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STAR WARS #1
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967 posts in this topic

4 hours ago, OtherEric said:

My copy is a reprint, though... I think I finally got it in 1981, my family could just NOT find the whitman 3-pack of 1-3 like we did with 4-18, then my subscription started with #21.

And even when I did get it, I read it to death and didn't know how to take care of my books yet... I probably got it for my 10th birthday, the first back issue (or at least tied for first) back issue I ever got.  Still, although I wouldn't mind a better copy, I wouldn't want to get rid of this one for anything.

Star Wars 001.jpg

I remember buying my 30c first print #1 from a spinner rack in a King Super grocery store in Littleton, Colorado. It went with the bulk of my collection when I sold up back in the 90's. I miss it, too. One of my Unattainable Collecting Goals is to have a full set of 1-107, including all printing variants. I'm about 20% there, so far. The 35 centers are going to be the chicken bone in the throat of that one.

Just this morning paid for this ebay win -s-l1600.thumb.jpg.611608da5a96d0d6832d451cd15858cd.jpg

Less than £10, including shipping. (thumbsu

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6 hours ago, rakehell said:

One of my Unattainable Collecting Goals is to have a full set of 1-107, including all printing variants. I'm about 20% there, so far. The 35 centers are going to be the chicken bone in the throat of that one.

Wow!  That is a challenge.  You should have a head start on the pence variants, if you're already in the U.K. (they're much tougher to find in the middle of the U.S.).  The two books that seem like they would be easy to locate, but just aren't are the Star Wars #5 and Star Wars #6 reprints WITH the UPC barcode.  There are plenty of reprints for Star Wars #5 and Star Wars #6, but the newsstand barcodes are just not on them very often.  I think they must have been more heavily returned for credit (and destroyed) quite often, since Marvel probably figured out how to satisfy demand for Star Wars with first prints and direct editions (and direct edition reprints) by the time #5 and #6 came around.  The direct editions and direct edition reprints couldn't be returned, so they're still easy to find (even in the unopened 3-packs).

Edited by valiantman
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7 hours ago, rakehell said:

One of my Unattainable Collecting Goals is to have a full set of 1-107, including all printing variants. I'm about 20% there, so far. The 35 centers are going to be the chicken bone in the throat of that one.

The 35 centers are going to be a pain, but at least people are aware that they exist.  I'm not sure how well documented it is which issues exist with UK and Canadian price variants.

I will take my well loved, frequently beat up, but complete run composed of a highly random mix of newsstand, direct, whitman, and reprint copies.

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16 hours ago, valiantman said:

Wow!  That is a challenge.  You should have a head start on the pence variants, if you're already in the U.K. (they're much tougher to find in the middle of the U.S.).  The two books that seem like they would be easy to locate, but just aren't are the Star Wars #5 and Star Wars #6 reprints WITH the UPC barcode.  There are plenty of reprints for Star Wars #5 and Star Wars #6, but the newsstand barcodes are just not on them very often.  I think they must have been more heavily returned for credit (and destroyed) quite often, since Marvel probably figured out how to satisfy demand for Star Wars with first prints and direct editions (and direct edition reprints) by the time #5 and #6 came around.  The direct editions and direct edition reprints couldn't be returned, so they're still easy to find (even in the unopened 3-packs).

Yeah, I like a challenge! You're right about the pence copies; I have multiples of all of them. The 5 & 6 UPC reprints are a surprise, though. I managed to grab a fairly nice #6 in a small lot of other various issues & there is a nice #5 on ebay UK right now that I think I'll bid on. Going through my pile I've also noticed a fair few Mark Jewelers inserts as well. Don't know how serious I am about them though. 

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13 hours ago, OtherEric said:

I'm not sure how well documented it is which issues exist with UK and Canadian price variants.

Pence price variants only exist for 2-5 & they're fairly easy to pick up. So much so that I won't pay more than £5 for any single issue. Canadian price variants start at 64 & go through to 106. On reflection, those will probably be a bugger to get hold of from the UK. hm

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15 minutes ago, rakehell said:

Pence price variants only exist for 2-5 & they're fairly easy to pick up. So much so that I won't pay more than £5 for any single issue. Canadian price variants start at 64 & go through to 106. On reflection, those will probably be a bugger to get hold of from the UK. hm

Depending on what sort of grades you want, it looks like MyComicShop has most of the Canadian variants at not too crazy prices; you might be able to knock out a lot of them at one go.  They don't have either of the Canadian annual variants, though.

I"m surprised there were so few Pence variants, I thought those lasted a bit later in general.  But I'm very much not an expert on the subject.

Are you going to try for Mark Jewelers variants as well?

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2 hours ago, OtherEric said:

Depending on what sort of grades you want, it looks like MyComicShop has most of the Canadian variants at not too crazy prices; you might be able to knock out a lot of them at one go.  They don't have either of the Canadian annual variants, though.

I might just do that. I can save on international shipping by getting stuff sent to my mom's house. I'll just have to wait until next autumn to get my hands on 'em. 

2 hours ago, OtherEric said:

I"m surprised there were so few Pence variants, I thought those lasted a bit later in general.

The Marvel UK 'Star Wars Weekly' put paid to any more pence price variants.

 

2 hours ago, OtherEric said:

Are you going to try for Mark Jewelers variants as well?

Still thinking about it. The ones I have I seem to have acquired accidentally up to this point, so I don't feel the imperative yet. As you know, a collector never says never. :banana:

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I'm still having trouble finding high grade copies of the 3 & 5 pence variants.  I've ordered some pence variants from a shop in the UK, but I wasn't totally happy with their grading and probably won't be looking NM or better material from them again.

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7 hours ago, OtherEric said:

That makes sense.  Although it still seems odd there wasn't a #1 pence version...

The complete list of UK pence price variants, for DC, Charlton, Archie, Dell/Gold Key, as well as Marvel, looks like someone used a machine gun to decide which issues to include. Many gaps and random inclusions/exclusions. Makes no sense, but it's been exhaustively documented.

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4 hours ago, MisterX said:

I'm still having trouble finding high grade copies of the 3 & 5 pence variants.  I've ordered some pence variants from a shop in the UK, but I wasn't totally happy with their grading and probably won't be looking NM or better material from them again.

#3 is especially tough. I have four copies & the highest grade is probably VFN-, if I'm being generous. I'd suggest you try ebay UK, but the Global Shipping Program will basically mug you. I've shipped a few sales to the US (& Europe) for about a quarter of what GSP was charging.

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3 hours ago, Xenosmilus said:

Excuse my ignorance but what are Pence variants?

UK pence price variants are US printed copies of various comics intended for distribution to the UK. Marvel, Charlton, DC, Archie & Dell/Gold Key all printed these alongside the regular US copies. Marvel was the first to do this in the early 60's. The key thing to remember with these is that they were printed at the same time as the regular US copies, on the same presses, in the same print run. Only the price on the cover is different; the interior is the same, including a US cents priced indicia. These are arguably the first true variants produced at scale in the industry. Check out these threads for the full story.

Happy reading!

Edited by rakehell
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Not sure if this is the right thread but my SW run is strictly focused to 9.6 slabs. I noticed there has been a recent slight uptick in #1 but :whatthe: what a major upswing in 9.8s selling new all time highs, way above $2K. Here are very recent sales from this month (however all BINs.)

$2400

$2199

$2600

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Tried and failed selling these at the April 2020 VCC. 90 day average is now as follows (these are not for sale):

- 9.4 - $305 (last sale $485)

- 9.2 - $252 (last sale $375)

- 9.0 - $207 (last sale $219)

At the same VCC I "sold" a ASM 300 9.8 for $1,900 (buyer got cold feet and backed out).

1.png.40d54a03766adcb140a14b8c27e0e66d.png9.png.29cf94266995890bb23395b852b4f82c.png8.png.ed9c2eb5e5bd30146505137b6ec78ee2.png10.png.37f2835282a15db4b7498c1ffa527c42.png3.png.4c8ad3fe89be873bff2950b014ebd635.png

  • Star Wars 1 - 9.4 (white) - $180
  • Star Wars 1 - 9.4 (white) - $180
  • Star Wars 1 - 9.2 (white) - $165
  • Star Wars 1 - 9.2 (white) - $165
  • Star Wars 1 - 9.0 (white) - $140
Edited by eddly
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