• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Miracleman 1 Gold sells for $1500

Started by matewan1990,

33 posts in this topic

kidcolt

kidcolt

Posted
Posted

I guess there are at least 2 people who belives it, you and the buyer 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Any limited comic by Moore with his auto on it should be valuable. The hype from the movie is going to help hype all his stuff. I wish I had the other 399 I would sell them all and buy one back in 2 years time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
matewan1990

matewan1990

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I guess there are at least 2 people who belives it, you and the buyer 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Any limited comic by Moore with his auto on it should be valuable. The hype from the movie is going to help hype all his stuff. I wish I had the other 399 I would sell them all and buy one back in 2 years time.

 

It's not a book that just suddenly got hot, you know. It's been around for 20-plus years and, for a long time, no one even believed they actually existed. But, I knew, and searched and searched to find a copy. I even had a lead on two copies in Knoxville, Tenn., but the owner refused to sell them. I even offered a grand for the gold and probably would have given just as much for the blue at that time.

This is a rare, rare comic. There probably aren't 399 of them left, because many people are believed to have actually thrown their certificates away (they're just yellow pieces of paper advertising the San Diego Comicon, but with the number of the comic on the bottom), thus making the Golds that much rarer. A comic shop in 2003 sold a copy for $1500. I traded one of my copies away for $1500.

I actually looked for this rarity for more than 10 years before finding a copy. Then, I found my first copy on accident and my second copy, bought more than four years ago, cost me nearly $300. I later found a No. 1 Blue (limited to 600, but not signed by Alan Moore; signed, instead, by Cat Yronwode and Dean Mullaney, the publishers) that cost me nearly $200.

A few years ago, I wrote an article about the Blues and Golds for Comic Book Marketplace and the dealer from out in the northwest saw it and realized he had a low-numbered copy. He asked me what I'd give for it and I told him that before I ever found mine, I was offering $1000 for it. So, he told one of his custumers, who was a Miracleman fan, that he had the issue and was going to put it out for sale. The customer then offered him $1500 for the book and he sold it to him without it ever actually reaching the back issue bins of his store.

Earlier this year, when I was needing cash to buy a piece of art, I offered to sell mine for about what I have in them. There were several people interested, who tried to get me down on the price, but after listening to a few offers, I declined to sell my last copies of the gold and blue, preferring, instead, to wait and see what happened in the future.

So, I'm glad that I held onto them.

Mike B.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
matewan1990

matewan1990

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Just sold mine earlier this year for $500. Was graded 8.5 and I cracked it out of the slab. Some folks offered me $300 and $350 but I turned them down and my patience paid off.

 

If and when Marvel reprints Miracleman, or whoever does, these Golds and Blues are going to go up in value. They're really pretty cool collectibles and are actually the first company-offered variants, since Eclipse sold these at the San Diego Comicon through American Comics and, I think, at least one other comic shop, and used the first 1,000 copies off the press (in most cases, though, that's not a good thing; there's a wrinkle on each and every copy of the Golds and Blues due to a flaw in the printing process).

One other Miracleman collectible that's not mentioned a whole lot are the Golds that aren't numbered. These were signed by Moore, Yronwode and Mullaney and were sold directly through Eclipse, but weren't from the first 1,000. I've only found two of those since I found my first two copies of the numbered Gold edition.

I'd say those are pretty rare, too, but not nearly as rare as those sold at the convention. Those sold through Eclipse were pretty pricey, if I remember correctly, and I think the Gold was $50 and the Blue was $25. That was quite expensive back then, especially for a new comic that had a really high print run.

Mike B.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pkveronese

pkveronese

Posted
Posted
Does it bother anyone else that these are basically regular copies with a stamp on them and they go for such crazy prices? I know it bothers me.

 

I think you're thinking of the Totleben foil stamp covers. But, to me, this idea somewhat applies to gold and blue signature editions as well. The only real difference being the certificate and the signatures bothers me quite a bit. I really think this aspect will hurt their value in the long run - and its the main reason I really don't desire this book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
matewan1990

matewan1990

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Does it bother anyone else that these are basically regular copies with a stamp on them and they go for such crazy prices? I know it bothers me.

 

I think you're thinking of the Totleben foil stamp covers. But, to me, this idea somewhat applies to gold and blue signature editions as well. The only real difference being the certificate and the signatures bothers me quite a bit. I really think this aspect will hurt their value in the long run - and its the main reason I really don't desire this book.

 

Variant covers collectors and Miracleman completists will keep this book hot.

The Totleben stamped covers are NOT AUTHENTIC gold editions and should be noted as non-authentic editions. Those are the same as a remarked edition because they were done years after Eclipse went out of business with a stamp not authorized by Eclipse nor the copyright holders of the Miracleman character. It's like a bootleg gold edition. Anyone could make one. Get a stamp of a Totleben image and start stamping your own and call them "GOLD" editions. Note also that these only started appearing AFTER the golds and blues were listed in Overstreet correctly and a comic shop that bought Cat Yronwode's surplus warehouse copies saw investment potential in these "bootleg" editions.

The Totleben-stamped editions are warehouse copies with a gold stamp of Miracleman drawn by Totleben on the cover. It's no different than adding a signature after a comic has been published for a few years.

The Miracleman 1 Gold and Blue is an authentic variant comic, in that it was an edition that was approved and set up by its publishing house, Eclipse, to be sold at a convention, thus making it a convention exclusive.

Miracleman completists who don't own this edition will — and should (if they want a complete collection) — always want one. I have the 3D edition, but not the 2D, so I want one. Is the story different? Nope. Is there a different cover? Nope. But, there is a variation and that makes it collectible.

Why would anyone want a cover price variant or a color variant comic that's essentially a printing error edition? Because it's something they don't have that they need to complete their collection. It's the nature of the collecting beast to want what we don't have when we are collecting something.

Mike B.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pkveronese

pkveronese

Posted
Posted
Does it bother anyone else that these are basically regular copies with a stamp on them and they go for such crazy prices? I know it bothers me.

 

I think you're thinking of the Totleben foil stamp covers. But, to me, this idea somewhat applies to gold and blue signature editions as well. The only real difference being the certificate and the signatures bothers me quite a bit. I really think this aspect will hurt their value in the long run - and its the main reason I really don't desire this book.

 

 

The Miracleman 1 Gold and Blue is an authentic variant comic, in that it was an edition that was approved and set up by its publishing house, Eclipse, to be sold at a convention, thus making it a convention exclusive.

Miracleman completists who don't own this edition will — and should (if they want a complete collection) — always want one. I have the 3D edition, but not the 2D, so I want one. Is the story different? Nope. Is there a different cover? Nope. But, there is a variation and that makes it collectible.

Why would anyone want a cover price variant or a color variant comic that's essentially a printing error edition? Because it's something they don't have that they need to complete their collection. It's the nature of the collecting beast to want what we don't have when we are collecting something.

Mike B.

 

My problem with the Miracleman Gold and Blue editions is that they would be relatively easy to fake. Also, with most high profile variants, the variance is observed within the printing process, and this is basically just signatures added to the book after the fact and put together with a certificate. Its almost like a Dynamic Forces signature edition, in my opinion. This is what I think will hurt it in the long run.

 

 

Also, when did the eBay seller of the last one go NARU?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
otherworldcomics

otherworldcomics

Posted
Posted

Wow, dude you really know your Miracleman history! Well, congrats to those who are really into Miracleman and find this apparently rare issue. Always happy when a fellow collector gets his "holy grail" book. Not a big fan myself but if I happen upon one of these books one day I know who to talk to! 27_laughing.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pkveronese

pkveronese

Posted
Posted
The one MM book that I think is a really sick variant is the A-1 sketchbook with MM on the front and Kid MM on the back. I've got two of those and I love them.

 

 

I like that one too... (looking at the OA for the cover on his wall and thanking his wife again) smile.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pkveronese

pkveronese

Posted
Posted

Hey Guys,

Here's a recent sale of a Miracleman Blue #1. You all might have already seen it, but I thought I would post it here for the sake of record keeping:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/MIRACLEMAN-1-BLUE-ED...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

It was listed as fn/vf (the seller listed it as fn/vf+) and it sold for $290.52.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
EwanUK

EwanUK

Posted
Posted

As a big MM collector my take on these collectibles is as follows -

 

Gold Edition - like Mike, I believe this to be a genuine MM rarity - but not high on my desirability league personally as the "variant" is really the certificate - not the comic. However, I will probably purchase one eventually. I also think Mike has done us all a great srvice by getting this in the guide and increasing exposure. (BTW - what's it listed at this year in OS? Is it still the no.1 Copper book?).

 

Blue Edition - as above - but much less desirable in my opinion as it doesn't have the Alan Moore signature or numbering.

 

2D/3D Edition - as I've blathered-on about endlessly - this is the no.1 MM rarity - to the extent that we may never see any copies for sale. It's just impossible to locate as the cover is the same. Chris (and I?) have now got it inte guide this year laugh.gif but am waiting to see exactly what it says - and whether any copies will surface...

 

New Dimension Gold / Platinum / Ruby (etc) Editions - not true variants - bootlegs as Mike says - but quite nice in their own right. I've owned a few - and am having one graded as we speak. What's more intersting to me is knowing some background on the Warehouse find - all those NM no.23s... tongue.gif

 

cheers

Ewan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chrisco37

chrisco37

Posted
Posted

2D/3D Edition - as I've blathered-on about endlessly - this is the no.1 MM rarity - to the extent that we may never see any copies for sale. It's just impossible to locate as the cover is the same. Chris (and I?) have now got it inte guide this year but am waiting to see exactly what it says - and whether any copies will surface...

 

I encourage everyone to check out page 754 of the latest OSPG for info on the ultimate MM "variant".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing