Comic Cavalcade 1993 Valiant Catalog

Back in 1993, when the speculator market was at its height, I mailed away for the Comic Cavalcade back issue catalog. Now back then these guys, along with Kingpin Comics, were the back issue experts (it even says so right on the catalog!). I recently found that I still had the catalog and was interested to see the kinds of prices key Valiant books were bringing. Below is a scan of the Valiant section of the catalog (click to enlarge).

Now, 1993 was smack dab in the middle of the Valiant Era. Had Acclaim not come along and revamped all the great Valiant characters for video games a few years later, I think Valiant had a real shot at becoming the third major universe along with Marvel and DC for good. In 1993, everyone was looking at Valiant and seeing similarities to what Marvel had done in the 1960s. Valiant had the same quality of storytelling, uniqueness of characters and strength of fan excitement. It made sense then to believe that the key Valiant books would in time be as valuable and and sought after as the key Marvel books had become. They certainly were and still are the most valuable and sought after new books created in the 1990s.

Let's take a look at some interesting specifics.

• All the gold books are priced at around $75-$100+
• Eternal Warrior #1 gold flat is the most expensive one at $125
• The Deathmate golds are the cheapest at $40 each
• Armorines #0 gold is split into gold flat and gold foil. The foil being more expensive. I am not aware of two versions of Armorines #0 gold
• The first issue of Eternal Warrior and of Archer & Armstrong are $12. This despite the higher print runs they have compared to the first issues of other characters that debuted earlier. Goes to show just how popular the immortal brothers were
• Eternal Warrior #4 (the joint first appearance of Bloodshot along with Rai #0) is $30
• Eternal Warrior #5 & #6 (the two part Barry Windsor-Smith story) are $15 a piece!
• Harbinger #0 send away (pink variant) is priced at $175 and #1 is $160!!
• Even the later Harbinger issues are crazy expensive. #2-5 are $75 each, #10 (first H.A.R.D. Corps) is $20, #7, 11 and 14 (random issues) are $15 which is more than the first issues of Eternal Warrior or Archer & Armstrong. Hell even the limited blue TPB is $65!
• Magnus Robot Fighter #1 without card is cheaper than I would have expected at $75. #12 (first apperance of Turok) is $100 though
• There is a Ninjak chromium card listed at $35
• Rai is pricey. #0 is the same price as #1 ($40) and the famously rare #3 & 4 are $80 each
• Shadowman #1 is $50
• Solar: Man of the Atom is cheaper than expected. Solar #1 (the first ever Valiant book) runs $35 (less than first issues of X-O Manowar, Shadowman, Harbinger and Magnus Robot Fighter)
• Solar: Man of the Atom (first appearance of Eternal Warrior) is $80 though
• Turok was worthless even in 1993
• UNITY #0 red variant is $150. And there is a signed by all (drool...) variant for $200.
• X-O Manowar #4 (first appearance of Shadowman) is $45 and #14 (Bart Sears art) is $10
• There is a Ninjak #1 VVSS?
• Bloodshot #6 is listed as a VVSS not as a seperate Valiant signed project.
• Overall the prices are about right for 1993, maybe even a tad cheaper than expected.

Did I miss anything interesting?