sckao Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) I have #463/500 apparently. Edited July 1, 2022 by sckao OtherEric, chevalmeow, Randall Dowling and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 4:55 PM, sckao said: You see so many more Spirit Specials available than the Vampirella Specials (Both the softcover and the 500 limited edition hardcovers). The Spirit Special supposedly only had a print run of 1500 with 10 graded copies out there. Highest are four 9.4 copies although I've seen many copies that if graded could be higher I guess... The Vampirella Special softcover has 49 graded copies with zero 9.8s and four 9.6s but you hardly see them up for sale. If they had a print run of 5000, they must go right into collections never to leave. I'm not sure where I heard the 5000 number, so take it with a grain of salt. It may be less, I would be deeply surprised if it was more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 6:55 PM, sckao said: You see so many more Spirit Specials available than the Vampirella Specials (Both the softcover and the 500 limited edition hardcovers). The Spirit Special supposedly only had a print run of 1500 with 10 graded copies out there. Highest are four 9.4 copies although I've seen many copies that if graded could be higher I guess... The Vampirella Special softcover has 49 graded copies with zero 9.8s and four 9.6s but you hardly see them up for sale. If they had a print run of 5000, they must go right into collections never to leave. It took me a while to find a reasonably good-looking Spirit Special for under $50 (and the front cover of mine probably looks every bit as good as those 9.4s--see Gallery image in the right margin), but I'm beginning to think that I won't ever get that lucky with the Vampirella Special. Every copy I see for sale is either pretty raggy or priced over $100. So I'd say your assessment is generally correct; it seems easier to obtain a quality Spirit than a quality Vampi, even if the Spirits are technically scarcer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Dowling Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 6:55 PM, sckao said: You see so many more Spirit Specials available than the Vampirella Specials (Both the softcover and the 500 limited edition hardcovers). The Spirit Special supposedly only had a print run of 1500 with 10 graded copies out there. Highest are four 9.4 copies although I've seen many copies that if graded could be higher I guess... The Vampirella Special softcover has 49 graded copies with zero 9.8s and four 9.6s but you hardly see them up for sale. If they had a print run of 5000, they must go right into collections never to leave. Having tracked both of these for a long time, I think the difference you're seeing is popularity. There is considerably more demand for the Vampirella Special. The Spirit gets very little love despite the incredible quality of the material (both the series issues and the Special). I anticipate this changing in the years to come. Will Eisner is one of the absolute greats. Jayman and The Lions Den 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 6:10 PM, Randall Dowling said: Having tracked both of these for a long time, I think the difference you're seeing is popularity. There is considerably more demand for the Vampirella Special. The Spirit gets very little love despite the incredible quality of the material (both the series issues and the Special). I anticipate this changing in the years to come. Will Eisner is one of the absolute greats. I wonder if part of that is the fact the Spirit section just reprints the color sections from the first 10 issues of the magazine... there's nothing new, unlike the Vampi special where the stories are colored for the first time. I doubt that makes much difference at this point, but I suspect it could have mattered in the past. Randall Dowling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 8:10 PM, Randall Dowling said: I anticipate this changing in the years to come. I hope so; my Spirit run is almost as nice as my Vampis. I don't plan to sell in my lifetime, but we're not likely talking about too many more years here--and while I appreciate the books for what they are, the heirs will probably only appreciate them for their financial appreciation. OtherEric 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 7:46 PM, Axe Elf said: I hope so; my Spirit run is almost as nice as my Vampis. I don't plan to sell in my lifetime, but we're not likely talking about too many more years here--and while I appreciate the books for what they are, the heirs will probably only appreciate them for their financial appreciation. The first Warren run I ever completed was The Spirit, then I went ahead and got the Kitchen Sink issues as well. Somewhere along the line I even got a half-dozen or so original Spirit sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 9:52 PM, OtherEric said: The first Warren run I ever completed was The Spirit, then I went ahead and got the Kitchen Sink issues as well. I very nearly pulled the trigger on a full run that started with the Warrens and went through the Kitchen Sink issues--because I'd been getting other publishers' takes on EERIE/CREEPY/ROOK etc. anyway... but in the end, I just decided that I didn't really care THAT much about the character to delve any deeper into his extensive catalog than the 16 Warren issues (plus Special). The run I ended up getting of just the Warren issues turned out to be in better shape than the first run appeared to be anyway, so I'm doubly satisfied. But I agree with what @Randall Dowling said above; Eisner seems to be revered among the greats, and I'm surprised The Spirit isn't a more sought-after title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 8:03 PM, Axe Elf said: But I agree with what @Randall Dowling said above; Eisner seems to be revered among the greats, and I'm surprised The Spirit isn't a more sought-after title. If I had to guess, it's because it's the fifth reprint series, not even counting Police Comics or bootlegs, and unlike some of the others it doesn't have any new material beyond some covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sckao Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) I used to pick these up (cheaply) every time I came across them, but then I started giving them away over the years. (One just recently.) Looks like I’m down to four. Some of you sound like you do the same and have multiples. Some seem to have the issue where the staple almost pokes through the front cover though. I don’t know how that impacts the grade. Edited July 1, 2022 by sckao Jayman and Randall Dowling 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gregd Posted July 1, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted July 1, 2022 All this talk about Vamp specials ….a Cgc graded one popped up today on the Bay so had to buy it. Lower grade but don’t remember seeing a slabbed one listed recently OtherEric, Randall Dowling, Jayman and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 10:41 PM, OtherEric said: If I had to guess, it's because it's the fifth reprint series, not even counting Police Comics or bootlegs, and unlike some of the others it doesn't have any new material beyond some covers. Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant The SPIRIT title in general, throughout the ages, not just the Warren reprints (including them, of course), but especially the body of Eisner's original work. Like if Eisner/SPIRIT was more sought-after in general (and I agree that it should be), I'd hope that the Warren series would see a trickle-down appreciation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 9:55 PM, Axe Elf said: Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant The SPIRIT title in general, throughout the ages, not just the Warren reprints (including them, of course), but especially the body of Eisner's original work. Like if Eisner/SPIRIT was more sought-after in general (and I agree that it should be), I'd hope that the Warren series would see a trickle-down appreciation. I think it is fairly seriously sought after as far as it goes; the problem is the original newspaper sections tend to be scarce. They've been continually reprinted since the Warren run in any number of formats and from multiple publishers, and even before then they had more reprints than just about any other comic in the 40's-60's. With tons of various reprints and the original printings tending to not come up often enough to get the high churn to drive prices, the market is not reacting in the way you might expect such a high profile title to normally act. Randall Dowling and Axe Elf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 So when is The ROOK gonna take off? Jayman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 7/1/2022 at 11:30 AM, OtherMan said: The blatant racism doesn't help, I'm sure. "All Ebony" was all the rage in the 70s... chevalmeow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Surfing Alien Posted July 9, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted July 9, 2022 Been awhile since I added any Vampi's to the pile but got a decent price on this quartet so here they are oakman29, Artifiction, OtherEric and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post grendelbo Posted July 21, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted July 21, 2022 I picked this up this year. My LCS has the original copy for sale (FN/VF - $70). Pricey and I think I prefer the UK edition with it's red border better. It's an amazing and gorgeous cover! OtherEric, Axe Elf, Artifiction and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevemmg Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Congratulations on the UK 2! They’re definitely harder to find, and if you like color, they have it. If your local store has a US Vampirella 2 for $70, that’s a good deal in the current market. Not sure if you meant that, or Vampirella 18, which is where this UK gets it’s cover. The interior of the UK 2 ironically doesn’t have any material from either the US 2 or 18, but rather stories pulled from 12, 17, 20 and 34. At any rate, nice mag! oakman29 and grendelbo 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Since it says "Show 'Em Off" instead of just "Talk About 'Em"... here are the US 2 and 18... And 100, if we want a red border... Stevemmg, OtherEric, Jayman and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gregd Posted July 22, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2022 Some recent mostly WP pick-ups Jayman, OtherEric, chevalmeow and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...