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Rarest Silver Age Marvel Keys?
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78 posts in this topic

I think most of the books that I listed were on his list. Doug certainly would have as good a sense as anyone what books were hard to find in HG.

 

Some high grade copies of FF 3 have emerged since he posted his list, but it's still damn hard to find. The other really tough FF in high grade, besides #1, is the Red Ghost issue (12 or 13?). Brulato jumped all over Harry's copy when he put it up for sale.

 

Definitely don't agree with the earlier poster who listed FF 5, as I think that's a pretty plentiful book.

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I think most of the books that I listed were on his list. Doug certainly would have as good a sense as anyone what books were hard to find in HG.

 

Some high grade copies of FF 3 have emerged since he posted his list, but it's still damn hard to find. The other really tough FF in high grade, besides #1, is the Red Ghost issue (12 or 13?). Brulato jumped all over Harry's copy when he put it up for sale.

 

Definitely don't agree with the earlier poster who listed FF 5, as I think that's a pretty plentiful book.

 

:hi: from the "earlier poster."

 

493 FF #5s, 373 FF #3s, all flavors. #3 is rarer, but not by a great deal. And #5's a far more substantial key, if that matters to the OP.

 

He was asking what were the rarest, not rarest in high grade (though some have a problem making that distinction.)

 

(thumbs u

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He was asking what were the rarest, not rarest in high grade (though some have a problem making that distinction.)

 

(thumbs u

 

Then the runaway answer would be this comic. A Silver Age Marvel #1 from 1968 with only 18 copies certified.

 

Groovy1sale.jpg

 

 

Now if you want to focus the discussion on MAJOR keys, that's a different story. :grin:

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Another truly scarce key Marvel is Rawhide Kid #17. Published in 1960 (and so arguably more Atlas than Marvel - the same argument applies to TTA27, I think), the comic is the origin and true first appearance of the Rawhide Kid, sports Lee and Kirby/Ayers story and art, and is impossible to find in anything above Fine. Only 4 copies have ever been certified, with the top census copy being a single 8.0.

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In terms of high grade copies:

 

TTA 35

JIM 84

TTA 27

Sgt Fury 1

Hulk 1

DD 7

ST 101

FF 3

 

Of these Daredevil 7, Hulk 1 and FF3 definitely drop off the list when condition is taken out of the equation. The others are all pretty tough, even in lower grade. Looking at the census, those books are almost as low as Silver Age DCs in terms of census numbers.

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He was asking what were the rarest, not rarest in high grade (though some have a problem making that distinction.)

If grade is not a factor, then there is no such thing as a rare SA Marvel mainstream book.

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Another truly scarce key Marvel is Rawhide Kid #17. Published in 1960 (and so arguably more Atlas than Marvel - the same argument applies to TTA27, I think), the comic is the origin and true first appearance of the Rawhide Kid, sports Lee and Kirby/Ayers story and art, and is impossible to find in anything above Fine. Only 4 copies have ever been certified, with the top census copy being a single 8.0.

I think once you get into non-mainstream genres like westerns, war, romance, humor, etc., discussions of rarity are at a whole different level.

 

But I will be on the lookout for this book now.

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Another truly scarce key Marvel is Rawhide Kid #17. Published in 1960 (and so arguably more Atlas than Marvel - the same argument applies to TTA27, I think), the comic is the origin and true first appearance of the Rawhide Kid, sports Lee and Kirby/Ayers story and art, and is impossible to find in anything above Fine. Only 4 copies have ever been certified, with the top census copy being a single 8.0.

I think once you get into non-mainstream genres like westerns, war, romance, humor, etc., discussions of rarity are at a whole different level.

 

But I will be on the lookout for this book now.

 

Good luck finding a high grade copy. :wishluck: I can remember digging up a copy a few years back (2002?) in VG that sold for 4 - 5x (maybe more) Guide on eBay.

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So what's the range of opinions on TTA27 being a Marvel superhero comic?

 

I'm of the opinion that this book is more properly categorized as an Atlas than a Marvel comic, and is more an Antman prototype than a true first appearance of the superhero. While it is true that Hank Pym first appears, there is neither a costume nor superhero handle introduced. The storyline is arguably more of the Atlas monster type. I believe a good case can be made that the book is not a Marvel superhero key in the strict sense of the category.

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I think that is a valid point as well. hm

 

It corresponds with TOS #32 where the Bee-Man (another try-out) which didn't make it (I guess because the Ant-Man story ended up being more popular as a Super-hero idea in the bull-pen, or with readers). But it was an Atlas Monster story in my opinion (another proto-type), which was finally adopted.

 

All the other Atlas proto-type stories are also NOT considered 1st appearances, so other than the name (Hank Pym), why should TTA #27 (Man, I'm going to get a lot of hateful comments on this comment).

 

I think TTA deserves a "key" designation, but not to the extent and at the price level this book currently enjoys. So that being said, should the other proto-type books be bumped in price a little too.

 

JIM #62....Xemu (The Hulk) has appeared numerous times in the Marvel Universe, but this book has not seen the type of price increases of even a few of the other prototypes, and he is an actual Marvel Universe character. This book is under-valued in Overstreet in my opinion. Further proof is when you find a high-grade copy (very few around), it goes for about 2x to 4x Overstreet.

 

Anyway, TTA 27...is a monster book and a 1st appearance, but not (yet), a Super-hero book as previously mentioned, and therefore in my opinion a little over-valued. :cool:

Edited by Blind Owl
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Another truly scarce key Marvel is Rawhide Kid #17. Published in 1960 (and so arguably more Atlas than Marvel - the same argument applies to TTA27, I think), the comic is the origin and true first appearance of the Rawhide Kid, sports Lee and Kirby/Ayers story and art, and is impossible to find in anything above Fine. Only 4 copies have ever been certified, with the top census copy being a single 8.0.

 

Indeed. Most Marvel Westerns from 1959-1962 are impossbly rare...

 

But I'm guessing he's thinking "Superhero"... hm

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He was asking what were the rarest, not rarest in high grade (though some have a problem making that distinction.)

If grade is not a factor, then there is no such thing as a rare SA Marvel mainstream book.

 

He said rareST, not "rare".... (thumbs u

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Another truly scarce key Marvel is Rawhide Kid #17. Published in 1960 (and so arguably more Atlas than Marvel - the same argument applies to TTA27, I think), the comic is the origin and true first appearance of the Rawhide Kid, sports Lee and Kirby/Ayers story and art, and is impossible to find in anything above Fine. Only 4 copies have ever been certified, with the top census copy being a single 8.0.

 

Indeed. Most Marvel Westerns from 1959-1962 are impossbly rare...

 

But I'm guessing he's thinking "Superhero"... hm

 

He said Silver Age Marvel "keys", not "Superheroes" (gee, that's fun! :insane: )

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So what's the range of opinions on TTA27 being a Marvel superhero comic?

 

I'm of the opinion that this book is more properly categorized as an Atlas than a Marvel comic, and is more an Antman prototype than a true first appearance of the superhero. While it is true that Hank Pym first appears, there is neither a costume nor superhero handle introduced. The storyline is arguably more of the Atlas monster type. I believe a good case can be made that the book is not a Marvel superhero key in the strict sense of the category.

 

I'll tell you what: if TTA #35 had the first appearance of Dave Duncan as "Ant-Man", TTA #27 woudl be worth the same as #26 and #28.

 

You're absolutely right that it's a prototype, and the only real thing the character from #27 has in common with #35 is the power (which other prototypes have in common with their successors) and the name.

 

Change the name, and #27 becomes a standard proto issue.

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