- Marvel Comics and Toei Company initially worked together to create the long running Japanese Spider-Man series in the 1970s. The success of this series led to the creation of the Super Sentai Series, which was subsequently adapted into the Power Rangers franchise.
- The Walt Disney Company owned the Power Rangers franchise from 2002-2010. Just missed the opportunity for an Avengers/Power Rangers crossover.
- The Yellow Ranger was originally a male in the original Super Sentai series. The US series reused much of the original footage, which is why the Yellow Ranger appeared male despite the character being portrayed by a female actress.
Here we take a closer look at a few of the more valuable Power Rangers comic books.
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #0 (COMICSPRO EDITION)
Currently, the most popular Power Rangers comic on the market in terms of sales volume and value is the ComicsPro variant of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0. A very limited quantity of this book was given out to the retailers attending the 2016 convention.
Below is sales for the book, graded in CGC 9.8, which represents 84.2% of the top CGC census. Not only is this an overwhelming majority of the graded books, but it’s over half of the copies that exist.
Since its release, the book has been on an overall decline; selling for lower highs and lower lows. Furthermore, it’s concerning that the volatility is just as large two years after its release. There’s little reason to purchase the book at high Buy It Now prices, when auctions of the book often end at half the cost. This downward trend is even more worrisome when we look at the market for another variant of this book, analyzed in the next section.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 (White Ranger Edition)
The White Ranger variant of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 was originally released by BOOM! Studios as a 1:100 retailer incentive. This variant is rarer than the other retailer incentive cover, the 1:50 Green Ranger cover.
Below is sales for the book in CGC 9.8, which is the top 73.9% of CGC census:
Unfortunately for early buyers of the book, the value dropped from a high of $400 to a low of $112.50 by the end of the calendar year. This exemplifies the dangers of investing in books where the underlying reason for investment is the belief that rarity will yield high value growth; rarity can contribute to value, but it cannot be the only reason. On a side note, the aspect of limited variants will be explored in future analyses.
Since the big drop, the value of the book has been flat at best, leaning downwards.
LORD DRAKKON
No collection of Power Rangers comic books is complete without including the new and popular character Lord Drakkon, an evil alternate reality version of Tommy Oliver who is focused on conquering the Power Rangers multiverse. His first appearance was in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #9 (2016). Interestingly enough, the second printing of this book has both a higher volume of graded sales and higher selling prices than the main cover/first printing. On a side note, it would be interesting to look into where else this has occurred.
Below is the sales data for CGC 9.8 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #9 (2nd Printing):
Any single number that shows the year-to-date performance for this book would not fully capture the full story. After release, it fell fast and fell hard; but two years later something interesting happened, the value returned. This was possibly due to the popular Shattered Grid storyline (If you haven’t seen the Shattered Grid trailer featuring Jason David Frank, it’s definitely worth a watch). The current fair market value is $90; and furthermore, the large volume of sales seems to support an appearance of stabilization.
SABAN'S MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #1
Published in 1994 by Hamilton Comics, this book was the one chosen by the market as the main beneficiary from the March 2017 release of the live-action Power Rangers feature film. In the months leading up to the movie’s release, the book’s value rose rapidly to the mid $100s, with a high of $175. Below is sales for the book graded CGC 9.8:
The movie bump giveth, and movie bump taketh. Selling prices have fallen since. On the bright side, volatility in the price range seems to be narrowing. Any future prospects for value growth in this book is heavily weighed on a movie reboot.
THE BOTTOM LINE
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 (ComicsPRO Edition) - REDUCE
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 (White Ranger Edition) - SELL
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #9 (2nd Printing) - HOLD
- Saban's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 – HOLD
"So many Rangers... so much potential... squandered for so long." – Lord Drakkon
