My (likely) unusual story.

dbb817 · Post by **dbb817** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:12 pm

Hi everyone. I'm glad I found this board. I thought I'd share my story with you - I think it's fairly unusual, and hopefully you'll find it interesting:

When I was in middle school, I went to visit my uncle in New Jersey, and his friend Fred was over. Fred mentioned that he was working in comics, and shared a few of them with me. I was around 13 or so, so the Super Mario Comics were pretty interesting to me, even though I have never been into comics before. I was also quite into professional wrestling, so the WWF comics were cool too.

Fred had a couple of kids, but for some reason they weren't interested in his comics, so he sent all of the extra issues to me. Every few months, a box would arrive from Fred that included all of the latest issues.

After a little while, the comics stopped being just about Nintendo and WWF. I had never been into Superhero comics like many of my friends - just couldn't get into X-Men. But what I liked about this new comic, Magnus, was that I could start fresh and know everything there was to know about his universe. Unlike X-Men or Superman, whose mythology was so vast as to probably be incomprehensible, and certainly unobtainable.

I started reading Magnus, and Solar, and Fred just kept sending them. I liked that I had every single comic, and while initially, I felt like some comic book outcast for only reading VALIANT titles, I felt some measure of pride as I noticed them gaining in popularity. Every time I got a new batch, I would read all of the previous issues just so I could keep complete track of what was going on in the VALIANT universe.

At some point, Fred invited us to come to the VALIANT offices and take a tour. A friend and I visited him in New York, getting a tour of the rather tiny offices. At the end of the tour, he let us into the "Vault", which was basically a storeroom. I was able to get all of the issues that he hadn't sent me in order to complete my collection. It was pretty awesome. We walked back to the Port Authority with our arms laden with comic books, giddy from the experience.

Of course, as I went through high school, VALIANT began its decline. However, there would be one more highlight: As VALIANT was winding down, I guess they let Fred (who was always an executive, never a writer) write one of the issues. Or, maybe they were just bleeding talent and he got drafted? I'll never know, but regardless, Fred sent me a copy of Harbinger Files #1, in which he had named a character after me! That's right, the character of David "Dusty" Berman, who is killed by Harada after taking him in, was named for me! Of course, I've never had the nickname of "Dusty", but it was way cool. I kept that page on the wall of my room for a long time. (He sent me multiple copies...)

I'm sure you guys know the rest of the story. VALIANT slowly crumbled, and when Fred left the company, the comic bundles dried up. That was fine, though, because I was graduating high school and went off to college. Maybe some of you have figured out that Fred was Fred Pierce, who is now the President and COO of Wizard Entertainment.

At any rate, my father recently reminded me that I have a box of VALIANT comics at his house, and I plan on going over there and taking inventory tonight. Stay tuned as I post my collection...

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:21 pm

BloodOfHeroes · Post by **BloodOfHeroes** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:27 pm

Nice to meet you, never-been-Dusty!

AWESOME story!

siren3-4 · Post by **siren3-4** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:28 pm

Great story !! Welcome to the board . .

Pikachu is a little yellow rat that has the power of Thor . . .

Smashey · Post by **Smashey** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:31 pm

Wait a minute? Harada killed you? How are you typing this never been dusty man?

Awesome story. Welcome to the boards.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:47 pm

Wow, cool story. It would've been a Valiant fans dream to take a trip into the "vault" like you got to do.

iggy101us · Post by **iggy101us** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:01 pm

Welcome to the board. Where do I sign up for the Dusty signed Harbinger Files #1 project?

Dr. Solar · Post by **Dr. Solar** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:29 pm

Very cool story!

Welcome to the bored.

maraxusofkeld · Post by **maraxusofkeld** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:33 pm

Welcome to the board

dbb817 · Post by **dbb817** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:50 pm

Thanks for the warm welcome, folks.

In case you're curious, the "vault" was a room that was no bigger than 10x10, with metal shelves, and really, not that many comics. They might have had 4-5 copies of each issue sitting around. I thought it'd be more magnificent.

I also felt that I shouldn't be greedy, so I only took what I needed (of course, I had a checklist with me), but I could have easily taken multiple Magnus #0s, etc. I don't remember there being a lot of special issues there (gold's, signed, etc.)

Jrdawg · Post by **Jrdawg** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:54 pm

Agreed, very sweet story. Welcome

Rufusharley · Post by **Rufusharley** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:04 pm

welcome

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:18 pm

Welcome and great story

robb77 · Post by **robb77** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 6:42 pm

welcome

IanAlexavier · Post by **IanAlexavier** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 6:45 pm

Welcome!!! Great story!!

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:17 am

Hola Compadre.

What a one of a kind story.

So..... what's in the box at your Pop's house?

Smashey · Post by **Smashey** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:22 am

unopened case of gbu?

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:23 am

Smashey wrote:unopened case of gbu?

if thats the case.... I'm coming over.

dbb817 · Post by **dbb817** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:00 am

So, I just started to take inventory, but basically the best stuff I have is:

Harbinger #0 (Pink)
X-O #1/2 (Gold)
Shadowman #0 (Gold)
Magnus #0 w/ Card
H.A.R.D. Corps #1 (Gold)
Magnus #25 VVSS
Secret Weapons #11 VVSS

Most early Magnus, Rai, Harbinger, and Solar (and, many of the other titles as well).

I also seem to have complete sets of all the Unity cards, Valiant Era cards, and the Deathmate cards.

I do have some stuff that's probably pretty rare, including a chromium flat (as in the cover, but never folded around the comic) of Shadowman #0 and Geomancer #1.

So, the next question is, what do you guys think the best way is if going about taking inventory and appraising this stuff? I'm new to this board - should I post for advice in the Buying/Selling forum? Is it worth it to get some of this certified? I'd appreciate any advice....

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:07 am

dbb817 wrote:So, I just started to take inventory, but basically the best stuff I have is:

Harbinger #0 (Pink)
X-O #1/2 (Gold)
Shadowman #0 (Gold)
Magnus #0 w/ Card
H.A.R.D. Corps #1 (Gold)
Magnus #25 VVSS
Secret Weapons #11 VVSS

Most early Magnus, Rai, Harbinger, and Solar (and, many of the other titles as well).

I also seem to have complete sets of all the Unity cards, Valiant Era cards, and the Deathmate cards.

I do have some stuff that's probably pretty rare, including a chromium flat (as in the cover, but never folded around the comic) of Shadowman #0 and Geomancer #1.

So, the next question is, what do you guys think the best way is if going about taking inventory and appraising this stuff? I'm new to this board - should I post for advice in the Buying/Selling forum? Is it worth it to get some of this certified? I'd appreciate any advice....

There is a price guide on this site.

If you want to sell, you will have plenty of dudes intrested here, especially in the rarer stuff. Harby pink, golds, VVSSs.

If you want to keep it (which I reccomend), and you are curious about the value.

Just post what you have and ask the dudes for their opinion. It seems to me that there are regional differences in value.

This is definitely the center of info for all things Valiant.

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:03 pm

Great story

Knob · Post by **Knob** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:09 pm

dbb817 wrote:So, I just started to take inventory, but basically the best stuff I have is:

Harbinger #0 (Pink)
X-O #1/2 (Gold)
Shadowman #0 (Gold)
Magnus #0 w/ Card
H.A.R.D. Corps #1 (Gold)
Magnus #25 VVSS
Secret Weapons #11 VVSS

Most early Magnus, Rai, Harbinger, and Solar (and, many of the other titles as well).

I also seem to have complete sets of all the Unity cards, Valiant Era cards, and the Deathmate cards.

I do have some stuff that's probably pretty rare, including a chromium flat (as in the cover, but never folded around the comic) of Shadowman #0 and Geomancer #1.

So, the next question is, what do you guys think the best way is if going about taking inventory and appraising this stuff? I'm new to this board - should I post for advice in the Buying/Selling forum? Is it worth it to get some of this certified? I'd appreciate any advice....

It's worth about $5.87 for all of it.

But I'll take it off your hands for $9.99 plus shipping since I'm a nice guy.

Dr. Solar · Post by **Dr. Solar** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:13 pm

Knob wrote:
dbb817 wrote:So, I just started to take inventory, but basically the best stuff I have is:

Harbinger #0 (Pink)
X-O #1/2 (Gold)
Shadowman #0 (Gold)
Magnus #0 w/ Card
H.A.R.D. Corps #1 (Gold)
Magnus #25 VVSS
Secret Weapons #11 VVSS

Most early Magnus, Rai, Harbinger, and Solar (and, many of the other titles as well).

I also seem to have complete sets of all the Unity cards, Valiant Era cards, and the Deathmate cards.

I do have some stuff that's probably pretty rare, including a chromium flat (as in the cover, but never folded around the comic) of Shadowman #0 and Geomancer #1.

So, the next question is, what do you guys think the best way is if going about taking inventory and appraising this stuff? I'm new to this board - should I post for advice in the Buying/Selling forum? Is it worth it to get some of this certified? I'd appreciate any advice....
It's worth about $5.87 for all of it.

But I'll take it off your hands for $9.99 plus shipping since I'm a nice guy.

You're so kind

worldsbestcomics · Post by **worldsbestcomics** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:15 pm

Welcome to the Boards and thank you for sharing your story.

I don't think that we've ever had a Board member who made an appearance in a Valiant comic

I wonder if CGC would give a yellow label (Signature Series) to a copy of Harbinger Files if you signed it?

That would be cool.

dbb817 · Post by **dbb817** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 5:05 pm

worldsbestcomics wrote:Welcome to the Boards and thank you for sharing your story.

I don't think that we've ever had a Board member who made an appearance in a Valiant comic

I wonder if CGC would give a yellow label (Signature Series) to a copy of Harbinger Files if you signed it?

That would be cool.

Until you guys started writing about it, the idea of signing copies of Harbinger Files #1 because "I" was in it never even crossed my mind. The dude with my name is a huge-seeming mountain man; I'm a 5'8" balding Jew.

Nevertheless, it's amusing to think of buying up a bunch of those issues and signing and selling them (or just signing them for others for the heck of it). Of course, I'd kind of assume it'd lower the value, not increase it.

I could coin myself "Harada's first victim", or something like that. (I haven't read the issue in a long time - I don't even know if that's true.)

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My (likely) unusual story.

My (likely) unusual story.

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Inventory

Re: Inventory

Re: Inventory

Re: Inventory