blowout Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 This is a book which has gone up and up in value over the last 10 years or so. Does it have a ceiling? Or will the new X-Men 2, Hulk movies and Wolverine comic reboot push it higher and higher? Can the book break and sustain a 2K plus value in NM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph0 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 It went for over 2k in the past 3 times it's been on eBay. I think it might be a bit overvalued in NM-, but solid NM and up is actually harder to find on this book (so to speak) Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquiti Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Good thing you said so to speak... I have seen A LOT of 9.4's of those. But then again, that could be the same couple copies over and over again with guys trying to flip them for more than they paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammer-migration Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Even more of a challenge is finding one without the usual white left edge on a front cover, right-shifted copy. I see the majority of 9.4s and 9.6s (and even the two 9.8s which ran the same week on Ebay...smart, huh?) have the off-centered cover as well as the black/gray print lines and smudges that trail from the chains, down towards the bottom of the book. In my estimation, if you're going to pay a premium anyway, $2000 to $4000 for 9.4 to 9.6 copies, try to get a hold of one WITHOUT the extremely common factory production problems, and with a BRIGHT RED cover. Many of even the highest graded copies appear to be slightly weak in this respect, appearing more towards the orange end than the Fire-engine Red color. They're out there. You just have to be patient and selective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantastic_four Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 To estimate the ceiling on a Hulk 181, you have to estimate how many people want one, how many copies are available, and how much disposable income those people have available to them. Most Hulk 181 buyers are going to be around 25 to 40. Wolverine has not waned in popularity at all over the years, so as the Golden and Silver Age guys die off over the next few decades, the Hulk 181 marketplace will continue to grow. I'll be surprised if a NM Hulk 181 isn't a 10K book in 15 years. It has a ceiling, but we haven't come close to hitting it yet. Especially if CGC or another grading company starts factoring into their grading the eye appeal factors that Hammer alludes to and we've all (ComicInvestor, Murph, myself, and others) person_without_enough_empathyed about in these forums. He's right, finding a Hulk 181 with a perfectly set cover, bright cover inks and gloss, and zero translucency showing through the "Hulk" title is a tough find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph0 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 The one I bought, I pretty much picked up b/c I could get it for less then 2k..plus the cover was fairly centered (as far as the white showing goes) and the colors looked really good from the scan at least..the Marvel banner is slightly off-center...which almost made me pass..but I got tired of not buying anything and was always sort of interested in the book, so I bought it. Here's a link to the picture It doesn't have white pages, but IMO, off-white to white is basically the same thing. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uclapeterg Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 It's a nice picture.. with a GREAT back cover.. but is it true that there are 2 spine stresses (very very small mind you)? I wouldn't allow that in a NM 9.4 -- how do other people feel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickdogg Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 For a Hulk #181, it hardly ever gets better than that The spine stress is extremely tiny and just looks a lot larger due to the magnitude of the scans. That sure is a beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantastic_four Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Yep, spine stresses are very small at around 1/16", well within the range of what's allowable in the 9.4 grade. Definitely a nice copy there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordanabigail Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Well, we are talking about the most popular Marvel comics character of the last 30 years. Granted, Spidey is Spidey, but Wolverine has been the man. With the X-Men sequel, a RUMORED Wolverine spinoff movie in the works, the X-Men animated show, video games, INCLUDING a Wolverine SOLO video game that is generating great buzz and will be out next summer, not to mention the Hulk movie that should increase exposure....there is no reason to think that the very first appearance of Wolvie won't continue to rise. Even with this CGC downturn, the high end Wolverine slabs are going for very nice amounts. And unless a huge truckload of 9.6 copies come available sometime soon, I think that this is THE Bronze Age book to own for a long, long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph0 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 I do agree to some degree that there is a price ceiling for this book..due the amount of copies that are seemingly available of it. If this book was produced in the 60's, it'd be much much more valuable. It's all going to depend on demand..if the demand isn't there it'll go down, due to the supply. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan36 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 To estimate the ceiling on a Hulk 181, you have to estimate how many people want one, how many copies are available, and how much disposable income those people have available to them. Most Hulk 181 buyers are going to be around 25 to 40. Wolverine has not waned in popularity at all over the years I disagree, I sense Wolverines popularity is waning somewhat. I don't think the movies are actually helping him too much as a character, which Wolverine would you rather have in collectors minds? The Claremont Wolvie and the limited series Wolvie, or an Australian actor trying to act tough? Unfortunately the latter is starting to become 'Wolvie' for a lot of people. Plus lets face its face the older and hopefully wiser you get the character becomes less appealing I mean you can recapture your youth with a heroic Superman, but will you put your kid on your knee and show him a characters thats sometimes portrayed as a psychotic killer? He's had great moments, and his 1st appearance will always be big. But everything thats ever been viewed as 'on another level' has cooled down if they get too big. Happened to Arnold after Terminator 2, and it will happen to Wolverine, its just a question of when and how cool his comics will get. Dealers are quite happy to perputate that Wolverine is the biggest thing ever and deserves to be $10,000! Its been said so many times amongst dealers that Hulk 181 is bulletproof and will track upwards indefinitely that I think that if no actual collectors bought them that Hulk 181 would happily sell amongst dealers for a year without worry. But the question is how much is a staunch Wolverine buff willing to pay for the first appearance of Wolverine given its relative lack of scarcity. Personally I see VF's going for about $500 as a reasonable long-term price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph0 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 I see the demand as still high for this book..the price has increased..that may or may not necesarily equate high demand but it certainly makes the argument better then just perceiving the demand to be down. Not to mention the title still sells very well in the new issue market, and I think he's probably Marvel's most popular or 2nd most popular behind Spiderman. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan36 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Well I think the key sign that Wolverine will cool down is that Sabretooth's first appearance is cooling down quite a bit. Plus even his quite early apperances are cooling off, demand seems to be dropping for the mini-series also. In this environment its inevitable that Hulk 181 will cool off eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph0 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Well, there wasn't much of a reason for Sabretooth's book to be all that hot. It is far more expensive then it was..but the only correlation between the two books is that Sabretooth is in Wolverine comics, imo the two have no monetary correlation. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan36 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Sabretooth was seen as Wolverines number one enemy and I think its fair to say that they're forever connected somewhat in Wolvie fans minds. Regardless of whether you believe this to be true, its undeniable that the limited series is cooling off. In my experience when books on the periphery of a popular character start to cool down thats a definite sign of a cooling down of the character itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph0 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Or just the fact that the mini-series had a print run so high there's enough for everyone in the U.S. to own 10. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan36 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 I'll take my allotment of 10 please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supapimp Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 i'd like to own a CGC NM 9.4 copy, anybody has one that wants to trade dor some HG silver? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph0 Posted January 6, 2003 Share Posted January 6, 2003 Let me know how that works out for you, personally I don't collect Wolverine for the most part..but even I have the mini-series in HG. I'm sure you can quite easily find them on eBay. Hell I don't even know why I'm the one defending Wolverine..I've barely even read the books..I'm a damned Spiderman fan. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
