Bronze age comics that are heating up on eBay... 38 38

[EC Star&Bar]

As late as 2003, I was buying nice copies of back-issue Charltons with 20 cent cover prices (from 1972-73) at 10 cents each.  Lots of Ditko issues.  Some had a store stamping on the back covers, but otherwise high grade, unread.

I was lucky that an employee of the seller had no interest in Charlton, or he would've beat me to them (he was mostly a Marvel & Batman collector).

[PeterPark]

12 hours ago, EC Star&Bar said:

Quite a few years back, the contributors to the Overstreet guide commented regularly on how "plentiful" 1970s comics were, AND strongly implied they would never attain any significant value.  People didn't go to the trouble of carefully preserving the books -- after all, the experts more-or-less called them worthless. So copies that have survived in very high grade are finally getting their due.  I always treasured the copies I hand-selected off the newsstand.  My local LCS owner wouldn't even consider buying post-1969 back issue comics from customers as late as 2015 -- a stupid policy.

I think the point here is rather that demand for these issues was so low, high grade copies sat around in abundance with small price tags. Obviously with monster demand, those books are no longer so common, but they did sit there, many of them very nice, for decades. The census numbers of high grade copies are huge. These are not rare comics, at least not historically. I used to include a 30 cent Eternals 1 with every lot of 30 cent variants I sold because they were so common and I had too many. S'yeah...oops

[littledoom]

2 hours ago, PeterPark said:

I think the point here is rather that demand for these issues was so low, high grade copies sat around in abundance with small price tags. Obviously with monster demand, those books are no longer so common, but they did sit there, many of them very nice, for decades. The census numbers of high grade copies are huge. These are not rare comics, at least not historically. I used to include a 30 cent Eternals 1 with every lot of 30 cent variants I sold because they were so common and I had too many. S'yeah...oops

my guess is all the older 60 70s classics collectors already have that's why many sit and can be had for less than $10, whereas moderns are so new ppl pay up to acquire ... I remember passing on a stack of original owner high grade Eternals 1s at $6 a piece 3 years ago 

[EC Star&Bar]

4 hours ago, PeterPark said:

I think the point here is rather that demand for these issues was so low, high grade copies sat around in abundance with small price tags. Obviously with monster demand, those books are no longer so common, but they did sit there, many of them very nice, for decades. The census numbers of high grade copies are huge. These are not rare comics, at least not historically. I used to include a 30 cent Eternals 1 with every lot of 30 cent variants I sold because they were so common and I had too many. S'yeah...oops

There was never high demand for older titles like Peter Porkchops however, yet the Overstreet guide kept raising values steadily.  A longtime dealer I knew commented that guide values for many older DCs had become "ridiculous" and not based on actual sales data.  In my opinion, Overstreet -- in the years before CGC existed -- was heavily biased against post-1969 comics.  The bias in favor of older stuff, especially anything pre-Code, lead to inflated values of old series that had little collector interest.  The existence of CGC did later underscore how comparatively tough it is to find older books in the highest grades.  But I will maintain that early '70s House of Secrets always had the potential to be  "more collectible" than '50s Binky or Date with Judy.  Demand should always weigh heavily (anyone looking for the June 1938 American Druggist mag?).   Yet as far as collectibility, Guide values were set high for older titles that would never be in high demand.  Look at HOS #92, 1971.  There are lots of high-grade copies out there - but finally at some point, the 1st app. of Swamp Thing surpassed that of Buzzy Brown, and never looked back -- despite the census.

[PeterPark]

I think Overstreet was tremendously important to the hobby in the days before electronically-shared sales data. How do you value old books that are not in demand but many of which are not always easy to find? If the sales data isn't there, that doesn't mean the value isn't changing. The year-over-year increase was a way to anticipate what the changes would be. Being at least partially imagined didn't change that for older comics, less and less were going to be available and the condition of the remaining copies would not be getting any better. This is all a different point though. You are focused on the difference between treatment of books released since Overstreet started (which seems to be the cutoff date for the difference) vs. older books, regardless of their perceived or current "collectability". 

My point in bringing up the census is not to conflate existence with the census, but to say that the census has shown the existence of many high grade copies of later 70's books that were not in demand for decades. The titles mentioned that are now hot were not for a long time. Since there were so many copies, undoubtedly some were not well-maintained but that does not mean they are now rare in high grade. Indeed, they were often speculated on and exist in high grade in large numbers. Those numbers are being exhausted but I'm sure there are dealer warehouses with boxes of she-hulk 1 or eternals 1 or any number of other late-70's issues. I see the census numbers telling the story that 70's books are not rare, but now a lot of the so-called drek that sat around for years is now hot, and somewhat confusingly becoming hard to find. When the market could absorb all those Eternals 1 at such high prices, I think it surprised everyone. That value appeared out-of-nowhere like the Guardians of the Galaxy.

[divad]

20 hours ago, littledoom said:

I remember passing on a stack of original owner high grade Eternals 1s at $6 a piece 3 years ago 

(Uh, well that was dumb . . . )

[littledoom]

2 minutes ago, divad said:

(Uh, well that was dumb . . . )

it was a nothing book before any movie rumors

[divad]

5 minutes ago, littledoom said:

7 minutes ago, divad said:

(Uh, well that was dumb . . . )

it was a nothing book before any movie rumors

I am aware of that silly, but Kirby Eternals #1 a stack of OO HG copies at 6 Bucks a pop - pass me the Lithium. 

 

The whole concept of collecting is never about the current perceived value.  

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by divad

[batmiesta]

So! Am I the only person who thinks $2600 for a Ghost Rider #10 in 9.8 is ridiculous? 

[divad]

Just now, batmiesta said:

So! Am I the only person who thinks $2600 for a Ghost Rider #10 in 9.8 is ridiculous? 

it was a nothing book before any movie rumors 

[batmiesta]

Rumours ? I would want cold hard facts before shelling out that kind of dough.  

[littledoom]

41 minutes ago, divad said:

I am aware of that silly, but Kirby Eternals #1 a stack of OO HG copies at 6 Bucks a pop - pass me the Lithium. 

 

The whole concept of collecting is never about the current perceived value.  

 

machine man, rom, 2001..... those are not valuable first issues.. but we may all be eating our words when a movie is in development in the unforeseen future lol.

[Randall Ries]

36 minutes ago, littledoom said:

machine man, rom, 2001..... those are not valuable first issues.. but we may all be eating our words when a movie is in development in the unforeseen future lol.

Right. Pay $1,000 for a first appearance of first issue, movie sucks/bombs > back down to $25.

[boomtown]

1 hour ago, batmiesta said:

So! Am I the only person who thinks $2600 for a Ghost Rider #10 in 9.8 is ridiculous? 

Assuming it was because of the 1st appearance of that super cool new motorcycle. Who came up with that ridiculous looking thing

[Ken Aldred]

6 hours ago, batmiesta said:

So! Am I the only person who thinks $2600 for a Ghost Rider #10 in 9.8 is ridiculous? 

You're not alone.

[Key Largo Comics]

Am I missing something? What is the significance of Ghost Rider #10?

[Ken Aldred]

7 minutes ago, Key Largo Comics said:

Am I missing something? What is the significance of Ghost Rider #10?

I’m stumped. Ghost Rider vs Hulk, Ploog art. Nothing else that I can find about it.

[greggy]

3 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

I’m stumped. Ghost Rider vs Hulk, Ploog art. Nothing else that I can find about it.

It's a reprint of Marvel Spotlight 5

I believe the artist was late for whatever reason on the book so they just ran with the reprint even though the cover was meant for another story.

xoxo

greggy

[greggy]

They just ran the correct story the next issue

[batmiesta]

Better cover too.