Turtlemania Special #1
Metropolis Comics/Robert Wilson (self-published), 1986.
By 1986 "Turtlemania" had truly taken off from the humble beginnings two years earlier with TMNT #1 and it's initial first print run of 3,000 copies. This inspired Robert Wilson, owner of Metropolis comics, to create a one-off special with original material generously donated by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. These comic books contain previews and previously unseen artwork, including a Bob Burdon pull-out poster in the centerfold depicting the TMNT, Flaming Carrot and Cerebus!
There are three variants of this comic book: the regular edition with a white cover; the silver edition with a grey cover, autographed on the back; and the gold edition with an orange cover. The gold variant is the rarest of the three, which sold out almost immediately with an incredibly low print run of only 10 copies, each having an original sketch and autograph on the back:
Above are pictures of nine out of the ten copies produced, with just #5 missing; known details below:
- #01 Sketch by Eastman.
- #02 Sketch by Eastman, graded CGC 9.2.
- #03 Sketch by Eastman, graded CGC 9.6. See below for further info.
- #04 Sketch by Eastman.
- #05 Sketch by Eastman (assumed but no picture).
- #06 Sketch by Laird, graded CGC 9.2.
- #07 Sketch by Laird, graded CGC 9.0.
- #08 Sketch by Laird, graded CGC 9.4.
- #09 Sketch by Laird, graded CGC 9.6.
- #10 Sketch by Laird, graded CGC 9.6, signed and previously owned by Bob Burden. Sold to a collector in 2018 (before being graded by CGC).
Anyone with pictures of #5 or any more information on these please get in touch via the eMailUs page.
Note that there were only ten numbered sketches produced for the gold variant, but a few proofs and samples also exist.
One of the sample covers, denoted as "Sample" and "00", was used as an additional cover for #3 of 10, which has the sketch on the back of the inner cover of the two gold covers (it also has a Silver and White cover as well). This copy was notorized at the request of the buyer and, as a result, is even more unique than the other nine sketched covers (note: image has been photoshopped a little to square it up):
A sample comic (in very poor condition, shown below) with all three covers (no sketch), marked as "Proof 00" and signed by Robert Wilson, was sold on ebay in September 2018 for just over $3,000!
Another gold cover, this time just a cover with no interior, signed by Robert Wilson (numbered 000/000, below), sold for $800 back in August 2017 (note that it did not appear to have been folded but had a fold line):
This cover was encapsulated by CGC on Signature Series (below) being signed and sketched by both Kevin Eastman (in 2017) and Peter Laird (in 2018):
The regular (white) cover edition is widely available so can be picked up at a reasonable cost but both the silver edition and the gold edition are incredibly rare, with the gold almost impossible to find.
At the end of May 2019, Turtlemania Gold 7/10 (graded 9.0 by CGC) sold (subject to payment) for an astonishing $58,000 and a Silver variant (8/100) for an equally amazing $8,100. Both were sold on the comic auction site ComicLink.com.
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- How To Draw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Error Edition
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Special 2009 Error Edition
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles v1 #1 - 1st and 2nd prints (1984)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles v1 #3 - NYCC "White Laird's Photo"
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- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles v2 #13 - Cover Error variant