 copies of this issue and they're all NM+ at best with an average grade of NM. Even the two below, which I thought had a chance before their journey started, were accurately graded by CGC and I should have seen the issues beforehand. The second one has an unfortunate NCB crease on the front cover that appears to be too difficult to press out. Oh well.

FYI, it's not my intent to disparage 9.6s in this thread . I started this collection with the goal of having the first 8 issues in blue label 9.8s and the rest in yellow label 9.8s. It's been a whole lotta fun as well as incredibly challenging. I'm getting very close to the end so some minor frustrations tend to surface with the last remaining books

[DocGo]

Was anyone watching the Heritage auctions for the #2 and #3 first print 9.8s over the last week? I don’t have a current subscription to GPA but according my records, both sales were new highs by decent margins. The #3 sold for $1116 this evening with a previous high of $900 (2020) while the #2 finished at $1560 last week with a previous high of $773 (2018). Both books looked really good to me so congrats to the buyers and sellers!

Edited March 6, 2023 by docgo
Missed the sale in 2020 for a 9.8 #3

[DocGo]

Here's the biggest addition to my Bone set from the 2022 Con season. It's the first Rose #2 I've ever submitted and everything came out beautifully. Vess signed it at Heroes Con and Jeff at SDCC. Big thanks to Rich Henn for putting in the miles!

Now to find a Rose #3...

[Lindi]

30 years ago I was for what ever reason,  at the comic book store to buy the Bone comics that were pulled on subscription. Flash forward, the "What ever reason" reached out to me and told me I need to be mindful of the matching " Bone" collection. My first send to CGC  was 13 then 13 1/2 by CB. 13 came back as a 9.8, 13 1/2 came back as a 9.4. I know little about this collection, but I am excited about what how its transitioning. I have never opened a book that I purchased .  

[DocGo]

On 3/10/2023 at 10:25 PM, Lindi said:

30 years ago I was for what ever reason,  at the comic book store to buy the Bone comics that were pulled on subscription. Flash forward, the "What ever reason" reached out to me and told me I need to be mindful of the matching " Bone" collection. My first send to CGC  was 13 then 13 1/2 by CB. 13 came back as a 9.8, 13 1/2 came back as a 9.4. I know little about this collection, but I am excited about what how its transitioning. I have never opened a book that I purchased .  

Congrats on the grades! I noticed that you said that you’ve “never opened a book” that you purchased. Have you read any of the stories?

[DocGo]

Don't know if any of you remember these being sold in the late 90s but it's one of the ugliest mugs I've ever seen...and I still bought it. Artist sig by Jeff on the bottom is cool at least

 

[Lindi]

I am tool and dont know how to respond in the same thread. I have never read the stories, opened the cards, figurines, or the candy.  

[DocGo]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:12 PM, Lindi said:

I am tool and dont know how to respond in the same thread. I have never read the stories, opened the cards, figurines, or the candy.  

I highly recommend that you find a trade paperback somewhere and give it a shot. Don’t think you’ll regret it

[DocGo]

Any of you see the BIN for a Bone #2 CGC 9.6 with Off White-White pages for $2500 on eBay? I renewed my subscription to GPA just to see if it was legit and the sale is on there. It’s so odd considering there’s a 9.6 with the same page designation on eBay for exactly half that price as a BIN/Best Offer 

[unagi]

On 3/3/2023 at 10:59 AM, docgo said:

Back to comics.

For whatever reason, I've never had a solid copy NM/MT copy of #35. Most of my buying of raw Bone comics occurred between 2008 & 2010 with infrequent purchases between 2012 & 2016. I probably have 8-10 copies of this issue and they're all NM+ at best with an average grade of NM. Even the two below, which I thought had a chance before their journey started, were accurately graded by CGC and I should have seen the issues beforehand. The second one has an unfortunate NCB crease on the front cover that appears to be too difficult to press out. Oh well.

FYI, it's not my intent to disparage 9.6s in this thread . I started this collection with the goal of having the first 8 issues in blue label 9.8s and the rest in yellow label 9.8s. It's been a whole lotta fun as well as incredibly challenging. I'm getting very close to the end so some minor frustrations tend to surface with the last remaining books

Wow - now I feel like my 9.8 #35 was a good buy!

[DocGo]

I've never shown this slab before. Was facilitated by dscott at the 2014 Boston Comic-Con. Jeff added a small sketch of Ted which is always appreciated

For those who don't know much about the comic series, this was a reprint of #2 done by Image Comics with brand new artwork for the cover. Image distributed #21-27 as first prints and reprinted each issue from #1 to #20. Cartoon Books became the primary publisher once again with issue #28. The back covers of the Image reprints showed the original Cartoon Books covers.

[jdandns]

The above art, I believe, was created for the "Bone: First Encounters" retail poster series, or I guess it might have been the other way around, that is, posters were made of the first two new covers drawn for the Image reissues. There are at least two in that poster series, the above with Thorn from issue #2 and one with the Red Dragon using the illustration from issue #1.

I was going through my posters and found those two as well as 1995 Bone calendar poster from Comic Images. At the end of the original series, there was also a nifty retailer incentive poster showing all of the original covers and some of those were signed by Jeff. I've been meaning to scan those (along with a lot of other posters) so I can add the pictures to this thread, but like a lot of other things, I haven't got to it yet .Someday... 

[DocGo]

Well, my bid on the raw Thorn Tales from the Lantern just got buried on Heritage …

Good luck to everyone still bidding!

[DocGo]

This is for a raw Thorn Tales from the Lantern :

[EmpyreDave]

$9600 plus the premium? Wow!

[DocGo]

On 3/30/2023 at 7:52 PM, EmpyreDave said:

$9600 plus the premium? Wow!

$9.6k including premium

[DocGo]

For the record, I’ve seen 24 public sales of Thorn: Tales from the Lantern (raw and slabbed) since the end of 2008. Whenever one is up for auction, I’m always surprised by the amount of the winning bid. BUT, after a couple of years roll by, it always looks like a bargain

As far as raw copies go, this is the highest price I’ve seen by over 70% and both copies looked to be about the same grade (the previous high was an eBay BIN in mid to late 2020). Most of the public sales I’ve seen in the past 15 years were for mid to low grade examples. In graded 7.5 and above, I’d say that Thorn is the most valuable Bone book in existence 

 

[WilliamG.Staggers]

On 4/3/2023 at 12:23 PM, docgo said:

For the record, I’ve seen 24 public sales of Thorn: Tales from the Lantern (raw and slabbed) since the end of 2008. Whenever one is up for auction, I’m always surprised by the amount of the winning bid. BUT, after a couple of years roll by, it always looks like a bargain

As far as raw copies go, this is the highest price I’ve seen by over 70% and both copies looked to be about the same grade (the previous high was an eBay BIN in mid to late 2020). Most of the public sales I’ve seen in the past 15 years were for mid to low grade examples. In graded 7.5 and above, I’d say that Thorn is the most valuable Bone book in existence 

This book really exploded after 2018. I knew it was always undervalued but wow...I remember having the chance at a raw FN/VF sometime around 2015 for less than $800. Doh!

I'm curious what's going on with #2 as well. A 9.4 sold for almost $900 last year. I have the one listed for half the price of the one just sold and I'm scratching my head. May just take it down. There are so many anomalies on GPA for Bone. It certainly has done well despite the show being dropped.