Only the SECOND known copy of a Valiant book located 4/10/14

[valiantdude]

wow amazing greg..and in mint condition...wonder if u could ask about its origins...
super embarassed to read my posts from ten years ago when i was cracked out..haha..doing lines of blow and crushed up valiums and posting *SQUEE* about comics...real awesome!..not

[betterthanezra]

I thought this book was a myth I really did. Wow amazing find. How long will it be before another shows up. I have never seen one and like Elveen I have been though thousands of Comic boxes looking for this type of thing.

-Brian

[greg]

I did ask the seller about the book yesterday and here's what I just found out:

Obtained from Electronics Boutique in 1996.
That particular Electronics Boutique was in Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Virginia.

These were definitely provided to Electronics Boutique stores to coincide with the release of the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game.

The seller said that he often visited both Electronics Boutique, Fun-Co-Land, and Babbages video game stores at the time.
He remembers various comic promos were available at both EB and Baggages but he remembers that he didn't get any of the books provided to Babbages.
He often visited video game stores and toy stores because he had a son who was 4 in 1996 (who will be 22 this month).
I'm reading into his note that he was already a comic book collector (possibly from his youth), so the video game promo books weren't his first comics.

He's sure that the book came from Electronics Boutique.

In this case, he remembers that the Electronics Boutique manager had a small box of about ten copies and he was ripping the covers off to send back (presumably for credit).
He says that he was able to get TWO copies from the manager, but the rest were ripped and returned.

I have asked if he still has the second copy and if he will be putting it on eBay... stay tuned for an answer.

The comic underneath is the X-O Manowar Volume 2 #1 Retailer Review, so it's possible that the some of the copies of that book were originally this variant and they've had the outer cover removed by EB in 1996.

He has other promotional comics that he'll be listing on Ebay in the future, and sent me a photo of a Ghost Rider #1 Hot Pursuit promotional comic from Kay-Bee toy stores.

My guess is that he was basically a "mainstream" (Marvel and DC) collector, so the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game variant being in his collection is likely due to the Iron Man aspect.

If you ask me, this is an interesting outcome for the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game variant because...

Acclaim's first comic (of significant value) is the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game variant from 1996.
Acclaim's last comic (of significant value) is the Turok Evolution variant from 2002.

BOTH of them are Electronics Boutique (EBGames) promos... and I believe, they are the only two EB variants.

The Acclaim (the video game company) line of comics started and ended with EB video game promos.

[lorddunlow]

I did ask the seller about the book yesterday and here's what I just found out:

Obtained from Electronics Boutique in 1996.
That particular Electronics Boutique was in Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Virginia.

These were definitely provided to Electronics Boutique stores to coincide with the release of the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game.

The seller said that he often visited both Electronics Boutique, Fun-Co-Land, and Babbages video game stores at the time.
He remembers various comic promos were available at both EB and Baggages but he remembers that he didn't get any of the books provided to Babbages.
He often visited video game stores and toy stores because he had a son who was 4 in 1996 (who will be 22 this month).
I'm reading into his note that he was already a comic book collector (possibly from his youth), so the video game promo books weren't his first comics.

He's sure that the book came from Electronics Boutique.

In this case, he remembers that the Electronics Boutique manager had a small box of about ten copies and he was ripping the covers off to send back (presumably for credit).
He says that he was able to get TWO copies from the manager, but the rest were ripped and returned.

I have asked if he still has the second copy and if he will be putting it on eBay... stay tuned for an answer.

The comic underneath is the X-O Manowar Volume 2 #1 Retailer Review, so it's possible that the some of the copies of that book were originally this variant and they've had the outer cover removed by EB in 1996.

He has other promotional comics that he'll be listing on Ebay in the future, and sent me a photo of a Ghost Rider #1 Hot Pursuit promotional comic from Kay-Bee toy stores.

My guess is that he was basically a "mainstream" (Marvel and DC) collector, so the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game variant being in his collection is likely due to the Iron Man aspect.

If you ask me, this is an interesting outcome for the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game variant because...

Acclaim's first comic (of significant value) is the Iron Man / X-O Manowar video game variant from 1996.
Acclaim's last comic (of significant value) is the Turok Evolution variant from 2002.

BOTH of them are Electronics Boutique (EBGames) promos... and I believe, they are the only two EB variants.

The Acclaim (the video game company) line of comics started and ended with EB video game promos.

Well, that's pretty cool.

[David_Cody]

I used to work at the EB in RR, NM in late 1996 and I remember seeing a copy of that floating around. I was of course a huge VH1 fan and asked the manager if I could have the copy that was lying around the back room, but he wouldn't for whatever reason. Maybe something about giving EB stuff as gifts to employees.

I'd be willing to bet this copy came from EB. Great find, Greg.

[Daniel Jackson]

Wow, after all these years another one finally turns up.

[IMJ]

GAHHH!!! DAMMIT!
AOSInfh13porgnqo3iirnf[oqiwer g[o

[slym2none]

Bah, I had a stack of these and traded them in for some half eaten twinkies....

OK, Def1.



-slym

[fury143]

need this and the turok no prices:)

[kjjohanson]

The upside for everyone else regarding this is that it probably means we get a price guide update soon.

[greg]

The upside for everyone else regarding this is that it probably means we get a price guide update soon.

I'd like to see GoDaddy figure out what is making the main website "Service Unavailable".

It has almost been a week now, and after two phone calls (over two hours total) and a support ticket (still open), they still don't know what's causing it.

As you all know, I haven't updated anything in quite a while, so I know I didn't do anything to kill the site.

[nycjadie]

Of all the registrars I've dealt with, there is none that have focused so little on customer service than Go Daddy. They have great prices though.

[bamaphilosopher]

The upside for everyone else regarding this is that it probably means we get a price guide update soon.

I'd like to see GoDaddy figure out what is making the main website "Service Unavailable".

It has almost been a week now, and after two phone calls (over two hours total) and a support ticket (still open), they still don't know what's causing it.

As you all know, I haven't updated anything in quite a while, so I know I didn't do anything to kill the site.

I wondered about that! I thought maybe it was just me, since I could get on by doing a google search and finding articles from the board.

But, today it seems to be working.

And yes, I was wondering if you are going to add this to the Valiant cover gallery (and price list)...I guess so, now that you've confirmed its existence. Wow, so this might be as rare, or even perhaps rarer, than the Bloodshot platinum error?

Which means, alas, I'll probably never own a copy. I'm a VH1 completist, but I just have to acknowledge there's no way I'll ever find those two issues (this and the Bloodshot error). They are just too rare. I'll just have to settle for having the Unity red and Chaos Effect Alpha red, thanks to ebay.

[kjjohanson]

The upside for everyone else regarding this is that it probably means we get a price guide update soon.

I'd like to see GoDaddy figure out what is making the main website "Service Unavailable".

It has almost been a week now, and after two phone calls (over two hours total) and a support ticket (still open), they still don't know what's causing it.

As you all know, I haven't updated anything in quite a while, so I know I didn't do anything to kill the site.

GoDaddy is awful. My office used to use them for our email hosting, and we had numerous problems and they seemed unwilling or unable to fix it. I'm not impressed by the misogyny in their ads either. If you wanted to get a Kickstarter going to move the site to a better host I'd be willing to kick in a contribution.

[bamaphilosopher]

Ugh, now it's not working again today! I had to do a google search for one of the threads, then get on that way.

[hulk181man]

Wow! Congrats Greg! I thought this book was a myth --- that is quite a find. Amazing!



Similar to BTE & Elveen, I looked far and wide for one of those....dug thru all kinds of cheap bins at stores, conventions, etc. Located every other Acclaim variant but that book...

[jmatt]

Of all the registrars I've dealt with, there is none that have focused so little on customer service than Go Daddy. They have great prices though.

My experience is different. I think they have outstanding service; I've had them on the phone numerous times helping me sort out issues and never walked away disappointed or frustrated.

[Watchtower]

Wait, is this book really that rare to find?

Because.....hehehehe.....I know my dad's got at least one copy back home. Bite me suckers.

......Not that I'm exactly proud of it either. Story's complete garbage.

[greg]

Wait, is this book really that rare to find?

Because.....hehehehe.....I know my dad's got at least one copy back home. Bite me suckers.

......Not that I'm exactly proud of it either. Story's complete garbage.

You do realize there is a "regular" version of Iron Man / X-O, right?



Everyone has one.

[bamaphilosopher]

Wow about them ripping covers off to send back. I wonder how they'd feel knowing that this book, rare as the Bloodshot platinum error, would be worth very much today?

Man, I hate to hear about someone ripping covers off. Dang... that's like hearing someone found a bunch of Bloodshot platinum errors and ripped the covers off. Sigh.

[kjjohanson]

Wow about them ripping covers off to send back. I wonder how they'd feel knowing that this book, rare as the Bloodshot platinum error, would be worth very much today?

Man, I hate to hear about someone ripping covers off. Dang... that's like hearing someone found a bunch of Bloodshot platinum errors and ripped the covers off. Sigh.

It's my understanding that that's how things worked for newsstand issues. Stores return the covers of magazines of unsold copies for credit. (That saves having to ship all that weight back.)

If you wonder how that dealer felt, what do you think about all of those newsstand vendors that destroyed highly valuable golden and silver age comics? The reason that many collectibles are so valuable (not just comics) is because a vast majority of the population saw the thing as disposable, not realizing later that there would be a demand to own something that was remembered. That's why a good number of the valuable comics (or at least, books that have a greater demand) from the '90s are reprints; because at the time, they were seen as less desirable than the first print (which historically had been the version that had greater value). If everyone held on to old comics because they knew that one day they would be valuable, then they wouldn't be as valuable today. An estimate of 130,000 copies of Action Comics #1 were sold to the public. The print run of many Golden Age books exceeded one million. But because most people thought of them as junk entertainment (or recycled them during WW2), few survived.

[greg]

If everyone held on to old comics things because they knew that one day they would be valuable, then they wouldn't be as valuable today.

For an example, see 1988 baseball cards... ANY company.

[kjjohanson]

If everyone held on to old comics things because they knew that one day they would be valuable, then they wouldn't be as valuable today.

For an example, see 1988 baseball cards... ANY company.

Well, yes. Or later issue Beanie Babies. Or Fallen Empires– or later–era MTG cards. But I was making a point about the things that *are* valuable.

[kjjohanson]

If everyone held on to old comics things because they knew that one day they would be valuable, then they wouldn't be as valuable today.

For an example, see 1988 baseball cards... ANY company.

Well, yes. Or later issue Beanie Babies. Or Fallen Empires– or later–era MTG cards. But I was making a point about the things that *are* valuable.

A good fundamental for investing (whether it's collectibles or stocks): go against the crowd. When everyone else is selling, buy. When everyone else is buying, sell. (Assuming the price is right in both of these scenarios.) When you follow the crowd, you end up with a subprime mortgage and a box full of Turok.

[lorddunlow]

When you follow the crowd, you end up with a subprime mortgage and a box full of Turok.

Ah, but if you are forward thinking, you take cases of Turok and build a house.