Set Description:
Dark Horse Comics: May 1988 - July 1989
It’s 1986, my buddies and I just started our summer vacation and we are off to see Karate Kid part 2. That’s when I saw it, the trailer to James Cameron’s new movie “Aliens”. I don’t remember every detail because I was so enthralled. However, I clearly remember the clip of Hudson saying “There’s movement all over the place!”, Hicks picking up the remains of a dead face hugger with his Ithaca shotgun and the explosion caused by Frost’s burning bag full of pulse rifle mags. Needless to say my young brain was saying, “You gotta see this movie...”. Well, a month and some change later I was at the same theater with my dad (we did monthly action movie night) feasting my eyes on one of the best action/sci fi movies ever made.
Fast forward to 1990, I’m at my local Newbury comics and I’m scanning the comic rack. There on the shelf sat a copy of Aliens vol 2 #3. A lot of questions ran through my head, “Aliens comics?”, “When did these start coming out?” and so on. I quickly took the book home and read it about 80 times. The seed was planted and the hunt began for every Aliens comic I could get my hands on.
I stopped seriously collecting comics around the end of 1993 early 1994. I had a raw set of first prints of this series for years. When I got back into collecting around 2011 I was only buying CGC books of major keys. It wasn’t until 2015 when I started branching out and collecting complete sets of mini series’ that were “hot” when I was younger. I always thought having the Aliens 1988 series in 9.8 would be awesome but after looking at the census I knew this was going to be a serious undertaking. During this same year I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of iceman3991. He had a full set 1-6 of 9.8’s he was willing to sell and for some stupid reason I passed on this offer. I don’t remember exactly why but in hind site I really kick myself for not taking him up on it. It was a completely fair price that would have saved me a lot of time and a couple hundred dollars in the future.
The following year I purchased a 9.8 copy of issue #1 and figured that was “good enough”. I was lying to myself and deep down I knew I wanted them all. That fall I saw an auction for issue #2 come up on eBay and I pondered on wether or not I should bid. Again, like an idiot I passed and the book sold for just a fraction of what I would later pay 3 years down the road. “Strike two” was now in the books and I felt it in my gut. Roughly five months go by and I finally commit myself to completing the set. I sent iceman3991 a message inquiring about the set he had for sale. Unfortunately for me the set had sold but he did have extra copies of issues #’s 3-6, no #2. We made a cash/trade deal for some Predator books and my quest was on to find issue #2.
Regardless of the hole in my soul….I mean collection, I was happy that I took the plunge into this series. For two years I scoured the internet looking for the elusive issue #2. Around March/April of 2019 I receive a notification from ComicLink about an upcoming auction for this book. At the time I was working abroad and the auction was ending sometime in the early morning hours. So here I am “zero dark thirty” waiting to “snipe” this book, to my surprise……….I lose the auction. I did maintain hope (thanks to ramrod44) and the search continued. That May I picked up a third print in 9.8 as a place holder. The price was decent and at the time the follow on prints were non-existent or extremely scarce on the census. Low and behold I get another ComicLink notification that fall and another issue #2 is up for sale. Fortunately this time I won and for $400 cheaper than the auction I lost!
So from the summer of 2016 to the fall of 2019 is how long it took me to commit and complete a full 9.8 set of first prints. Now I am staring at this random third print I acquired, “Maybe I should go for all the printings.” So right then and there I decided that this was my new goal. I knew it was a hell of a task and that I might never accomplish it but I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t at least try. I have had zero regret in my life choices; career, marriage, finances, etc. So I finally applied that thought process into collecting and went back to buying what I like not what I think will be popular.
Throughout this journey I have learned a lot about the hobby and my approach to it. Patience and going with your gut instincts have been what’s worked for me. I do believe that one day I will finish this set in 9.8, I am only two books shy. It seems as though since my purchase of issue #2 third print that dealers have taken notice to the follow on printings and have submitted them for grading (I thank you all for doing so). In its infancy these books generally sold for more than their first print counter parts, issue #1 and #2 being the exception. This has eased up a bit since more and more books have come to market. For me it was a small price to pay to accomplish what I set out to do in 2019.
The road to completing this set was NOT all rivers of chocolate and gum drop smiles. Ask any Aliens collector and they will tell you that its not about the cost of these books, most are relatively inexpensive, (again, issue #1 and #2 excluded) its about locating them and finding someone willing to part with them.
Special thanks to iceman3991, ramrod44, F for Fake and Izlo for advice, support and your parting with hard to find books to make not only this set but my other registry sets possible.
”Only the risky live”
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