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STAR WARS #1
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Started by Mr 9.8,

967 posts in this topic

vint43

vint43

Posted
Posted (edited)
Any idea what the print run for this book was?

 

From the history I have read about the movies the initial print run was 100,000 for #1.

 

SIDE NOTE: The #1 issue went on to sell over 1 million copies in reprints after the movie was released. Perhaps this is where it got the reputation for being such a "massive print". However, this is not how it played out for the original print.

 

Both #1 and #2 were released prior to the movie release in 1977.

 

The comic rights were basically given to marvel because they were desperately trying to create a ground swell in the "geek" community for the movie.

 

The original print did not sell out.

 

At the time, many many people (including George Lucas himself) were very concerned Star Wars was going to be a flop.

 

I find it hard to believe under the circumstances this book would have been widely "speculated" given most people would have seen this as a completely unknown and crazy sci fan film with low prospects. Even Kenner did not start making toys for the movie until after the release causing them to have nothing to sell at Christmas besides a card that said "you will get the first 4 characters when they are ready". They had not wanted to take the risk of making figures prior to to movie release in case it was a flop.

 

Star Wars took almost everyone by surprise. The fact that #1 came out before the movies means no one knew it was going to be a major hit when it was printed.

 

So how many of the original 100,000 remained in prestine 9.8 condition under those circumstances? Who knows. However the idea that this was a massive print that everyone collected and preserved because it was Star Wars is just not true per the history of the film.

Edited by vint43
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vint43

vint43

Posted
Posted
Any idea what the print run for this book was?

 

The original print did not sell out.

 

 

To clarify, until after the movie was released. They had a hard time moving the 100,000 prior to the movie actually being shown.

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vint43

vint43

Posted
Posted (edited)
I didn't buy the #1 until after I saw the movie. By that time, the price of #1 had gone up. I did manage to order 50 from an ad in TBG. But I had to pay 65¢ each (cover price was 30¢).

 

Makes sense. As the original lot did not sell out prior to the movie, after it became a hit, I am sure those extra copies were quickly consumed. Some of which would have been speculators.

 

After this many years, how many of those are still around and would now grade a 9.8 remains the question.

 

However, at the same time as Star Wars, Spider-Man was printing 280k copies per issue. So, again, it was not a "massive print" and the popularity was not clear until several months after the first print. Clearly all the initial sales prior to the movie were probably not speculators.

 

BTW, if you still have those your investment will pay off nicely!

 

I would think a $1000+ per graded 9.8 copy will start flushing out a lot of these "hidden" speculator stashes. If not, I am not sure what price ever will!

 

Time will tell.

Edited by vint43
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Mr 9.8

Mr 9.8

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Posted
If I'm not mistaken I beleive this is about to be all time sale for this book.
Agreed, it's already past the last copies sell's price. Rignt now it would not surprise me if this will be the first issue to break the $2000 mark.
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Snikt!1988

Snikt!1988

Posted
Posted (edited)

talk about sleeping giant… I always thought this book had potential… I'm still butt hurt over selling mine… a couple things come to mind…

 

-Will the trickle down effect happen with grades 9.6 9.4 and so on… Using the NM 98 phenomena… I remember when NM 98 9.8s where at 400… now a year later NM 98 9.6's are going for 500… will we now see SW 1 9.6s at $700???

-Is this book the sleeper of the Bronze Age; trumping Hulk 181 in the long run…

-What happened to the .35 cent variants… 9.8s are now tallying prices that low grade copies where once garnishing… how will it effect those books?

-What happened when Episodes II and III came out as far as Ebay and CGC??? Wasn't there speculation during that period???

Edited by Snikt!1988
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rjrjr

rjrjr

Posted
Posted (edited)
Any idea what the print run for this book was?

 

From the history I have read about the movies the initial print run was 100,000 for #1.

 

SIDE NOTE: The #1 issue went on to sell over 1 million copies in reprints after the movie was released. Perhaps this is where it got the reputation for being such a "massive print". However, this is not how it played out for the original print.

 

Both #1 and #2 were released prior to the movie release in 1977.

 

The comic rights were basically given to marvel because they were desperately trying to create a ground swell in the "geek" community for the movie.

 

The original print did not sell out.

 

At the time, many many people (including George Lucas himself) were very concerned Star Wars was going to be a flop.

 

I find it hard to believe under the circumstances this book would have been widely "speculated" given most people would have seen this as a completely unknown and crazy sci fan film with low prospects. Even Kenner did not start making toys for the movie until after the release causing them to have nothing to sell at Christmas besides a card that said "you will get the first 4 characters when they are ready". They had not wanted to take the risk of making figures prior to to movie release in case it was a flop.

 

Star Wars took almost everyone by surprise. The fact that #1 came out before the movies means no one knew it was going to be a major hit when it was printed.

 

So how many of the original 100,000 remained in prestine 9.8 condition under those circumstances? Who knows. However the idea that this was a massive print that everyone collected and preserved because it was Star Wars is just not true per the history of the film.

 

The information I have read places the print run of the first print of Star Wars #1 at between 250,000 and 350,000. As other have already said, it did not sell out until after the movie was released. Unlike most comics from this era, most of those printed issues did sell. The sell through was pretty miserable for comics with upwards of 50% of a print run being returned. This was a large reason why the direct market was born.

 

The top seller was Amazing Spider-Man when Star Wars was released. If I recall, Marvel published circulation numbers in select issues back then, so I'm guessing the print run information was derived from that.

Edited by rjrjr
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rjrjr

rjrjr

Posted
Posted (edited)
Any idea what the print run for this book was?

 

From the history I have read about the movies the initial print run was 100,000 for #1.

 

SIDE NOTE: The #1 issue went on to sell over 1 million copies in reprints after the movie was released. Perhaps this is where it got the reputation for being such a "massive print". However, this is not how it played out for the original print.

 

Both #1 and #2 were released prior to the movie release in 1977.

 

The comic rights were basically given to marvel because they were desperately trying to create a ground swell in the "geek" community for the movie.

 

The original print did not sell out.

 

At the time, many many people (including George Lucas himself) were very concerned Star Wars was going to be a flop.

 

I find it hard to believe under the circumstances this book would have been widely "speculated" given most people would have seen this as a completely unknown and crazy sci fan film with low prospects. Even Kenner did not start making toys for the movie until after the release causing them to have nothing to sell at Christmas besides a card that said "you will get the first 4 characters when they are ready". They had not wanted to take the risk of making figures prior to to movie release in case it was a flop.

 

Star Wars took almost everyone by surprise. The fact that #1 came out before the movies means no one knew it was going to be a major hit when it was printed.

 

So how many of the original 100,000 remained in prestine 9.8 condition under those circumstances? Who knows. However the idea that this was a massive print that everyone collected and preserved because it was Star Wars is just not true per the history of the film.

 

The information I have read places the print run of the first print of Star Wars #1 at between 250,000 and 350,000. As other have already said, it did not sell out until after the movie was released. Unlike most comics from this era, most, if not all, of those printed issues did sell. The sell through was pretty miserable for most comics with upwards of 50% of a print run being returned. This was a large reason why the direct market was born.

 

The top seller was Amazing Spider-Man when Star Wars was released. If I recall, Marvel published circulation numbers in select issues back then, so I'm guessing the print run information was derived from that.

 

Okay, found the article with the information about Amazing Spider-Man's numbers:

 

http://io9.com/5840578/how-star-wars-saved-the-comic-book-industry

 

Edited by rjrjr
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vint43

vint43

Posted
Posted (edited)
Any idea what the print run for this book was?

 

From the history I have read about the movies the initial print run was 100,000 for #1.

 

SIDE NOTE: The #1 issue went on to sell over 1 million copies in reprints after the movie was released. Perhaps this is where it got the reputation for being such a "massive print". However, this is not how it played out for the original print.

 

Both #1 and #2 were released prior to the movie release in 1977.

 

The comic rights were basically given to marvel because they were desperately trying to create a ground swell in the "geek" community for the movie.

 

The original print did not sell out.

 

At the time, many many people (including George Lucas himself) were very concerned Star Wars was going to be a flop.

 

I find it hard to believe under the circumstances this book would have been widely "speculated" given most people would have seen this as a completely unknown and crazy sci fan film with low prospects. Even Kenner did not start making toys for the movie until after the release causing them to have nothing to sell at Christmas besides a card that said "you will get the first 4 characters when they are ready". They had not wanted to take the risk of making figures prior to to movie release in case it was a flop.

 

Star Wars took almost everyone by surprise. The fact that #1 came out before the movies means no one knew it was going to be a major hit when it was printed.

 

So how many of the original 100,000 remained in prestine 9.8 condition under those circumstances? Who knows. However the idea that this was a massive print that everyone collected and preserved because it was Star Wars is just not true per the history of the film.

 

The information I have read places the print run of the first print of Star Wars #1 at between 250,000 and 350,000. As other have already said, it did not sell out until after the movie was released. Unlike most comics from this era, most of those printed issues did sell. The sell through was pretty miserable for comics with upwards of 50% of a print run being returned. This was a large reason why the direct market was born.

 

The top seller was Amazing Spider-Man when Star Wars was released. If I recall, Marvel published circulation numbers in select issues back then, so I'm guessing the print run information was derived from that.

 

I realize "sources" can be wrong. The only reason why I thought my book source made sense is it was widely understood from multiple sources that part of the deal with LucasFilm is no royalty would be paid until over 100,000 copies were sold. Given the complete unknown nature of the movie at the time, this was the equivalent of "giving it away" because no one expected (especially at Marvel) for it to sell more. Given this, making the print run 100,000 would make sense because it would have represented 100% of their royalty free copies.

 

This is directly from "How Star Wars Conquered The Universe" by Chris Taylor. He could be wrong but he appears extremely diligent in this book.

 

Another side note. I know it was a much broader effort to go to 35 cents at this time. However, it is interesting all the reprints of #1 went to 35 cents. Perhaps the fact that royalties for Star Wars were about to kick in on a book about to sell over 1 million copies finalized that decision. I have no sources that is true but it is very convenient for marvel that their biggest selling issue for that period is exactly when the price increase occurred and royalties began.

Edited by vint43
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vint43

vint43

Posted
Posted (edited)

Given this thread started with posting your #1, here is mine.

 

I only have a "family photo" :)

 

sw_1024_zps044d80fd.jpg

 

Current Status: 9 issues out to grading. 3 issues yet to find!

 

Edited by vint43
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r100comics

r100comics

Posted
Posted

 

It's at $1,875 after one day !

 

Unlike some of the other hot books I don't see many shillers on these auctions. Perhaps it does have a strong, genuine fan base.

 

 

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