Ninja turtles 1984 #1 first print
 

Anyone have leads on a copy of TMNT #1 1st printing? I’m not looking for super high grade. Just authenticity and 4.5 or better

I haven't seen a mid grade slab of a 1st print in.... geeze I can't recall the last time.

There is a 9.4 slab that will be up for auction in February. Lone Star Comics has an 8.5 available for $7500 right now.

Here's the most recent CGC census on this book, to give you an idea of the market inventory of the family of grades you are looking for, to say nothing of their actual availability:
https://i.imgur.com/nf72d2ul.jpg

It's been a while since I saw this chart. Thank you for the response! I've put out some word for my local LCS (and here) to see if anyone has an extra for sale.

A 5.0 just sold on Heritage Auctions for $3,840. The price continues to climb. I wish I wouldn't have sold mine years ago. :(

This sale I think has created some market mania regardless of whether or not the price was justifiable....

I think there has been a spike with this book due fear of it becoming increasingly unavailable. Auctions like that definitely raise eyebrows and create frenzy. I definitely see that in the Funko community as well. I still have a second print of #1. I had a chance to buy a first print for $1500 years ago but was paying for grad school and couldn’t swing it. Kicking myself for not getting it then

Absolutely agreed on that. Yup.

And also.... -oof- on the lost opportunity, but I understand that situation for sure. I've got a beyond depressing story regarding a cgc 9.6 TOS #39 that I passed up at a convention back in.... probably '06. I think it was 10g. All things in hindsight I'm nuts for not buying it, but then again I would've been equally as nuts for buying it during that window anyway.

You can't kick yourself over those things.... but still.... -insert barfiing emoji here-

add me to the list I am looking for a first print. I don't care on condition really, as long as it is not complete garbage. I am willing to buy an ungraded copy as well.

Luckily there seem to be less "garbage" copies out there, probably because of the age. Careful with an ungraded copy if buying online, watch out for restoration and make sure it's a legit copy. There tend to be online scammers when it comes to high value comics.

Here is a good thread to read on the cgc boards if you haven't:
https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/top...een-printings/

I actually saw a counterfeit copy of 1, which had that green/blue hue to the ink and dark red. Was a very good copy but I imagine most people would t recognize it as a fake. I’ll only buy cgc unless it’s from an LCS I trust.

CGC is fairly reliable in their checks and in the case security, which should put you at ease from whatever vendor you use. PGX was the grader with the TMNT #1 horror story. Oh man, if you haven't ever heard that one go check it out, it's terrible.

But if what you meant was "... only buy TMNT #1 unless it's from..." well then yeah, absolutely.

I'm not a big comic guy, so this is the first I've heard of this. WOW. One of the original info threads is gone, but I watched the video.

Why exactly was he cracking the plastic tomb? I mean-- good thing he did, but isn't the point of grading to NOT remove the issue? Are mistakes/thefts like this common in comic collecting?

The whole confluence of events was crazy. He just happened to be cracking the slab because he was going to use that book as a baseline submission to several different grading companies. I mean - you're right, it could've been a situation where he never found out.

It's truly one of the most disgusting stories the hobby has ever witnessed, isn't it?

The latter is what I’m referring. That story is absolutely horrifying and depressing all the same. I remember that from a while back. I know a guy that kept resubmitting a book until he got lucky and received the 9.8

...and a lack of consistency for their highly specialized service-- wow.

How does a grading company even survive that? Was there a huge wave of collectors pulling their slabbed comics to check?

Value be damned, if I ever get bitten by the bug, there's no way in hell I'll be sending out issues for grading.

Somewhat back on topic, do many ungraded, beat-to-**** examples of first printing TMNT 1 surface?

PGX was in a death spiral for a short while, but the reinvented their slab case and went quiet until the dust settled. They came back a bit and now they appeal to two kinds of buyers on the market:

1) guys who are willing to take a chance on a PGX book because they sell at a lower cost on the market now than CGC or CBCS. They do this with the intention of opening the PGX slab and resubmitting to a different company

2) That comic fan who is widely uninformed and probably doesn't own many or any slabs, so when they buy one they just say "I got a slab!". This is the same kind of buyer who eagerly shows you his factory set of 1990 Topps baseball and sort of tells you that "these are worth a lot!" in a hopeful tone of voice. There are more of these people than you would guess. I used to try and "train" them on the market to help them out, but I found it's better to just say "that's cool, man!" and let them do their thing. :lol:

As for the TMNT #1, to be honest - frequenting a significant number of LCS in the Chicago-area, regularly attending large conventions like C2E2 and the Kane County Shows as well as small hotel shows now and again - all of that said - I can't recall seeing a raw, unslabbed TMNT #1 for sale anywhere in the last ten, maybe twelve years.