Transformers Artifact of the Week: Transformers Universe #1 OTFCC 2003 Platinum Pass Unicron Variant Cover

“Only the worthy find the grail.” – Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code

Yes, I know. I’ve used that quote before, and Primus willing, I will be using it again. “Worthy” is overstating it, but when you’ve acquired one of the Holy Grails on your want list I think you’re entitled to be a little dramatic. Without further ado, behold…

UNICRON!

(See what I did there.)

The Official Transformers Collectors’ Convention 2003 Platinum Pass Exclusive Transformers Universe #1 Unicron Variant Cover. (That was a mouthful.) This is unquestionably the rarest Transformers comic book in existence. There are a lot of questions about this book, so I’m going to go through what is known and then I’m going to tell you what I think, which, for the record, will be speculation, but speculation I’m basing on the available evidence.

What We Know

One hundred copies of this variant were supposed to be printed and given to the one hundred platinum pass holders at OTFCC/Botcon 2003.

Transformers Universe #1 was supposed to be available at OTFCC/Botcon 2003 but had not yet been produced.

Platinum Pass holders never received this comic. I’m calling this a fact. I have seen a couple of people online say they never got their comics and have never heard a single person say that they did. Would love to hear from anyone who had an OTFCC/Botcon 2003 Platinum Pass either way.

My friend Zabgoth spoke to Glen Hallit about this comic, and according to Glen these comics were printed at the same time as the rest of the first printing and he received them with the regular cover. This tracks, as we know the regular cover of issue #1 was not available at the convention, and we know that at least a few of Unicron cover do exist. (Though we cannot verify how many exist, more on that below.)

Glen says, he “can’t recall” how they were distributed. Interesting, since he owed these books to people that bought Platinum Passes, the only reasonable distribution would have been to mail them to them. (Further speculation below.)

Glen had the regular first printing cover available for sale at Wizard World 2003.

We know that when 3H lost the license, most of the remaining stock of comics were liquidated through Destination Entertainment and solicited in Diamond Previews.

Only a handful of these have ever showed up on eBay over the years. I have been constantly trying to get this book since OTFCC/Botcon 2003 to the point that it has become something of an obsession so I can confirm this, but if you don’t believe me, here is what Recalled Comics has to say about this book.)

In 2016 one sold for just over $1000, which I remember being outbid on. The few that have sold since then have sold for considerably more. Makes me wish I could have bid more in 2016.

Only one copy has ever been graded, which sold last year a couple of months before I bought my ungraded copy. Interestingly, even CGC doesn’t know anything about it, as they just listed it as “Variant Cover”.

Whether or not this last fact has any bearing on this comic is all about my speculation below. We know that 3H was already having financial problems in 2003, as at the time 3H was under a lot of scrutiny by the fan base and any misstep was made very public. They gave out exclusive Heroes of Cybertron Sunstorms on the spot to anyone who preregistered for OTFCC 2004 while attending 2003. Both attendees and dealers prepaid for their admission and tables.

What I Think

To put it in one sentence, I think one of those facts above is not true. The long version is this. I see three possibilities.

Possibility One: They were sold at some point. My friend Zabgoth and I talked about this, and he considered the possibility they could have slipped out among the regular cover’s sales at another convention or online. He asked someone he knows who volunteered at OTFCC 04, and he says they did not have them at OTFCC 04. I don’t see how it’s possible they were sold to the public. If they had been, more of them would have shown up by now. Even if you leave open the possibility that some were bought by people who were out of the fandom before the 2016 sale, or who passed away, or who threw their comics away, or any other way in which some of these could have been purchased and lost, more would have still shown up. So, I believe it is impossible that they just got sold off to people.

Possibility Two: The whole lot was sold out the back door to someone (or stolen, I suppose). Given the financial issues, you can see why that would be a possibility. These weren’t being sold, they were owed to people and would need to be mailed at the company’s expense. But if someone did sit on them planning to release them later when they would be considered rare and worth more, then where are they? A copy sold for over $1000 in 2016, that makes this $100,000 worth of comics potentially and more like half a million today based on the recent sale prices. They would have shown up. Sure, it’s possible, as with the above, that whoever bought them passed away and they were thrown out or something. I’m calling that impossible too. This leads me to my conclusion.

Possibility Three: I must ask the question, were one hundred copies really printed? I think a few were printed with the first printing, or maybe were done as proofs, which got out into the world somehow, but the rest never existed at all. That is the only way I can square so few having ever shown up. What do I base that on? OTFCC was in financial freefall. It seems highly plausible that printing these books and then having to mail them out was an additional expense that the company did not need. We know some were printed, but how many? We will likely never know how many exist. I’ve been trying to think of how many have shown up, and after the one in 2016, I think it was some time before another. I think five altogether including the graded one and the one I bought, but I’m not 100% sure.

I do want to make it clear that I am not accusing Glen of lying about receiving them with the first print run. This was over twenty years ago at a time when his business was approaching financial disaster. He had to rename the convention after losing use of the Botcon trademark, and much of the fandom, myself included, were pissed off at him, and he had much larger hardships on the horizon. But it just feels like if he had got them, he would remember what happened to them, since the Platinum Pass holders never received them.

I also want to be clear that it is entirely possible I am wrong about most of this. While the facts above seem hard to argue with, anything is possible, and my conclusion is based on a whole lot of speculation. If you have any information about this comic, I would love to hear about it.

All we can say for sure, is that the truth about the Official Transformers Collectors’ Convention 2003 Platinum Pass Exclusive Transformers Universe #1 Unicron Variant Cover will remain hidden with the Rocket Firing Boba Fett and Blue Bluestreak everyone had when they were kids.

“An ancestor of mine maintained that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” – Spock, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

As always, you can find over 22,000 Transformers artifacts from every Transformers series and generation at TFMuseum.com.

Thanks for reading!