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Will Aliens Vol 1 reach cult status
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284 posts in this topic

On 3/19/2022 at 9:30 PM, AnthaiHERO said:

Well dang. 

Screenshot_20220319-192925_eBay.jpg

Yeah,.... that was mostly me being a . :flamethrower: I've had an ache in my loins for this book in 9.8 for over a decade. I ALWAYS wind up the SECOND highest bidder. :preach: The winning bidder used poor bid strategy and allowed me to push the price into the stratosphere. The 3rd highest bidder got out at $500. So, if the winning bidder happens to be on here, Sorry. :foryou: If it makes you feel any better, the price on this copy should shake loose a few more so I can pick one up on the cheap. :devil:

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Wow, we were just talking about this a few months or even year or so ago, right? It comes up so rarely for sale, and census numbers are so thin, it was hard to establish what a base value for this book would be. I think my guess at the time was that it would be at least $1500. It's so much harder to find than #1, i think it's worth every penny of this price. I got mine for about $700 in trade value, and that was several years ago, and was thrilled to do it, because I'd been looking forever, and at the time, there were only 4 copies on the census. By comparison, I'd paid $350 for my #1. 

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On 3/21/2022 at 1:57 PM, F For Fake said:

Wow, we were just talking about this a few months or even year or so ago, right? It comes up so rarely for sale, and census numbers are so thin, it was hard to establish what a base value for this book would be. I think my guess at the time was that it would be at least $1500. It's so much harder to find than #1, i think it's worth every penny of this price. I got mine for about $700 in trade value, and that was several years ago, and was thrilled to do it, because I'd been looking forever, and at the time, there were only 4 copies on the census. By comparison, I'd paid $350 for my #1. 

@F For Fakeis correct very, very difficult book to find in 9.8.  Seems as though the follow up printings are easier to get in 9.8 than the first print.  Last time I checked the census still showed 9.8's in the single digits; 8 universal and 1 lone signature series.  I've had four opportunities to purchase a 9.8.  Once from @Iceman399back in 2015, the last 2016 eBay auction, and twice in 2019 off comic link.  I got smart after the first two times and bid on the comic link auctions, finally scoring mine in the fall of 2019 for $800.  I still regret not buying multiple copies of this book when I had the chance.  Not because of the prices but just the sheer difficulty of obtaining a copy.  I guess I should stop complaining considering I have bigger fish to fry trying to get all prints in 9.8, hahahahaha.  First world collectors problems.  Maybe with this last auction more will be submitted or more will pop up.  But I thought that as well in 2019 when one sold for over 1k on comic link.  Who knows, stranger things have happened.

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On 3/22/2022 at 12:54 PM, Parabellum said:

@F For Fakeis correct very, very difficult book to find in 9.8.  Seems as though the follow up printings are easier to get in 9.8 than the first print.  Last time I checked the census still showed 9.8's in the single digits; 8 universal and 1 lone signature series.  I've had four opportunities to purchase a 9.8.  Once from @Iceman399back in 2015, the last 2016 eBay auction, and twice in 2019 off comic link.  I got smart after the first two times and bid on the comic link auctions, finally scoring mine in the fall of 2019 for $800.  I still regret not buying multiple copies of this book when I had the chance.  Not because of the prices but just the sheer difficulty of obtaining a copy.  I guess I should stop complaining considering I have bigger fish to fry trying to get all prints in 9.8, hahahahaha.  First world collectors problems.  Maybe with this last auction more will be submitted or more will pop up.  But I thought that as well in 2019 when one sold for over 1k on comic link.  Who knows, stranger things have happened.

You know, I have to wonder if, at this point, what's out there is more or less accounted for. There are some raw copies locked away in personal collections, I'm sure, but I don't foresee the census ever exploding on #1 or 2 first printings. With those black covers, they are genuinely tough to find in grade, so I wonder how many slab candidates are actually out there. Not many, I'd wager. The fact that the earlier issues went through so many printings illustrates not only the demand for the book at the time, but also the fact that the initial print runs must have been pretty meager. I remember buying my second print of #1 off of the stands, and it had taken me completely by surprise, as I'd never even seen the first printing. I'm sure there were collectors that picked up #1 at the time to squirrel away, but how many also picked up #2 when it hit? I just don't think they're out there in appreciable numbers, at least not in 9.8. Would be happy to be proven wrong, though!

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On 3/22/2022 at 1:43 PM, The Meta said:

I remember the series being wall books, and always above $40 for number 1, this being early 90s

For sure, #1 was a $40-$50 book. I remember #2 being a little more like $15-20. Of course, eventually the heat died down, but even at its nadir, #1 1st was still a $15-$20 book, unless you got lucky. 

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On 3/22/2022 at 1:35 PM, F For Fake said:

You know, I have to wonder if, at this point, what's out there is more or less accounted for. There are some raw copies locked away in personal collections, I'm sure, but I don't foresee the census ever exploding on #1 or 2 first printings. With those black covers, they are genuinely tough to find in grade, so I wonder how many slab candidates are actually out there. Not many, I'd wager. The fact that the earlier issues went through so many printings illustrates not only the demand for the book at the time, but also the fact that the initial print runs must have been pretty meager. I remember buying my second print of #1 off of the stands, and it had taken me completely by surprise, as I'd never even seen the first printing. I'm sure there were collectors that picked up #1 at the time to squirrel away, but how many also picked up #2 when it hit? I just don't think they're out there in appreciable numbers, at least not in 9.8. Would be happy to be proven wrong, though!

You bring up a couple of great points, especially pertaining to print runs.  You figure when this series came out Dark Horse had only been around for two years.  I imagine for a new company like a lot of the independents back in the day (Caliber, Mirage, Comico, etc.) they only printed what they thought would sell and Im sure licensing the rights to produce Aliens comics was not cheap.  Having low print runs wasn't to manufacture rarity (opposite of today) but a decision made in the ways of fiscal responsibility.  I wouldn't have guessed that the Dark Horse books would be speculated on.  To me that would have been a big gamble, but I've been wrong many times, hahaha.  Your theory is sound in my opinion.  But for my sake lets hope that there are still some out there ready to be squished and slabbed.

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On 3/22/2022 at 10:44 AM, F For Fake said:

For sure, #1 was a $40-$50 book. I remember #2 being a little more like $15-20. Of course, eventually the heat died down, but even at its nadir, #1 1st was still a $15-$20 book, unless you got lucky. 

Reason why it took me forever to complete a raw run

Got lucky at a con one year and picked a set up for 120

Well sent in my 1 and it came back this, which isn't bad, really

 

20220210_184828.jpg

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On 3/22/2022 at 1:47 PM, Parabellum said:

You bring up a couple of great points, especially pertaining to print runs.  You figure when this series came out Dark Horse had only been around for two years.  I imagine for a new company like a lot of the independents back in the day (Caliber, Mirage, Comico, etc.) they only printed what they thought would sell and Im sure licensing the rights to produce Aliens comics was not cheap.  Having low print runs wasn't to manufacture rarity (opposite of today) but a decision made in the ways of fiscal responsibility.  I wouldn't have guessed that the Dark Horse books would be speculated on.  To me that would have been a big gamble, but I've been wrong many times, hahaha.  Your theory is sound in my opinion.  But for my sake lets hope that there are still some out there ready to be squished and slabbed.

I'm sure there is some print run data out there somewhere, but I'll leave it to a brighter and more tenacious boardie to dig it up. But I would have to imagine it would be relatively slight. Sure, it was a licensed book from a hit film, but it was also a b&W indie from an at-the-time lesser known publisher. Dark Horse was a far cry from what they would become. The print run was probably higher than their other titles, but compared to Marvel and DC, I'm sure it was fairly slim. But once they had a hit on their hands, they were eager to get them out to readers. Five printings on #1 alone would indicate that demand far outstripped their sales expectations.

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On 3/22/2022 at 10:53 AM, F For Fake said:

I'm sure there is some print run data out there somewhere, but I'll leave it to a brighter and more tenacious boardie to dig it up. But I would have to imagine it would be relatively slight. Sure, it was a licensed book from a hit film, but it was also a b&W indie from an at-the-time lesser known publisher. Dark Horse was a far cry from what they would become. The print run was probably higher than their other titles, but compared to Marvel and DC, I'm sure it was fairly slim. But once they had a hit on their hands, they were eager to get them out to readers. Five printings on #1 alone would indicate that demand far outstripped their sales expectations.

Absolutely. The book was a unimaginative hit. I think it caught Dark Horse by surprise

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Until I got my 9.8, my #1 was a "NM" I'd bought during a sale at Mile High. Their prices were, of course, outrageous, but with their coupon at the time, combined with Aliens being relatively cooled off (would have been mid/late 90's) I think I paid $15 for it, plus shipping (I bundled some other books in as well. Mile High used to have terrific $1 sales.)

The copy they sent was a far cry from NM, so I wrote them, and to their credit, they let me keep it, and sent me a much nicer copy. I never got it graded, I'd say it was pretty safely a 9.2. I sold all of my raws to fund my slabbed collection (minus the #2) so that's why I'm still rebuying some stuff today. I wish I still had that copy, though. 

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On 3/22/2022 at 1:55 PM, Parabellum said:

I look at my registry sometimes and wonder "why did I do this to myself..." :facepalm:lol.

 

Better you than me! I was satisfied with the 1st print set. Once they added the later printings to the registry set, I had to step aside and let a better man take the lead ha

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On 3/22/2022 at 1:57 PM, F For Fake said:

Better you than me! I was satisfied with the 1st print set. Once they added the later printings to the registry set, I had to step aside and let a better man take the lead ha

"Better"...You spelled "ridiculous" wrong.lol  Oh and that was my fault in regards to the addition of the later printings.  I ruined everything.  Maybe we should request a first print only registry set.

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On 3/22/2022 at 1:58 PM, The Meta said:

I'm just glad I've held on to the 9.6s I've picked up over the years

 

Have to add, I think I'm going to regret having sold my number 1s for 600 and 750 respectively 

It's good you've held onto the 9.6's, that's very smart, I wish I'd kept my undercopies. For a few years I had the 9.6 of #1 & #2 as my place holders, as I didn't expect the 9.8's to ever show up. I also had a 9.4 of #1. After I got my 9.8 set, I sold the undercopies, because at the time, there was very little interest in the book. Probably sold them at a loss, too. Definitely ripped myself off there, but it wasn't the first or last time!

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