Top 1000 Rarest Valiant books 2012-May 2020 Maybe...

[Juki]

magnus20009,

Nice job. The above examples totally make sense and are probably the best logical effort of thinking things through for the existing print # process of Valiant issues. In my eyes, with these lower print comics, the little unknown variables seem to be able to skew the final #s a lot. For example... the # for damages could vary a lot for each issue (a good example could be X-O #15 1:50 error recall)... as well as the # saved for give-aways and creators (in my opinion). Then you have the destruction of the extra copies.... how consistent was this?.... it is sounding more and more like it was done very consistently and professionally. Not to mention the “missed” numbers for Comichron sales (international and sales through unconventional routes) which were not reported by Comichron.

Maybe Dino, Warren, and Atom will write a book about it one day. I would wait in line.

Then I question the protocol of “How are things being handled now?” Are print runs being handled with the same strict management style? Or... are things being handled in “a new way?”

[agent_graves]

1. Typo on my end! 500 for the 1:20 (same as 1:50) and 750 for the 1:10

2. Depends on the book. Increased orders, re-orders, damage quantities etc all play a big part. Diamond sends them back to us. Atom! tracked that like a hawk.

3. Sometimes off just a few percent, sometimes off by a multiple. It varies greatly.

As always thanks for the information. Number 2 is what interests me the most. It really was good of VEI to be keeping this part of the incentive system honest. So many other publishers do not.

With the VEI destruction of extra copies of variants after a year or so ...I wonder about the rarity of books that are still in existence (# of copies not destroyed) of key books that really went under the radar at the time. For example, Harbinger #3 1:20 (1st Livewire) and Shadowman 1:50 and 1:20s (1st Punk Mambo).

Even though Harbinger #3 1:20 probably had 1000+ printed.... Is it possible that VEI destroyed so many copies that Harbinger #3 1:20 is as rare as Shadowman #13 1:50? It would seem unlikely... but you don’t see any Harbinger #3 1:20s for sale at all. Where are they all at?

Any thoughts?

Using the Comichron imperfect sales numbers the sales for the two books were:

Harbinger 3 15,482
Shadowman 13 9,403

So presumably far more Harbinger 3 1:20 were earned than Shadowman 13 1:50. Using the rough calculation in the first post in this thread

176 Shadowman (2012) # 13 1:50 Rarest x
440 Shadowman (2012) # 13 1:20
738 Harbinger # 3 1:20 Rarest x

Another piece of data to look at is given they are two of the more expensive valiant books is to see how many have been submitted to CGC as generally speaking more expensive books are submitted more frequently.

85th most graded VEI book - Harbinger 3 1:20 has had 25 copies graded by CGC (15 9.8, 8 9.6 and 2 9.4)
143rd most graded VEI Shadowman 13 1:50 has had 15 universal copies graded by CGC (11 9.8 and 4 9.6)
224th most graded VEI The Shadowman 13 1:20 has had 10 universal copies graded by CGC (4 9.8, 4 9.6, 1 9.4 and 1 9.2)

I am surprised how few copies of Harbinger 3 1:20 have been graded given that Livewire has been one of the bigger characters in VEI and the book in 9.8 sells for a decent amount.

The only sales on Greg’s list since 2012 when the book was released are:
9.8 - Variant Cover $375 Nov 21, 2018
9.8 - Variant Edition $500 Oct 7, 2018
9.8 - Variant Edition $470 Jul 8, 2018
9.8 - Variant Edition $400 Apr 26, 2018

I had been looking for this book in 9.8 for quite a while and can now report one more sale as I finally got my copy on July 24, 2020 – yes two weeks ago for $410

By comparison, the Shadowman 13 1:50 has come up for sale more frequently and has sold for

9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $625 Feb 6, 2020
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $550 Dec 5, 2019
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $690 May 3, 2018
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $521 Apr 15, 2018
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $600 Mar 4, 2018
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $715 Jan 29, 2018
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $685 Nov 20, 2017
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $685 Aug 14, 2017
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $516 May 15, 2017
9.8 - Davis Variant Cover $516 Nov 29, 2015

Of books all the VEI book have more than 1 or 2 sales in CGC 9.8 I believe that Shadowman 13 1:50 is the most expensive Valiant book to buy in CGC 9.8 other than the X-O Manowar (2017) #1 1:500.

So why are more Harbinger 3 1:20 books not changing hands? Do less exist than we think? Are collectors hording them in their own collection never to see the light of day? Is it a hard book to get in high grade so few people have copies raw/graded that are worth selling (would command a decent price)?

I am just happy to finally have one in my collection. It was the last “big” VEI book I was looking for and it took quite some time to find one for sale.

What! How’d I miss that! (If eBay purchase) Congrats though, that’ll probably be the last 9.8 that comes up for sale for awhile. Although I am seeing a lot of movement on eBay of VEI CGC books.

[magnus20009]

What! How’d I miss that! (If eBay purchase) Congrats though, that’ll probably be the last 9.8 that comes up for sale for awhile. Although I am seeing a lot of movement on eBay of VEI CGC books.

Like 90% of my purchases it wasn’t on eBay.

I find these Boards are the best places to buy and where I get the majority of my slabs.

[agent_graves]

What! How’d I miss that! (If eBay purchase) Congrats though, that’ll probably be the last 9.8 that comes up for sale for awhile. Although I am seeing a lot of movement on eBay of VEI CGC books.

Like 90% of my purchases it wasn’t on eBay.

I find these Boards are the best places to buy and where I get the majority of my slabs.

That’s wasup. I find that route to be a little cheaper, which always helps.

[Juki]

Does anyone know the details about the 4001 A.D. #1 Japanese Variant? It seems to be readily available in the market. But, from what I have read, it was only available in the time capsule? Were there more issues available in another way? I am just wondering about the true rarity of this one?


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[Sunlight on Snow]

Does anyone know the details about the 4001 A.D. #1 Japanese Variant? It seems to be readily available in the market. But, from what I have read, it was only available in the time capsule? Were there more issues available in another way? I am just wondering about the true rarity of this one?

Since this was part of a whole briefcase with lithographs and stuff, I don't think VEI produced too many of it.

They were distributed at a ComicsPRO event.

[nycjadie]

Does anyone know the details about the 4001 A.D. #1 Japanese Variant? It seems to be readily available in the market. But, from what I have read, it was only available in the time capsule? Were there more issues available in another way? I am just wondering about the true rarity of this one?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

There were 4-5 copies contained in each time capsule, which were sent to many stores. Anyone who bought or had a time capsule had extra copies.

[Sunlight on Snow]

Does anyone know the details about the 4001 A.D. #1 Japanese Variant? It seems to be readily available in the market. But, from what I have read, it was only available in the time capsule? Were there more issues available in another way? I am just wondering about the true rarity of this one?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

There were 4-5 copies contained in each time capsule, which were sent to many stores. Anyone who bought or had a time capsule had extra copies.

Oh, in that case VEI might have produced a few more copies than expected.

[Sunlight on Snow]

Found an old video of the Bleeding Cool guy unboxing one of those capsules....

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/unboxin ... -spoilers/

Wow! This thing was fully loaded with all kings of goodies...even incl. a hardcover omnibus.

[Juki]

Does anyone know the details about the 4001 A.D. #1 Japanese Variant? It seems to be readily available in the market. But, from what I have read, it was only available in the time capsule? Were there more issues available in another way? I am just wondering about the true rarity of this one?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

There were 4-5 copies contained in each time capsule, which were sent to many stores. Anyone who bought or had a time capsule had extra copies.

Ok... that makes sense. So, that is why there are extra copies (multiples of about 5 in the capsules). So, how many time capsules were made?

[Sunlight on Snow]

Looks like some of them were even loaded with 6 copies of 4001 AD.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4001-A-D-VALIA ... 3901970959

[nycjadie]

Mine did not have an omnibus!

[Sunlight on Snow]

Mine did not have an omnibus!

Sorry for the confusion! Yesterday I didn't watch the entire video and skipped right to the section with the Japanese language variant. It looks like the omnibus as well as the Bloodshot Island goodies (bag, glasses, lotion) were just added as an extra to the main package and weren't actually inside the capsule.

And the video was posted on May 23, 2016....despite VEI asking retailers not to open it before AUG 31. I guess, Bleeding Cool is not a regular retailer.

[nycjadie]

Mine did not have an omnibus!

Sorry for the confusion! Yesterday I didn't watch the entire video and skipped right to the section with the Japanese language variant. It looks like the omnibus as well as the Bloodshot Island goodies (bag, glasses, lotion) were just added as an extra to the main package and weren't actually inside the capsule.

And the video was posted on May 23, 2016....despite VEI asking retailers not to open it before AUG 31. I guess, Bleeding Cool is not a regular retailer.

Aha! I'm sure many broke the rules. I have a sealed one that my shop got from another store that closed down here. It's still sealed. Kind of fun.