Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Image, NYCC | Tagged: cobra commander, duke, Energon Universe, gi joe, skybound, transformers

Speculator Watch: Did Duke & Cobra Commander Ashcans Win NYCC? 

Robert Kirkman and his team at Skybound came to NYCC last weekend with a big focus on the company’s popular Energon Universe.

Robert Kirkman and his team at Skybound came to NYCC last weekend with a big focus on the company's popular Energon Universe – the new shared universe between Daniel Warren Johnson's Transformers, Joshua Williamson's new take on G.I. Joe with artists like Tom Reilly and Andrea Milana, and the new Void Rivals by Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici. They've made a rather nice bit of history as a result as well, and it led us to wonder if the Big Two shared universes of Marvel and DC were about to become the Big Three with Image/Skybound seeing six-figure success.

We also told you that Skybound had partnered with eBay via Shawn "Big Clutch" Kirkham, previously Skybound's SVP of Business Development and now full-time influencer, to drop some new Energon Universe variants, including a Cobra Commander #1 ashcan and Transformers #1 foil variant. It sounds like Kirkham has become a key part of eBay's outreach to the comics community and I would imagine we'll see more from that partnership.

And at the same time, Skybound announced their own special Duke #1 ashcan for NYCC, following in the footsteps of their Transformers #1 ashcan that was the hottest comic drop at SDCC this year, which saw CGC sales top out at $1200. The Duke #1 ashcan was available at both their Skybound's Energon Universe signing at Midtown Comics on Friday night along with their Energon Universe panel on Saturday morning.

From what we're hearing, not only did the drops with eBay sell out immediately but the Duke #1 variant had to be strictly limited to one per person at events in order to meet demand. The end result is that the Energon Universe has once again produced some of the hottest variants coming out of a major convention, as evidenced by the CovrPrice Top Ten list, which ranks Cobra Commander #1 ashcan at #1, Transformers #1 Foil at #5 and Duke #1 ashcan at #10 (and the 1:100 Transformers #1 variant also at #9). The books even made our very own NYCC Hottest Comics Top 25 list. 

That's translated to strong three-figure sales, with the Duke #1 ashcan seeing multiple sales for $100. Meanwhile, the Cobra Commander #1 ashcan has peaked even higher at $120. Patient buyers have also been able to score both ashcans for $200  with some scoring at an even more affordable $150.. At the same time, the Transformers #1 foil variant has seen multiple sales at $100 which seems to be consistent.

With many copies of these books likely signed over the weekend at NYCC, we'll have to wait at least a few weeks to see what kind of high grade CGC copies end up on the aftermarket and how high those will go as the buzz continues around the Energon Universe, which is still currently selling out of every new issue release in comic shops – and all the subsequent reprints, as Robert Kirkman told retailers at the NYCC Lunar breakfast event.

If only they could have managed to get Tom Hardy or Todd McFarlane to sign them. Duke #1 is on-sale in comic shops on Wednesday, December 27.

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