A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

How did you become a VALIANT collector?

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hotwings1979
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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Post by hotwings1979 »

My Valiant story is rather interesting and I really have my mother to thank for it. Otherwise I probably wouldn't remember it. :)

In the early 90's my parents added comics to their already existing coin store. We were using Diamond as our distributor at the time and decided to fly out to Baltimore for the 1992 retailers convention. As you can imagine I was overwhelmed meeting Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane and all the big names in comics.

We get to the vendor area with all the booths and there was this booth for some company called Valiant and, as I remember it, they had a large quantity of comics with Blue and a few Red headers spread out on a table. Some comic called Unity. I didn't want anything to do with this company (I was 13). I wanted to see what Marvel's lineup looked like and DC's but more importantly the booth babes. So my mom picks up some Unity 0 Blues and they gave her a Unity 0 Red as well. That was my first encounter with Valiant.

As Valiant started to take off I fell in love with the stories. I remember traveling to Jacksonville, IL (60 miles) to buy a Harbinger 1 and Harbinger 4 along with Magnus 12 from another comic store. I paid 65 for Harbinger 1 and it was probably a VF copy. My father told me if you want to buy it then you should buy it if it declines in value and you're happy with it then it's worth it. I still have both Harbingers. I sold the Magnus 12 for a nice profit later that night.

I continued to attend the Diamond retailers conventions through '94. We hit the Chicago Comicon one year and were able to get autographs from Aerosmith in '95 (I think) at a Valiant sponsored signing. I always took time to chat with Paul Fairchild at the events. He was great at what he did. Always very engaging and pleasant to work with.

I continued to read for a while until I became engrossed in Magic and my collection trailed off. My parents kept most of the advertisements and posters. I remember receiving the bottle of Darque Brew from Acclaim. Fedex let me sign for and I wasn't even of age. :) I kept my collection and it soon became misplaced and spread between our shop, my parents house and the places I have lived.

In the early part of this decade I organized my collection separating my set and my duplicates. Over the past year I have located most, if not all of my collection and currently sit at 521/817 of the books.

I am starting to track down the Previews, the Hero magazines, the Wizards and the various pieces that discuss Valiant. I'm still going through the third floor of the shop tracking this stuff down and I need to start looking through the adverts but that is going to be a long process. :)

I've begun adding art to my collection and the various odds and ends that I hope will make my collection stand out.

I'd love to see or put together a comprehensive history of Valiant at some point.

Valiant has always been a line that has interested me and one of the few collections I have held on to over the years. I have parted with very few pieces of my Valiant collection over the years and hope to continue that trend.

BTW I still have the Unity 0 Red. :)

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hotwings1979
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Post by hotwings1979 »

I was just going through some stuff on my desk and the Comicon was actually the 1993 convention. We actually went twice. The second time in '95 I had just started driving. As I backed out of the parking space I nearly creamed two older women. :) That's another memorable experience. :p

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Daniel Jackson
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Post by Daniel Jackson »

Great story, thanks for posting it.

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slym2none
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Post by slym2none »

Excellent! Nice of you to share.

If I haven't said it already, welcome abroad!



-slym

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Draco
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Post by Draco »

Love that story dude, but even more than that, i love knowing new peeps are always turning up here with love and enthusiasm for this once great publisher.

:thumb:

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iggy101us
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Post by iggy101us »

Welcome, hotwings. :thumb:

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96Valiantfan
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Post by 96Valiantfan »

Welcome :thumb:

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maraxusofkeld
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Post by maraxusofkeld »

Welcome !

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robb77
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Post by robb77 »

welcome :thumb:

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Drift
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Post by Drift »

Just Thor.

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geocarr
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Post by geocarr »

Welcome to the neighborhood!

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comicsyte95
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Post by comicsyte95 »

Welcome! :clap:

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Rufusharley
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Post by Rufusharley »

welcome dude. :thumb:

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Chuck
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Post by Chuck »

That's cool that your parents were the source of your comic habit :twisted:

Great story too!
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sanman
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Post by sanman »

Great story. Looks like you have been registered member longer than me...so welcome back!

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dellamorte
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Post by dellamorte »

Welcome. I was also in the Aerosmith line at the 93 chicago con. :thumb:


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