The Jetpack Comics TMNT #1 Error Edition!

Yes, it's true.  Want the Jetpack / IDW history, read on.  If not, skip to the bottom to see how you can order them!

The rumors are true!  Yes, it really does exist! Once again there is another error edition of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Here's the story!

As you probably know we have a very long and close history with Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird (don't make me tell you who they are).  Peter once published a piece, in the PBBZ TMNT #1 edition, that has a brief outline of that history!  Being a very small part of Turtle Lore is something we cling to reverently!  Our association with them is an honor to us!

When IDW publishing announced that they would be printing the Turtles again we were psyched because we already had a great working relationship with IDW, having produced numerous other variants with them (many of them being from another NH resident - ie Joe Hill, Locke & Key, The Cape). As we started to formulate our plan, for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Exclusives, we wanted to produce something that paid homage to Peter and Kevin.  Something that was more historical than modernized.  The book would already be the modern take on the classic!  We wanted to remind everyone of the Turtle’s roots!

The first issue was easy.  Peter had already created a piece that was a duplicate of the original TMNT #1, but in his own style!  It was the perfect piece for the Jetpack Comics first issue.  Of course we wouldn’t be able to continue to find images that directly matched up to the original series (are there even going to be Mousers in the new series?) and getting images through the Turtle licensing people would be a hurdle all it’s own!  From there it was a matter of us scouring every TMNT resource we could in an effort to locate images that were deserving of being a cover, but had never been used as one.  Of course they had to be classic art and not modern!  CLASSIC style is what led us to the unique color schemes you see on our covers.

The original Turtles 1 through 4 & Raphael were all created using very unique coloring and shading styles ,and the printing process was a whole other animal.  Two plus decades later computers have taken over the world.  The processes of days passed are no longer used.  We explained to IDW that we wanted to have the colors on our covers mimic the colors & coloring style of the originals.  It was the best homage we could come up.  With little effort (because they are a skillful bunch) IDW was able to present us a coloring style that was reminiscent of those original books.  We could not have been happier. 

The day the Jetpack Comics TMNT #1 arrived was awesome!  A van full of new comics and cases upon cases of the Jetpack Edition as well as multiple cases of the regular edition!  Orders had been spectacular for the book.  Staff was ready to start packing and shipping the hundreds of orders we had received for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1.  This was our most successful variant before it even arrived at our door!  By day 2 TMNT became our best selling comic of all time!

As we cracked the cases of books we noticed some very glaring and distinct flaws.  The most prevalent was that about every 5^th issue had a staple that was not folded.  It might sound petty but after being stabbed several times we figured out what the problem was and saw that it created a problem of it’s own.  The unfolded staple caused a protruding mark in the front and back cover of the book with the unfolded staple.  This, in turn, rubbed ink off the book on top of it and under it.  So every one of these mis-stapled books there were damages to 2 others.  When all was said and done we estimated about 20% of our print run was damaged

It is important that people keep in mind that publishers and printers do not create collectibles.  Publishers and printers create for us a form of entertainment.  It is the collector and buyer that drive the market for mint condition comics.  Supply and demand.  The publishers and printers make no claim to provide us all MINT condition comics.  Their jobs are to produce the product and put it to paper.  Comic books go through a long process and lots of hands before we all get them.  Mistakes and problems happen.  That is what makes a graded 10.0 comic worth so much.  They are few and far between.

Being friends with IDW we wanted to inform them of the problem.  We made it clear that we were not looking for replacement copies.  We simply wanted IDW to be aware and to work with their printer to provide the best possible product they could.  It would be too easy to shake down a publisher every time there was a little issue with a print run.  There is no way we would damage our relationship with our publishing partners over not perfect comics.  There’s an old adage about not being able to fix a problem you are not aware of.  We were looking to make IDW and the printer aware of a problem. 

A few days later we got an email from IDW thanking us for informing them of the problem.  They were going to address it with the printer.  A few days after that IDW let us know that the printer was going to go back to press and replace the damaged copies.  That is generally unheard of in printing.  Firing up a massive printer to churn out 400 books is more work for the printer than the cost of printing those 400 books.  Printers depend on volume of print run to make printing a profitable business.  We were impressed that IDW and the printer thought enough of us to do this.  Of course producing such a small quantity on machines designed to produce 100 to 1000 times that quantity would be problematic on it’s own, but who knew at the time!

In an effort to get the newly printed books directly to us, the printer had them air freighted half way around the world.  We were very excited when the 2 boxes arrived but it was noticeable that such a long, fast trip had been hard on the boxes. Blunted corners & edges of the boxes could only mean similar damage to comics inside.  The one group LEAST interested in the condition of any product is the package carrier.  Proper packing falls on the person doing the shipping.  The carrier just delivers.  Of course the damaged boxes were no big deal to us.  We hadn’t even requested replacements and the fact that everyone had worked so hard and fast to provide us something we didn’t expect was testament enough to the professionalism of the companies involved.  Damaged or not, it didn’t matter to us.

Then we opened the boxes.  At first it appeared to be a trick of the light.  Literally hundreds of florescent lights brighten our store so sometimes things appear off at first glance.  Upon further inspection we found it was not so, in this case.  Given the fast and short print run there was not enough time to do a full color check.  What should have been dark red had been printed in orange!  Four Hundred copies of the Jetpack Comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in a distinct color scheme.  We’ve provided a side by side below.

So, for the third time, and the second time on a first issue, there was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles error edition.

The first was with issue #3 of the original series.  Kevin and Peter were coming back to NH to set up a show (run by me) and then heading to New York City for another show.  TMNT #3 was at the printer, but at the time & through the process they were using, the cover had to be run through the printer twice to get the 2 color tones to print.  Kevin and Peter had the printer bind about 350 copies of the book, with the one color on the cover, so they would have product for the 2 shows.  You can find this listed in the Overstreet price guide.  The TMNT #3 variant is one of the most sought after TMNT comics ever.

For the 25^th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage studios produced a color edition of the very first issue, with an all new cover.  The same cover used for the PBBZ edition but inked and in color (of course we prefer the raw pencils to the inked version – the pencils are so tight).  With in days of it shipping to comic shops it was recalled “to be destroyed” by Mirage Studios.  There was an error in the book.  While we’ve never had an actual confirmation on what that error was, the noticeable difference between the recalled and the regular color edition #1 is that all the type inside the front cover is in bold, making it very hard to read.  This recalled edition sells for $70 or more!  There is no confirmation on what the print run was, the qty destroyed or the print run of the corrected edition!

And now there is The Jetpack Comics * Orange * error edition!  Only 400 of these were printed.  We do not believe that a single one of them are mint.  We are offering them on a first come basis in three different conditions.  Sadly we can’t offer them in a numerical grade of condition.  We are offering them based on the amount of time we will spend sorting through them.  Since the news broke for this we’ve had dozens of emails and requests.  The quantity of them that people want (including offers to but the whole print run) far exceeds the quantity we have available.

How will CGC view these?  We have no idea!  Supposedly printer errors do not 100% count against a books numerical grade but that is up to them, not us!

1) Expect the lowest condition to have some noticeable flaw.  A dented or dinged corner.  Ink rubbing on the cover.  Roller creases on the cover.  Could be any of these.  Could be all.  We’re calling these Very Good condition!

2) Mid Condition will be about FINE.  Could be several very small flaws.  Could be one medium flaw.  Might just have a grabber mark on the cover.  We’re calling these FINE condition.

3) High Condition will be Very Fine +++ and perhaps Near Mint but no promises.  As we go through these finding these better condition copies is like the needle in the hay stack.  Every time we think we have one we find something to knock it down.

Please keep in mind that your book will ship to you based on the condition you choose.  Please don’t try to qualify your order with any statements as to what you would like.  We already can’t supply the demand for them.