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TMNT 1 (first print) on eBay... Needs opinions regarding authenticity

Started by Michelangelo,

32 posts in this topic

Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Posted
Posted

Everything seems to check out as far as what I know of a first print:

 

1) Gobbledygook ad on inside of back cover

2) doesn't say "second printing" or "third printing" under 'special thanks to quentin eastman'

3) the "T" in turtles on the cover doesn't have the extra added ink (third print does)

4) address is 'dover, new hampshire' on inside cover (not Connecticut like 3rd print)

 

however...

 

1) the interior pages don't look like cheap newsprint to me

 

thoughts

 

TMNT on eBay

 

 

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Bronty

Bronty

Posted
Posted

hi,

 

I don't know one way or the other, but it looks legit to me. I think the pages may just be quite white (relative to most copies) or whitened due to camera flash, perhaps. I can see so little of the interior pages that calling it fake is more than I can do from a quick glance, but I may be wrong.

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vsndesigns

vsndesigns

Posted
Posted

One of the most important comics of all time but be VERY CAREFUL buying it

Using a tax refund and a loan from Kevin Eastman's uncle Quentin, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird printed this book utilizing the publisher of their local TV schedule giveaway magazine, who ended up printing it at the same oversized 7 3/8” x 10 7/8” size as the magazine, instead of the size of a comic book (that's why there's all that extra black space in the bottom and right hand margins). To keep costs down, the interior pages were printed on cheap newsprint. This was their first professionally printed comic (Gobbledygook was hand-stapled and printed on a Xerox copier).

 

My advice is to use extreme caution when buying this comic book on eBay, make sure the seller is completely reputable and make sure you're really buying what you think you are and not a different printing or a counterfeit. Demand to see the interior back cover of the book, because the first printing has an ad for Gobbledygook while the interior back cover of the second and third printings have an advertisement for T-shirt iron-ons and say "second printing" or "third printing" under the line thanking Quentin Eastman -- but copies are known to have been sold where that line has been bleached out and the copy claimed to be a first print. Even scarier, there are known forgeries that look the same as a true first printing to the untrained eye -- a sign you are looking at a counterfeit copy is if the interior pages are not cheap newsprint paper.

 

A first print is distinguishable from a third print by looking at the front cover -- zero in on the 'T' in 'TURTLES' where you will see additional red ink in third print copies -- but as far as I am aware a first and second print is indistinguishable from one another just by looking at the front or back cover. This raises the possibility of grading company error, i.e. a label that erroneously reads first print when the copy sent in was really a second or third print. I am now aware of instances where this has been 'caught' happening with two different grading companies now, i.e. a labeling mistake where what was really a third print was given a first print label but because of that distinguishing difference in the 'T' collectors caught the mistake. But had this same mistake happened with a second print, would anyone have caught it? A disturbing question to ponder before shelling out a lot of cash on a graded copy.

 

Good luck, this is considered one of the "holy grail" collectibles, so take your time and hunt patiently for the right copy. With only 3,000 printed, expect finding yours to require patience and effort.

 

Other rare TMNT books you may also want in your collection as well: The NYCC "Laird's Photo" Variant edition of issue #3 (also oversized) where Eastman & Laird printed 500 copies to take with them to the 1985 New York Comic Con and when the full print run was later done the coloration was slightly different making the two batches distinguishable. Then in 1986 there was a misprint version of How To Draw TMNT, published by Solson, where a small batch of copies was accidentally printed without yellow ink. Then in 1987, Mirage accidentally published a batch of the second printing of TMNT #4 with the cover artwork from Tales of the TMNT, and later revealed to Overstreet that they had pulped all but 1,000 copies. In 2009, Mirage put out a special edition of TMNT #1 printing it in full color for the first time (the original was fully black and white other than the red in the cover) and a misprint batch of 1,000 copies was printed with hatch patterns on interior pages prompting a "recall & destroy" notice. There is also misprint version of TMNT volume #2 number #13 which was manufactured with the back cover artwork on the front and vice versa. These are just some more ideas for rare TMNT books to hunt :-) ... but if you had to choose just one TMNT book to own, absolutely positively make it a #1 first print of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, their origin and first appearance! :-)

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vsndesigns

vsndesigns

Posted
Posted

This is the conversation I had with Clint (The owner of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TMNT #1 FIRST PRINT 1984 Mirage - G/VG #201655567163).

 

From: rocknrollartist6460 (that's me on eBay):

New message to: clint7480 (Seller of the TMNT)

Your object has come up in a discussion regarding it authenticity. Can you please tell me a little bit about this item? The inside pages look really good, so much so we would like to see more photos if possible. Thanks in advance.

 

 

clint7480

I will work to get more inside pages posted tomorrow. I'm not at home so I can't at the moment. I added some pics of the staples for another bidder earlier today. The pages are actually slightly yellowed. Something that is common with this issue since it was printed on low quality paper. In fact if you zoom in on the first page picture you will see that.

Thanks for your interest!

Clint

 

 

New message to: clint7480

Hey Clint,

Sounds good. Personally I think it's looking good for you. The discussion is happening on the CGC forum where the serious buyers are. Pictures, pictures, pictures is the best advice I can offer. The only thing going against you possibly, is well, you don't have millions of gazillions of sells on eBay and you haven't been on ebay since the turn of the century, ha, ha. This is after all, the Holy Grail of the TMNT Community so of course there will be a lot of speculation as to if its real or is it a fake. The fact that you responded to me with expediency is a great sign and quite frankly, I think this is going to be a great Labor Day event!

Vic

 

 

clint7480

Wow I had no idea. I got this book in the late 90s. Traded my friend some Frank Miller books for it. As you can tell from the pics it's not high grade, but I still think it's a nice copy.

 

 

New message to: clint7480

Hey Clint,

You were a normal human being back then...You READ the comic! Right on! That being said, it's not in too bad of shape. I remember someone listing a Walking Dead that got a grade of 0.5 or something like that. That book got left in the back seat of a car under the rear window for years! So cool, you got this in a trade...how many Frank Miller's did you have to dish out for this one? BTW, is it okay for me to repost this conversation with the rest of the guys?

Vic

 

 

clint7480

I don't mind. I found the thread you're talking about. Do you know the guy who started that thread? Kind of bold to claim it might be fake. The pages look like cheap newsprint to me.

 

My friend is a big wolverine fan so it was the wolverine mini and some other books I can't remember now. I'm definitely the kind of guy who buys to read, not really collect. Wednesday warrior man!

 

 

New message to: clint7480

Nah, I don't know the guy who started this thread, but I imagine he's probably like a lot of people looking at your listing...IN SHOCK! Disbelieving...and partially ecstatic! Kinda like when I got my New England Comics Newsletter with the first appearance of The Tick and then to having it slabbed...and then to have the highest score ever rated for such an item...but I digress, hehehe. I also just got The Independent Comic Sampler No. 2 with a Signature Series Autograph from the man himself, Kevin Eastman. My wife's calling and gotta go grab some supper right now. Chat with ya later.

 

Vic out

ps thanks for the go ahead!

 

 

Well, that's it. For my two cents, I always contact the seller to get a better feel for who I am dealing with and I recommend that you do the same. I think Clint is open to making this a really fun auction and whenever he get's to it I'm sure he'll be able to provide more pics.

 

 

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InvstmntComcSuply

InvstmntComcSuply

Posted
Posted
This is the conversation I had with Clint (The owner of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TMNT #1 FIRST PRINT 1984 Mirage - G/VG #201655567163).

.....

 

clint7480

I don't mind. I found the thread you're talking about. Do you know the guy who started that thread? Kind of bold to claim it might be fake. The pages look like cheap newsprint to me.

 

New message to: clint7480

Nah, I don't know the guy who started this thread, but I imagine he's probably like a lot of people looking at your listing...IN SHOCK! Disbelieving...and partially ecstatic! Kinda like when I got my New England Comics Newsletter with the first appearance of The Tick and then to having it slabbed...and then to have the highest score ever rated for such an item...but I digress, hehehe. I also just got The Independent Comic Sampler No. 2 with a Signature Series Autograph from the man himself, Kevin Eastman. My wife's calling and gotta go grab some supper right now. Chat with ya later.

 

Vic out

ps thanks for the go ahead!

 

 

Well, that's it. For my two cents, I always contact the seller to get a better feel for who I am dealing with and I recommend that you do the same. I think Clint is open to making this a really fun auction and whenever he get's to it I'm sure he'll be able to provide more pics.

 

 

 

While I am a firm believer in "there is no such thing as bad advertising"....

I think an edit of the thread title is in order.

 

 

I would have also said this prior to the above post. 2c

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AndyBoBo

AndyBoBo

Posted
Posted

 

New message to: clint7480

Hey Clint,

Sounds good. Personally I think it's looking good for you. The discussion is happening on the CGC forum where the serious buyers are. Pictures, pictures, pictures is the best advice I can offer. The only thing going against you possibly, is well, you don't have millions of gazillions of sells on eBay and you haven't been on ebay since the turn of the century, ha, ha. This is after all, the Holy Grail of the TMNT Community so of course there will be a lot of speculation as to if its real or is it a fake. The fact that you responded to me with expediency is a great sign and quite frankly, I think this is going to be a great Labor Day event!

Vic

 

 

clint7480

Wow I had no idea. I got this book in the late 90s. Traded my friend some Frank Miller books for it. As you can tell from the pics it's not high grade, but I still think it's a nice copy.

 

 

I'm not well versed on this copy enough to opine on its authenticity, but this reply struck me as odd. His start price is exactly at the last sale. I would infer from that that he knew what he was selling, not that he was in complete awe and elated at his nostalgic investment...

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vsndesigns

vsndesigns

Posted
Posted

This is my continued conversation with Clint from this morning. And btw, I don't know Clint and this isn't some advertisement ploy. I was just curious about this item and I'm sharing what I learn. The more info the better I always say. Any assistance regarding this matter is greatly appreciated.

 

New message to: clint7480

Hi Clint,

Not a prob. Now, for the harder questions. Can you tell me in detail why you think this is one of the 3000 original 1st printing of this magazine. Before you answer please take a look at the following links for auctions of similar 2nd printings of this magazine.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-1-1984-2nd-Second-Print-Signed-Eastman-Laird/272342790855?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37437%26meid%3Dee953071a0ed411cabb481093ba7e4b3%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D201655567163

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEENAGE-MUTANT-NINJA-TURTLES-1-2ND-PRINT/120975898108?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37437%26meid%3Db582014d9cdf406f8cd2f858015e3580%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D201655567163

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TMNT-1-CGC-9-4-Double-cover-Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-2nd-Print-4-sketches/381677245073?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37437%26meid%3Ddf3570f2e08b48b68c6610d027d9ee83%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D201655567163

 

New message from: clint7480 (95Blue Star)

My friend and I used this site as a guide regarding what to look for, that's what I'm working from.

 

http://www.miragelicensing.com/comics/mirage/volume01/01/01.html

 

http://www.miragelicensing.com/comics/mirage/volume01/01/printing-info.html

 

Clint

 

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Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Seller just provided this new link for additional photos.

 

http://clintuitive.com/tmnt-comic/

 

Any comments?

 

Thanks for contacting the seller - much appreciated.

It looks really good to me.

 

My initial thought was that it's authentic; then the skeptical side of me kicked in

 

Did anyone on the board here win the auction??

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted

 

Good luck, this is considered one of the "holy grail" collectibles, so take your time and hunt patiently for the right copy. With only 3,000 printed, expect finding yours to require patience and effort.

 

 

Per Peter, the print run was actually 3,275. Per Kevin (just last Thursday, as a matter of fact) only about 2,500 actually made it out to the public.

 

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