ValiantFans.com Board - Since 2004

From VH1, but I recall being mocked ~10 years ago when I expressed sadness that the original Ninjak title ended mid-storyline.

Apparently no one much was reading that title after issue 20 or so (or...to be fair, maybe issue 10).

Yeah - I thought about it when it was still holding at $4,200. I am, after all, Rai-fan.

But $10k+ seems insane to me, esp. when the X-O # 1 & # 2 covers each sold a few years ago for more like $7500 apiece.

It's unfortunate that Harbinger 0 was such a lackluster issue. It was obviously a post-Unity production (unlike Magnus 0 which was produced before Mag 1, probably a year or so before it was released), and it seems like some of Lapham's first work as a writer. He gets much better as we see in Stray ...

From some quick online research, sources note both Harbinger 0 (pink) and the trade paperback (1st, bagged with Harbinger 0 blue) were released in December, although the pink version has "Feb. 1993" in the indicia. This makes sense in terms of being contemporaneous with Shadowman # 10 or so, because...

I didn't even consider that book, because 1) I already have a pristine raw copy of it, and 2) I was so busy tracking the CGC 9.8 2018 Shadowman 1 Metal edition beneath it. The other books I bid on this week were the three copies of Harbinger 1 (QR code). 9.6 (signed), 9.6 and 9.4. I was the underbid...

It's my favorite Valiant book. Great cover, early send-away, and I'll always remember when it was a $55 wall book.

More than 25 years later, I've now got on the order of 20 copies.

Agreed that Alpha Flight seemed just like a blatant money-grab at the time. And that much of what made Valiant comics work were that they were largely under-the-radar prior to Unity. The "these-are-worth-money" thing is what blasted them into the mainstream. I'm the poster boy for this. My first iss...

Thanks, folks! I’m not surprised there are books like this that likely languished for 15+ years before slabbing & discovering they’re rare in high grade, but seemed weird to me.

I doubt the Shadowman 8 print run is appreciably larger than that of EW # 4, since it came out just one month later. As the above list shows, the only major Valiant books that have heat right now are those with direct (or, soon-to-be-presumed) movie tie-ins. Also, random question, but why the high a...

Fair. I knew guys back in the day who had "untouched cases" of X-O # 1 (like 200+ NM copies around Jan. 1993), but *never* early Harbingers. All things being equal, though, I'd rather have a 9.8 Solar 10. Haven't looked up the value in 20 years, but that *seemed* like the tough book back in '92-93. ...

Fair.

I knew guys back in the day who had "untouched cases" of X-O # 1 (like 200+ NM copies around Jan. 1993), but *never* early Harbingers.

I was aware of books like Magnus 1 and X-O 1 when released, but I passed on them, as I liked superhero books, not sci-fi. But then - like most old-school collectors, I jumped on with Unity 0. It's hard to overstate how big Unity was that summer, and what it -- and the constant pimping by Wizard -- d...

I think supply and demand has balanced out (for now). Movie speculation necessarily leads to more copies submitted, and thus a greater number of 9.8s. In the case of Harbinger 1, I've been arguing about this with ZWH (RMA on the CGC boards) for *years* (like, the original movie announcement). He too...

If Paramount now owns Harbinger - and apparently nixed a Harada cameo in Bloodshot - how can Ax still be in the Bloodshot film?

Unlike Harada, Ax actually originated in a Harbinger book.

So...do they now re-shoot it simply to change his name?

I was at summer camp when Batman '89 came out, so had to make do with the novelization beforehand. That copy ended up getting passed all around the camp before summer ended.

Finally saw the film in late July and it was well worth the wait.

For what it's worth, ic2v lists the best-selling Valiant comic of October as X-O # 20, at 7,781 copies sold. Good for # 245 on the "Top 500 comics" list. It's the only Valiant comic listed in the top 250, and one four listed in the top 300 for the month. So...best case scenario - this issue of Blood...

Bloodshot # 1 (2012) sold just under 30,000 copies its first month, coming it at # 77 on the top 100. Source: https://icv2.com/articles/comics/view/23605/top-300-comics-actual-july-2012" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; So...we're looking at (gasp!) projected sales for this one that are...

My top 10: Magnus 0 - this is more nostalgia-driven than anything. It was a $100 grail book when I was 13. But I like it far more than any of the other Magnus covers, including # 1, # 5, # 12, and # 21. Harbinger 1 - X-Men done right. Also nostalgia-driven as a $100 wall book. Rai 0 - sure - could h...

My only Valiant slabs are VH1 Magnus 0 (9.6) and Harbinger 1 (9.2)

However, my Gold Key Magnus set (1-46 in avg. 9.6) will continue to reign supreme this year.

Next up...trying to move up to # 2 on the Doctor Solar list (aiming for 1-31 in straight 9.0 or higher & an average of 9.3).

Makes sense to me that they'd go with VH1.

Esp. since Vin Diesel's already played a very similar role origin-wise, with "A Man Apart."

Also - incidentally, my favorite pre-Unity book is X-O # 6 (vs. Ax) where Aric finally just steps out of the armor and beats him with his bare hands.

Anyone going to see the Bloodshot movie...I mean Upgrade this weekend?

For what it's worth, in the early 2000s, I found bluebird copies of Harbinger and Rai trades for ~$5 bucks apiece.

But I never landed a stinkin' X-O blue.

Despite my username, X-O was my favorite character -- Proud to have the full VH1 set (including 1/2 gold x 3), but for the blue trade.

I got smoked across the board. Bid on 8 lots. Wasn't close on most of them.

Then again, if Spawn # 1 (x 30) can sell for more than $725, I'm also a bit out-of-touch with the market.

Well, at the risk of being Captain Obvious, that's a stupid price for the # 1s -- basically $50 a piece for VG copies, and with a few hours to go yet.

Also weird to me that these books are now 25 years old -- consider that Magnus # 1 (gold key) was only 28 years old when the Valiant # 1 came out.

That's one of the reasons I _love_ CBCS -- they've forced CGC (previously, a monopoly) to up their game -- hire more graders, decrease turnaround times, roll-back "Modern" pricing a few years, etc.

Competition (legit competition, that is - not PGX-style) is good for consumers.