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Grails Update October 2023

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Walt

After "passing" on a copy several years ago at Carol & John’s before the "pandemic spike" of absolutely delusional, ridiculous pricing on comics, I figured even a 3rd print of TMNT #1 was out of reach for me, for my price range.

But a couple weeks ago, an email from Kenmore listed some new TMNT acquisitions…which included a 3rd print of #1. And while it was definitely more expensive than the CNJ copy a few years back…it was at a price I was willing to pay, and I jumped on it.

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I was introduced to the TMNT in 1989 or so, while Dad was Den Leader for my Cub Scout group. Meeting was at the old house in Eastlake, and someone flipped the tv to this cartoon that I initially thought was dumb, but soon totally got onboard with. I remember Dad taking some of us (I think as friends and not as Cub Scouts) to the 1990 film; I was definitely "into" the TMNT by then.

Suffice it to say I was aware of the original Mirage TMNT #1 cover/image at LEAST by 1992, when TMNT #50 came out (with an updated version of the classic image). I feel like I recall seeing #1 listed somewhere back then in the $300 range and thinking that was absolutely ridiculously expensive and farrrrr outta reach. (Which, to a middle school kid most certainly WAS true).

That’d be a STEAL nowadays in 2023.

However, after seeing that copy at CNJ, I resolved that the 3rd print of #1 was attainable (to me)…if only "someday." Though I grew to DOUBT that, as said, with the spike in pricing the last several years.

This copy I just got now holds the record as THE most expensive single comic I have EVER bought in my life–more, even, than any Omnibus hardcover or other collected volume. It also beats out the copy of Uncanny X-Men #141 that I got at a show in early December 2021 that Dad was SHOCKED at learning what I’d paid, but figured it was my money, made me happy, and not like I was buying drugs or such.

And I’ve updated my "grails" list…though I’m sure there are plenty of other issues I’m also interested in. These now are specifically "notable" though I’m not in any huge rush to obtain them.

With the price of modern new comics’ cover prices also spiking lately to $4.99…I yet again need to be trimming back on what I’m buying. And even stuff I’d otherwise be perfectly interested in is getting hard to justify in the "generic" sense of being "just another" issue to come out any given week. (More on that soon, possibly).

Updated Grails List:

  • Mirage TMNT vol. 2 # 10
  • Body Count (Image TMNT/Casey/Raph mini) #1
  • Body Count (Image TMNT/Casey/Raph mini) #2
  • Body Count (Image TMNT/Casey/Raph mini) #3
  • Body Count (Image TMNT/Casey/Raph mini) #4
  • Mirage Donatello: The Brain Thief #4
  • Image TMNT #s 1-18, 21+
  • Mirage TMNT #2 (2nd print)
  • Mirage TMNT #3 (1st print van cover)
  • Mirage TMNT #3 (2nd print splinter vs mousers cover)
  • Mirage TMNT #4 (1st print green sketchy cover)
  • Mirage TMNT #4 (2nd print Nintendo box art cover)
  • TMNT IDW #1 (Donnie cover)
  • DC Comics Presents #26
  • TMNT IDW #1 (wraparound cover)
  • Archie C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa (vol. 1) #1
  • Archie C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa (vol. 1) #2
  • Archie C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa (vol. 1) #3
  • Archie C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa (vol. 2) #1
  • Archie C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa (vol. 2) #2
  • Archie C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa (vol. 2) #3
  • Battletech: Fallout #1 Hologram cover
  • Mortal Kombat: Blood and Thunder #1 Hologram cover
  • Max Yearbook (1990 Marvel) #1 (hologram cover)
  • Onslaught: X-Men gold edition
  • Spawn #s 132, 134, 136-149, 151-175, 177-184, 190, 194-198, 203-256

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Filed under: 2023 Non-Review Posts, 2023 Posts | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A 100-Issue Goal Extension and a Grail

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Walt

Last month with a rare day off of work, I was able to dig into some quarter bins at a shop outta my usually weekly reach. And had a few good finds that led into a HUGE (for me) find. And then just over a week later, got a Grail comic that I’ve been after for years.

Let’s dive on in…

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I’m a sucker for older TMNT stuff. I need to get my list(s) re-updated to be sure of what I do and don’t still need. I’m pretty sure this Turtle Soup issue is a duplicate, but for 25 cents, not one to pass up. I also hadn’t realized how damaged the TMNT Adventures issue was…but it’s a newsstand edition of one of the first issues I ever got, off a spinner rack in Waldenbooks. A couple of Atari Force issues caught my eye…as did Invasion! #s 1-3 and the Wonder Woman tie-in.

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Then G.I.Joe/Transformers 1-4 (the complete mini-series) for only $1 was a no-brainer. Ditto the Contest of Champions mini and Thor #400.

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Though not quite in order, I realized there was a run of early Marvel Comics Presents, and rather than "cherry-pick" the #1, I snagged the "run." 8 issues…

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…and then the next 8. For less than the price of an issue of the new iteration of the title in 2019, I snagged the first 16 issues of the original.

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One of my earliest #1 issues back in the ’90s–one that was a point of "pride" to me–was Classic X-Men #1. Back when a #1 was actually a fairly big deal and really meant something. It was how I first read the introduction of Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and so on. Finding several of the earliest issues, I figured I’d grab ’em–I’m pretty sure I’d gotten another small run of the title recently, whether this duplicates or enhances that, I’m not sure offhand. And then the two-issue X-Men/Alpha Flight mini is a great find for only 50 cents!

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Continuing on, I thought it was cool to find the 4-issue X-Men and the Micronauts series. And the X-Men/New Teen Titans special! Then a small run of several of the old Annuals. #s 5-7…

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…and on up to #12.

But then I happened on one of the more significant finds (for me)…

A huge run of Uncanny X-Men itself. Beginning with #144 (only a couple issues off from the infamous Days of Future Past from #s 141-142!) and short only 6 issues from giving me 144-238! And I already knew I had #239-onward into the 400s, maybe early 500s, minus #266 (the first appearance of Gambit). So with this 90-ish issue run, I’m only a handful of issues off from being able to push all the way back to Days of Future Past–something I never really considered (Since pulling together all of my X-stuff back in 2012ish, I’ve been aiming for a complete run of Uncanny X-Men from Inferno-onward to the end of "volume one"!)

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And then, after a lotta years’ patience and being determined to find the issue at a certain price point and being completely unwilling to pay "top dollar" for it, since I just want the issue as part of this run…when I walked into the shop only a week after the huge haul, I was informed that a copy of #266 in my price range had (finally!) shown up.

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Then another week later, at an evening "pre" Free Comic Book Day event, I was able to get three of those missing 6 (albeit at a "premium" but still half-off their marked price)!

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$3.50/issue for "key" issues that I specifically wanted, that "mean" more to me for filling in this particular run was a very good price! AND also significantly (to me) cheaper per issue than "just any" brand-new issue I’d get off a new comics rack! #s 171, 198, and 200.

So now, short those other three issues–#s 158, 201, and 221–I’m pretty sure I now have #144-500ish. Which means it’s high time I pull stuff again and get my X-books sorted out again so I can be sure of what I’m still missing from that Uncanny run and decide what my next "grail" book(s) will be to hunt down that may actually be attainable. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1–at $3000+ is significantly out of my reach, though it’d be an amazing acquisition. With the earliest issues of the Mirage series, I’m content with later printings to plug the gaps.

Perhaps the original Image edition of the actual Image run of TMNT–though those are largely a moot thing with IDW publishing the series again; and using the "original" covers, even.

I do think I’ve largely decided that I’ll likely push back to Days of Future Past itself–certainly the 2nd half–as I believe THAT was even where the title "officially" went from the words "The Uncanny" being a tagline to being part of the title itself (a distinction that allowed for the 1991 and umpteen other "adjective-less" #1s of X-Men.)

Time shall definitely tell!

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »