The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles garnered an incredible amount of interest and media hype back in the 1980’s. We had turtle lunch boxes, turtle Halloween masks, turtle t-shirts, some turtle animation shows and of course turtle comic books. The most famous of these is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle #1 comic book. It was so well received it ran out of first print and has at least five more prints. Currently, the FMV is $37,000, and even the issues #2-5 are extremely valuable today. Back in the day, these books ran out so fast; the only copies my friends and I could get were counterfeit. Though we did not know that at the time. Jump forward about two decades and some genius decides to do an homage for the Turtles 25th-Anniversary Edition for TMNT #1 on the Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). Do these FCBD books have any value or should we just toss them in the fifty cent bin of life?
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (FCBD)
What is FCBD? Don’t worry it is not a federal holiday or anything, FCBD stands for Free Comic Book Day. It is meant to bring the younger generation into collecting even though a lot of older kids show up. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (FCBD) was created in 2009 by the original creators Eastman and Laird with Mirage publishing. What better way to highlight the collapse of the modern economic system during the "Great Recession" then by producing another turtle book? Why not? One more bit of ephemera trash on the collapsed economies of Western Civilization, who notices?
Now, we jump forward another nine years and suddenly this free comic book that the stores couldn’t give away has value. Yep, emphemera trash no longer. The recent sales of this relatively obscure reprint Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (FCBD Free Comic Book Day Edition) got close to $100 in value. This Free Comic Book Day Edition sold for $97.96 during March 2017. The last four sales in mint condition grade (9.8) were: $97.79 in March 2017, $49.50 in November 2014, $39.99 in July 2014, and $40 earlier in July 2014. These are great returns for a freebie comic book. This book came out in 2009 and since then is worth almost 100 times its original value (figure $1 for printing costs at least). Also, grade (9.0) sold in June 2016 for $49.95. This from a book they gave away nine years ago. What is really tripping about the turtles, besides their love of pizza, is the return on this book is like a nun-chuck to the forehead. It knocks you senseless when you realize this explosive return of positive +85.9% comes from a free comic book. All you had to do was show up, and ask for a freebie comic. Now usually they have several to choose from, so choose wisely my friends.
If you are really feeling into the turtles and down with their properties you could probably pick up the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (3rd Printing). After all, this franchise is alive and well with several movies, more comics and toys even today. Not bad profit pizza, even if you slice it with a samurai sword. Anecdotal evidence supports the continued popularity of the turtles with the younger generation. I substitute during the week for additional income and the kids in Mr. Brown's 4th-grade class all ( I mean everyone) know who the Turtles are and that they liked pizza. This genre is chugging uphill to its 30th plus year and could make it another 30. There is no lack of enthusiasm for the turtles. The third printing has a mint (9.8) FMV value of $650 and the kicker is it has produced a positive +26% return. This from a third printing! Put down that pizza and grab a copy of the turtles while you still can, or at the very least find a TMNT #1 (FCBD) copy and buy it for CGC.
