Miracleman rarities 3 3

[Bosco685]

Not sure about that one...if you do I think it comes back as qualified because of the un-witnessed signature and numbered on the inside cover. Cool find though!

 

No, it comes back in a Universal Label because the signing is on the inside.

 

That would be one rocking book to own.

[mschmidt]

I handled it today, to take these pics, for the first time since probably 1990, maybe earlier.

 

It is not for sale today. It may be in the near future.

 

What now? Should I have it graded?

 

Keep it raw - it's so much cooler when you can actually open up the book & see the glorious non-3D goodness inside :thumbsup:

[RockMyAmadeus]

I'm arriving pretty late to this party, but this may be of interest.

 

I read Miracleman real-time in the 1980s. Had the entire series, #1-24, most (probably all) of the associated, Eclipse-published issues. But they had long been stored away, untouched for many years, and I didn't really think much about them. Coming across this forum recently, I've been amazed that 1980s material has seen some collecting revival, and the intensity of interest in Miracleman floored me.

 

So I dug out (probably) everything today, including this -- yes, original owner, bagged and boxed everything back in the day -- the 2D version of the Miracleman 3D issue (I've decided to obscure my copy's serial number for now):

 

Cover, indistinguishable from regular 3D:

 

Page 1:

 

cat yronwode's signature on an interior page:

 

I handled it today, to take these pics, for the first time since probably 1990, maybe earlier.

 

It is not for sale today. It may be in the near future.

 

What now? Should I have it graded?

 

:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

 

Oh, man, is this gonna excite some people.

 

Where's Chrispy??

[RockMyAmadeus]

the # or the sig on the inside cover will not make it qualified unless it affects the book... should come back blue label with a note about the sig on the inside cover.... if memory serves me right!.... nice book!

 

Sig's on an interior page, not the front cover.

[JohnnyDeLicious]

One down, 99 to go! Keep them coming people!

[ashsaytr]

the # or the sig on the inside cover will not make it qualified unless it affects the book... should come back blue label with a note about the sig on the inside cover.... if memory serves me right!.... nice book!

 

Sig's on an interior page, not the front cover.

 

i know...did i state it wrong?

[Bosco685]

Not sure about that one...if you do I think it comes back as qualified because of the un-witnessed signature and numbered on the inside cover. Cool find though!

 

No, it comes back in a Universal Label because the signing is on the inside.

 

That would be one rocking book to own.

 

[Comicopolis]

Cool book

[RockMyAmadeus]

the # or the sig on the inside cover will not make it qualified unless it affects the book... should come back blue label with a note about the sig on the inside cover.... if memory serves me right!.... nice book!

 

Sig's on an interior page, not the front cover.

 

i know...did i state it wrong?

 

I thought you said inside cover...? :shrug:

[EwanUK]

One down, 99 to go! Keep them coming people!

 

Well, congrats, very, very nice book, but why are you obscuring the serial number?

 

my big-time quest for this book (with Chris) ended when Michael acquired a NM one! At one time I was offering £500 for a copy

 

If this is a new one, yours is copy no.7 (or no.6 if you discount the MSU one)

 

The other known copies are -

 

1 owned by Derek Wilson, a UK collector, no.92 /100

 

1 owned by Michagan State University (but not verfied as being a 2D, may have been indexed incorrectly);

 

1 sold on eBay US in 2002 for around $150 (from memory, verified in 2009 by RockMyAmadeus on the CGC boards);

 

1 owned by Al Stoltz (reported in the article "MiracleMan 2-D Copy Discovered!" published in "Scoop" 15th February 2008);

 

1 owned by "ladines" on CGC boards "I've got one of the MM 3D 2d's and I can tell you that mine is signed by Cat but on a special page in the interior of the comic, not inside the cover which would explain why the MSU copy doesn't have it either. The page explains that cat has a condition that doesn't allow her to see the 3D version and since she was the publisher decided to print 100 copies in 2D. I believe mine is number 82 but don't have it on hand to confirm.";

 

1 owned by Michael Schmidt, a US collector, no 19/100 (photo's published on CGC boards - "I can't go into the specifics of how I aquired this, but it came from the original owner who purchased it directly from Eclipse - this wasn't a dollar-box find by any means, but I paid a price I was perfectly happy with. It's not for sale (really) - as this thread perfectly illustrates, it's one of those (few) true comic book rarities that are pretty much impossible to replace."

 

The rarest Copper book without a doubt!

[EwanUK]

BTW, here's a few more rarities....

 

Total Eclipse bag

 

 

Marvelman no.307 blank inside cover variant

 

 

Marvelman Family no.2

 

 

 

Warrior-era t-shirts

 

 

Miracleman no.16 advance copy ashcan

 

 

No.25 cover

 

[EwanUK]

Here's my latest addition. En Italiano! This thing is huge, approx. 11''x15''.

I have no idea how rare this book is. Any facts on the Italian printings would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm guessing you got it off ebay from a guy in Italy, right? I did, too. No idea how many he has, but I've never seen them anywhere but from him.

 

There were 8 Italian editions. I have most of them. A loy of no.1s seem to have the corner cut off.... not sure why...

[Chipmaker]

One down, 99 to go! Keep them coming people!

 

Well, congrats, very, very nice book, but why are you obscuring the serial number?

 

my big-time quest for this book (with Chris) ended when Michael acquired a NM one! At one time I was offering £500 for a copy

 

If this is a new one, yours is copy no.7 (or no.6 if you discount the MSU one)

 

It's a new one; mine since I bought it. I no longer have my canceled checks, but I do have -- I dug it out a week or two ago -- the register, showing I wrote a check to Eclipse Enterprises for $5.00 on 12/21/1985. My vision, at the time, was not very good -- nearsighted -- but also wildly unbalanced, as my left was MUCH more severe than my right. I could not resolve the 3D effect well (and even today, I'm not much good at resolving "magic camera" hidden pictures). Cat did ask for letters of explanation for those interested in buying the non-3D versions, and this is what I wrote her.

 

Curiously, a few years later, I had radial keratotomy (the procedure cat mentions in the final line of her vision essay) on both eyes, immediately improving both greatly. I still have some astigmatism (RK does not address it), but my nearsightedness has been gone ever since. There are more advanced procedures now -- and my RK corneal scars (which are nowhere near as bad as they sound) make me a complex candidate for further surgeries -- but the RK was a blessing to me, and I can resolve 3D just fine.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

One down, 99 to go! Keep them coming people!

 

Well, congrats, very, very nice book, but why are you obscuring the serial number?

 

my big-time quest for this book (with Chris) ended when Michael acquired a NM one! At one time I was offering £500 for a copy

 

If this is a new one, yours is copy no.7 (or no.6 if you discount the MSU one)

 

It's a new one; mine since I bought it. I no longer have my canceled checks, but I do have -- I dug it out a week or two ago -- the register, showing I wrote a check to Eclipse Enterprises for $5.00 on 12/21/1985. My vision, at the time, was not very good -- nearsighted -- but also wildly unbalanced, as my left was MUCH more severe than my right. I could not resolve the 3D effect well (and even today, I'm not much good at resolving "magic camera" hidden pictures). Cat did ask for letters of explanation for those interested in buying the non-3D versions, and this is what I wrote her.

 

Curiously, a few years later, I had radial keratotomy (the procedure cat mentions in the final line of her vision essay) on both eyes, immediately improving both greatly. I still have some astigmatism (RK does not address it), but my nearsightedness has been gone ever since. There are more advanced procedures now -- and my RK corneal scars (which are nowhere near as bad as they sound) make me a complex candidate for further surgeries -- but the RK was a blessing to me, and I can resolve 3D just fine.

 

Fantastic!

 

I have a boatload of the other 2-D versions, and am fascinated by the folks who bought them brand new. I didn't get into comics until 1989/1990, so they were long gone by then. I couldn't find a #15 until eBay came along.

 

Where the other copies of the MM 2D are, no one really knows. They might have been destroyed in the 1986 flood, as the later books show the MM as being "SOLD OUT", but nobody really knows.

 

I still try to check every one I come across.

[mschmidt]

1 owned by Michagan State University (but not verfied as being a 2D, may have been indexed incorrectly);

 

I had one of my sisters (who's a librarian) check up on this a while back - it's an incorrectly-labelled regular 3D version ...

[Ant-Man]

Not sure how 'rare' this is, but the Total Eclipse bag made me dig it out:

 

[ComicConnoisseur]

I have a facsimilie of no.25 (see below) which I understand from an earlier correspondence with Derek was created in the early 1990s from Denis Gifford's copy and 5 were made (so rare in itself). As you can see this is NOT the same as yours - though it's quite possible Denis had 2 copies afterall. Interstingly, in addition, there's also a low grade copy pictured in Gifford's "Complete Catalogue of British Comics" (which could of course be Derek's)

 

So there would be at least 4 known...

1. Derek's

2. yours (Gifford 1)

3. the original of the facsimilie (Gifford 2?)

4. The Catalogue copy (Gifford 3?)

 

Well, this is good info! I guess it's hard to know whether the facsimile original could have been the one I have now. Or whether Derek's is the catalogue copy. But when you factor in Mick Anglo, the Miller family, et. al., I'm sure you're right that there's got to be at least one or two more than just mine and Derek's.

 

the facsimilie (with a facsimilie of no.83)

 

the catalogue copy

 

with full page of the book

 

In terms of provenance, in Gifford's very rare earlier book "The British Comic Catalogue 1874-1974" he does indirectly note owning both Marvelman no.25 and the elusive no.26 which has a story entitled "Crime Detective". That's the only mention I've ever seen of it, but Derek said another collector (Steve Holland?) once saw a copy without it's back cover many years ago. So it does appear to have existed.

 

You would think so, given all the buildup they did for it starting five weeks in advance. This is the first evidence I've seen, though, that anyone ever saw it. From what I gather, Gifford's comic books were not sold off in a very organized or responsible fashion. The Marvelman 25 I eventually won wasn't even sold as its own item, it was part of a make-good to round out a deal on other issues, according to the guy who sold it to me. So who knows, maybe that 26 is out there somewhere!

 

Young Marvelman no.25 is also extemely rare but a FN copy sold in the Compal auction in 2005 for £126.

 

I know! I found that one online only after the auction had closed! Missed by thatmuch!

 

My MF 1 cost just £150 - I'm very happy with it. At least I have 1 of the first editions!

 

Good deal. Mine was in nowhere near as good condition (I even wonder whether mine is the one in the catalog you showed!) but I'm still thrilled I got it.

 

I also have some of the pre 19-24 issues. Which seem more easy to find than MM issues.

 

Anyway, I think you're right 10x as rare is conservative, maybe a lot more than that - though I don't early print runs were only 5,000.

 

I'm not collecting the pre 19-24 issues, but I've certainly come across them in my search and your observation definitely matches my experience. No idea about the print runs, just passing on what the guy I talked to said. I don't think his source was anything super-authoritative. Bottom line, a handful of UK collectors already seem to have sussed out most of the sources of these books, which is why the Marvel acquisition doesn't seem to have brought too much worthwhile out of the woodwork and, as you say, the early pre-100s issues and Cap. 19-24 seem to be quite rare indeed!

 

because it doesn`t get rarer than Marvel Man #25!

[B-Smooth]

 

The rarest Copper book without a doubt!

Close. But there are only 3 known copies of this book, which was supposed to not exist.

[marmat]

This is not rare by any means, but it has an original Miracleman story by Moore and Dillon that I belive has never been published in the USA

 

[Sal]

That the Warrior Summer Special?