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Books you just cant find in the Wild
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Started by fastballspecial,

4,489 posts in this topic

RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

Last April, I found Rai 1 (first appearance)... well, I was out at flea market this weekend and some closeout bookstand was discounting all their items half off...  They had 4 comic boxes in the back marked 50 cents.  I couldn't believe I saw Rai 1 and 3 in great condition!  I kept flipping and then found ETERNAL WARRIOR 4 and Rai 0   Then at the very back of that box, I found Solar 10, 1, and 2!!  I also picked up a few other random, non key variants to read.  X-o Man o war 2, 3 Archer armstrong 0-2, Bloodshot 34, et...  With the discount, Total came out to 4 dollars. The book seller told me most of the comics were left by another seller, and he was about to toss them in the trash. 

Probably my best find ever!   I love pre-unity valiants and I've never found these Solars in the wild. 

 

2019-03-31.thumb.jpg.ba51f61ddf8c95ae6c8a2be0d25bbe68.jpg

 

 

As an FYI, those aren't Rai #1 and #3, they're Magnus #5 and #7...certainly better for you. Magnus #5-8 had a flip book Rai #1-4. Back when #3 and #4 were $80-$90 (in 1993 dollars, even) people would try to pass Magnus #7 and #8...low value books at the time...as the very expensive #3 and #4.

Fooled quite a few people. 

Check to make sure all the cards are still attached.

The guy was going to toss them...? Just goes to show...someone could have $100-$200 worth of comics, and not know they're worth it.

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WolverineX

WolverineX

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12 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

As an FYI, those aren't Rai #1 and #3, they're Magnus #5 and #7...certainly better for you. Magnus #5-8 had a flip book Rai #1-4. Back when #3 and #4 were $80-$90 (in 1993 dollars, even) people would try to pass Magnus #7 and #8...low value books at the time...as the very expensive #3 and #4.

Fooled quite a few people. 

Check to make sure all the cards are still attached.

The guy was going to toss them...? Just goes to show...someone could have $100-$200 worth of comics, and not know they're worth it.

Nice!  I figured that.  So Magnus 5 and 7 are better than Rai 1 and 3?  I wasn't surprised that guy was going to toss them; he was essentially getting rid as much stock as possible.  Seemed like he did not care one bit about comic books.  It was just taking up room in his store.

 

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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2 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

So Magnus 5 and 7 are better than Rai 1 and 3?

Magnus #5 certainly is. It's Rai's first appearance, and in this first appearance mad world, it makes a difference. #7 is probably not "as good" as Rai #1 and #3, but those books don't command the cache they once did, either.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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All that said...I'm a firm believer in the latent demand for pre-Unity Valiant, and all it will take is one spark to make the public go crazy for these books again...and now, with nearly 30 years (gulp!) of time behind them, they're a lot more difficult to get when they were all the rage in 1993. If the Bloodshot movie lives up to the hype, there's no telling what Valiant books could do...but that's a BIGGGGG "if", and waiting around for the Valiant ship to finally come in could be a fool's errand.

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WolverineX

WolverineX

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

All that said...I'm a firm believer in the latent demand for pre-Unity Valiant, and all it will take is one spark to make the public go crazy for these books again...and now, with nearly 30 years (gulp!) of time behind them, they're a lot more difficult to get when they were all the rage in 1993. If the Bloodshot movie lives up to the hype, there's no telling what Valiant books could do...but that's a BIGGGGG "if", and waiting around for the Valiant ship to finally come in could be a fool's errand.

oh, i know...Rai 0 went kinda crazy last month...but who knows, I'm not a big fan of DMG's leadership currently.


That being said, pre-unity Valiant holds a special place in my heart because I enjoy Jim Shooter's work.  Enjoyable reads.

Edited by Wolverinex
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valiantman

valiantman

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

All that said...I'm a firm believer in the latent demand for pre-Unity Valiant, and all it will take is one spark to make the public go crazy for these books again...and now, with nearly 30 years (gulp!) of time behind them, they're a lot more difficult to get when they were all the rage in 1993. If the Bloodshot movie lives up to the hype, there's no telling what Valiant books could do...but that's a BIGGGGG "if", and waiting around for the Valiant ship to finally come in could be a fool's errand.

When I started my own quest for pre-Unity Valiant (in the late 1990s), I really only considered it similar to EC Comics... a quality company with a couple years of output that had a "cult following" but no mainstream recognition.  I figured Valiant (pre-Unity specifically) could be like EC Comics someday as far as the collectors market goes.  I was only buying what I liked anyway, so there was no downside.  It's a completely unexpected turn of events to have Vin Diesel star as Bloodshot, even if the movie is a flop and the company doesn't benefit. The idea that as many people will know the name "Bloodshot" as the number of people who know the name "Riddick" is its own win.

Edited by valiantman
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WolverineX

WolverineX

Posted
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2 hours ago, valiantman said:

When I started my own quest for pre-Unity Valiant (in the late 1990s), I really only considered it similar to EC Comics... a quality company with a couple years of output that had a "cult following" but no mainstream recognition.  I figured Valiant (pre-Unity specifically) could be like EC Comics someday as far as the collectors market goes.  I was only buying what I liked anyway, so there was no downside.  It's a completely unexpected turn of events to have Vin Diesel star as Bloodshot, even if the movie is a flop and the company doesn't benefit. The idea that as many people will know the name "Bloodshot" as the number of people who know the name "Riddick" is its own win.

Dinesh is involved in the making of the movie, right?  I think if the movie is true to the source, it will do very well... I just don't want to see a bastardized version of bloodshot

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valiantman

valiantman

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11 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

Dinesh is involved in the making of the movie, right?  I think if the movie is true to the source, it will do very well... I just don't want to see a bastardized version of bloodshot

Yep, Dinesh was there through the whole process.  Last I heard, he had seen the movie about 30 times. lol

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valiantman

valiantman

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Wolverinex said:
3 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Yep, Dinesh was there through the whole process.  Last I heard, he had seen the movie about 30 times. lol

actually, He's a forum member right?  We should just ask him.  :D

That works, too @dinesh_s

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BishopT

BishopT

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Posted

Glad to hear the movie is supposedly good. Can't wait to see it!

Also, awesome Valiant haul from the last page. It reminds me of when I got to look through a freshly purchased box of early Valiants at 2nC about 4 years ago or so... I found just about every key from the beginning to just after Unity, all in excellent condition... and all for a dollar. I should have offered for the whole box, but I was working with a limited budget. It had the BEST looking Solar #10 I've found before or since, as well as a Harbinger #1 with coupon (albeit with a small tear on the spine near the bottom staple, which I think is a common defect?), Eternal Warrior #4 etc. . Those days are long gone, it's very rare that I find pre Unity Valiant in dollar or even $2 boxes anymore. It took me a while to find the harder to come by later issues like Bloodshot #51 and the like, but I always am on the lookout for them.

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WolverineX

WolverineX

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, BishopT said:

Glad to hear the movie is supposedly good. Can't wait to see it!

Also, awesome Valiant haul from the last page. It reminds me of when I got to look through a freshly purchased box of early Valiants at 2nC about 4 years ago or so... I found just about every key from the beginning to just after Unity, all in excellent condition... and all for a dollar. I should have offered for the whole box, but I was working with a limited budget. It had the BEST looking Solar #10 I've found before or since, as well as a Harbinger #1 with coupon (albeit with a small tear on the spine near the bottom staple, which I think is a common defect?), Eternal Warrior #4 etc. . Those days are long gone, it's very rare that I find pre Unity Valiant in dollar or even $2 boxes anymore. It took me a while to find the harder to come by later issues like Bloodshot #51 and the like, but I always am on the lookout for them.

Thank you!  I hear stories but I thought finding a cache like this was long over... Congrats on your find 4 years ago!  I am so jealous you found a Harbinger 1... that's my favorite comic series.  I have NEVER found any pre Unity Harbingers in the wild ... What did you end up doing with your find?   Did you slab that Solar 10?  What else was in that box that you didn't buy? 

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BishopT

BishopT

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Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

Thank you!  I hear stories but I thought finding a cache like this was long over... Congrats on your find 4 years ago!  I am so jealous you found a Harbinger 1... that's my favorite comic series.  I have NEVER found any pre Unity Harbingers in the wild ... What did you end up doing with your find?   Did you slab that Solar 10?  What else was in that box that you didn't buy? 

I haven't sold or slabbed any of my pre-Unity finds. I have found two other Solar #10s that might be close to the one I found in that box, but I'm sure that one is still the one. Honestly, I've only ever had 5 books slabbed, and they were because I wanted to authenticate the signatures. But, now that I'm a bit deeper into the world of collecting and selling (at this point), I know some of those are going in with my first mail in submissions, probably in the next two months or so. The rest of the box was pretty much the rest of whatever series up until around 93, I think. The ones I remember not finding in that box was Rai #2 or #3, as far as pre-Unity important/rare books. Honestly, I still haven't seen the remaining comics hit the floor of that 2nC, these years later... don't know if they're still in the back (they have supposedly dozens of long boxes just sitting in the back) or if they got shipped to newer opening stores, which happens a lot without their option.

Edit: oh yeah, there wasn't a Magnus #0 in that box, either. Or a Harbinger #0 mail away.

Edited by BishopT
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Cat

Cat

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Posted

I'm trying to complete a run that is objectively modern drek, and it's driving me crazy. This stuff is just so rare as to be non-existent, and I don't know why. I'm talking about Malibu's Mortal Kombat comics (komiks?). Not the initial Blood And Thunder miniseries, but the subsequent stuff like the Battlewave series onward. It's just impossible to find. Literally impossible. 

I'm frustrated and confused. And slightly bemused. 

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