90's VALIANT Comics Thread 0

[___]

Sweet cover!

[FormerReader]

I wonder if we will see people searching for some of the harder to find books like the VVSS books, the gold books, the Unity Diamond TPB or the Predator versus Magnus TPB. Some of those VVSS books are incredibly difficult to find.

[iggy101us]

Speaking of winning Valiant comic books.....way back in the days of when Wizard Magazine was popular, my brother and I quickly solved and sent in a Star Wars word puzzle thing (if memory serves correct) and we ended up being the winners of their Unity give away. I still have the congratulations letter from Wizard and a couple of the issues from the Unity set.

 

I would've much rather won some gold issues like you guys, but that wasn't the prize. I had to search hard back when they came out to get my hands on an Eternal Warrior 1 gold and a Rai 9 gold.

 

That letter from Wizard is probably more valuable to a Valiant collector than the books (even if they were gold).

There were very few official Valiant letters (or Valiant-sponsored letters like Wizard prizes) that survived,

so collectors generally pay a premium when they can get something that ties directly to the early Valiant offices.

 

Few that survived? I would think everyone who ever won would have kept their letters as a special prize. Then again, they might have been kids like me back then.....

Right, but did they print 100,000 letters? Because they printed 100,000 copies of books (on average). If there are even 200 letters, that's 1:500 ratio.

 

I got a few original letters

 

This one I got directly from Valiant back in the 90s. I received the Ninjak #1 gold variant with the following letter. Also included were James Perham's business card and a chromium card.

 

I also picked up these up over the years . . .

 

Chaos Effect Red Alpha signed by Bernard Chan with Retailer Letter.

 

This early Valiant marketing package includes a red Valiant folder, an original letter signed by Seymour Miles, the marketing plans for May to Dec 1992 with 25 pages of material, 2 gold books, and 2 H.A.R.D.Corps #1 preview posters (black and blue versions).

 

The 25-page marketing plans brochure was used for the Diamond Sales Seminar on June 15th 1992. It can be viewed here: http://www.valiantfans.com/Valiant1992Marketing.pdf

 

 

VALIANT marketing newsletter and promos from 1992

 

Inside there are:

(1) 2-sided letter with a mini-poster of the Unity Red on the back

(2) Retailer questionnaire (2-sided)

(3) Unity preview art in black and white (2-sided)

(4) Eternal Warrior #1 poster

(5) Unity #0 poster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Johnny U]

[THB]

Speaking of winning Valiant comic books.....way back in the days of when Wizard Magazine was popular, my brother and I quickly solved and sent in a Star Wars word puzzle thing (if memory serves correct) and we ended up being the winners of their Unity give away. I still have the congratulations letter from Wizard and a couple of the issues from the Unity set.

 

I would've much rather won some gold issues like you guys, but that wasn't the prize. I had to search hard back when they came out to get my hands on an Eternal Warrior 1 gold and a Rai 9 gold.

 

That letter from Wizard is probably more valuable to a Valiant collector than the books (even if they were gold).

There were very few official Valiant letters (or Valiant-sponsored letters like Wizard prizes) that survived,

so collectors generally pay a premium when they can get something that ties directly to the early Valiant offices.

 

Few that survived? I would think everyone who ever won would have kept their letters as a special prize. Then again, they might have been kids like me back then.....

Right, but did they print 100,000 letters? Because they printed 100,000 copies of books (on average). If there are even 200 letters, that's 1:500 ratio.

 

Stuff like this?

 

[CKB]

Speaking of winning Valiant comic books.....way back in the days of when Wizard Magazine was popular, my brother and I quickly solved and sent in a Star Wars word puzzle thing (if memory serves correct) and we ended up being the winners of their Unity give away. I still have the congratulations letter from Wizard and a couple of the issues from the Unity set.

 

I would've much rather won some gold issues like you guys, but that wasn't the prize. I had to search hard back when they came out to get my hands on an Eternal Warrior 1 gold and a Rai 9 gold.

 

That letter from Wizard is probably more valuable to a Valiant collector than the books (even if they were gold).

There were very few official Valiant letters (or Valiant-sponsored letters like Wizard prizes) that survived,

so collectors generally pay a premium when they can get something that ties directly to the early Valiant offices.

 

Few that survived? I would think everyone who ever won would have kept their letters as a special prize. Then again, they might have been kids like me back then.....

Right, but did they print 100,000 letters? Because they printed 100,000 copies of books (on average). If there are even 200 letters, that's 1:500 ratio.

 

Stuff like this?

 

 

[Gatsby77]

1) Very cool stuff!

 

2) Your letter that references the two Gold books (A+A 0 & EW # 1) is further evidence of my contention that they were released at the same time.

 

Yes, A+A 0 came out before EW 1. But Valiant, never distinguished between them when first distributing them at shows, to fans by mail, etc. They're tied (with the EW 1 embossed coming out a few weeks later).

 

I'll never win this battle in the marketplace because 20+ years later logic would dictate that the A+A gold would have been produced before the EW due to the regular books' cover dates, but the reality is Valiant wasn't yet that organized. The books actually appeared a) together and b) a bit later on.

 

Same thing: Harbinger 0 (pink) isn't technically a pre-Unity book, as it was so delayed it wasn't actually released until after Harbinger 10 was on the stands. It makes sense to consider it pre-Unity, as its print runs were tied to the 1-6 coupon redemptions but it took a lot longer to appear than did Magnus 0 after Magnus 1-8.

 

Later on, yes -- the incentives came out the same day of release -- I specifically recall Predator Magnus Platinum & Deathmate Prelude Gold being shipped with the original books.

 

But not so in the beginning.

[valiantman]

So... VALIANT (all caps, all the time --- a stated rule) wasn't true anymore before the end of 1994.

[iggy101us]

So... VALIANT (all caps, all the time --- a stated rule) wasn't true anymore before the end of 1994.

Not all caps in the Chaos Effect Red letter either (dated 10/3/1994).

Edited March 16, 2015 by iggy101us

[___]

Thanks for sharing....really starting to bring back some memories

[krighton]

was there a Divinity or Imperium in the first run, don't remember those.

[FormerReader]

was there a Divinity or Imperium in the first run, don't remember those.

 

No. Divinity is a new character and first new character with a series (not including one-shots).

[THB]

Is this the error version or is it extreme?

 

[iggy101us]

This is one of the more unique items in my collection - a used softball jersey that belonged to Acclaim editor Madeleine E. Robins. She was an editor at Acclaim Comics for about 3 years for Armed and Dangerous, Magnus Robot Fighter, Shadowman and other titles.

 

According to Bernard Chang, there were 3 official softball jerseys:

 

the first version were the old bloodshot (green sleeved) jerseys with number printed on the back.

 

the second version, which is the one sported in the pictures you posted, have everything sewn on a black-pinnstriped cotton jersey.

 

the third and last was a red-pinnstripped cotton jersey with "acclaim comics" screen-printed on the front.

 

there was also a valiant cap, which was part of the valiant line of clothes.

Below is the email exchange tracking down the history of the jersey:

 

Hi,

 

This may be a weird question but were you an editor at Acclaim Comics? If so, do you know anything about this Acclaim softball jersey? I am trying to track down the history and wonder if you know. The other Acclaim "Robins" is Clem Robins so I am going to check with him as well.

 

Thanks,

 

Iggy

 

Hi, yes, I was an editor at Acclaim for about three years (and yes, I had an Acclaim softball jersey because I was on the team; one of my daughters has it now).

 

My brother Clem did some art for me in the Classics Illustrated line, but in comics he's better known in the industry for his fine lettering.

 

That make it all plain?

 

Best,

 

Madeleine

 

Madeleine E Robins -> her daughter -> San Francisco thrift shop -> San Francisco buyer -> San Francisco buyer moves to New York -> sells on eBay to me (who is in the San Francisco Bay Area) -> research to determine jersey belonged to Madeleine E Robins

 

 

 

[iggy101us]

Is this the error version or is it extreme?

 

That's pretty cool. I think it's a a really bad case of ink rub!

[RockMyAmadeus]

1) Very cool stuff!

 

2) Your letter that references the two Gold books (A+A 0 & EW # 1) is further evidence of my contention that they were released at the same time.

 

Yes, A+A 0 came out before EW 1. But Valiant, never distinguished between them when first distributing them at shows, to fans by mail, etc. They're tied (with the EW 1 embossed coming out a few weeks later).

 

I'll never win this battle in the marketplace because 20+ years later logic would dictate that the A+A gold would have been produced before the EW due to the regular books' cover dates, but the reality is Valiant wasn't yet that organized. The books actually appeared a) together and b) a bit later on.

 

Aside from not being sure it really matters, look at the books. The EW #1 gold is the embossed, not the flat.

 

When the books are sitting in cases at the offices, as they were, handed out at cons and to fans through the mail, there really isn't a "release" date for them.

[RockMyAmadeus]

This is one of the more unique items in my collection - a used softball jersey that belonged to Acclaim editor Madeleine E. Robins. She was an editor at Acclaim Comics for about 3 years for Armed and Dangerous, Magnus Robot Fighter, Shadowman and other titles.

 

According to Bernard Chang, there were 3 official softball jerseys:

 

the first version were the old bloodshot (green sleeved) jerseys with number printed on the back.

 

the second version, which is the one sported in the pictures you posted, have everything sewn on a black-pinnstriped cotton jersey.

 

the third and last was a red-pinnstripped cotton jersey with "acclaim comics" screen-printed on the front.

 

there was also a valiant cap, which was part of the valiant line of clothes.

Below is the email exchange tracking down the history of the jersey:

 

Hi,

 

This may be a weird question but were you an editor at Acclaim Comics? If so, do you know anything about this Acclaim softball jersey? I am trying to track down the history and wonder if you know. The other Acclaim "Robins" is Clem Robins so I am going to check with him as well.

 

Thanks,

 

Iggy

 

Hi, yes, I was an editor at Acclaim for about three years (and yes, I had an Acclaim softball jersey because I was on the team; one of my daughters has it now).

 

My brother Clem did some art for me in the Classics Illustrated line, but in comics he's better known in the industry for his fine lettering.

 

That make it all plain?

 

Best,

 

Madeleine

 

Madeleine E Robins -> her daughter -> San Francisco thrift shop -> San Francisco buyer -> San Francisco buyer moves to New York -> sells on eBay to me (who is in the San Francisco Bay Area) -> research to determine jersey belonged to Madeleine E Robins

 

 

 

Interesting...Clem Robins also happened to letter X-Men #117, which I had in my hand last night, and noticed that it was not Orzechowski.

[iggy101us]

The bronze X-O ring is the most common of all but it's still pretty hard to track down. All the other ones rarely show up for sale, with the silver ones being EXTREMELY difficult to locate.

 

X-O Manowar bronze ring, X-O Manowar silver ring, Ninjak bronze ring, Ninjak silver ring

 

[THB]

The bronze X-O ring is the most common of all but it's still pretty hard to track down. All the other ones rarely show up for sale, with the silver ones being EXTREMELY difficult to locate.

 

X-O Manowar bronze ring, X-O Manowar silver ring, Ninjak bronze ring, Ninjak silver ring

 

oooohhhhhh

[AshKenziePaul]

Speaking of winning Valiant comic books.....way back in the days of when Wizard Magazine was popular, my brother and I quickly solved and sent in a Star Wars word puzzle thing (if memory serves correct) and we ended up being the winners of their Unity give away. I still have the congratulations letter from Wizard and a couple of the issues from the Unity set.

 

I would've much rather won some gold issues like you guys, but that wasn't the prize. I had to search hard back when they came out to get my hands on an Eternal Warrior 1 gold and a Rai 9 gold.

 

That letter from Wizard is probably more valuable to a Valiant collector than the books (even if they were gold).

There were very few official Valiant letters (or Valiant-sponsored letters like Wizard prizes) that survived,

so collectors generally pay a premium when they can get something that ties directly to the early Valiant offices.

 

So I went to find the Wizard letter and I found a couple of other interesting Valiant related items that were next to it inside a file.

 

 

...and then there was this Bob Hall sketch of Master Darque that he did for me way back when at SF wondercon.....

 

....and this Joe Q signed print or whatever it is....I really can't remember any details on this aside that I've had it for a long time.