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ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 11:19 pm

Ok...I predicted this about....mmm...10 years ago, when people were first seriously getting CGC together....

That there would be certain books that just didn't exist in super high grade...and would sell for FARRRRR more than surrounding issues of comparable print run and 'key status'....

Well...here's a fine example...2 copies graded this high. My jaw dropped at the price:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 2294485320

I seriously doubt these will be the only two, though. They gotta come out of the woodwork now.

Wow.

VERY impressive.

soundoftheuniverse · Post by **soundoftheuniverse** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 4:56 am

ROFLMAO

check out the winning bidder's ID

Zeph, you got the Print run info on that book?

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:12 am

soundoftheuniverse wrote:ROFLMAO check out the winning bidder's ID

Zeph, you got the Print run info on that book?

Batmans were selling for CRAP in the late 80's, and these books took everyone by storm. Distributed copies reports from the era note that copies sold were in the 150's....so I wouldn't be surprised if the surviving copies for this book is in the 110's or 120's (a la New Mutants #87.)

And....to back that up, the book was actually SELLING for $75 nine months after it was released....an astonishing 100 times cover price. So, they aren't a typical 'high printed' book...unlike every Batman from #433-#500+, which were printed in the stratosphere.

It was, by far, the single hottest book of the entire 1980's, farrrr surpassing Spidey #252, Thor #337, Dark Knight #1, and every single other 'hot at the time of release' book.

Only TMNT #1 1st print even came CLOSE to matching it dollar for dollar (TMNT sold for between $200-$400 in the summer of 1986, but prices were WILD, and it was impossible to get consistent price info because the book was so damn rare, and no one was selling!), but, of all books printed in the 1980's, Batman #428 stands head and shoulders above all the others as the winner of 'uberhotness'.

It wasn't until NM #87 came along that that record would be challenged....and since then, there's only been one other absolute runaway screaming hot book....Ultimate Spiderman #1. And the one BEFORE that? Conan #1.

I wonder how it would have been if eBay had existed then...?

And....for the record, it was the book I wanted more than anything else for a year after that.

Now that I've got...oh....50 or so copies...none of which I paid more than $5 for...I feel MUCH better.

Hell, I don't even REMEMBER what I paid when I finally got my first set, but I think I wrote it on the back of the bag. If I ever find those first copies, I'll post.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 3:17 pm

soundoftheuniverse wrote:...you got the Print run info on that book?

Capital City orders were 32,450, which was probably 20%-25% of direct market.
So, direct market editions would be around 130,000 - 160,000 copies.
Newsstand copies, not included.

depluto · Post by **depluto** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:55 am

Greg, where do you get the Capital City info?

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 4:15 am

I think Greg got that Capital info from the Standard Catalog of Comic Books by Krause Publications.

greg · Post by **greg** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 10:07 am

Chuck wrote:I think Greg got that Capital info from the Standard Catalog of Comic Books by Krause Publications.

That's the one...
I have the 2nd Edition of the book, the 3rd Edition is out now.

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:09 am

Yeah, I got the 3rd edition (didn't we discuss this in another thread?).

Anyways Standard Catalog ..........GOOOOOOD!

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:13 am

Anyways getting back on topic.

Hey Zeph, do you think of the bunch of BM 428 you got (or of the Death in the Family arc) are there any that are 9.8?

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:10 am

greg wrote:
soundoftheuniverse wrote:...you got the Print run info on that book?
Capital City orders were 32,450, which was probably 20%-25% of direct market.
So, direct market editions would be around 130,000 - 160,000 copies.
Newsstand copies, not included.

Excellent. Nice to know I'm on the ball.

Keep in mind, distribution copies reports copies sold AND printed. I'm guessing the print RUN for this book was somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-350,000, but keep in mind, the only numbers that matter are copies sold...the rest are trashed and, for all intents and purposes, shouldn't be included in surviving numbers reports.

So, total copies sold, amongst all copies printed (newsstand and direct), was probably right around the 150,000 mark.

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:13 am

Chuck wrote:Anyways getting back on topic.

Hey Zeph, do you think of the bunch of BM 428 you got (or of the Death in the Family arc) are there any that are 9.8?

Not a single one.

All four are notorious black covers, but.....I'm not sure why #426 and 427 have more 9.8 populations than 428. No clue at all why. 429 I understand, but not 428.

In fact, I think I MAY have one 426 that may be a 9.8 candidate, but nearly all of mine are 9.2-9.6 (if that.) The first two are 48 pagers, which are just hard to find in high grade, period...and I dunno why 428 only has 2.

In any event, I think a KILLER mini set would be all four in 9.8.

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