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The Gold Key Star Trek #1 Club
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56 posts in this topic

Or i'm just a buffoon!  Anyway, my ticket to the club is at CGC. .I really, really love this book, and I can hardly express what Star Trek has meant to me (and still does....my family, including my recent college grad son, watches the old and newer series all over again every few years in marathon style!).  

 

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HEY HEY  HEY!  I mean, GRRRRR!   Hold on now.  I absolutely love Star Trek #1.  The only reason i waited this long to get a copy was because, in an effort to retain my sanity, I prioritized my SA Marvel and some GA hunt.  But Star Trek is way more important to me than most Marvel or DC franchises to date.  I just haven't looked into Star Trek books until now.  

Edited by Pantodude
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15 minutes ago, Pantodude said:

HEY HEY  HEY!  I mean, GRRRRR!   Hold on now.  I absolutely love Star Trek #1.  The only reason i waited this long to get a copy was because, in an effort to retain my sanity, I prioritized my SA Marvel and some GA hunt.  But Star Trek is way more important to me than most Marvel or DC franchises to date.  I just haven't looked into Star Trek books until now.  

I think now’s the time to get it before it goes nuts like the rest of the hobby. It can still be found at a reasonable price in most cases although I’m seeing people asking 4 figures for high grade copies or signed books from the original cast. I’d love to own a copy signed by Nimoy, Shatner, and Kelly to go along with the mego figures in my collection.

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2 hours ago, namisgr said:

It's been discussed before on the Boards.  There's doubt that a second version of #1 exists.

This is the version that it seems every copy has:

7441971%5D,sizedata%5B850x600%5D&call=ur

I’ve seen sellers label their auctions as “back cover variant” before too but I’ve never seen one depicting anything besides the Kirk photo. I wonder if there’s a Whitman variant somewhere in the world.

I had heard rumors of a 15 cent price variant existing but to my knowledge that only holds true with issue 2. 

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Decades ago, a friend of mine told Overstreet that there was a paper cover Turok Giant 1 (1966).  It was an honest mistake on his part.  There exists Gold Key giants with paper covers and my friend assumed that the Turok Giant must follow the same logic.  It doesn't.  Now seemingly, we can't get this error corrected anywhere.

Even today, if I'm not mistaken, Overstreet lists a paper cover Turok Giant #1.  I've even seen CGC labels that list the Giant as "Slick Cover Variant"  or some derivative thereof.  

Gold Key Star Trek #1 seems to be a victim of similar assumptions and presumptions.

Edited by pemart1966
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I'm looking at the 32 edition of Overstreet which is 2002.  That edition states #1 rare variant photo back cover, it has its own price line item along with 2 and 3.  Both 2 and 3 do have variant back covers.  CGC did not do its own research, comically it was almost a 50/50 split when they created labels with photo variant back cover, when all the copies were exactly the same.   The final verdict is there has only been one back cover, including inside covers, no variant has proven to exist. 

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Here's a question for those that are interested in discussing these things.

First up, I don't know myself without researching how many of each of the different cover types were made of the Star Treks of this thread. But for the sake of argument, let's take issue #3 with its two covers extant:

st7.thumb.PNG.83b7365ba0c3e0f270bea2f1da682c49.PNG

If it were the case that an equal number of each were printed, then in my view of word 'variant' would not come into play at all. One could not be called a variant of the other if it was not clear that one edition type was the 'main' or regular edition and the other its junior - and therefore variant - by way of a limited comparable print run for a targeted purpose.

So on a 50/50 split, I would expect CGC to label them as:

  • Star Trek #3 Photo Back Cover
  • Star Trek #3 Advert Back Cover

If, however, all issues in the run had an advert back cover and, say, only 1 in 10 had a photo back cover on certain issues only, then you could legitimately call the advert back cover editions the 'main' or regular issues and any photo back cover versions as their variants.

Anyone disagree?

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4 minutes ago, ThothAmon said:

I’ll be your huckleberry. Variant can just mean different it does not have to be limited in any way.  Candidly it seems in comic book vernacular “variant “ (especially for modern books) is widely thought to mean fewer also. 

In the case of a 50/50 split of edition types though, both are different to the other. So if a deciding factor for variant status is a lower print run, which is the variant?

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...or which was printed first before distribution. The ad version may have been discontinued due to a merchant not paying so the publisher switched to the photo back cover or the advertiser came in and paid a premium to get the ad published asap. STOP THE PRESSES! We’ve got a change to print. Scrap the photo, this advertiser will pay 3 cents per back cover printed before distribution.

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10 hours ago, ThothAmon said:

I’ll be your huckleberry. Variant can just mean different it does not have to be limited in any way.  Candidly it seems in comic book vernacular “variant “ (especially for modern books) is widely thought to mean fewer also. 

var·i·ant
/ˈverēənt/
 
noun
 
  1. a form or version of something that differs in some respect from other forms of the same thing or from a standard.
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Wow that's a beauty up there! I don't think there are too many WP #1s? I have no idea as to the value of Trek books? Incidentally I just saw the Carol Burnett episode where Spock makes a brief cameo. 

Favorite episodes

1. The carbomite maneuver 

2. Mirror, mirror 🤘👍

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On 2/20/2021 at 4:13 PM, Topnotchman said:

I'm looking at the 32 edition of Overstreet which is 2002.  That edition states #1 rare variant photo back cover, it has its own price line item along with 2 and 3.  

That's because Overstreet did not correct this in his guide until his 40th Edition which came out in 2010.  Prior to that, as you have correctly stated, he had always indicated a photo back cover variant for Star Trek #1.  I believe CGC was simply going by what was in Overstreet when they did up their labels at that time.  (thumbsu

The question remains whether this was an oversight and mistake made by Overstreet or one of those intentional "errors" that he knowingly places into his guide for copyright purposes.  hm  (shrug)

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