This past week, episode six of Ahsoka revealed the long-awaited live-action debuts of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger. It also subtly introduced a new character: Kujet, the Zeffonian sage.
We've waited five and a half years to learn what happened to Thrawn and Ezra after they disappeared in the final episode of Rebels. Taken by the Purgill to a distant galaxy, we finally learned about their fates in Ahsoka episode six. While fans generally raved about Thrawn's live-action appearance, and especially his portrayal by Lars Mikkelsen, it didn't appear to have too much of an impact on the value of Thrawn's first appearance in Star Wars: Heir to the Empire #1.
Let's take a closer look at the common grade of Heir to the Empire #1 on the CGC Census: a 9.6. The copy below was the most recent sale of a 9.6 for $405.
A 9.6 reached an all-time high sale of $670 in February 2021 which happened to coincide with the beginning of the so-called "comic boom."
But, as you can see from the screenshot below, it has steadily dropped in value throughout most of 2022 reaching a two-year low of $247 in November 2022.
Since then, however, it has climbed and settled around $300 ($302 is its 90 day average according to GoCollect). While it may have lost roughly 50% of its value since early 2021, a 9.6 sold for $69 just five years ago. That's a 34.5% ROI during that five-year span.
As many fans have noted, however, Thrawn may not be the final boss of Ahsoka. As Baylan Skoll stated, there's a greater power than Thrawn on Peridea. As Tommy Wall on X figured out, that greater power may be Kujet, the "Ruler of All." While it's unlikely that we'll see Kujet in Ahsoka (since he presumably died tens of thousands of years ago), this could be setting up his appearance in James Mangold's upcoming Star Wars film about the dawn of the Jedi Order.
Interestingly, the first reference to Kujet and the Zeffo isn't in a comic book or a novel, but in Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, a 2019 video game. If Kujet becomes a major and popular villain, could it drive up the sales volume of a video game? While it's certainly possible since historically significant video games are also collectibles, I haven't seen any graded copies of Jedi Fallen Order (yet).
As far as I'm aware, the first appearance of the Zeffo in comic books occurs on the cover of Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Dark Temple #1, the 1:10 "Game" variant. KeyCollector states that the first cameo appearance of the Zeffo (a statue that appears on the cover) occurs in Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Dark Temple #2, but I'm pretty confident that this is a Zeffonian on the cover of the "Game" variant.
GoCollect community, please tell me if I'm wrong!
Surprisingly, although a 1:10 isn't that rare, this book is more expensive than I thought it would be. According to GoCollect, the FMV of a CGC 9.8 copy of this issue is $140, but its all-time high is $425 and a 9.8 recently sold for $300 in April 2023.
It appears as though the Zeffo is poised to become a major player in Star Wars, but at these current prices, it's a little too expensive to be speculating on.
What are your opinions about Ahsoka? Please let us know your opinions in the comments section below!
