Valiant collecting... the INSANE 5

[aj583]

in•sane: a state of mind which prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[corey]

Very nice thread

Very eye catching title!!

[Juki]

What I love about these particular issues is (a) I believe I have all of them , (b) 3 of them have iconic and amazing covers. So often the high ratio variants don't always have the best covers. Those that do usually are pretty sought after. I've always loved the early Unity rarities, and the AH4 variant here is an iconic cover. Unfortunately, I don't have any of these in 9.8, so the quest continues!

nycjadie, Which three of the five do you consider to have “iconic and amazing covers?” Unity #5, Armor Hunters #4, and ??? (and in what order?)

Personally, I think the A and A #25 Walsh (which I don’t own) is the 3rd best cover. But, I don’t think you are referring to that one as “iconic.” So, probably referring to the Unity #3 Braithway (which I do own)…. Although the art is great, I just don’t think these Braithway Unity 1:50s covers #2 and #3 show very well in all black and white.

I own 3 of these 5 (Unity 5 which I thankfully just recently acquired, AH 4, and Unity 3).

[aj583]

Ever since I read this string 7 years ago I have been working on these in 9.8. There have been rarer books released after 2015 but I always thought this was a super cool set. A goal to chase.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[corey]

Ever since I read this string 7 years ago I have been working on these in 9.8. There have been rarer books released after 2015 but I always thought this was a super cool set. A goal to chase.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good luck on your chase!

[aj583]

Thanks! Did anyone else try to tackle this one back in the day or now that interest in Valiant is down?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Juki]

LOL, that last one (inside joke)

The early bird gets the first pick from yesterday's leftovers.

Do you care to share the joke? Or, is it best left “inside” (as a joke).

[greg]

LOL, that last one (inside joke)

The early bird gets the first pick from yesterday's leftovers.

Do you care to share the joke? Or, is it best left “inside” (as a joke).

It was more than 7 years ago, but my guess is that I must have bought one of these "Insane 5" (at the time, it was 2016) from Paradise.

[Juki]

Thanks! Did anyone else try to tackle this one back in the day or now that interest in Valiant is down?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Trying to get all of these “top 100 rarest” in CGC 9.8 fits the definition of “INSANE.” Although I only have about 8 of these in 9.8……I own ,in raw condition, about 75% of these.

This post had renewed my interest in at least owning all of the top 5 on the list and inspired me to go after the comics I needed. So, I just bought the A and A #25 (Walsh) 1:50 and the Bloodshot#25 (Hitch)1:50 in raw NM (so I have all 5). Waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

[corey]

Thanks! Did anyone else try to tackle this one back in the day or now that interest in Valiant is down?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Trying to get all of these “top 100 rarest” in CGC 9.8 fits the definition of “INSANE.” Although I only have about 8 of these in 9.8……I own ,in raw condition, about 75% of these.

This post had renewed my interest in at least owning all of the top 5 on the list and inspired me to go after the comics I needed. So, I just bought the A and A #25 (Walsh) 1:50 and the Bloodshot#25 (Hitch)1:50 in raw NM (so I have all 5). Waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

Where on earth did you find the bloodshot? I have never found it. And I look quite often

[Juki]

I got ‘‘em off of EBay.

[aj583]

Thanks! Did anyone else try to tackle this one back in the day or now that interest in Valiant is down?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Trying to get all of these “top 100 rarest” in CGC 9.8 fits the definition of “INSANE.” Although I only have about 8 of these in 9.8……I own ,in raw condition, about 75% of these.

This post had renewed my interest in at least owning all of the top 5 on the list and inspired me to go after the comics I needed. So, I just bought the A and A #25 (Walsh) 1:50 and the Bloodshot#25 (Hitch)1:50 in raw NM (so I have all 5). Waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

That’s awesome! Nice work finding the Insane 5. You grading them to complete the quest? Collecting all of the Top 100 does indeed sound insane! I like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Juki]

Thanks! Did anyone else try to tackle this one back in the day or now that interest in Valiant is down?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Trying to get all of these “top 100 rarest” in CGC 9.8 fits the definition of “INSANE.” Although I only have about 8 of these in 9.8……I own ,in raw condition, about 75% of these.

This post had renewed my interest in at least owning all of the top 5 on the list and inspired me to go after the comics I needed. So, I just bought the A and A #25 (Walsh) 1:50 and the Bloodshot#25 (Hitch)1:50 in raw NM (so I have all 5). Waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

That’s awesome! Nice work finding the Insane 5. You grading them to complete the quest? Collecting all of the Top 100 does indeed sound insane! I like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So far I only have one of the “INSANE FIVE” graded (Armor Hunters #4 1:50 in CGC 9.6). However, I do plan on getting the rest graded.

[Juki]

Ok….So, I have to ask a few questions:

1) aj583: Do you own the “INSANE 5” all in CGC 9.8? How far have you gotten on your quest to get all of the books on the “top 100 rarest list?”
2) Greg: Do you own all 5 of these comics? How about the top 100? (Do you have most of those ?)
3) Does anyone else here own all 5? (I know nycjadie mentioned he has them and I now have them)
4) What are your thoughts on how accurate these Comicron/previews lists are (in reality) to what was actually printed?

I personally think that many of the comics on this list may have had very similar print numbers. For instance, we know that #8 on the top 100 list had 250 copies printed (thanks to Dinesh verifying):

#8 on top 100 list: HARBINGER #25 50 COPY INCV KITSON (152 copies calculated through Comichron) with 250 copies actually printed (Dinesh confirmed)

So, possibly any comic on the list that had an estimated Comicron print run of about 200 or less possibly could have all had about 250 copies printed. That would include the first 20-25 comics on the top 100 Chomichron list.

We know that #53 on the top 100 list Divinity #1 1:40 had 350 copies printed with 257 Comicron

53. DIVINITY #1 (OF 4) CVR E 40 COPY INCV LAROSA (257 copies calculated) 350 copies printed (Dinesh confirmed)

So, anything on the top 100 with Comichron estimates of about 200-300 could have all had roughly about 350 copies printed.
That would be on the top 100 list from the mid 20s to about #100 ( all of the rest on the list).

We know that some of the comics deviate a little from the above thinking and had 400 copies actually printed like Eternal Warrior #5 (Mack 1:50), Shadowman #13 (Davis 1:50) and Imperium #6 (Kano 1:20).

We also know that within about the first 10 -12 months of 2012 VEI liked to print a minimum of 1000 comics for any variant regardless of how limited the ratio. Then sometime at the end of 2012 they decided to minimize the print runs even further. So, maybe VEI changed the way they decided to calculate print runs several times from 2012-2017?

Even if we knew all the exact # of copies printed for the rarest 100 VEI comics we still would not know which are the “actual rarest” because of possible destruction of extra copies. Extra copies were supposedly stored and then destroyed about a year later. They were held for a while to make sure there were enough to replace damages, fulfill orders, and give some to artists.

Unless someone kept records of the Variant comics that were destroyed, I don’t think we will ever have an accurate “hard list of the top rarest 100.” So, the Comichron/Previews top 100 list may be as good as it gets.

[Juki]

Mail Call


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bobby97801]

Mail Call


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That is INSANE!

[aj583]

That is some serious fire there Juki. For those of us rare ratio Valiant hunters left, that is quite a bounty. Congrats!

Per your question, I have just finished the Insane 5 in CGC 9.8, which is why I resurrected this thread a few weeks back . Wanted to know if I was the only dumb *SQUEE* wasting years and money buying raw candidates to complete this quest. Its taken a long time and I had help from Board members, eBay and just some luck to finally finish it off.

I don’t focus on collecting the top 100 rarity list you referenced as there are a few series I never got into like the Q&Ws and Wrath of EW. I think you are right and if you round up to the nearest 50 in print count you’ll be pretty close to the actual print run (but who knows). This assumption is based on actual print runs disclosed by Dinesh on a few of the more popular key books. They generally seemed to round that way when compared to comnicron print runs.

The books on that list are all super rare, so for me, there is not much difference between a book with 350 copies or 200 copies. So I like to collect ratio rarities from the original 2012/2013 series and then a few of the follow up series like Bloodshot Reborn and X-O 2017 that were just really awesome runs. All from the Dinesh era. I like to hunt for the ratio covers from some of the stand out early Valiant artists like LaRosa, Suayan, Zircher, etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Juki]

aj583,
That is some incredible work getting the INSANE 5 all in CGC 9.8. You may be the only person to accomplish that feat. I have also tried to use this Comichron top 100 list through the years for collecting. I have not searched out and collected the Quantum and Woody VEI rarities either. Although, I do have some of the Q and W 1:20 variants because they happened to be included with other VEI purchased comic lots. The one Quantum and Woody comic I tried to intentionally purchase a few times at auction back in the day was the “most variant” issue because of the novelty (but, did not win). I have most of the Ivar Timewalker 1:20 variant comics. But,Because I like trying to get most of the “first appearance variants,” not having #10 ( on the list) IVAR TIMEWALKER #2 40 COPY INCV VILLALOBOS (156 copies calculated) first appearance Anon-Lurker is a glaring hole in my collection (that comic is tough to find). But, who knows….It may eventually pop up…. I searched for the Unity 5 1:100 for years (and finally got it).

If you dig them out…. You should post a pic in this thread of the INSANE 5 in CGC 9.8. That would be great!

[aj583]

Yes! Will post em when I have a chance to show off their glory!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[corey]

Mail Call


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[corey]

Yes! Will post em when I have a chance to show off their glory!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We await, with bated breath ,hearts bursting with desire

[aj583]

Ok, I was box diving today and decided to get the band together. I should have done this sooner as it has brought me much joy this evening!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[aj583]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[corey]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gave me a chubby

[Juki]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gave me a chubby

INSANE to the 9.8th degree!