KeyGuard

KEYGUARD stands are officially open for pre order.

I’ll be the first to say the stand itself isn’t an original concept. There are similar acrylic stands already on the market. But like everything I make, I wanted to take something that already works and make it better for what we’re building.

Ours is larger so it properly fits slabs with KEYGUARDs installed, made with thicker acrylic for a more premium feel, and finished with the KEYGUARD logo frosted into the base.

Simple. Clean. Premium.

We’re starting with only 100 stands for the first run.

$18 each. Available for pre order now.

Another piece of the KEYGUARD display system is officially here.

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Star Wars 42 is one of those books where the history gets more interesting the deeper you go.

Released in 1980, this issue is widely recognized by collectors as Boba Fett’s first appearance in the regular U.S. Star Wars comic series. It also features Bossk and Dengar as Marvel adapted the bounty hunter sequence from The Empire Strikes Back.

But Boba Fett’s comic history is actually more complicated than most people realize.

The Empire Strikes Back adaptation appeared in other Marvel formats before Star Wars 42, including Marvel Super Special 16 and the oversized Marvel Treasury Edition. There was also an earlier UK appearance. So while Star Wars 42 became the book most collectors associate with Boba Fett’s first comic appearance, it wasn’t actually the first time the character appeared in a printed comic adaptation.

This copy is even crazier. CGC Signature Series 7.0 signed by Temuera Morrison, who has portrayed Boba Fett in live action and also played Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones.

And that black and yellow gradient KEYGUARD could not have been a better match.

We only have about 50 of these black and yellow gradients left. I honestly haven’t even thought about bringing this color back yet, so once these are gone, that could be it.

Huge shoutout to LT for sharing this one with us. Go check out his page if you’re into Star Wars. This is exactly the kind of collection KEYGUARD was made for.

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Two Marvel books. Both cover dated January 1981. Both stories that ended up becoming much bigger than anyone could have known when they were sitting on a newsstand for 50 cents.

On the left is Uncanny X Men 141, the beginning of “Days of Future Past.” Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin dropped readers into a future controlled by Sentinels where most of the X Men are dead or imprisoned. This issue also introduced Rachel Summers, Pyro, Avalanche and Destiny, while bringing Mystique’s new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants into the X Men title.

And that cover is legendary for a reason. Wolverine and Kitty Pryde standing in front of a wall showing the X Men either “SLAIN” or “APPREHENDED.” More than 45 years later, it is still instantly recognizable.

Then you have Daredevil 168.

This is the first appearance of Elektra Natchios, created by Frank Miller, and the beginning of Miller taking over Daredevil as the book’s writer. Frank Miller handled the story and pencils with Klaus Janson on inks. Even crazier, Elektra was originally intended to be a one story character. She became one of the defining characters of Miller’s Daredevil run and eventually one of Marvel’s most recognizable antiheroes.

There’s even a little piece of history hiding right on the cover. Elektra’s name is famously printed as “Elecktra.”

And these aren’t just regular copies.

Both are CGC Signature Series books, with X Men sitting at an 8.0 and Daredevil at a beautiful 9.4, protected in black KEYGUARDs.

Huge shoutout to Michael Mosca for the photo and for trusting KEYGUARD with books that represent a serious piece of comic history. This is exactly what I built these for.

Protect the story. Preserve the feeling.

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Watch closely.

KEYGUARD®

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This is exactly how I hoped people would eventually use the hidden hanging mounts.

Most people still don’t even realize they’re built into the back of KEYGUARDs. I never wanted the mount to take away from the design, so we kept it hidden and let people discover it naturally.

Germi is one of the rare ones actually putting it to use, and this display came out CLEAN. The different colors surrounding each slab turn the whole collection into wall art.

Huge shoutout to Germi for showing off the collection and using KEYGUARD exactly how it was designed.

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January and February should bring back two of the most requested KEYGUARD colors yet: black and blue gradient and black and red gradient.

We’re also testing something completely new, a black and white gradient. If it comes out the way I’m picturing it, it’s going to look insane on the right books.

For now though, this black and blue sparkle is looking perfect around this TMNT 50 in a 9.8. The colors on this book were made for it.

Big shoutout to Jim Wheeler for the photo and for continuing to support KEYGUARD. Love seeing these out in real collections.

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This is the kind of book that makes you stop scrolling.

Absolute Batman 1. CGC 9.8 Signature Series. But the grade almost becomes secondary when Scott Snyder himself turns the blank cover into a true 1/1 piece.

A hand drawn Batman staring you down with:

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

Signed, sketched and permanently tied to the creator who wrote the story. There will never be another one exactly like this.

And that blue flake KEYGUARD around the slab is absolutely perfect. The blue pulls straight from the Absolute Batman logo while the flakes give the whole thing just enough extra pop without taking anything away from the artwork.

This is exactly why I love collecting. A comic can start as one of thousands, then one moment with a creator turns that copy into something completely its own.

Huge shoutout to Multiverse Rant for sharing this monster. This is one hell of a centerpiece.

Protect the story. Preserve the feeling.

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Giant-Size X-Men 1 is one of those books where the deeper you look, the crazier the history gets.

Released in 1975, this is the first appearance of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Thunderbird and Krakoa. It’s also the issue where Wolverine joins the X-Men. An insane amount of Marvel history packed into one book.

Even the cover has a story. Gil Kane penciled it, Dave Cockrum inked it and worked on the original X-Men figures being pushed into the background. That image went on to become one of the most recognizable X-Men covers ever made.

Here’s a deeper cut. Len Wein wrote the story, but Chris Claremont also contributed to the plot before taking over the ongoing X-Men series and becoming one of the most important creators in the history of the franchise.

And this story wasn’t really the end. It led directly into X-Men 94 and the beginning of the All-New, All-Different era that completely changed the future of the X-Men.

I also love the story behind this blue KEYGUARD. J sold it at a recent show in Canada, and it ended up with markofcomics protecting a CGC 6.5 Giant-Size X-Men 1.

That’s exactly what I wanted to see when I created these. Collector to collector, show to show, and eventually finding their way onto books with this kind of history.

Huge shoutout to markofcomics for the support and for sharing this killer book with us.

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So glad I opened up wholesale. Here’s to our first 6 vendors!

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