As unlikely as it sounds, your old Marvel Robocop issues from the 1990s - the ones you may or may not be using to balance a table or line a bird cage - have been quietly gaining value thanks to Colonel Sanders.
There’s no mention of any new movies or television shows, so the only reason that could possibly bolster interest in those issues is his odd inclusion in the run of KFC commercials. The recent marketing campaign has different portrayals of the Colonel, each sillier than the last.
Then things got weird. For some odd reason, Robocop is dressed in a Colonel Sanders costume, complete with wig and glasses over his helmet. As strange as it is, the commercials are entertaining, and they have apparently caught on with a new audience. Sure, there was the forgettable 2014 Robocop remake, but this is the original Robocop actor Peter Weller donning the 1987 costume. And it is glorious.
While the movie is one of my all-time favorites, the hard truth about those original Robocop comics is this: they are bad.
The first movie adaption was by Marvel, and it was printed in black and white. What keeps the movie a cult classic is its gratuitous-to-the-point-of-comedy violence. That’s not what you see in these old issues from the late 1980s. Marvel heavily censored the language and violence in adapting the story for a more family-friendly audience, and it’s nearly unreadable.
When the movie was adapted to a comic, all of what made Robocop great (in a terrible, B-movie kind of way) were filtered and sanitized away. It might as well have been produced by Hasbro to sell action figures. Still, any fan will find Robocop #1 (1987) worth having in the collection, and it still sells for a respectable $57 average at a graded 9.6.
Three years after the movie adaptation, Robocop was put into a self-titled, ongoing series that also limited the violence and gore in order to appeal to younger readers. The problem was that Robocop was never meant for kids. The satirical humor, political innuendo, and take on corporate America were central themes of the film. While kids gravitated toward his action figure-esque metal physique, the theme of a corporation owning a person and dehumanizing him into more machine than man without his consent were lost on children. That’s not to mention the overt violence and gore that would make Quentin Tarantino envious.
Surprisingly, it's that awful ongoing Marvel series from the early 1990s that has been showing gains. Robocop #1 (1990) at a 9.8 has a 12-month average of $71 while a 9.6 sold for $68 in February and commands a $59 fair market value since then.
When it comes to Robocop comics, none surpass 1992's Robocop Versus Terminator. After Marvel dropped the franchise, Dark Horse Comics got hold of the character. They were able to take the story closer toward its original, violent version. After the success of Aliens Versus Predator, Dark Horse tried its hand at mashing up Robocop and Terminator in all its 1990s over-the-top visuals and weaponry. It also features the all-star creative team of comic legends Frank Miller, who wrote the Robocop 2 screenplay, and Walt Simonson, the creator of Beta Ray Bill.
You can still get a graded 9.8 Robocop Versus Terminator #1 platinum edition dirt cheap (the last one sold earlier this month for $41), but keep in mind that one sold for $150 way back in 2007, which leads me to believe it has the potential to become a decent key.
There’s also Frank Miller’s Robocop from 2003 that was also published by Avatar Press. While its not universally steamrolling the market by any means, the Robosteel variant has been gaining, at least in the 9.8 grade. On April 19, a 9.8 brought $140.
