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The Absolute Hardest to Find 80's books.
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Started by RockMyAmadeus,

1,000 posts in this topic

EwanUK

EwanUK

Posted
Posted

Hi all

 

After 10 years researching Miracleman I have absoloutely no doubt the 2D 3D is stunningly rare and is easily the rarest mainstream Copper Age comic ever published - (other than perhaps some of the other obscurer 2Ds that have even fewer copies??? - I can't believe they were picked up for $10 each!)

 

Facts

 

100 copies produced; signed and numbered by Cat Yronwode

Purchased only by mail order.

 

Just 5 known copies -

 

1 owned by a UK collector, no.92 /100

 

1 owned by Michagan State University (but not verfied as being a 2D, may have been indexed incorrectly); NOW BELIEVED TO BE NORMAL 3D

 

1 sold on eBay US in 2002 for around $150 (from memory, verified in 2009 by RockMyAmadeus on the CGC boards);

 

1 owned by Al Stoltz (reported in the article "MiracleMan 2-D Copy Discovered!" published in "Scoop" 15th February 2008);

 

1 owned by "ladines" on CGC boards "I've got one of the MM 3D 2d's and I can tell you that mine is signed by Cat but on a special page in the interior of the comic, not inside the cover which would explain why the MSU copy doesn't have it either. The page explains that cat has a condition that doesn't allow her to see the 3D version and since she was the publisher decided to print 100 copies in 2D. I believe mine is number 82 but don't have it on hand to confirm.";

 

1 owned by Michael Schmidt, a US collector, no 19/100 (photo's published on CGC boards - "I can't go into the specifics of how I aquired this, but it came from the original owner who purchased it directly from Eclipse - this wasn't a dollar-box find by any means, but I paid a price I was perfectly happy with. It's not for sale (really) - as this thread perfectly illustrates, it's one of those (few) true comic book rarities that are pretty much impossible to replace."

 

 

Michael's copy was (and is I assume) very high grade too. I kind of gave up looking on seeing it. ;)

 

Michael could of course bought Al's copy leaving just 4 known.

 

 

BTW, agree about Gold & Blue. While desirable, they're not real variants and shouldn't be listed as table-toppers in OS. They are at least 6 variants of the Gold certificate though.... hm

 

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dupont2005

dupont2005

Posted
Posted
re: eclipse 3D/2D books - I remember seeing a couple of those on Mycomicshop recently - off the top of my head, Alien Terror #1 and one of the ARBBHamster books. if anyone has/knows of copies of the SOTI books i'm interested :wishluck:

 

edit: they currently have 2 of the ARBBH books

Hey, the price isn't as bad as I thought it would be either. hm
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EwanUK

EwanUK

Posted
Posted

Here's some pictures of VERY RARE 80s books!

 

Food For Thought, UK 1985, comic size

One of my fanzine/ comic grails and took me years to find this. Features the obscure Alan Moore and Bryan Talbot "Cold Snap" strip plus unique art by Alan Davis, Dave Gibbons, Kevin O'Neill and all the best UK talent.

Print run must have been in low hundreds only.

 

I found this in a UK dealers pound box at a comic mart!!!! By chance!

A copy went on ebay for £50 last year.

 

FoodThought.jpg

 

Mad Dog 10, UK 1985, mag size

The other Alan Moore super-rarity featuring the only other known appearance of the Marvel Universe inhabiting "Captain Airstrip One"...

 

MadDog7.jpg

 

Meanwhile, UK 1983, mag size

Recognise the artist? This is Dave McKean's earliest strip-zine featuring a character called "Josef". 4 issues were published. Copies have sold on ebay for £50.

 

meanwhile1.jpg

 

Totally Alien, UK 1985, A5

Rare UK comic with art by Steve Yeowell who went on to draw Zenith for 2000AD. The strip is called "Hawker"

 

aug032.jpg

 

Will Eisner's Quarterly, US 1983, mag

Now i'm not sure if this is common - or in fact what it is? I believe it's a promo? Anyone know?

 

WillEisner1.jpg

 

 

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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  • Author
Posted

Limey books don't count.

 

I have about as much chance finding those in the States as you do finding a British lass with perfect teeth....

 

:insane:

 

(FTW, this thread has turned out even better than I expected...and I had high expectations...)

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EwanUK

EwanUK

Posted
Posted

More...

 

BLAAM!, 1988, UK, newsprint mag

Free give-away with early Neil Gaiman, Shane Oakley and John McCrea work. 500 copies.

 

Blaam.jpg

 

Comics Focus no.1, 1992, UK, mag

Actually a fanzine and from the early 90s but included for the stunning and unreprinted Sandman content. Less than 300 copies made.

 

Oct035.jpg

 

Chain Reaction no.3, 1983, UK, mag

Another fanzine but the hardest Miracleman related one to find. (I now have them all).

 

Chain3.jpg

 

 

Velocity no.1, 1987, UK, comic size

Warren & Gary Pleece's debut stripzine.

 

Velocity1.jpg

 

Comican 1982, UK, A5

And just because I love it, this convention program featured only 1 of 2 Warrior-contemporary V for Vendetta illustrations....

 

Comicana822.jpg

 

 

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EwanUK

EwanUK

Posted
Posted

And finally....

 

Marvel Super-Heroes no.377, no.387 & no.388, 1981-82, Marvel UK, mag

I have just sold one of my sets of these to a Canadian collector (and probable boardie, sorry)

 

No.377 - 1st appearance modern Captain Britain - RARE!

No.387 - 1st ever appearance of the name "Miracleman" RARE!

No.388 - 2nd ever appearance of the name "Miracleman" SUPER RARE!

 

MSH377.jpg

 

MSH387.jpg

 

MSH388.jpg

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EwanUK

EwanUK

Posted
Posted

Oh, and for those 1985/86 Charlton fans - gaze in awe at this beauty!

 

Charlton Action no.12, Dec 1985

 

The mis-cut and blank UPC - makes me go mmmmmmmmmmmm Charlton!

 

Static12.jpg

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EwanUK

EwanUK

Posted
Posted
Limey books don't count.

 

I have about as much chance finding those in the States as you do finding a British lass with perfect teeth....

 

:insane:

 

(FTW, this thread has turned out even better than I expected...and I had high expectations...)

 

There wouldn't have been any Copper age without us Brits! ;)

 

I have been supplying many of these and others like them to my American friends... :D

 

My wife has perfect teeth and by god, she knows how to use them! :o

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

Posted
Posted

I will certainly agree that the Star Canadian price editions are rare. They started out in a market that was 1/10th the size of the US to begin with, and Star comics didn't sell (too) well in the US. That gave them a double whammy.

 

I suspect that the Star Canadians are the toughest Canadians, barring some oddball one shots and minis (like the 1985 DC "Funny Stuff Sticking Stuffer #1" Christmas special, which may not even exist anymore.)

 

75 cent Stars are tough, but not impossible. The 95 cent Stars are really hard to find.

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

Posted
Posted
And finally....

 

Marvel Super-Heroes no.377, no.387 & no.388, 1981-82, Marvel UK, mag

I have just sold one of my sets of these to a Canadian collector (and probable boardie, sorry)

 

No.377 - 1st appearance modern Captain Britain - RARE!

No.387 - 1st ever appearance of the name "Miracleman" RARE!

No.388 - 2nd ever appearance of the name "Miracleman" SUPER RARE!

 

MSH377.jpg

 

MSH387.jpg

 

MSH388.jpg

 

I will give you these. A friend of mine with deeeeeeeeep pockets lived in London for three years as an expat and couldn't find them over there.

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bellrules

bellrules

Posted
Posted

Here's my contribution to the 75 cent Charltons. BTW there were also 75 cent price variants from Canada on the later issues. (let's hope this doesn't re-open a certain debate) As for the 75 cent Whitmans. Truly rare. Completed my set but it took forever! Here's my pride and joy of that run. The Cheryl Blossom issues are also quite tough with 75 cent cover prices.

101347.jpg.f98a1db59e27b87cc6905843ea890b85.jpg

101348.jpg.09c43f77bb9560289ec2356f5e35bffa.jpg

101349.jpg.7ba39702357363133c0c0c342cd402f3.jpg

101350.jpg.3d559dd1781a460fc5280fc02853d016.jpg

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Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted
What about those Archie's that were published by some Christian book company? I think I have or had one of those. I don't know if they were original stories or Archie reprints.

Any pictures?

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Mr 9.8

Mr 9.8

Posted
Posted
This is technically 90's but hard to find Archie issue. John Byrne Cover, Gil Kane and DeCarlo art inside. Adaptation of equally bad TV movie.

 

hm This was a NBC made for TV movie of the week? :P
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Mutant Manatee

Mutant Manatee

Posted
Posted
What about those Archie's that were published by some Christian book company? I think I have or had one of those. I don't know if they were original stories or Archie reprints.

 

Those were published by Spire in the 1970's and early 1980's. They were all original stories, I believe.

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