To be fair one of the reasons it sold so well is so many dudes bought 20 copies each.
@derrabbi What a time to be a reader collector investor.
Honestly... I only know who Exodus is because people talk about him on this board, and I've seen a few very nice looking custom figures pop up on Ebay. And at one point, I was really into X-characters.
if you’re interested:
https://www.marvel.com/characters/exodus
I've been wanting Acolytle Fabian Cortez for a while now. I'll take Frenzy, but only really want her if she's gonna be in the Acolyte costume as Cargill. I've always felt Exodus would be a better villain if he did his own thing whenever Magneto wasn't in the picture. He often doesn't get fleshed out much and comes across as wooden. I think if they worked up his backstory more, gave him grandiose plans and schemes like Magneto, Apocalypse and Sinister he'd stand better on his own. I'm aware he's had very brief times to shine as a villain, but in the overall scheme of X-stories (and some Avengers ones) they never really amounted to much. That said, I still want a figure of him, preferably with a second head sporting a 90s mullet and wouldn't mind flare eyes if they look good.
To be fair one of the reasons it sold so well is so many dudes bought 20 copies each.
True, but that doesn't account for going from 7 million copies to books barely clearing 30K. I think that era was a lot of fun, even if people were being foolish speculators, and made for the best toys. When I saw the hate it got it forced me out of the hobby more or less. Always happy to see 90s stuff in the toyline and it's looking like a fun 2025 for me potentially. I don't do MCU at all which contributes to me not being as into it.
Exodus to me is such an obvious one, but Cortez has never got a figure before. Any matching Acolytes, like Frenzy in that look, would be welcome. Senyaka on a retro card would be great.
Yeah - I can't imagine we'll get a ton of figures in Acolyte attire - but I would really like maybe three. Cargill, Senyaka and an Exodus to go with Cortez would be enough for me. Senyaka seems like we might get there just because he got a 5" figure... If they were going to do a female and not do Cargill (maybe save her to do as Frenzy later) then Amelia Vogt would be a good choice.
I definitely got caught up on the hype train and bought every cover of X-men #1. I also won a raffle at my local comic shop and ended up getting every bagged w/card variant of X-force #1 for free. I also also got the regular version of Spider-Man #1 and then the special color second printing.
Plus I still have the black bagged issue of Death of Superman unopened, so please don't explode with too much jealousy.
The joyride is always most fun right before it goes off a cliff
I definitely fell for the multiple issues of X-Men #1 gimmick because the covers were so pretty... I did not fall for the X-Force #1 shenanigans though.
I only got the one with the fold out, but I got three to tears the covers off two and hang on the wall (since the inside had a different poster).
I was lucky to have my first job at a comic shop and I don't know if every store owner felt the same, but my boss hates all the hologram and gimmick covers, knowing it would collapse in time.
I still remember the day I got the pretty foldout, it was a back issue then in '93. I'll probably take anything from that time, it was a helluva ride. Part of what makes Acolytes fun, other than X-Men having battle partners, is I loved Wildstorm and WildC.A.T.s for a bit. A lot. I liked Lee's work so much, so having Maverick, and maybe some of these guys would be pretty rad.
The joyride is always most fun right before it goes off a cliff
Indeed.
August 13th, 1991. The day X-Men number 1 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee launched. That was when the Direct Sales Market was on fire. Comics were selling by the ton. That issue of X-Men had a print run of about 8 million. That's right, I said 8 million. The biggest selling comic of all time. I remember that day well.
Some background: Valiant, a new but very successful publisher, conducted marketing polls that indicated there were approximately 300,000 people in North America who were making regular trips to their local comic shop. The problem was, of those 300,000, only about 40 to 50 percent were actually reading the damn comics. The rest were buying multiple copies to stuff in a plastic bag and sell at a swap meet. That was a problem and the publishers, distributors and retailers all knew it. Valiant vowed never to print more than 500,000 copies of any title. But ... just like in any other business, greed eventually overcame common sense. Bloodshot number 1 had a print run of about 800,000. Here's the thing: Anytime there's a boom that's driven by speculators, there's inevitably going to be a bust. You have to wonder how many of those Bloodshot number 1s are currently in a landfill.
So, X-Men number 1, August 13 1991. A few days earlier, my friend Greg who owned the comic shop I bought my books at, asked me if I could come in that Friday and help him out. He was expecting a feeding frenzy. He was my friend so I was happy to assist. I arranged taking a day off work on my regular job and we were off and running. And boy did he need the help. I found myself wishing we had a couple of more guys. We went down to the Diamond Warehouse to pick up his shipment, and My God. I had never seen so many copies of one comic book in one place before in my entire life. Cases and cases and cases everywhere, some stacked 6 feet high. We loaded up his truck and my car and we still didn't have enough room. We had to make two trips. By the time we finally got all those boxes unloaded and stacked up in his back room, I came to the conclusion that he was in a lot of trouble. I said "Greg, you are never going to be able to sell all these. There are more comics here than there are people in San Diego." He smiled and said "Not only are going to sell them all, but I'm going to wish I had ordered more." I didn't argue. He certainly had more experience at retail than I did. But I thought he was crazy.
By noon the next day we sold out of X-Men number 1. We had to put up a sign and turn people away.
A couple of years later, in November of 1993, there was the inevitable bust. And it was ugly. Publishers, distributors and retailers went out of business. Shops closed left and right. Those were the dark times.
My friend Greg, though, he was pretty smart. He took the money he made selling X-Men, Spawn, Spider-Man, X-Force, Bloodshot, Death of Superman and all those other big number books and made a down payment on a nice house that he still lives in to this day. He was one of the few retailers that actually made a good life long career in comics. He started out in the early 70's selling comics in his parents house while he was going to college, then after he graduated he decided he didn't want to work in the corporate world. He was having too much fun selling books, so he opened a brick and mortar store. If you have any Marvel Comics from the 70's and 80's, you'll see his ad in there. Golden State Comics. That was his store. I was a regular customer there for years. Greg made it all the way to retirement age. He not only bought a house and saved for his retirement, he also put his daughter through college. Not bad at all. He was a good business man. He followed market trends, paid close attention to what was selling and what wasn't, and that's why he made it.
Anyhoo, that's my Jim Lee X-Men number 1 boring old man story. Good night, all.
I hate to make big "Hasbro would be silly" proclamations, but Hasbro would be silly not to make 25th-anniversary X-Men #1 figures next year. Multiple box sets, two-packs, two waves, whatever. It's one of the most recognizable comics ever (if not the most recognizable) in the height of its nostalgia with a hugely popular animated TV show backing it. It's not like they ever have trouble selling any of those characters in those costumes.
People are still asking for upgrades of almost every character on the cover and they're highly coveted looks for new collectors.
@sdcomics before I moved to the LA area, the last comic shop I frequented was on El Cajon Blvd but the guy who ran it was named Greg. Is that the same Greg?
My first job was at a comic store in Lemon Grove. I wanna say the name was Top Flight Comics but now I can't remember for sure.
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