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The Rarest Power Rangers Comics Cover Ever?
Here at Bleeding Cool, we are known for reporting on a series' main cover when we fire up Speculator Corner. It's a great indicator of rank-and-file interest and excitement that a book is getting from a broader fandom. Not everyone is a variant collector, which can be a tricky and expensive business. And actual eBay sales, we have found, on a main cover is the truest indicator of how popular a book is and how much fans are clamouring for it.
But on the other end of the spectrum, variants — those items knowingly manufactured to be artificially rare — can also see some remarkable after-market activity and princely sums.
And it's possible that a few of them may actually be under-valued in the aftermarket.
Take, for instance, the micro-print runs on the variants for Go Go Power Rangers #8, part of the Shattered Grid event Bleeding Cool has covered extensively.
ComicChron estimated that this issue sold 8,689 copies. to the direct market. But those estimations are generally low.
We checked and were told that it actually sold 10,490 copies, which lines up with the common industry understanding that the publicly estimated sales numbers only capture around 80% of the actual sales.
The main covers, two of them, account for 9,250 of that number — each cover got 4,625 printed which all sold out and went to second print.
But the Locker (1-in-15) and Teen Movie (1-in-25) covers are far rarer that one might estimate. Twice as rare, in fact, as than most would believe.
For example, most collectors would assume 579 copies on release (1 of these covers for every 15 copies of Go Go Power Rangers #8, estimated as moving 8,689 copies) the truth is that more like half that, only 335, made it to market.
But the print run is even smaller, making it one of the rarest all-time Power Rangers collectibles at only 145 copies released.
The main covers for first prints of Go Go Power Rangers #8 sell for up to $17 on eBay.
But sellers, unaware of the rarity of the variants, have the Locker variant up at the bargain price of $9.99.
The Teen Movie cover is going for a cheap $25, given there are less than 150 copies of the Teen Movie cover in the channel:
How will Power Rangers fandom freak out when they discover Go Go #8's Locker and Teen Movie variants are two of the most limited items ever available to Power Rangers fans? Will Midtown Comics be cleared out of their backstock?
Let's find out.