Comic Book Cover Price Increases through the Years 1 1

[Shark]

Has anyone ever seen a post or created a list themselves showing the price increases of comic books by year? It would be nice to see a timeline by year of the increase in the cover price of comics.

[James Howlett]

I think there was one that compared the overstreet prices. I'm not too good with search though.

[Shark]

I think there was one that compared the overstreet prices. I'm not too good with search though.

 

I'm only interested seeing a timeline of the increase in cover prices, not values.

 

[MR SigS]

1961 = 12 cents

1969 = 15 cents

1971 = 20 cents

1973 = 25 cents

1975 = 30 cents

1977 = 35 cents

1979 = 40 cents

1980 = 50 cents

1981 = 60 cents

1985 = 65 cents

1986 = 75 cents

1988 = $1

1992 = $1.25

1994 = $1.50

 

It was right around here that I dropped out and stopped buying new books and track cover prices. Hope this is what you wanted

 

[Shark]

1961 = 12 cents

1969 = 15 cents

1971 = 20 cents

1973 = 25 cents

1975 = 30 cents

1977 = 35 cents

1979 = 40 cents

1980 = 50 cents

1981 = 60 cents

1985 = 65 cents

1986 = 75 cents

1988 = $1

1992 = $1.25

1994 = $1.50

 

It was right around here that I dropped out and stopped buying new books and track cover prices. Hope this is what you wanted

 

(thumbs u

 

I knew there were a bunch of price increases in the 70's (and a bunch more ever since).

[Gotham Kid]

I appreciate the thread topic, was curious myself. (thumbs u

[gadzukes]

I remember how pissed I was as a kid when comics went from 20 cents to 35 cents in just a few years. I would get $8 a month allowance from my folks and I spent it all on comics. That would get me 40 comics in 1972, 32 comics in 1974, and 24 comics in 1977. And I was also young enough that I got duped into clipping Marvel Value Stamps. I clipped the one in my Hulk 181.... geez the 70s were tough.

[Ringfinger]

That's a big jump. Considering most magazines are like $6 now, I guess that's okay.

[MR SigS]

1961 = 12 cents

1969 = 15 cents

1971 = 20 cents

1973 = 25 cents

1975 = 30 cents

1977 = 35 cents

1979 = 40 cents

1980 = 50 cents

1981 = 60 cents

1985 = 65 cents

1986 = 75 cents

1988 = $1

1992 = $1.25

1994 = $1.50

 

It was right around here that I dropped out and stopped buying new books and track cover prices. Hope this is what you wanted

 

(thumbs u

 

I knew there were a bunch of price increases in the 70's (and a bunch more ever since).

 

Yeah, '79-'81 saw a steady 10 cent rise each year. I thought that was the worst.

[Davenport]

Has anyone ever seen a post or created a list themselves showing the price increases of comic books by year? It would be nice to see a timeline by year of the increase in the cover price of comics.

I've posted the link before, but it's a cool site with good info: Median Comic Book Cover Prices by Year

 

 

[Shark]

Has anyone ever seen a post or created a list themselves showing the price increases of comic books by year? It would be nice to see a timeline by year of the increase in the cover price of comics.

I've posted the link before, but it's a cool site with good info: Median Comic Book Cover Prices by Year

 

 

Even better!

[lambfan68]

Why no pre-1961 data? Even though comics were $.10 for many, many years, the page count decreased from the Golden Age to the Silver Age.

 

It would be interesting to see page counts added to the stats.

[the blob]

Why no pre-1961 data? Even though comics were $.10 for many, many years, the page count decreased from the Golden Age to the Silver Age.

 

It would be interesting to see page counts added to the stats.

 

page counts were all over the place on 10 centers in the 40's, so it's hard to pin that down

 

 

the feds tell us we've had very little inflation the last 10/11 years since comics were $1.99. gas is up, housing went up, but is now down. more cheap junk from china. medical expenses are up....

 

it would probably be a healthier comic market if they went back to $2. that way overstock in the $1 box wouldn't even be a real loss for comic shops. i don't know if $2 is doable...it would take 6+ months for circulation to go up if it did go up and neither of the big 2 might be able to take the hit for that long (well, they "can", question is whether it is worth it for such a small % of their business)

[goldust40]

1961 = 12 cents

1969 = 15 cents

1971 = 20 cents

1973 = 25 cents

1975 = 30 cents

1977 = 35 cents

1979 = 40 cents

1980 = 50 cents

1981 = 60 cents

1985 = 65 cents

1986 = 75 cents

1988 = $1

1992 = $1.25

1994 = $1.50

 

It was right around here that I dropped out and stopped buying new books and track cover prices. Hope this is what you wanted

 

(thumbs u

 

I knew there were a bunch of price increases in the 70's (and a bunch more ever since).

 

Yeah, '79-'81 saw a steady 10 cent rise each year. I thought that was the worst.

 

I remember when prices started ramping up at the very beginning of the direct market. Worse though would be 1985 - 1988, when prices more than doubled from 75¢ to $1.75.

[msdemos]

 

.

 

"I would get $8 a month allowance from my folks and I spent it all on comics."

 

I wish you know how much that statement made me laugh.......I too remember my 'crazy for comic books phase', and like you, it was all I thought about (okay.....that may have been more me than you, however, I do sense a kindred spirit) and all I spent my money on (wait a minute.........now that I think about it, it was MOSTLY comic books, with all my other funds going to baseball cards, but still....).

Thanks, for the memory, and thanks for the laugh........  ;-)

 

.

[TheFifthHorseman]

On 1/30/2012 at 9:23 AM, gadzukes said:

I remember how pissed I was as a kid when comics went from 20 cents to 35 cents in just a few years. I would get $8 a month allowance from my folks and I spent it all on comics.

That won't even buy you a variant cover these days

[BrntWS6]

Books are too high now.   I started collecting again after 25 years for few months recently.  I looked at how much I was spending on books over that short time and said f this, i am out for good.  

[Cobbledclam]

☺

[Cobbledclam]

Actually it was 10, 12, 15, 25, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, etc. not counting the variant price anomaly.

I'm speaking primarily about DC which went from .15 to .25 for around a year,  but gave you an additional 16 pages of golden age, early silver and sometimes never before printed stories for your extra dime.

Marvel went from .15 cents to .25 cents which lasted only a month or two. But, you got an additional 16 pages of new original storyline. I guess they figured that was kind of hectic and costly because they were at twenty cents before you could shake a yellow lamb's tail!

Edited May 25, 2018 by Cobbledclam
word correction

[Brian48]

I read the jump that Marvel made was to bait DC to follow suit.  Once DC went to .25 and committed themselves, Marvel jumped down to .20 to undercut the competition.  Dirty tactics of the day.