GM8

Of all the Storage Wars personalities to find this lot and be competent with it, Rene is probably the one. Dave would do it right too but he's not a good human being so this went to the best I suppose. Barry would have been nice since he always tried so hard but always lost $. Great find though! He got all those mylars and boards right off the bat which was smart.

I don't want to get into the weeds but I do follow TMNT #1 sales and will say that the rarity of the 1st prints does tend to diminish the price difference between OW/W and W page qualities. The lack of supply seems to make people just want a copy and the grade is the singular thing they give weight to, sometimes they don't even care about that as can be seen in the price bunching of the mid-grade copies. There is a limit most collectors can spend on this book and the little differences matter less. It's an anomaly really. That said, page quality does matter for almost every other copper book with larger print runs. It makes sense because its a means of differentiation. Take NM 98 for example, search ebay sales for 9.8's, sort the direct, unsigned versions by price and you'll see that from $880 down to $750 are all WP. OW/W only sell from $750 and down. That's not a mistake, its because of the page quality.

Recent 9.2 sales I don't have, although there is one current listing on comic connect here: https://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=748691 Recent 9.4 sales I have a few, $10,500 on 12/6/17, $8250 on 12/17/17, and $10,300 on 1/5/18. That range is fair value in my opinion.

I think you got the market price, congrats, and it was probably kept lower because of the 9.8 also for sale. I agree that the 9.6 that sold for $26K was likely a press candidate, the description said it was "hidden away in a bedroom for many years." Although it doesn't say that it wasn't pressed - and the premium paid is a big risk to take the chance. I guess the only way to know is to follow the CGC # (1294883001) and see if it gets removed from the database and a new signed 9.8 comes forward.

Final sale of 9.6: $14,340. A step down certainly from the $26K we saw late last year on the other HA auction (note that sale was White pages, this most recent one was OW/W but that doesn't account for the difference). That one looks to be an outlier. The real value of the 9.6 is somewhere around $12-15K. https://comics.ha.com/itm/modern-age-1980-present-/alternative-underground/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-1-mirage-studios-1984-cgc-nm-96-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7177-91319.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 Final sale of 9.8: $35,850. A 19% jump in price from the recent $30.1K sale on Ebay and more in line with what we'd expect between 9.6 and 9.8 values. Going forward look for sales ranges between these two numbers $30-36K. https://comics.ha.com/itm/modern-age-1980-present-/alternative-underground/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-1-mirage-studios-1984-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/a/7177-91318.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

Only 47 copies of Raphael. If it were 48 I might bid but it's not enough Raphael.

Only one or two experiences with "overpackers" and the limited amount of frustration with that is worth it compared to the much more common "underpackers" who dimwittedly send comics unprotected in envelopes, loosely floating, with no attempt to be careful. Overpackers rule!

Upside as to which has the most capability to increase in value? Walking Dead #1. There is no comparison really imo, although it may not be the popular choice here. The average person doesn't know who the hell Moon Knight is. They surely know Walking Dead whether they watch it or not and at least someone they knows is probably an addict.

Well tell us more. I would love to see a gotcha live-tv expose 60 minutes style on this guy coming out of the grocery store. He's got to have a mustache.

Just keep reporting his listings as fraudulent. Its really the only thing you can do save actually buying one and then reporting him afterwords...which now that I think of it is probably better. Who wants to take the bullet?

Looking at his inventory and past sales this guy must have a warehouse and own a bank. He does incredible business. Must be doing something right!

The 9.6 just popped up to $7,000w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $8,365.00.

I'm surprised their website person never heard about these (as forged/fake copies) since a quick web search brings up this: http://www.recalledcomics.com/Gobbledygook1and2.php

Now its $30,000w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $35,850.00. A record so far.

9.6 same. Well the 9.8 was at $21,000w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $25,095.00. But someone must have had a good day in the stock market because now the 9.8 is up to: $26,000w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $31,070.00. That's just over the recent record ebay sale of $30,100, and this auction has 15 days to go.

If you like to waste your money, then yes. I've never had an issue as far as I know and since they never send these back I would never choose to send in premium supplies never to see them again. The only thing I would change is ensure safe delivery. No top loaders (with no flap) of course. I would only use bags/boards that fit the comic snugly without being tight like you see sometimes in thicker books in a modern sleeve.

as of now the 9.6 is at $4,500w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $5,377.50 the 9.8 is at $17,000w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $20,315.00 18 days to go.

It makes sense and your experience with the mid-grades is more confirmation. AF15 is a nice trade though so you did well! I don't think the Turtles as a visible product are going to lose too much over the years. They're still on advertisements here in NY often enough. The other week the Metropolitan Museum had a Michelangelo exhibit and actually brought in a person in a Turtle costume for the opening.

I looked and there are 2 9.4's on ebay right now at around 11.5-12K each. That's a bit higher than recent sales prices of $8225 on 12/17 and $10,250 on `1/5. However if you read more about the higher grades you'll find they haven't had the price appreciation of the lower grades, presumably because most people can't afford them so there's more demand for lower grades. On the face of it, that seems probably right. We'll see what happens with these 2 high grade copies.

And we're off to the races! Two new Heritage TMNT #1 1st print listings are up for sale and the prices are already moving on up. Recall that the last 9.6 they sold went for $26K so this will be very interesting. Meanwhile over on ebay a more recent 9.8 went for $30K, seemingly low in comparison. We will see if Heritage garners higher bids and sales. The 9.6: https://comics.ha.com/itm/modern-age-1980-present-/alternative-underground/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-1-mirage-studios-1984-cgc-nm-96-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7177-91319.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 The 9.8 https://comics.ha.com/itm/modern-age-1980-present-/alternative-underground/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-1-mirage-studios-1984-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/a/7177-91318.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

I got that email also. Here's how it will play out in my opinion: 1) Ebay sends out letter with wonderful words and stories. 2) They take more money. 3) I use their system to be square or just losing less money in the end.

I had to use magazine bags/boards when I had mine. Thick backing boards and mylars. Get the closing ones, no open tops else your newsprint on the top of the comic will yellow. Safest bet? Get them CGC'd. That way you know the grade, they are insurable for their full value and they're safe. If they have non-color-breaking creases it's worth it to do the full CCS/CGC in my opinion. They know how to press Turtles 1-4 really well.

I didn't make the connection at first, but Mirage actually coming out with a parody is funny.

Incomplete. I don't see Batman #408.

That's right, because there's nothing else to do! (grew up there)