Another episode of The Mandalorian, another feeding frenzy for a Star Wars key issue. This has become the standard in comic collecting. Whatever keeps the wheels turning, right? With that in mind, let’s dive into this week’s new favorite character, Thrawn.
WHO IS THRAWN?
A remnant of the Galactic Empire, Thrawn was an admiral in the Imperial Navy. He was created by author Timothy Zahn as Luke Skywalker’s antagonist in 1991’s Heir to the Empire book series. In the story, Thrawn is a military genius who took control of the remaining Imperial forces five years after the Death Star’s destruction and wages war on the Rebel Alliance.
THE KEYS
HEIR TO THE EMPIRE #1
Thrawn first appeared in 1995 in Heir to the Empire #1 as part of the comic adaptation for the novel, Heir to the Empire. This issue has already been on the radar for astute Star Wars collectors. Considering that Mandalorian has been liberally borrowing from Clone Wars, many speculators aimed for comics tied to Star Wars: Rebels as the next logical step. In this case, it is paying dividends.
A year ago, a 9.8 Thrawn #1 was a $147 comic with only three sales. Thanks to Mandalorian hysteria, this issue has climbed to a 90-day average of $675, but that is not the real story.
The bigger news is that since Thrawn was mentioned on Disney+, this issue is selling for as much as $1,700. In fact, six of the past seven sales have been for $1k or more. The only one that didn’t reach that mark still brought an impressive $965. Even a 9.6 last sold for $400, but that is a far cry from that $1,700 9.8.
DARK HORSE INSIDER #46
There is a small pocket of collectors that firmly believe the first previews and advertisements of major characters should count as the first appearances. For that sect, I present to you Dark Horse Insider #46. Not only is there a preview of Thrawn in an ad for Heir to the Empire, but his blue face is plastered on the cover behind Luke Skywalker himself.
For those near-mint-plus collectors, this is a diamond in the rough. The only graded copy to ever sell was on November 3 when a 9.8 brought $450. Since Thrawn was directly named in The Mandalorian, that $450 investment will turn a large profit. Even better, it is much cheaper than Heir to the Empire #1 at the same grade.
THRAWN #1
In 2017, Grand Admiral Thrawn starred in his own comic series, this time under the Marvel banner. Around that time, Marvel was flooding the market with Star Wars titles that mainly the hardcore fans were collecting. Now, who’s laughing?
The standard edition of Thrawn #1 has not seen a huge boost in sales compared to Heir #1. The highest grade sold has been the 9.6, which last sold for $80 on November 27. Prior to that, there had not been a sale since February 2019.
The more popular investment has been the Francesco Mattina variant. The most recent sale for a 9.8 Mattina variant was on November 27, and it brought $560 that day. While that was only the fourth sale since August, none of those have earned less than $500.
ONE TO WATCH
As we wait for the introduction of Thrawn into the Disney Star Wars canon, there is another piece to the puzzle. His right-hand woman, Moff Arihnda Pryce, will likely join him onscreen at some point. That will make her first appearance in Thrawn #3 much more popular in the coming months.
Thrawn #3 is flying so far under the radar that there have been no sales for graded copies. On eBay, the “raw” copies for the standard edition have been selling for about $6. The Rahzzah Murdock variant is the more lucrative edition, consistently selling in the $30-$40 range for those unslabbed copies.
THE FUTURE FOR THRAWN
With Thrawn on Ahsoka Tano’s radar, the grand admiral has ample potential in the Star Wars Disney+ realm. Will he be included in The Mandalorian or will he be Ahsoka’s main antagonist in her rumored solo series? The latter will have the bigger impact on his key issues, but either way, these comics are on the rise.
