The Absolute Hardest to Find 90's books. 7 7

[MisterX]

Anybody know the first print runs of Hate and Eightball, especially the early issues, say the first five to ten?

 

I really have no idea. 2000? 5000? 10,000+?

 

It took me a few years to complete sets of both in first printings, and Eightball took alot longer than Hate. I had to settle for VF range copies for the first eight or nine issues of Eightball in first print.

 

I'm guessing maybe first prints of Schizo, Black Hole, Dork and Angry Youth Comix could also be tough to find. (Not impossible, just tough.)

[seanfingh]

Ok, folks, let's lay a few ground rules, then.

 

Just about no Marvel book is "one of the hardest to find 90's books"...not even the super tough Camelots. I'm talking about absolute rarity, not "there are 100,000 Marvel collectors looking for 10,000 available copies" rarity.

 

That's not rare. Just about any Marvel published in the 1990's can be had EASILY, if you throw enough money at it.

 

Think of books that are actually, physically difficult to find, no matter the price....and setting grade aside.

 

The Maxx Blacks are a good example of that. Limited to 50 originally, and many unaccounted for.

 

Here's another good example:

 

Danger Girl #2, Ruby Red Smoking Gun. 400 made, a total of 9 have showed up for sale graded in ANY grade in the last 8 years, and probably a handful more raw.

 

Orrrrrr....

 

Cry For Dawn #3 HorrorCon edition. Yeah, sure, it's a photocopy cover, but it was limited to 300-400, and is very, very difficult to find.

 

Orrrrrrr.....

 

Vengeance of Vampirella #1 Royal Blue. Limited to 100 copies, and only available through Comic Cavalcade. There have been a grand total of FOUR copies on eBay since 2000 (and I STILL kick myself for missing that one in May.)

 

Orrrrrrrr.....

 

Venom #1 White. One of the few Marvel books to appear here, mainly because there's only 1 currently known. A result of the gold foil variant not adhering to the cover, much the same as the Black.

 

Orrrrrrrr...

 

The Chaos Comics Black Onyx editions.

 

Orrrrrr....

 

The fabled "White" variant of Vengeance of Vampirella #1, probably due to foil adhesion issues mentioned above for Venom.

 

 

BORING

[Gatsby77]

Why would anyone care about random printer mistakes, like the Venom 1 (white) or Vengeance of Vampirella 1 (white)?

 

Those types of mistakes happen as statistical anomalies, across a wide swath of books, just as double covers do. There are probably "white" variants of every foil cover book produced, but (other than Venom Black), who cares?

 

I'd be impressed if someone took the time to collect a whole set of say--Deathmate without foil, but you might as well be looking for "90s double (or triple)" covers if you're including random (or reported) printing errors.

[Gatsby77]

Here's an example of an error book.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/TUROK-1-VALIANT-NO-CHROME-MANUFACTURING-ERROR-CGC-9-8-/120164210833?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0#ht_1515wt_745

 

Interesting that this got a GLOD while Venom (black) does not, but I think that's just marketing. Or was Venom Black intentionally done, with a defined print run?

 

I'd much rather here reports from the ground that "Sonic the Hedgehog # 52 is impossible to find" or "Batman the Animated Series vol. 2 # 46 is evil."

 

If you're going for "rarity" let's hear about mainstream collectible books and runs that people will be trying (and failing) to complete in 9.6/9.8 15 years from now, much like folks have discussed Star Comics.

[markseifert]

Or was Venom Black intentionally done, with a defined print run?

 

No, it's definitely an error book. It got a mention in Wizard at the time which is why it caught on.

[sakaridis]

Anybody know the first print runs of Hate and Eightball, especially the early issues, say the first five to ten?

 

I really have no idea. 2000? 5000? 10,000+?

 

It took me a few years to complete sets of both in first printings, and Eightball took alot longer than Hate. I had to settle for VF range copies for the first eight or nine issues of Eightball in first print.

 

I'm guessing maybe first prints of Schizo, Black Hole, Dork and Angry Youth Comix could also be tough to find. (Not impossible, just tough.)

I have a vague recollection of an interview Dan Clowes gave to the Comics Journal, sometime in the early to mid 90s (maybe 1994?), where he mentioned Eightball selling somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 copies.

 

I could be wrong about this - but I really don't think so.

[markseifert]

Anybody know the first print runs of Hate and Eightball, especially the early issues, say the first five to ten?

 

I really have no idea. 2000? 5000? 10,000+?

 

It took me a few years to complete sets of both in first printings, and Eightball took alot longer than Hate. I had to settle for VF range copies for the first eight or nine issues of Eightball in first print.

 

I'm guessing maybe first prints of Schizo, Black Hole, Dork and Angry Youth Comix could also be tough to find. (Not impossible, just tough.)

I have a vague recollection of an interview Dan Clowes gave to the Comics Journal, sometime in the early to mid 90s (maybe 1994?), where he mentioned Eightball selling somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 copies.

 

I could be wrong about this - but I really don't think so.

 

Sounds about right. I'd bet it was over 10k for sure.

[Prince Namor]

Anybody know the first print runs of Hate and Eightball, especially the early issues, say the first five to ten?

 

I really have no idea. 2000? 5000? 10,000+?

 

It took me a few years to complete sets of both in first printings, and Eightball took alot longer than Hate. I had to settle for VF range copies for the first eight or nine issues of Eightball in first print.

 

I'm guessing maybe first prints of Schizo, Black Hole, Dork and Angry Youth Comix could also be tough to find. (Not impossible, just tough.)

I have a vague recollection of an interview Dan Clowes gave to the Comics Journal, sometime in the early to mid 90s (maybe 1994?), where he mentioned Eightball selling somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 copies.

 

I could be wrong about this - but I really don't think so.

 

Sounds about right. I'd bet it was over 10k for sure.

 

Still not a book that shows up everyday.

[MisterX]

That could be very true. I suppose printing less than 10K for a publisher like Fantagraphics would not be profitable.

 

However, by 1994 the book had been out for five years and had a large, growing fan base. But the first issue came out in late 1989, I believe, with very little for folks to go on other than that Clowes was the Lloyd Llewellyn guy. Bagge had more fans, I think, when he launched Hate (a few months later in 1990).

[the blob]

Marvel put out a lot of Disney spin-offs in the mid 90s, many of which are really tough to track down as the it was right in the middle of "the Crash" and many LCS' were really cutting back on ordering that sort of stuff.

------------

 

the irony is that is the sort of thing a shop can leave up on the rack at cover price and eventually someone will coming in with, or looking for something for, their kid and it will sell, whereas the 3 month old mainstream marvel had to go to the discount box.

 

my LCS tosses so much stuff into the discount box, but not the kids stuff, not the archies, not the sonics, not the simpsons, etc.

Edited August 18, 2010 by the blob

[sakaridis]

That could be very true. I suppose printing less than 10K for a publisher like Fantagraphics would not be profitable.

 

However, by 1994 the book had been out for five years and had a large, growing fan base. But the first issue came out in late 1989, I believe, with very little for folks to go on other than that Clowes was the Lloyd Llewellyn guy. Bagge had more fans, I think, when he launched Hate (a few months later in 1990).

 

That's correct. Hate was far more popular than Eightball when the two titles began. With that in mind, it is entirely possible that the first issues of Eightball had a circulation of less than 10,000.

 

OK, I just checked Krause's Standard Catalog of Comic Books. It says 2.875 copies ordered for issue #8, with no info for the earlier issues. Keeping in mind these are just the orders from Capital City Distribution, I'd say a ballpark figure for 10,000 copies total would be close to the truth.

 

Which still doesn't say much about the very early issues, though.

[the blob]

Mort the Dead Teenager?

 

Nope, that drekky title went only four issues and it is noted in the Overstreet Guide.

 

And as a fan of 90s Marvel drek, I'm proud to say I have the full four issue run.

 

 

Any other guesses?

Kid 'N Play?

 

Good guess...nine issues though, but not in the Guide. In fact, I've never seen any of the later ones.

 

the whole set is up on ebay, it isn't expensive either

[the blob]

I find it hard to believe that with everyone and their sister pumping out a comic book in the early 90's that there aren't tons of vanity comics folks self-published with print runs of 100-200 (at least the first prints) of which few are around today. The question is, who the heck cares about this stuff?

[seanfingh]

I find it hard to believe that with everyone and their sister pumping out a comic book in the early 90's that there aren't tons of vanity comics folks self-published with print runs of 100-200 (at least the first prints) of which few are around today. The question is, who the heck cares about this stuff?

 

I have two sets of "Holey Crullers" which were self published by Troy Hickman. They are the original self-published stories that ended up being the Image series "Common Grounds." They are incredible stories, and among my most treasured books.

[RockMyAmadeus]

If you're going for "rarity" let's hear about mainstream collectible books

 

Let's actually talk about actual rarity, mainstream or not. This thread isn't about "rarity."

 

You wish to exclude "error" books, and that's fine, but what are your contributions to this thread..? Instead of batching and moaning that "error" books don't count (by the way....Vengeance of Vampi #1 "white"? May be an error, may not. The only confirmed error is the Venom Black/White, which has earned its place on the list), why not add your own?

 

and runs that people will be trying (and failing) to complete in 9.6/9.8 15 years from now, much like folks have discussed Star Comics.

 

So what's stopping you from starting your own thread...?

 

(thumbs u

[RockMyAmadeus]

The question is, who the heck cares about this stuff?

 

Me.

 

Hence, the thread.

 

(thumbs u

[dupont2005]

Anybody know the first print runs of Hate and Eightball, especially the early issues, say the first five to ten?

 

I really have no idea. 2000? 5000? 10,000+?

 

It took me a few years to complete sets of both in first printings, and Eightball took alot longer than Hate. I had to settle for VF range copies for the first eight or nine issues of Eightball in first print.

 

I'm guessing maybe first prints of Schizo, Black Hole, Dork and Angry Youth Comix could also be tough to find. (Not impossible, just tough.)

The self published Angry Youth Comix are absolutely impossible to find and I believe were limited to just a couple hundred copies. They were reprinted in PortaJohnny. The Fantagraphics published Angry Youth Comix are actually volume two. There were 11 issues in volume one. I can't find any mention of them or any of Johnny Ryan's other self published stuff for sale anywhere ever, except his website. Once the stuff is gone it's impossible to find.

http://www.johnnyr.com/shop/shop_comix.html

[dupont2005]

The question is, who the heck cares about this stuff?

 

Me.

 

Hence, the thread.

 

(thumbs u

Same here. To me there are two grades. "Complete and not falling apart" and "Incomplete and/or falling apart." Comics that just flat out never pop up for sale in any grade whatsoever. I'm actually trying to collect a handful of these and it's terrible.

[dupont2005]

I have been told that Lenore by Roman Dirge was originally self published on cheap newsprint. I don't know how reliable the source was though. Of course Dead@17 started as a self published comic of only a couple thousand copies.

[the blob]

I find it hard to believe that with everyone and their sister pumping out a comic book in the early 90's that there aren't tons of vanity comics folks self-published with print runs of 100-200 (at least the first prints) of which few are around today. The question is, who the heck cares about this stuff?

 

I have two sets of "Holey Crullers" which were self published by Troy Hickman. They are the original self-published stories that ended up being the Image series "Common Grounds." They are incredible stories, and among my most treasured books.

 

I'm not saying none of the self-published vanity books are worth caring about, just that I presume few of them are so nobody is mentioning them because nobody is looking for them. I certainly run across some 90's books and wonder if there are only 5 or 10 copies in the world because, honestly, who the heck would have bought it?!?!?