Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  (1984)

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$12.5k

Key Facts

40-page printer's proof of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1984)

A printer's proof is a sample that is printed to examine the correctness of the issue before printing the entire run

This one-of-a-kind, historical proof was found in a small print shop in Biddeford, Maine a few years after the publication of issue #1, after the Turtles had already exploded in popularity

The men who found it traded it to Downeast Comics which operated between the years of 1986 - 1994, in Brunswick, Maine

The owner paid for the proof with store stock and held onto it before auctioning it on Comic Link in 2020 for $12,472 with 77 bids

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$1.2k
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$3k
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$15k

Key Facts

1st team appearance and origin of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo

1st appearance of Splinter, the Turtles' mentor

1st appearance and death of the Shredder

First printing: 3,000 copies

[February 2022 - Paramount+ to develop three spin-off villain features]

2nd Print ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1984

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$200
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$700
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$2k

Key Facts

Second printing: 6,000 copies

3rd Print ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1985

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$85
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$220
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$850

Key Facts

Third printing

The third printing is nearly identical to the first and second printings except for a splash of blood on the second T in Turtles

Print run: 36,000

4th Print ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1985

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$18
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$60
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$180

Key Facts

1st cover appearance of the Shredder

4th printing, wraparound cover

5th Print ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1988

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$20
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$80
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$250

Key Facts

Fifth printing, wraparound variant cover

Back-up story featuring Donatello

Reprint ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 2014

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$3
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$9
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$45

Key Facts

Reprint of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1984)

2014 San Diego Comic Con exclusive, limited to 200 copies

Reprint ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 2020

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$4
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$12
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$40

Key Facts

Reprint of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1984)

48-pages, oversized format

May 2020 Loot Crate exclusive

GameStop ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 2007

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$20
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$80
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$250

Key Facts

Promotional comic given away at Gamestop with the purchase of the 2007 TMNT video game

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$100
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$350
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$1k

Key Facts

2nd team appearance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1st appearance of Baxter Stockman and his Robot Mousers

1st appearance of April O'Neil

Preview ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1985

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$120
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$400
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$1.3k

Key Facts

Printer's proof that was obtained at the time of the initial print run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2

Four pages that are uncut, unstapled proofs of the first interior page and final page of advertisements along with center pages #20 and #21

2nd Print ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1985

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$18
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$75
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$225

Key Facts

Second Printing

Identical cover with "Second Printing" on interior cover

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$20
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$80
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$225

Key Facts

3rd team appearance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1st team appearance of the Utroms, alien race of Krang

There exists a far rarer and valuable version of this issue with a color error [see variant]

Error ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1985

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$225
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$810
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$2.2k

Key Facts

Color error that affected approximately 500 issues

Identified by the white lettering in Laird's name as seen in the image in the red box

For clarity, the color error is superimposed next to the non-error Laird's Photo sign

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$35
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$95
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$360

Key Facts

Early issue of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series

Wraparound cover

Error ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1987

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$75
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$225
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$750

Key Facts

Error edition

The cover art seen in the image was intended for the reprint of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 but due to confusion on behalf of the printer, it was used for the reprint of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4

The title and issue number were correctly printed on the wrong cover therefore the entire print run of nearly 60,000 copies were recalled and destroyed with approximately 1,000 error copies remaining in circulation

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$5
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$18
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$60

Key Facts

Early issue of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series

Approximate print run: 60,000

Wraparound cover

2nd Print ⋅ Mirage ⋅ 1987

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$3
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$9
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$30

Key Facts

Second printing, wraparound cover art by Kevin Eastman

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$5
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$15
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$50

Key Facts

1st appearance of Zanramon, Prime Leader of the Triceraton Republic

Second printing includes a back-up story that was not printed in the first

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$9
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$30

Key Facts

Origin of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they discover that the ooze which caused their transformation was created by the Utroms, Krang's alien race

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Key Facts

Crossover appearance of Cerebus from publisher Aardvark-Vanaheim

1st appearance of Renet, a human who stole the Time Scepter from Lord Simultaneous

1st appearance of Lord Simultaneous, a Time Master

1st appearance of Savanti Romero, a demon and apprentice Time Master

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$9
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$30

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1st cover appearance of Splinter

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$15
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$50

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3rd appearance of the Shredder, later revealed to be a mystic worm with the ability to create a clone of a human

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$3

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Non-Key Issue. No additional information is available.
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$30

Key Facts

Cover art inspired by the film ‘The Untouchables’

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$15
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$55

Key Facts

This issue went on sale after the publication of issue #16 due to scheduling conflicts which Laird is quoted as saying, "if it's not late, it's not a Mirage book."

Cover art intentionally has the appearance of being damaged

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Non-Key Issue. No additional information is available.
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$15

Key Facts

City At War: Part 1 of a 13-issue story arc

The issues that comprise the City At War story arc (#50 - #63) all have black borders on the cover resulting in difficulty in attaining a 9.8 when grading. Books graded 9.8 command approximately 10x the value of ungraded issues

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$35

Key Facts

City At War: Part 2 of a 13-issue story arc

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$15

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1st cameo appearance of Karai, Shredder's granddaughter

City At War: Part 3 of a 13-issue story arc

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$8
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$25

Key Facts

1st full appearance of Karai, Shredder's granddaughter

City At War: Part 4 of a 13-issue story arc

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$20

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City At War: Part 5 of a 13-issue story arc

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$10

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City At War: Part 6 of a 13-issue story arc

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1st cover appearance of Karai, the granddaughter of Shredder

Karai appears in costume

City At War: Part 7 of a 13-issue story arc

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$20

Key Facts

City At War: Part 8 of a 13-issue story arc

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$15

Key Facts

City At War: Part 10 of a 13-issue story arc

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$20

Key Facts

City At War: Part 12 of a 13-issue story arc

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