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

[Prince Namor]

I just found this in a box of bulk comics I bought and noticed the "Special 1994 Chicago Comicon Edition!" in the lower left corner... anyone know anything about this (besides the obvious)?

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

The Predator vs. Magnus TPB is damn hard to find. Five copies in the census with a single 9.8 that sold for $405 in Sept '09.

 

The Preacher Preview only has thirteen copies on the census and GPA for a 9.8 is $441 (Nov '08) and $95 for a 9.6 May '10. I came across two copies this last year completely by accident. p

 

I traded for Booz's 9.8. In over a year, still no more 9.8s.

 

Dino (the new owner of the Valiant properties, VEI) got three copies of the TPB in the Acclaim warehouse. They all graded at 9.8. That's where mine came from. Coming soon to the census.

 

Sorry, I wasn't clear....I was referring to the Preacher Preview, not the MVP TPB.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

I spent most of the convention picking pre-Unity Valiants out of the dollar boxes because I couldn't (then) afford the Ultraverse books, particularly the hologram and special covers.

 

I would be shocked beyond belief to discover there were pre-Unity Valiants for sale "in the dollar boxes" at any point during the year 1993.

 

Possible exception of Magnus #13-14, possible exception of dealers living in caves.

 

I doubt that was the case.

[the blob]

I spent most of the convention picking pre-Unity Valiants out of the dollar boxes because I couldn't (then) afford the Ultraverse books, particularly the hologram and special covers.

 

I would be shocked beyond belief to discover there were pre-Unity Valiants for sale "in the dollar boxes" at any point during the year 1993.

 

Possible exception of Magnus #13-14, possible exception of dealers living in caves.

 

I doubt that was the case.

 

I might have to agree with you on that one. Unity yes, pre...hard to imagine. The marketing folks at Valiant were really pushing the back issue hype on those books as soon as there was any momentum, or so I've been told, calling comic shops and asking if they had any valiant back issues, trying to drum up interest. (one of my close friends had a shop back then and he said he would get calls over and over again from the same adult sounding women asking about his valiant back issues and he found it all very suspicious).....and it worked!

 

With that said I was at that Wizard Philly 1993 show and I got some great sharp vintage stuff out of dollar boxes. I wish I had been able to carry more around but I had to take the bus back home. One guy had like 10 boxes of gorgeous NM 10 cent cover price Dells and early 12 cent covers all for $1 each. Yes, I know a lot of these titles were "blah" and it's not something to make a killing off (unless slabbed out at 9.6-9.8) but buying NM books from the 50's is just neat. I probably picked up about 20, selectively, I wish I had been in a position to work out a deal for a long box of them.

[Gatsby77]

Hah...half-right.

 

That 1993 show I picked up Magnus 6 (x 4), Magnus 9 (x 3), Magnus 10, Magnus 13, Magnus 14 (x 4) and Shadowman 3 from the dollar boxes, as well as a Solar 10 (1st) for $4. So...aside from Solar 10, they weren't actually _good_ pre-Unities, but they were there.

 

This was post Rai 9 and Turok 1, and everybody wanted Ultraverse, not Valiant. I was such a sucker for the hype that a month later I traded my buddy 5 Byrne X-Men for his 40 book Ultraverse collection, for fear I'd miss the boat. Live and learn...

[Scott Goodman]

The Valiant speculators kept the early pre-Unity books very hot into 1994. I remember I got my Harbinger 4 at a shop in Huntington, W.Va., for $60 in 1993 and in late 1993, I had a $300 offer on my Harbinger 0 (with a thank you letter from Valiant's Michelle Perham on Valiant letterhead). I don't think the Valiant heat started dying until 1993, after collectors started seeing how Valiant was pumping out the special covers and the incentives. I know I had to pay, like, $8 each for Magnus 18-19, because they were allocated in my area and my retailer only got two or three copies of each and he went by seniority on his pull list, so I missed out and had to buy those at a show.

I ended up buying a complete collection -- up to that point -- in 1994 for $850 and the books were still pretty hot then. In 1995, when I moved to Kentucky, the shop there started lowering the prices on the pre-Unity issues. By 1997, I was buying Harbinger 1s or 50 cents each.

(The shop owner in Kentucky, who had a hunch Valiants would be valuable and who hoarded Valiants from the time the company started publishing Magnus and Solar, told me he was offered $10,000 for a set of Valiants around 1993 and he refused to sell one of his, like, 20 sets. In 1997, he told me he regretted NOT selling those when he had the chance, as I cherry picked high grade and rare issues from his quarter and 50 cent boxes. He then had around 10-15 copies of each issue in his discount boxes.)

Edited September 10, 2010 by Scott Goodman

[Scott Goodman]

Hah...half-right.

 

That 1993 show I picked up Magnus 6 (x 4), Magnus 9 (x 3), Magnus 10, Magnus 13, Magnus 14 (x 4) and Shadowman 3 from the dollar boxes, as well as a Solar 10 (1st) for $4. So...aside from Solar 10, they weren't actually _good_ pre-Unities, but they were there.

 

This was post Rai 9 and Turok 1, and everybody wanted Ultraverse, not Valiant. I was such a sucker for the hype that a month later I traded my buddy 5 Byrne X-Men for his 40 book Ultraverse collection, for fear I'd miss the boat. Live and learn...

 

I traded my Harbinger 1 with card, Harbinger 2 with card, an X-O Manowar 1 and one or two other Valiant pre-Unity comics for an Amazing Spider-Man 129 in fine, Conan the Barbarian 1 VF, 2 NM+ and 3NM+. This guy I knew locally who collected and sold comics was doing some regional comic shows and he said he couldn't do anything with the books he traded me and he believed he could do way better selling the Valiants ... Sadly, they were still hanging up on his stands at the shows I attended several years later ... and I sold the Spider-Man and Conans for several hundred dollars.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Hah...half-right.

 

That 1993 show I picked up Magnus 6 (x 4), Magnus 9 (x 3), Magnus 10, Magnus 13, Magnus 14 (x 4) and Shadowman 3 from the dollar boxes, as well as a Solar 10 (1st) for $4. So...aside from Solar 10, they weren't actually _good_ pre-Unities, but they were there.

 

This was post Rai 9 and Turok 1, and everybody wanted Ultraverse, not Valiant. ...

 

Sorry, but this just isn't true.

 

Turok #1 came out in May, 1993, and Valiant could not have been hotter. That heat continued throughout the summer. It hit a brick wall in the fall, but that doesn't mean prices dropped from the stratosphere instantly. If you picked out those books from "dollar boxes" in 1993, you were incredibly, incredibly lucky.

 

In fact, the very reason Ultraverse was so hot was BECAUSE Valiant was...speculators were hoping for a repeat. The Image boat had sailed because of their epic inability to put out any books on time.

 

1993 was all about these things: Knightfall, Fall From Grace, Valiant, and Ultraverse.

[rjpb]

1993 was all about these things: Knightfall, Fall From Grace, Valiant, and Ultraverse.

 

For many, but not all - form me it was about Vertigo, Fantagraphics, and looking for pre-code crime at the cons.

[Scott Goodman]

I need to correct what I wrote earlier. The Prime Time hardcover was signed and numbered. My copy is 198 of 2000. And the price was $45.95, instead of $50.

But, that still makes it pretty rare. I wonder if all 2000 copies were sold or if they didn't sell and the remainders destroyed. Or, if 2000 was printed at all. I never see this one come up for sale.

[Scott Goodman]

Another rare book is the Green Hornet hardcover reprinting the first 12 issues of the NOW Comics series -- volume 1. I talked with Tony Caputo and he said the book was so rare that he didn't even see a copy. A year or so later, when I talked with him, he'd either bought a copy from eBay or someone sent him a copy.

We were discussing the Green Hornet hardcover as we talked about how rare the Ralph Snart hardcover is in comparison ... only 300 printed of that one, but it was printed in 2004, so it doesn't qualify for this thread or this forum. If I remember correctly, Tony told me there may be less than 200 of those Green Hornet hardcovers.

[dupont2005]

I saw the Ralph Snart one on eBay about a year ago for $40 but I passed on it because I have all the floppies.

[RockMyAmadeus]

1993 was all about these things: Knightfall, Fall From Grace, Valiant, and Ultraverse.

 

For many, but not all - form me it was about Vertigo, Fantagraphics, and looking for pre-code crime at the cons.

 

 

Of course, because exceptions to the rule are always as important as the rule.

 

[fastballspecial]

Hah...half-right.

 

That 1993 show I picked up Magnus 6 (x 4), Magnus 9 (x 3), Magnus 10, Magnus 13, Magnus 14 (x 4) and Shadowman 3 from the dollar boxes, as well as a Solar 10 (1st) for $4. So...aside from Solar 10, they weren't actually _good_ pre-Unities, but they were there.

 

This was post Rai 9 and Turok 1, and everybody wanted Ultraverse, not Valiant. ...

 

 

In fact, the very reason Ultraverse was so hot was BECAUSE Valiant was...speculators were hoping for a repeat. 1993 was all about these things: Knightfall, Fall From Grace, Valiant, and Ultraverse.

 

In my area Ultraverse was a big hit. Everyone was enjoying Strangers, Hardcase, Prime and the Solution. Back issues especially for Prime, Hardcase and Strangers sold well. The Redemption program I was hooked on as well because I loved me some Breed. I am sure there was alot of speculation, but they sold well in my area. I was not actively involved nationwide I am unsure of how othere areas did.

 

Now where I do think you are right is that there were still several Baseball card dealers who moved from Baseball, to Valiant to Ultraverse then to Gen 13 for the exact reasons you are discussing. I remember them having the Silver Holos for $60+ and I hated them because I couldnt afford them. I remember selling my Bane Back Breakers 497s for $10 each in Louisville at shows easily during this time as well in 94 sold alot of 1st few issues of Gen 13 for some nice change to them as well.

 

Edited September 12, 2010 by Fastballspecial

[iggy101us]

Found these at the link below. I googled for more info and couldn't find any. Not sure if anyone can verify the existence of these since so few were supposedly printed.

 

http://theaerie.www2.50megs.com/chastity/comiclist.html

 

Chasity Theater of Pain (1997)

Iss 1: Omega Edition (Ltd to 1)

 

Evil Ernie: Monthly Comic (1998)

Iss 1 Octagon Edition (Original Sketch on Black Leather Cover Ltd to 8)

 

 

[seanfingh]

 

Wow. Good research.

[iggy101us]

The Fatale HC was already mentinoed I think. I just want to add that not only is it a rare book, it's also very nice overall quality-wise and given that it's triple-signed.

[mschmidt]

Found these at the link below. I googled for more info and couldn't find any. Not sure if anyone can verify the existence of these since so few were supposedly printed.

 

http://theaerie.www2.50megs.com/chastity/comiclist.html

 

Chasity Theater of Pain (1997)

Iss 1: Omega Edition (Ltd to 1)

 

Evil Ernie: Monthly Comic (1998)

Iss 1 Octagon Edition (Original Sketch on Black Leather Cover Ltd to 8)

 

 

The Omega editions were all limited to just 1 copy (afaik there were 5 different Chaos! series that each had an Omega edition), and were the top prize in a mail-away contest held in each of the different series.

 

They were essentially a blank-cover variant of the respective comic book, which then had a brand new wrap-around cover drawn directly onto it by the artists associated with the series - the Chastity: Theatre of Pain Omega edition, for instance, was drawn by Justiniano and Jason Jensen.

 

(They also came in a special hand-made metal container that was supposedly fireproof).

 

The Octagon Editions were slightly different beasts, though - Chaos! produced fake leather variants of a fair number of their titles (Evil Ernie, Lady Death, Chastity spring to mind), and did series of 8 (hence the name) that each featured a numbered sketch on the cover by an artist associated with the series. I believe that they were only sold through mail-order, and had an asking price of $100 each.

 

The main difference between the Omega & Octagon editions is that the Omega editions were true one-offs - the blank-cover variants that were sketched upon were never released to the public. The Octagon editions, however, used books that were also available for purchase in their "virgin" state.

[iggy101us]

Great info, mschmidt!

[RockMyAmadeus]

Found these at the link below. I googled for more info and couldn't find any. Not sure if anyone can verify the existence of these since so few were supposedly printed.

 

http://theaerie.www2.50megs.com/chastity/comiclist.html

 

Chasity Theater of Pain (1997)

Iss 1: Omega Edition (Ltd to 1)

 

Evil Ernie: Monthly Comic (1998)

Iss 1 Octagon Edition (Original Sketch on Black Leather Cover Ltd to 8)

 

 

Hi Iggy! Nice to see you over here!