What about Valiant 'Hey-Day' Pricing?

lobo · Post by **lobo** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:58 pm

I was wondering if there was a reference or compilation listing the peak prices of Pre-unity and the premium/variant Valiant books back in the hey-days of the 90s.This would be the timeframe around late 1992 to 1994.
Back when Harbinger #1 was a true $100 plus book and many Golds were in the $75 range.
I was not in the market for those books the first time around and was never really affected by the insane pricing. But now it would be interesting to see how current prices compare to when they peaked just ten years ago. I know for some here they would rather not think about it.

Of particular interest to me is what was the peak value of CEAR? Its expensive now but was it commanding even higher prices right after its release?? I have no idea... but curious to know.

If I had my stack of Wizard's (issues 1-95) out of storage, I could get a rough idea by charting the prices in there. But then again Wizard wasn't the best single resource. But have to begin somewhere.

Eric Jackson · Post by **Eric Jackson** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:21 pm

I was actually looking at valiant prices in an old wizard the other day. I forget which issue, but it had bartman on the cover

Anyway, harby 1 was 120, many of the golds were well over 100 as well. Unity 0 red was farily low, less than nowadays at least.

What I did chuckle at was thier recommendation of ew #4 as a book that would do will into the future. Said to pick it up now at only $20 bucks.
I do gotta give them one thing, it was a good story.

Escaflown4 · Post by **Escaflown4** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:38 pm

I remember the good ol days when Valiant books were the hottest on the market. Here's some of the books I remember the vendors were selling:

Harbinger #1 - $125
Rai's # 3 & 4 - $200+
Solar # 10 - $75
Magnus # 12 - $100
Solar #1 - $40
Magnus # 1 - $50
Rai #1 - #35
X-O Manowar #1 - $35
Shadowman #1 - $28

I wasn't really interested in the golds and the other variants at the time, so I don't remember what those were going for. But I know for sure the red unity and alpha did not go as high as today's prices.

ckb · Post by **ckb** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:39 pm

For awhile after they came out, it was HARD TO FIND a EW 4 or a Bloodshot 5/6. I know that's hard to imagine, but true. This was pre-internet boom, and things just didn't happen the way they do now.

My best story about that was with Bloodshot 1. BS 1 was pretty much a complete sell out when it came out in NYC. At the NY show, I had a local store owner ask me sincerely to buy some (I had one on my table for $1), and wanted to know how many I could supply at that price. He sincerely thought that they were going to be hard to find, since they sold so well for him.

Well, when I said "1000", he eventually got the picture, and I sold him 20 or so at $1.

I should temper what I mean by "sell out". It was an APPARENT sell out. The shops sold what they ordered. But, there were a ton of them that went to the card dealers and associated speculators that weren't for immediate sale.

Eric Jackson wrote:I was actually looking at valiant prices in an old wizard the other day. I forget which issue, but it had bartman on the cover

Anyway, harby 1 was 120, many of the golds were well over 100 as well. Unity 0 red was farily low, less than nowadays at least.

What I did chuckle at was thier recommendation of ew #4 as a book that would do will into the future. Said to pick it up now at only $20 bucks.
I do gotta give them one thing, it was a good story.

lobo · Post by **lobo** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:47 pm

Escaflown4 wrote: Rai's # 3 & 4 - $200+

$200 for Rai 3 and 4?

Is that for each? That amount is surprising!

Escaflown4 · Post by **Escaflown4** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:50 pm

Yup each! I remember dealers kept saying they were "ULTRA RARE!"

lobo wrote:
Escaflown4 wrote: Rai's # 3 & 4 - $200+
$200 for Rai 3 and 4?
Is that for each? That amount is surprising!

dbest4u · Post by **dbest4u** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:50 pm

By the time CEAR came out Valiant prices were going down,, CEAR never had a chance to really peak,, Unity use to sell for like $100+. for some reason more people looked for Harbinger pink and Magnus #0. Ill look for an old Wizard see what prices were.

JS

lobo · Post by **lobo** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:56 pm

dBest4U

OT, but is your avatar from Warcraft3?

dbest4u · Post by **dbest4u** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:18 pm

Yeah thats from Warcraft 3,, Great game!! Found Wizard #27 November 1993,, I was only looking at Harbinger as reference,, this was the last time it went up in price,, after issues 30 its prices began falling,, heres da list

A&A Gold $90
Bloodshot #1 $10
Eternal Gold $125
Eternal Gold/Foil $110
Harbinger #0 pink $175
Harbinger #1 $125
Harby #2 $60
Harby #4 $62
Hard Corps Gold $80
Magnus #0 W/C $110
Magnus #1 $47
Magnus #12 $93
Rai #3 $75
Rai #4 $80
Shadowman #1 $32
Solar #1 $32.50
Solar 10 $70
Unity Red $90
Unity Plat $125
Unity Gold $90
Manowar 1 $36
Manowar 4 $35

If these prices ever come back,, I could bank big time

Chau
JS

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:59 pm

dbest4u wrote: A&A Gold $90
Bloodshot #1 $10
Eternal Gold $125
Eternal Gold/Foil $110
Harbinger #0 pink $175
Harbinger #1 $125
Harby #2 $60
Harby #4 $62
Hard Corps Gold $80
Magnus #0 W/C $110
Magnus #1 $47
Magnus #12 $93
Rai #3 $75
Rai #4 $80
Shadowman #1 $32
Solar #1 $32.50
Solar 10 $70
Unity Red $90
Unity Plat $125
Unity Gold $90
Manowar 1 $36
Manowar 4 $35

If these prices ever come back,, I could bank big time

Assuming all of these books WILL sell for those prices one day,
even if it's in the year 2104... let's take a quick poll...
Which book(s) from this list will reach the price shown first?

No CGC prices... just regular, "NM" ungraded books on Ebay...
Let's say it will have to sell at that price three times to qualify.

(I see one obvious choice for first, but then no clear second or third.)

dino · Post by **dino** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 1:10 am

Unity Red
Magnus 0
Harbinger pink

in that order

x-omatic · Post by **x-omatic** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 1:12 am

greg wrote:
dbest4u wrote: A&A Gold $90
Bloodshot #1 $10
Eternal Gold $125
Eternal Gold/Foil $110
Harbinger #0 pink $175
Harbinger #1 $125
Harby #2 $60
Harby #4 $62
Hard Corps Gold $80
Magnus #0 W/C $110
Magnus #1 $47
Magnus #12 $93
Rai #3 $75
Rai #4 $80
Shadowman #1 $32
Solar #1 $32.50
Solar 10 $70
Unity Red $90
Unity Plat $125
Unity Gold $90
Manowar 1 $36
Manowar 4 $35

If these prices ever come back,, I could bank big time
Assuming all of these books WILL sell for those prices one day,
even if it's in the year 2104... let's take a quick poll...
Which book(s) from this list will reach the price shown first?

No CGC prices... just regular, "NM" ungraded books on Ebay...
Let's say it will have to sell at that price three times to qualify.

(I see one obvious choice for first, but then no clear second or third.)

Unity Red
Magnus 0
Magnus 1 (thanks to Darkhorse & I-Books)
Solar 1 (thanks to Darkhorse)
X-O 1
Archer & Armstrong 0 Gold

reekdog · Post by **reekdog** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 10:06 am

x-omatic wrote:
greg wrote:
dbest4u wrote: A&A Gold $90
Bloodshot #1 $10
Eternal Gold $125
Eternal Gold/Foil $110
Harbinger #0 pink $175
Harbinger #1 $125
Harby #2 $60
Harby #4 $62
Hard Corps Gold $80
Magnus #0 W/C $110
Magnus #1 $47
Magnus #12 $93
Rai #3 $75
Rai #4 $80
Shadowman #1 $32
Solar #1 $32.50
Solar 10 $70
Unity Red $90
Unity Plat $125
Unity Gold $90
Manowar 1 $36
Manowar 4 $35

If these prices ever come back,, I could bank big time
Assuming all of these books WILL sell for those prices one day,
even if it's in the year 2104... let's take a quick poll...
Which book(s) from this list will reach the price shown first?

No CGC prices... just regular, "NM" ungraded books on Ebay...
Let's say it will have to sell at that price three times to qualify.

(I see one obvious choice for first, but then no clear second or third.)

----------------------------------------

Because the book's are pretty significant and prices are fairly reasonable, my choices are:

Solar 1
Solar 10
Manowar 1
Bloodshot 1

Eric Jackson · Post by **Eric Jackson** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 10:33 am

i would dare to say that bloodshot 1 will never reach $10.. you can buy boxes of them for cheap. box of 50 went for $5 bucks the other day.

I do remember paying $15 for it at a con in 93 though

reekdog · Post by **reekdog** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 10:40 am

Eric Jackson wrote:i would dare to say that bloodshot 1 will never reach $10.. you can buy boxes of them for cheap. box of 50 went for $5 bucks the other day.

I do remember paying $15 for it at a con in 93 though

Maybe one day it will reach coverprice

hillmanthe2nd · Post by **hillmanthe2nd** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 10:58 am

Here are me choices...

Eternal Gold/Foil
Magnus #1
Solar #1 $
Solar 10
Unity Red

depluto · Post by **depluto** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 11:53 am

I think the golds have the best chance of going that high, for the same reason that Shadowman variant is so crazy ... print runs.

Sure it's a stupid reason, but there it is.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:01 pm

I agree, the Gold's will probably be the best consistent sellers in the future with a couple of exceptions. Harbinger #0 and Magnus #0.

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:42 pm

Eric Jackson wrote:I was actually looking at valiant prices in an old wizard the other day. I forget which issue, but it had bartman on the cover

Anyway, harby 1 was 120, many of the golds were well over 100 as well. Unity 0 red was farily low, less than nowadays at least.

What I did chuckle at was thier recommendation of ew #4 as a book that would do will into the future. Said to pick it up now at only $20 bucks.
I do gotta give them one thing, it was a good story.

Dude, Bartman! Issue #28!

(Is that frightening that I know that? Ok, it MIGHT have been #29, but I'm pretty sure it was #28. #27 had a...I believe...Silvestri Stormwatch cover...it's been a while.

)

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:45 pm

ckb wrote: But, there were a ton of them that went to the card dealers and associated speculators that weren't for immediate sale.

I was the driver for a local distributor in the Bay Area when BS #1 came out...man, that was a long time ago....and I remember delivering to all SORTS of card shops...

...and thinking to myself...what in the HELL are these idiots doing? They sell BASEBALL CARDS, not comics!

Blew me away.

Then the market blew THEM away less than 2 years later.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Stick to your fields, gents, stick to your fields.

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:49 pm

dbest4u wrote:Yeah thats from Warcraft 3,, Great game!! Found Wizard #27 November 1993,, I was only looking at Harbinger as reference,, this was the last time it went up in price,, after issues 30 its prices began falling,, heres da list

A&A Gold $90
Bloodshot #1 $10
Eternal Gold $125
Eternal Gold/Foil $110
Harbinger #0 pink $175
Harbinger #1 $125
Harby #2 $60
Harby #4 $62
Hard Corps Gold $80
Magnus #0 W/C $110
Magnus #1 $47
Magnus #12 $93
Rai #3 $75
Rai #4 $80
Shadowman #1 $32
Solar #1 $32.50
Solar 10 $70
Unity Red $90
Unity Plat $125
Unity Gold $90
Manowar 1 $36
Manowar 4 $35

If these prices ever come back,, I could bank big time

Chau
JS

What blows me away...after all this time...

...is that I'm sitting here, remembering those prices, and thinking 'my god, those were INSANELY high....' (keeping in mind that you could have traded 20 [or LESS] Harby #0 Pinks for a NM copy of Spiderman #1)

and then thinking....'man, how hard they fell...' (keeping in mind that you could have had an entire LONG BOX of Harby Pinks in 1998, and it wouldn't have gotten you a FINE copy of Spiderman #1)

...and then thinking 'um...and now they don't look all that insane anymore' (keeping in mind that, if you have 100 Harby #0 pinks and sell them for $60 each....you've just bought your 6.0 Spiderman #1!

)

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:52 pm

greg wrote:
dbest4u wrote: A&A Gold $90
Bloodshot #1 $10
Eternal Gold $125
Eternal Gold/Foil $110
Harbinger #0 pink $175
Harbinger #1 $125
Harby #2 $60
Harby #4 $62
Hard Corps Gold $80
Magnus #0 W/C $110
Magnus #1 $47
Magnus #12 $93
Rai #3 $75
Rai #4 $80
Shadowman #1 $32
Solar #1 $32.50
Solar 10 $70
Unity Red $90
Unity Plat $125
Unity Gold $90
Manowar 1 $36
Manowar 4 $35

If these prices ever come back,, I could bank big time
Assuming all of these books WILL sell for those prices one day,
even if it's in the year 2104... let's take a quick poll...
Which book(s) from this list will reach the price shown first?

No CGC prices... just regular, "NM" ungraded books on Ebay...
Let's say it will have to sell at that price three times to qualify.

(I see one obvious choice for first, but then no clear second or third.)

Unity Red, the obvious choice for first. It's already met and beaten that price in the 21st century.

Second choice is a little more obvious to me: Magnus #0. It's closing in on $80 occasionally, so I think it will reach the high second, barring some unforeseen circumstances.

Third? Harb #1. Easier to get to $125 than Pink to $175.

The rest are wayyyyyy far away.

greg · Post by **greg** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 7:41 pm

ZephyrWasHOT!! wrote:
dbest4u wrote: Unity Red $90
Unity Red, the obvious choice for first. It's already met and beaten that price in the 21st century.

Even yesterday.

lobo · Post by **lobo** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 10:34 pm

The list needs to be a little more complete because XO #0 gold deserves some honorable mention. Also Rai #1 does not get the respect it deserves or #2 or #5 for that matter. The printruns are not too far off the 'rare' #3 and #4.
At this point I wonder if the Unity #1 gold and plat will ever see the $100 range again.

soundoftheuniverse · Post by **soundoftheuniverse** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 12:58 am

Well I never saw XO gold skyrocketing to over $100 that's for sure. I did have an idea Mag 0 would take off and I still think it's going to be one of the best performer of the lot.

It would go a long way towards getting to these prices if people used higher rez scans. Just seems like these kinda prices are only going to happen for a MINT book and you can only prove the condition with a killer scan.

Unity Red
Magnus #0 W/C
Eternal Gold/Foil
A&A Gold