How can you tell a first printing of Saint Seiya?
The book tells you itself, on the last page, in the colophon.
Japanese collected editions print their own paperwork. At the back of every Jump Comics volume sits the okudzuke, the colophon page listing publisher, dates, and impression number. For Saint Seiya, printed by Shueisha from 1986 to 1991, that page is the difference between a first printing and the many reprints that followed while the anime was on the air.
THE CHECKS
In the order a collector runs them1 · The colophon date
A first printing’s colophon shows the volume’s first-impression date, at or within days of its release date (volume 1: September 10, 1986; volume 28: April 10, 1991). A later year on that line means a later impression, whatever the cover says.
2 · The impression line
The colophon records the printing count in Japanese. First impressions are marked as the first printing (shohan); reprints increment. Learn the line’s position once and you can grade a copy in seconds.
3 · The obi
First printings shipped with a paper obi band advertising the anime and the current arc. Obis were thrown away by most child readers, so a first printing still wearing its obi is the premium form of the book. A missing obi proves nothing; a correct obi corroborates everything.
4 · The ISBN block
Volumes 1 to 17 carry the 8517xx Jump Comics ISBN sequence, volumes 18 to 25 the 85153x block, and 26 to 28 the 85178x block. An ISBN outside its block means you are holding a different edition, not an early printing.
5 · Edition traps
The aizoban (1995), bunkoban (2001), kanzenban (2005) and Final Edition (2021) all reprint the same chapters in different sizes with different covers. Check the format before the date: a 2005 kanzenban is a fine book, but it is not a 1986 first printing wearing new clothes.
6 · Condition realism
These were children’s books in a weekly-magazine ecosystem, read hard and shelved loose. Honest sun-fading on the spine and tanning to the page block are normal for 1986–91 Jump Comics; judge a copy against its siblings, not against a modern reprint.