Will Aliens Vol 1 reach cult status 1 1

[Microchip]

On 9/17/2023 at 6:21 PM, Parabellum said:

I would hold on to it, now isn’t the time to sell.  I personally think the $7500 sale was the outlier.  I’d put this book between $3-4K, currently.  The updated label hasn’t caught up to the market yet.  It’s possible that with the new first appearances added the value may increase.

Agreed, on all points.

The $3-4k selling point was considered high before the $7500 sale happened.  The needle hasn't moved on the 9.6 copies as a result of that sale, which is surprising.  They are the easiest route to getting a 9.8 copy.    Easiest, but not the surest way. 

[LDarkseid1]

Aww so the $7500 was the outlier. Yeah think I’ll just wait then, maybe for the next Alien movie to come out, assuming that even has any affect anymore

[Parabellum]

On 9/17/2023 at 5:04 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

Aww so the $7500 was the outlier. Yeah think I’ll just wait then, maybe for the next Alien movie to come out, assuming that even has any affect anymore

Definitely a good move.  Let’s hope that if there is a new movie is not pure garbage like the last couple.  I hate saying it but the Aliens move to Marvel will probably have a positive effect on these earlier books, Marvel just has a bigger fan base.  Dark Horse was and always will be a niche comic publisher.  

[Microchip]

On 9/18/2023 at 1:08 AM, Parabellum said:

Definitely a good move.  Let’s hope that if there is a new movie is not pure garbage like the last couple.  I hate saying it but the Aliens move to Marvel will probably have a positive effect on these earlier books, Marvel just has a bigger fan base.  Dark Horse was and always will be a niche comic publisher.  

I was actively deep into my LCS when these issues came out, and DH was on the ascent.  IO like to think their publisher credentials have well and truly been established, particularly with this franchise, & Predator.   They've consistently given us great follow on series, and kept things moving.   

I recently missed out on Cheval Noir #1 on the last clink auction.   No key-ness about the issue at all, but still went for $600.   From my stand point, that was a substantial result.

[LDarkseid1]

Does anyone know why issue 2 has the census numbers it does? Roughly just 10% the amount of graded copies to issue 1, and considerably fewer 9.8’s as well. Which makes sense of course considering the fact there’s soo many fewer copies graded. A 9.8 just sold for $2350 on eBay. Pretty impressive sale.

[Nschenks]

On 9/17/2023 at 7:35 AM, Microchip said:

Agreed, on all points.

The $3-4k selling point was considered high before the $7500 sale happened.  The needle hasn't moved on the 9.6 copies as a result of that sale, which is surprising.  They are the easiest route to getting a 9.8 copy.    Easiest, but not the surest way. 

Normally I'd agree with this, considering the something like 10x or more multiplier for 9.8's compared to 9.6's...but in reality I'm pretty sure like 98% of the 9.6's are 9.6's because of very obvious (and usually multiple) color-breaking spine ticks. I'd be willing to bet almost all of the current 9.6's would have no chance at 9.8--which, I'll admit, is pretty unusual. But it's an all black, fairly thick cover that marks veryyy easily. Not a ton of pressable defects, which is one of the reasons 9.8's are so hard with this book (#2 is the same way). 9.6's move pretty quick so it seems people are trying it, but I'd be curious how many actually bump. But that stark contrast between 9.6's and 9.8's of this book might explain why 9.6's are valued so much lower. (*A good comp might be Amazing Spider-Man #301--incidentally published the same year: similar 10x multiplier because it's fairly common in 9.6 but really, really frickin hard to get in 9.8 due to a comparable ticks-on-black-cover issue).

Edited September 18, 2023 by Nsschenks

[Nschenks]

On 9/17/2023 at 11:07 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

Does anyone know why issue 2 has the census numbers it does? Roughly just 10% the amount of graded copies to issue 1, and considerably fewer 9.8’s as well. Which makes sense of course considering the fact there’s soo many fewer copies graded. A 9.8 just sold for $2350 on eBay. Pretty impressive sale.

My guess would be it hasn't reached a high census count because it isn't really a key in any way and only really has intrinsic value to collectors of the series. That said, it has a similar black cover to #1 and is as hard or almost as hard to get a 9.8 in. I imagine if people catch on and the census count on 9.8's rises, the book will drop considerably, but at the same time it's been selling at 2k-ish for a while now and the census count has only gone up by 1 or something in the last year or so. The small number of 9.8's combined with the tough cover probably explains the price some--that, and I would imagine there are more than 12 people who are collecting this series in 9.8--the recent sale was very fast if I recall. Meanwhile, #3-6 are both more common and have much, much (much) easier covers.

[LDarkseid1]

On 9/17/2023 at 8:35 PM, Nsschenks said:

My guess would be it hasn't reached a high census count because it isn't really a key in any way and only really has intrinsic value to collectors of the series. That said, it has a similar black cover to #1 and is as hard or almost as hard to get a 9.8 in. I imagine if people catch on and the census count on 9.8's rises, the book will drop considerably, but at the same time it's been selling at 2k-ish for a while now and the census count has only gone up by 1 or something in the last year or so. The small number of 9.8's combined with the tough cover probably explains the price some--that, and I would imagine there are more than 12 people who are collecting this series in 9.8--the recent sale was very fast if I recall. Meanwhile, #3-6 are both more common and have much, much (much) easier covers.

Ok that makes sense. I just sent in another copy of issue 1 and a copy of issue 2 I came across. Both extremely cherry. Keeping my fingers crossed, but I think I have a shot at a 9.8 with atleast one. I’d actually prefer it be issue 2 so I have 9.8‘s of issue 1 and 2. 😁

[Microchip]

On 9/18/2023 at 2:10 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

On 9/18/2023 at 1:35 PM, Nsschenks said:

My guess would be it hasn't reached a high census count because it isn't really a key in any way and only really has intrinsic value to collectors of the series. That said, it has a similar black cover to #1 and is as hard or almost as hard to get a 9.8 in. I imagine if people catch on and the census count on 9.8's rises, the book will drop considerably, but at the same time it's been selling at 2k-ish for a while now and the census count has only gone up by 1 or something in the last year or so. The small number of 9.8's combined with the tough cover probably explains the price some--that, and I would imagine there are more than 12 people who are collecting this series in 9.8--the recent sale was very fast if I recall. Meanwhile, #3-6 are both more common and have much, much (much) easier covers.

Ok that makes sense. I just sent in another copy of issue 1 and a copy of issue 2 I came across. Both extremely cherry. Keeping my fingers crossed, but I think I have a shot at a 9.8 with atleast one. I’d actually prefer it be issue 2 so I have 9.8‘s of issue 1 and 2. 😁

Each issue came out without warning at all, and not on any kind of schedule at all.   This wasn't 6 issues over 6 months.  

I remember at my LCS, you had to just turn up on the right day, and there was some copies of one of the issues.   So the LCS didn't order many either, as all the momentum from each issue was lost with the delays in publishing.

[Microchip]

6 issues over 14 months in total.

[LDarkseid1]

On 9/17/2023 at 9:53 PM, Microchip said:

Each issue came out without warning at all, and not on any kind of schedule at all.   This wasn't 6 issues over 6 months.  

I remember at my LCS, you had to just turn up on the right day, and there was some copies of one of the issues.   So the LCS didn't order many either, as all the momentum from each issue was lost with the delays in publishing.

Did the series have a small print run?

[Microchip]

On 9/18/2023 at 3:06 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

Did the series have a small print run?

From what I saw it was popular at the time, but the release schedule really derailed things.  I kinda gave up on the series myself.   14 months is forever as young guy.

I think the books survived with good census numbers because it was such a well regarded series, and collectors treated it accordingly.   DH collectors were more serious.   This is the same time Jim Lee was coming on the scene, Marc Silvestri had already elevated the x-men, so this was the independent collectors go-to publisher for regular titles and books.  Secondly, the books were published with good paper stock, no printing issues, and no issues with the books straight off the shelves.   I think this has helped the high grade count for the books, while the publishing schedule hurt things overall.

 

[Nschenks]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:53 AM, Microchip said:

Each issue came out without warning at all, and not on any kind of schedule at all.   This wasn't 6 issues over 6 months.  

I remember at my LCS, you had to just turn up on the right day, and there was some copies of one of the issues.   So the LCS didn't order many either, as all the momentum from each issue was lost with the delays in publishing.

Ah ok that makes sense--I was wondering why the indicia dates were so spread out. #2 I think was 4 months after the first print of #1? May to September if I recall. Kinda crazy.

[Nschenks]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:10 AM, LDarkseid1 said:

Ok that makes sense. I just sent in another copy of issue 1 and a copy of issue 2 I came across. Both extremely cherry. Keeping my fingers crossed, but I think I have a shot at a 9.8 with atleast one. I’d actually prefer it be issue 2 so I have 9.8‘s of issue 1 and 2. 😁

Nice good luck! I bought a full set a while back that all looked 9.8 but the box got dropped in shipping and corner crunched every single book 

[LDarkseid1]

On 9/18/2023 at 8:43 AM, Nsschenks said:

Nice good luck! I bought a full set a while back that all looked 9.8 but the box got dropped in shipping and corner crunched every single book 

That’s extremely sad! Were you able to have them pressed out?

[Nschenks]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:45 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

That’s extremely sad! Were you able to have them pressed out?

Nah I just ended up returning them. They were very clean otherwise, but the corner damage was color-breaking across all the books. Really poorly packed, unfortunately. 

[LDarkseid1]

On 9/18/2023 at 10:10 AM, Nsschenks said:

Nah I just ended up returning them. They were very clean otherwise, but the corner damage was color-breaking across all the books. Really poorly packed, unfortunately. 

Damn that’s a bummer!

[F For Fake]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:53 AM, Microchip said:

Each issue came out without warning at all, and not on any kind of schedule at all.   This wasn't 6 issues over 6 months.  

I remember at my LCS, you had to just turn up on the right day, and there was some copies of one of the issues.   So the LCS didn't order many either, as all the momentum from each issue was lost with the delays in publishing.

Indeed, the struggle was real. My first issue was a second print of #1, bought off the rack at my comic shop, but it took well over a year for the series to wrap up. Felt like an eternity at that age, roughly 12 years old.

As for the census of #2, it's always been the toughest issue. I have my #1 9.8 years before I managed to grab a #2, and at the time I think there were only 4 copies in the census. High grade copies are just straight up tough to come by.

As for the print runs, the book sold well, and demand increased as the series progressed, hence the five printings of #1. As for value, I'd tend to agree with the esteemed @Parabellum. $3500-ish for a #1 9.8 seems right to me, based on census and demand. The $7500 was an outlier, if not an outright head-scratcher, and considering the venue, I would not rule out shenanigans.

As for selling, I (generally) don't sell my Aliens books, but I would definitely advise holding off for the time being. The new movie hits next summer, and the tv series will follow at whatever point the strike ends and they can wrap filming. So, who knows, but the point is Alien is about to be more visible in the commercial sphere than it has been in years. it may not move the needle MUCH, but every little bit helps.

[Microchip]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:06 AM, F For Fake said:

Indeed, the struggle was real. My first issue was a second print of #1, bought off the rack at my comic shop, but it took well over a year for the series to wrap up. Felt like an eternity at that age, roughly 12 years old.

As for the census of #2, it's always been the toughest issue. I have my #1 9.8 years before I managed to grab a #2, and at the time I think there were only 4 copies in the census. High grade copies are just straight up tough to come by.

My first issue was #2, then a reprint of #1.   

The book stood out from the get go, the art was outstanding, and this is in the era of Moebius, Ricard Corban, and Dave Stevens.  And Mark Verheiden was a rare talent in the comic world, and quickly disappeared into TV/movie work.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Microchip

[Nschenks]

On 9/1/2023 at 8:43 PM, Parabellum said:

Thank you!  It’s been a long road (since 2016).  Finding a copy is easy, the challenge is finding it in high grade.  As of now there aren’t any copies graded at 9.8.  The raw copies I find are not 9.8 candidates.

Crazy expensive, but just ran across this on eBay and I remembered you mentioning the 2nd print.

Just in case you missed it and are interested!