Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (3rd Printing), 1985

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is one of the rarest and most valuable comic books of the Copper Age (Copper age: comics published between 1984 and 1992). Created as a spoof of many comics of the time, TMNT was the brainchild of writer Kevin Eastman and artist Peter Laird.

Published by the creators themselves at the cost of $1200, the first printing was only 3000 copies. This run of 3000 copies was very small compared to comics published by the big companies. For example, Marvel’s The Uncanny X-Men #177 in January 1984 had a first printing of 378,135 and DC Comics’ Batman #367 in January 1984 had 89,217 copies. Keep in mind also that TMNT #1 second printing was 15,000 copies, and third printing was 36,000 copies. This makes all the TMNT printings small when compared to other companies’ printings.

I think there are a couple of reasons why high grade copies of TMNT #1 are hard to find. Of course one reason is that the printing runs were so small. Another is that noone took the comic seriously, both for content and for collectability, so they weren’t really handled well. The third big reason that they’re hard to find now is that they were published in a larger format than a standard sized comic, so more of them were left unbagged, at least until the big hype that boosted TMNT into the mainstream. Suddenly this group of characters caught on, and the market was filled with everything from cartoons to pajamas to toothbrushes, and it became a multimillion dollar franchise.

The overstreet Comic Book Price Guide 38th Edition won’t even give an exact price for this comic. They give prices for every other comic book they have listed, including Action Comics #1, Spider-Man #1, Batman #1, etc…, but no price for TMNT. In fact, as far as I can see, TMNT #1 is the ONLY book without a price next to it. The price guide entry for TMNT #1 simply states: “Prices vary widely on this book. In 2005 a CGC certified 9.4 sold for $8300, a CGC certified 9.2 sold for $2850, and a CGC certified 6.0 sold for $1300.” On eBay, I’ve seen a CGC certified 9.6 list for $15,000. A 9.6 is the highest known graded copy of this book in existence.

The book pictured above is a 3rd printing, but the Holy Grail of my collection is a 1st printing of the same book. I found it at a flea market, un-bagged and wedged between a Savage Sword of Conan and an Epic Magazine, and paid $0.50 for it. I ended up buying 20 comic books that day for $10.00. In my opinion, my copy would probably grade between a 7 and an 8, but I haven’t sent it out to be graded yet.

The 1st printings are the only ones that have an ad for Gobbledygook on the inside back cover. There are counterfeit copies that can be found, but many of those have a white streak or mark down the center of the back cover and the black on the cover has a blueish color rather than deep black.

References for this entry:

• The Standard Catalog of Comic Books, 3rd edition, 2004
• Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, 38th edition, 2008
• Great American Comic Books, 2001

~ by afaustiancollection on April 11, 2009.