There’s no bigger factor in today’s comic collecting than movie hype. Whether it’s Marvel or DC, the prospect of a new film injects the secondary market with a heavy dose of steroids. That extends past the superhero franchises, and we are seeing the phenomenon spill into the first Jurassic Park comics from the 1990s. On the heels of Jurassic World: Dominion strolling into theaters this weekend, let’s take a closer look at those JP keys.
JURASSIC PARK #1 (1993)
Along with the Jurassic Park trading cards, Topps also commissioned the original comics for the dinosaur franchise. Between this being a Topps publication and the early ‘90s, these were sealed in a polybag with trading cards. Nothing like those ‘90s gimmicks, right?
Topps enlisted some all-star talent for the project, including Walt “Thor” Simonson on writing duties while Gil Kane helped with the artwork. So far this month, the graded 9.8 JP #1 has consistently earned about $250. That’s actually down from April and May’s FMVs when it was in the $300 range with a high of $360.
While that may motivate you to flip through your comics, the real money is in the amberchrome variant. There hasn’t been a graded 9.8 sold this year, but 2021 saw the special edition earn an impressive $1,000 on October 1. Before that, it hadn’t sold for more than $500. Of course, the last sale was for $356 on October 31, so we will see if the $1k is an outlier or not.
JURASSIC PARK #0 (1993)
About five months after Jurassic Park #1 hit local comic shops, Topps went the prequel route with JP #0. This story focused on the events immediately preceding the opening of the 1993 film. Aside from plenty of foreshadowing, there wasn’t much else of any significance here, but it is a fun addition to your JP collections.
If you happen to have a 9.8 standard edition in your long box, you’ll want to have it graded. On May 29, one happened to sell for an eye-opening $249.
THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK #1
Four years after JP broke box office records around the world, it was time for the inevitable sequel. Of course, another round of comics was in order. While Lost World may not hold a place among the greatest movie sequels in history, the first issue of the 1997 series has earned more than you might expect. On May 20, a graded 9.8 sold for a record $200, blowing past the previous high of $160.
WELCOME TO JURASSIC PARK KEYS
There was a time when movie and television tie-in comics were the collector’s albatross. Hardcore hobbyists steered clear of them unless you happened to be a mega-fan of that particular franchise. Attitudes have drastically shifted on the subject, especially for beloved fan favorites like Jurassic Park. The lesson learned is that it could pay dividends to collect other movie adaptations on the chance that a reboot is in order. If the Jurassic World franchise is any indicator, there's no shortage of reboots in the works.
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