Valiants mentioned in the 2003 Overstreet market reports

[Kevin Boyd]

I was quite surprised to see that dealers were promoting Valiants again in the market reports section of the 2003 guide. (No not Bloodshot and Turok 1 but the early valiants and some of the special dealer incentive versions).

 

Print runs on the early Shooter-era ones were quite low, and I agree that they are great reads, but I would be hard pressed to state that they have any kind of long-term investment opportunity (and I hate applying that statement to comics).

 

Any thoughts?

 

Kev

[joe_collector]

I know collectors who spent a ton on early Valiants and kept them, rather than selling out when the whole speculator bubble burst. I'd imagine there are many dealers in the same boat, and you can take it from there....

[Lofwyr]

"Never again"

 

There might be some money to be made on ebay if you find a boatload of unity 0 reds or magnus 0's w/coupon somewhere but it's a pretty futile cause. Valiant is pretty dead as a comics publisher so any hope of new material sparking interest is unlikely. I suppose it may be worth something just for scarcity alone but I can name several dozen indie titles that are scarce too. Collecting it for pure speculation is just a flashback to the early 90's era of hype. Nothing good can come of it in the long run..

 

 

[vic6string]

I disagree on the investment value. Now, I wouldn't go spending tons of money on Valiants right now, even the better pre-Unity stuff, but if I had it (or could get it for next to nothing) I wouldn't just toss it. In fact, lots of the stuff is so cheap now that I am trying to make a full set of the pre-unity stuff . I don't think Valiant is going to come back any time soon (or at all for that matter) but just because the company remains dead doesn't mean the characters will too. Some of the characters like Solar, X-O, and Sadowman are great characters that (if done properly) could be brought back by Marvel or DC or anyone else willing to buy the rights. Turok has seen time in the pages of Dell, Gold Key, Whitman, Valiant/Acclaim...Magnus, Solar, tons of the stuff is based on characters that have floated around for decades. You think Solar couldn't just "pop up" in a book alongside Silver Surfer someday? You think someone can't just find the X-O armor in an issue of Iron Man? Characters have crossed company lines tons of times in the past. I wouldn't bet the house on it, but the nice thing is you don't have to. You can get most of the older valiant stuff for cover price or barely over it. If nothing else, you get a great book to read.

[Kevin Boyd]

So you equate Valiants purely with speculation? I do see where you are coming from. However, they did produce some excellent comics (at the start) and there still seems to be a core group of devotees and completists that still collect the titles and have some difficulty finding some issues.

 

There are many titles that are collectible that command healthy back issue prices without an active presence in the new comic market. Why does Albedo 2 command such healty prices? Or Comico Primer/Grendel 1,2,3?

 

So I do think there is room for some Valiant books to have respectibility in the back issue market? Yes, I do. And no, I'm not talking about the thousands of Turoks and Bloodshots but the truly scarce comics, such as the pre-Unity titles and issues, the comics created by respected creators like BWS, as well as the final issues of the various runs before the V2 reboot.

 

Kev

 

[valiantman]

Kev,

 

Great post.

 

I usually spout my own opinion on the subject,

which, of course, is an opinion from a deranged Valiant super-fan...

 

So INSTEAD...I'll let Dr. Jon Tatomer (50 year comic book collector) speak:

http://www.valiantcomics.com/valiant/drtatomer.asp

 

...this is his opinion about Valiant comics from mid-2001...

[delekkerste]

Hope springs eternal...

 

Gene

[joe_collector]

So a bunch of poor saps got left holding the bag on some over-priced investment stock, and are now pining for the return of speculator-induced high prices?

 

Oh boo hooo hooo.

 

If they were smart, they'd have seen the wave 'a coming and sold off when Bloodshot and Turok hit the stands, and then turned the money into Bronze Age gold.

 

Instead they sit at home, staring at their stacks of Valiant books, counting money that doesn't exist anymore, and writing sad-sack email to your site....

[Lofwyr]

So you equate Valiants purely with speculation?

 

No, I don't equate Valiant purely with speculation, to emphasize I meant that the new revival seems to be speculator driven. The readers will always be around to pick up their NM regular editions. The people I know chasing this new pot o' gold are collectors who are seeking to dump on ebay at a later date. You can easily get a full set of Magnus, Eternal warrior, Harbinger etc.. at less than cover price to read. No need to make surreptitious claims that it's all for literary value when people are hoarding Unity reds and other gold variants by the dozens.

 

 

[Kevin Boyd]

I'm not making any claims personally.

 

I have a full run of Shooter-era Valiants and I have no intention of selling them, so I have no real interest in whether or not they go up in value other than the interest of any collector hoping that his collection holds some value or worth (other than the value I already ascribe to them).

 

However, if you would like to let me know where I can obtain Harbinger 1-4, Rai 1-4, Solar 1-10, Magnus 1-10, X-O Manowar 1-4 for cover price or less please let me know.

 

Kev

[Lofwyr]

However, if you would like to let me know where I can obtain Harbinger 1-4, Rai 1-4, Solar 1-10, Magnus 1-10, X-O Manowar 1-4 for cover price or less please let me know.

I bought most of the above (except solar and X-O which I bought for cover price when it came out) in lots from ebay a year or so ago, usenet, local comic backissue bins, and just about everywhere else i've seen massive 90's era comics en masse. It's honestly not that hard to find any of those backissues. The only "difficult" ones i've seen are the variants but since I don't actively seek variants (unless one falls into my lap at cover price or less) i'm not sure about the specific real world scarcity.

 

 

 

[aardvark88]

Any hope for pre-Unity Valiant Super Mario Bros #1 ? Home videogame players buying retro game cartridges & comic memorabilia? Time for me to send them to CGG??

[joe_collector]

The Valiant Speculato-Meter says....

 

Not Likely

 

Man, if Valiant comics do become speculator-bait once again. I am out for good.

[valiantman]

The comparison between EC Comics and Valiant Comics is valid.

 

Can I buy new EC Comics today? Are they on the stands? Are they making movies?

 

No.

 

But the books themselves have all the right qualities to make for a "collectible".

1) Good stories

2) Good art

3) Nostalgia

4) Limited print runs

 

Does everyone "need" to collect EC Comics? Nope.

Does everyone need to recognize EC quality? Nope.

Are they worthy of some recognition? Yes.

 

What's the difference with Valiant?

Early Valiant books have all 4 qualities above...

 

Sure, some people don't like them, don't care about them, don't want them.

 

That's fine. There aren't enough for us all to have the good ones anyway.

 

Pro-Valiant people, I understand.

Valiant-neutral people, I understand.

Anti-Valiant people, I don't get it.

[joe_collector]

Let me know if you catch any suckers with that "limited print run" speculator line.

 

It worked once, and who knows, lightning might strike twice.

[valiantman]

Oh, I understand.

 

You're one of those guys that bought Bloodshot #1 (600,000 copies)

and/or Turok #1 (1,750,000 copies).

 

I'm sorry...I completely understand.

 

Let me qualify my statement.

"Early Valiant comics" means 1991 & 1992.

Average print run, 50,000 copies.

 

That's not limited today, I know...

but in the age of X-Men #1 with five covers on the newstand,

50,000 was nothing.

 

Right now, in the right shops, you can still pick up those particular books

for cover price...

Sure, most moderns from the 1990's aren't worth cover price,

but these particular books are. It's not an "investment" when it's only $2, is it?

[valiantman]

However, if you would like to let me know where I can obtain Harbinger 1-4, Rai 1-4, Solar 1-10, Magnus 1-10, X-O Manowar 1-4 for cover price or less please let me know.

I want in, too. Large quantities preferred, strict near mint only...of course!

 

Oh, and I will give THREE TIMES GUIDE for Unity #0 Red.

So...make yourself some money by selling that "bargain bin book" to me!

[shadroch]

So many of todays dealers just lump all Valiants in a group,won't buy them,can't sell them. Almost every show I attend someone has

a pile of 50cent or 3/$1.00 and if you look hard you can find pre-unity books. I recently bought 87 such books for 15.00 including multiple copies of Rai 3-5,Harbinger 3-8, EW1-3 ect. Great reading and some people are willing to pay at least cover for many of these. While I hope these books never reach the prices they once allegedely commanded, I think it is reasonable to think there is more of an upside to their market than a downside. Many of these books had low print runs and then were cut up for their coupons. I would love to see Solar/Silver Surfer. Hopefully the next generation of writers will have cut their teeth on Valiants

[Fabfrank]

I think you guys are confusing Pre-Unity Valiants with their overproduced Post-Unity Valiants. The overprinted stuff will never see price increases. There is just to much of it, even if demand develops for this material.

Pre-Unity print runs are low enough that when interest does return to these books, they will see some nice appreciation.

In both cases the 2 things that will spur demand are #1 Someone/company reintroduces the characters or #2 When these books hit the 20 year old mark.

When collectors see these 20 year old books going for cover price or less, and their limited print runs, they will consider them undrevalued and start bidding prices up.

Regardless of value, all these Valiants (especially XO, Eternal Warrior, and Solar) are excellent reads.

[Kevin Boyd]

I was just looking over your numbers....

 

Rai 3 & 4.... estimated print runs of less than 25,000 and are considered the toughest to get regular edition V1 issues.

 

Now compare that against the print runs of the final issues of the V1 titles that lasted until 1996...

 

Turok 47 11,400

X-O Manowar 68 14,000

Solar 60 12,500

Magnus 64 14,000

Eternal Warrior 50 12,500

Bloodshot 51 9,000

 

Try to complete a full run of any of those titles and see how easy it is to find those issues.

 

Kev