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Archer and Armstrong #0 Gold, thoughts? (and Valiant in general)

Started by Hickok8AA8,

23 posts in this topic

Hickok8AA8

Hickok8AA8

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So I am just learning more about valiant comics, but it's tricky. There doesn't seem to be tons of discussion, speculation, or mention other than a handful of google articles results. Are they the red headed step child of moderns? Maybe I just don't know where to look? Sometimes the online comic world can seem kind of secretive or "hidden", to have so many fans and fellow comic nerds online you'd think there would be WAY more activity.

 

Anyway, there seems to demand and plenty of spec with the Sony movie deal and all. To a newbie Valiant seems to be a strong line up and semi-decent pricing to get in on some of the more rare books.

 

I am looking into a NM/NM+ (possible 9.8) raw Archer and Armstrong #0 Gold to start my collection, and just wondering if I could get some personal opinions and thoughts on this particular issue, and collecting valiant in general. I don't know if it's frowned upon to ask, but what would you value a raw 9.6-9.8 book at, and would it even be worth investing in?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

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Real Elijah Snow

Real Elijah Snow

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http://www.valiantfans.com/forum/

 

The absolute best place for Valiant info. There are a lot of genuine Valiant fans there. I could be biased, but I don't think there exists another more loyal group of people dedicated to one company's characters.

On A&A #0 Gold in particular, you could do a lot worse than starting there. I'd put it firmly in the top 20 Valiant books, maybe even top 10 investment wise. Beyond that, the entire BWS run is a fantastic read.

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GeeksAreMyPeeps

GeeksAreMyPeeps

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I'm a Valiantfans member. Really good community over there. Greg, who runs the site, is a member here too. There are actually quite a few of us here.

 

There hasn't been much in the way of Valiant movie news since the initial announcement. When/if there are updates, names attached to projects, etc., I expect there are a few books that should pop again. A&A #0 Gold is a good pick, due to the age, the limited nature of that book, and the fact that it contains first appearances. Oddly, many non-incentive current releases have similar print numbers to the Gold books from back in the day, so if movies help Valiant take off, there are a lot of recent books that could see a pop as well.

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Hickok8AA8

Hickok8AA8

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Thank you for the tip on valiant fans! Not sure how I missed that haha

 

As far as I know, Beijing company DMG has already invested or is in a contract for BILLION(s?) to Valiant in a "partnership for feature-film financing as well as publishing, television and licensing opportunities". Also specifically mentioning a FIVE movie deal for Bloodshot and Harbinger seems too specific too early to be a "maybe".

 

It's possible that I haven't been deep enough into the scene long enough to know better, but it sounds a lot more like "when" than "if" to me. Speculation is speculation, anything can happen but is that not a big deal?

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JayT

JayT

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Thank you for the tip on valiant fans! Not sure how I missed that haha

 

As far as I know, Beijing company DMG has already invested or is in a contract for BILLION(s?) to Valiant in a "partnership for feature-film financing as well as publishing, television and licensing opportunities". Also specifically mentioning a FIVE movie deal for Bloodshot and Harbinger seems too specific too early to be a "maybe".

 

It's possible that I haven't been deep enough into the scene long enough to know better, but it sounds a lot more like "when" than "if" to me. Speculation is speculation, anything can happen but is that not a big deal?

 

I think when it was announced it sounded like a big deal but I think the Sony hack had a lot to with some Sony shuffling and announcements, be it delays or premature announcements.

 

A movie isn't a movie until a -script is written and picked, and a director is shooting it IMHO.

 

I have zero knowledge of the details so just talking out of my but on the surface the DMG deal seems like a cash influx and an opportune press release that has little bearing on a film in the U.S. being greenlit and shot, though that relationship could be fruitful regarding overseas markets in the event of a go film.

 

Sony was on a bit of a downturn but that has changed slightly recently, and has a new boss now in the movie division, and has had some cool announcements lately (Dark Tower and of course, the Marvel aided Spidey relaunch) so I guess we will see if we get some VALIANT in the future to add to it to.

 

Regarding the films and how it effects VALIANT collecting, the A&A gold is a favorite and has a lot going for it if a movie is ever announced, but it doesn't feel like that title has been at the forefront of movie buzz like Bloodshot has, but again, things are always fluid. It's definitely already a fave book though already with VALIANT fans, along with books like Harby #1.

 

As an aside, it's also a really great and fun comic and IMHO the class of the initial relaunch titles

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Jugger Grimrod

Jugger Grimrod

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The Valiant days of the early 90's....great time for comics. Seems like yesterday I was working for Diamond and got in the first shipment of them, back when were sorting comics the night before, I pulled a few aside and loved them. By the time Unity came around I think I had about four or five complete sets including a number of the variants. But as the years went by I ended up selling most of them. We have had a retailer seminar at the warehouse and Valiant sent out Shadowman artist Bob Hall, super nice guy, to meet the retailers, etc. Jim Shooter came out for a store signing so I couldn't pass up my chance to get some stuff signed including Solar #10 which I would recommend you pick up, that all black cover was classic. I miss those days, including the perks as I often would some of the leftover variants or be sent some gifts from Valiant directly such as the bottles of Armstrong Ale and Darque Brew, which were real bottles of beer with a note with each.

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Real Elijah Snow

Real Elijah Snow

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That, and Valiant took a creative nose-dive the last few years. I remember kind of liking some of the Chaos effect, but that was near the end of my enjoyment (and most everyone else's from the print runs). I was one of the people that bought Magnus #1 the wednesday it came out, and every other Valiant book that was released. Heck, I ordered 20 copies of Harbinger 1, X-O #1, Rai 1, I remember ordering at least 50 Solar #10's. I was pretty much ordering multiples for resell at small shows and cleaning up when Valiant really took off. My favorites were trading 2 Harbinger #1's for a VG X-men 1. 5 Solar #10's for a good JIM #83, Doing straight up 1 for 1 trades of books like (this is going to sound ridiculous) Rai #3 for mid grade Spidey #50, Harbinger 1 for mid grade Hulk 181. i got my first Ninja Turtles #1 by trading probably my lowest grade copy that I had cut the coupon out Harby #1! I even sold some of those books for $300+! I was getting $40-$50 for books like Shadowman#3 because NO ONE had them, and there was no Ebay. I could name about 50 of these trades and a bunch of sales, but you get the point. Now before anyone starts to think I was some kind of comic Nostradamus, I ordered roughly the same multiples of all of those Triumphant titles. (Anyone want a Chromium Man #1?) I liked those too, and thought they had potential. I also remember ordering an embarrassing amount of the Neal Adams continuity books. They seemed like can't miss! Anyway, yeah, early valiant. Awesome. Made lots of money. Loved the books. lol

And then the bubble popped
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JayT

JayT

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That, and Valiant took a creative nose-dive the last few years. I remember kind of liking some of the Chaos effect, but that was near the end of my enjoyment (and most everyone else's from the print runs). I was one of the people that bought Magnus #1 the wednesday it came out, and every other Valiant book that was released. Heck, I ordered 20 copies of Harbinger 1, X-O #1, Rai 1, I remember ordering at least 50 Solar #10's. I was pretty much ordering multiples for resell at small shows and cleaning up when Valiant really took off. My favorites were trading 2 Harbinger #1's for a VG X-men 1. 5 Solar #10's for a good JIM #83, Doing straight up 1 for 1 trades of books like (this is going to sound ridiculous) Rai #3 for mid grade Spidey #50, Harbinger 1 for mid grade Hulk 181. i got my first Ninja Turtles #1 by trading probably my lowest grade copy that I had cut the coupon out Harby #1! I even sold some of those books for $300+! I was getting $40-$50 for books like Shadowman#3 because NO ONE had them, and there was no Ebay. I could name about 50 of these trades and a bunch of sales, but you get the point. Now before anyone starts to think I was some kind of comic Nostradamus, I ordered roughly the same multiples of all of those Triumphant titles. (Anyone want a Chromium Man #1?) I liked those too, and thought they had potential. I also remember ordering an embarrassing amount of the Neal Adams continuity books. They seemed like can't miss! Anyway, yeah, early valiant. Awesome. Made lots of money. Loved the books. lol

And then the bubble popped

 

As strictly a reader/fan I think the genius move by VALIANT, which was a force in publications like Wizard that kept buzz alive, was that after, as a kid, merely being able to only read about early VALIANT titles because they accelerated so rapidly in prices for kids on an allowance, the put out there perfect jump on point out for free with Unity 0 with that perfect BWS group cover.

 

Totally had me hooked and buying into everything that came before and what was coming, and still my favorite crossover/event in comics. So ambitious, yet still so mainstream at the same time. Loved it.

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Real Elijah Snow

Real Elijah Snow

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Yup. Totally agree. By basically partnering with Wizard they created a demand for those early books that I haven't seen since. It basically happened between 2 shows for me. I was only 12-13 at the time, and there was a 6 month gap between my 1st and second mall show. I was literally the only one selling comics at what was mostly a baseball card show set up in the mall that first time, but by the second one nearly half of the baseball card guys had comics. NONE of them had early Valiant . By my third one they all had comics, but I was still the only one with a nice supply of pre unity stuff. I sold a decent amount to dealers, and also did trading with several of them for silver age keys. By this point I was ordering 30-50 of every new Image/Valiant book and getting a minimum of $5 per book up to $50! The demand was unbelievable for that stuff. Seriously, I sold multiple copies of Shadowhawk #1 for $50. (that one sticks out to me the most of the Image stuff because it's never made it's way out of the dollar boxes since then) Once my supply of early Valiant started to dwindle I realized that I had no way of getting those books back, so I set aside my nicest ones for myself, and kept 2 sets. I put crazy prices on my remaining stock, and they still sold! (That's around the time I got $300 for a Harbinger #1, $100 for Solar #10 etc/ also keep in mind this was early 90's money) It was an awesome time because not only was I the richest 7th-8th grader that I knew of, but I was LOVING the books themselves. My mother was struggling at the time being a single mom with three kids trying to finish college, so it felt good to be able to help out with bills and things. I also splurged on about the biggest boom box you've ever seen as well as building quite a nice library of Super Nintendo games. With the advent of the internet, I don't think we'll ever see regional scarcity affect the comic market in that manner again. To my knowledge Georgia was a state that was devoid of early Valiant. Every out of town dealer that I sold those books to for crazy prices were taking them back for their own customers either somewhere in GA, or one of the neighboring states. God only knows what they were getting for them to people out in the middle of nowhere that got the Valiant bug.

That, and Valiant took a creative nose-dive the last few years. I remember kind of liking some of the Chaos effect, but that was near the end of my enjoyment (and most everyone else's from the print runs). I was one of the people that bought Magnus #1 the wednesday it came out, and every other Valiant book that was released. Heck, I ordered 20 copies of Harbinger 1, X-O #1, Rai 1, I remember ordering at least 50 Solar #10's. I was pretty much ordering multiples for resell at small shows and cleaning up when Valiant really took off. My favorites were trading 2 Harbinger #1's for a VG X-men 1. 5 Solar #10's for a good JIM #83, Doing straight up 1 for 1 trades of books like (this is going to sound ridiculous) Rai #3 for mid grade Spidey #50, Harbinger 1 for mid grade Hulk 181. i got my first Ninja Turtles #1 by trading probably my lowest grade copy that I had cut the coupon out Harby #1! I even sold some of those books for $300+! I was getting $40-$50 for books like Shadowman#3 because NO ONE had them, and there was no Ebay. I could name about 50 of these trades and a bunch of sales, but you get the point. Now before anyone starts to think I was some kind of comic Nostradamus, I ordered roughly the same multiples of all of those Triumphant titles. (Anyone want a Chromium Man #1?) I liked those too, and thought they had potential. I also remember ordering an embarrassing amount of the Neal Adams continuity books. They seemed like can't miss! Anyway, yeah, early valiant. Awesome. Made lots of money. Loved the books. lol

And then the bubble popped

 

As strictly a reader/fan I think the genius move by VALIANT, which was a force in publications like Wizard that kept buzz alive, was that after, as a kid, merely being able to only read about early VALIANT titles because they accelerated so rapidly in prices for kids on an allowance, the put out there perfect jump on point out for free with Unity 0 with that perfect BWS group cover.

 

Totally had me hooked and buying into everything that came before and what was coming, and still my favorite crossover/event in comics. So ambitious, yet still so mainstream at the same time. Loved it.

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JayT

JayT

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VALIANT was definitely in North Carolina, but by the time I was really paying attention, books like Rai 3 and 4 were in incredible demand. Valiant titles were definitely wall book, or prime table spot items at a local weekly weekend flee market that had probably a dozen dedicated comic dealers. Was my favorite era of comics, which is probably the opposite of how many - I would guess older - collectors would feel. I was all in on that era of Valiant, Image, Legend comic out etc.

 

I actually landed my first "key" Valiants randomly during a road trip in Mississippi of all places. Looking for smokes and just to stretch out my legs we found some in a pile in a retail isle at like a Marshals/Tj Maxx, and thats where I got my first pre-Unity books. I think they bought a comic store that folded our flooded so they had several fixtures full of random comics, and one was full of Valiants.

 

I remember getting my Solar #3 etc there.

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Real Elijah Snow

Real Elijah Snow

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Wow! That's very cool. I bet you were pretty excited. Finding good books in places they shouldn't be is such a thrill.

I found a Daredevil #168 F/VF at a chevron gas station counter in a basket filled with drekkie 80's Superman comics. Kicker is that it was only like a year or so ago! "Why yes, I will buy this e-cig and a 1st Elektra in addition to filling my tank up". Such a weird feeling lol

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iggy101us

iggy101us

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The Valiant days of the early 90's....great time for comics. Seems like yesterday I was working for Diamond and got in the first shipment of them, back when were sorting comics the night before, I pulled a few aside and loved them. By the time Unity came around I think I had about four or five complete sets including a number of the variants. But as the years went by I ended up selling most of them. We have had a retailer seminar at the warehouse and Valiant sent out Shadowman artist Bob Hall, super nice guy, to meet the retailers, etc. Jim Shooter came out for a store signing so I couldn't pass up my chance to get some stuff signed including Solar #10 which I would recommend you pick up, that all black cover was classic. I miss those days, including the perks as I often would some of the leftover variants or be sent some gifts from Valiant directly such as the bottles of Armstrong Ale and Darque Brew, which were real bottles of beer with a note with each.

Armstrong Ale. Complete with original box and Valiant holiday card.

 

Beerpromo-ArmstrongAle.jpg

 

Darque Brew. Complete with original box and Acclaim holiday card.

 

Beerpromo-DarqueBrew2.jpg

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Jugger Grimrod

Jugger Grimrod

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Armstrong Ale. Complete with original box and Valiant holiday card.

 

Beerpromo-ArmstrongAle.jpg

 

Darque Brew. Complete with original box and Acclaim holiday card.

 

Beerpromo-DarqueBrew2.jpg

 

Thanks for the photos, those certainly brought back some memories! I remember when Rai #0 came in through the warehouse, we had glossy covers and non-glossy covers and people were trying to figure out if they were to be held due to a printing error but no one got back to us so we distributed them. Sometimes we were told to destroy books, I remember fondly when we were told to destroy a few remaining cases of Sandman #19 (I believe it was that issue) that had some pages printed upside down. They sat in the "too be recycled bin" until a friend took both boxes and sold them the next day to a guy in Hawaii for several hundreds of dollars. Wish I had thought of that. ;-)

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