Currently, what are the rarest Silver Age comics?

[FatComicMafia]

Does not have to be necessarily a key, but in regards to official release, mainstream publishers. What are the overall rarest issues(when taking into consideration both population and grade)?

 

I guess I would throw in:

 

Sugar and Spike #1 with the highest grade an 8.0 and a graded population of 18 copies. Perhaps later Peter Panda issues, though I suspect some collector/dealers just do not bother getting them graded?

 

I guess I can think of a few more...thoughts?

 

Thank you,

FCM

[DR.X]

I had no idea Peter Panda was rare.

[rodan57]

I don't think it unfair to say that the census reflects popularity rather than rarity.

[CrocHntr]

I'd think many of the Silver Age DC romance books would be considered scarce. I'm sure those had lower print runs and fewer collectors. Hard to tell since many of those may not be valuable enough to send to CGC, but many are hard to find. Falling In Love 1, for example, has 3 graded copies, highest an 8.0. Bound to be many more examples in the romance genre.

 

Hard to tell what's "rare" based on CGC population though unless we're talking a fairly high dollar "key".

[vaillant]

Silver Age books are generally not "rare", but I believe the pre-Marvel years are these to look for, as both Marvel and DC surely increased print runs after the "blooming" of the Marvel age and DC's new work.

 

And of course if something is relatively scarce it does not mean it is automatically in the "population" of the slabbed copies on the CGC census.

[entalmighty1]

Silver Age books are generally not "rare", but I believe the pre-Marvel years are these to look for, as both Marvel and DC surely increased print runs after the "blooming" of the Marvel age and DC's new work.

 

And of course if something is relatively scarce it does not mean it is automatically in the "population" of the slabbed copies on the CGC census.

 

That being said, it took me quite a while to put together a high grade run of the 1968 Doctor Strange series.

 

I'd think those are pretty rare, at least above 9.0. :shrug:

[FatComicMafia]

Interesting to note in the Overstreet price guide,

they have "Scarce" listed as "20-100 copies estimated to exist".

 

"Rare" as 10-20 copies.

 

Any other Silver-age books known as "Scarce" or "Rare"?

 

The Beatles Life Story is listed as "Scarce", I would assume there are well over 100 copies around currently, though only a handful above VF.

 

Sugar and Spike #1 is listed as, "Scarce".

 

Rudolph R-N Reindeer Giant Annual 1962/1963 is listed as "Rare". That book is impossible in nice shape, but I would assume there are more than 20 copies around? I'm not sure if Overstreet lists another Silver-age title as "Rare"?

[Sqeggs]

Interesting to note in the Overstreet price guide,

they have "Scarce" listed as "20-100 copies estimated to exist".

 

"Rare" as 10-20 copies.

 

Any other Silver-age books known as "Scarce" or "Rare"?

 

The Beatles Life Story is listed as "Scarce", I would assume there are well over 100 copies around currently, though only a handful above VF.

 

Sugar and Spike #1 is listed as, "Scarce".

 

Rudolph R-N Reindeer Giant Annual 1962/1963 is listed as "Rare". That book is impossible in nice shape, but I would assume there are more than 20 copies around? I'm not sure if Overstreet lists another Silver-age title as "Rare"?

 

Overstreet has never consistently applied his definitions of scarce and rare to his listings. Sugar and Spike 1 is a good choice, although -- as we were discussing recently in the Sugar and Spike thread -- S&S 2 seems tougher to find than S&S 1.

 

Other DC funny animal, teen humor, and romance books from the mid-1950s are probably also good candidates, particularly if you narrow the focus to rarity in high grade.

[vaillant]

If we consider grades, and not absolute scarcity, I can agree that some books (probably the less collected) are tougher in grade.

 

Treasure Chest, which I selectively collected for the communism tales and the life of Pope John XXIII (by the great Joe Sinnott) is a title very tough to find in VF or above, as it was obviously always less collected compared to "mainstream" titles.

It was also distributed in american catholic schools alone, during the school year, so some issues are definitely tough, especially when they intersect with the cold-war and communism area of collecting (Sqeggs knows what I am talking about)…

[Bo_Hogg]

Try finding this!

 

 

[vaillant]

I believe the initial question was limited to original american editions.

There are a lot of european books (both as foreign editions or original stuff) that would be scarce to obtain, but I do not think the OP was thinking of them when using the term "Silver Age" which is specific to american collecting.

 

This is "Silver Age", true, but it’s australian (right?) – a beauty anyway, love this cover.

[Sqeggs]

If we consider grades, and not absolute scarcity, I can agree that some books (probably the less collected) are tougher in grade.

 

Treasure Chest, which I selectively collected for the communism tales and the life of Pope John XXIII (by the great Joe Sinnott) is a title very tough to find in VF or above, as it was obviously always less collected compared to "mainstream" titles.

It was also distributed in american catholic schools alone, during the school year, so some issues are definitely tough, especially when they intersect with the cold-war and communism area of collecting (Sqeggs knows what I am talking about)…

 

Right. The TC issues with Reed Crandall's This Godless Communism stories are tough in high grade.

[Gatsby77]

I'd go with certain DC romance books.

 

For example if anyone ever managed to put together a run of Secret Hearts # 1-152 in CGC 8.0 or better, I'm fairly certain I'd fly to their house to view it.

 

At least 1/3 of the issues haven't been slabbed at all, including every issue from 1961-1963.

 

Huge world of difference between say...1962-1970 Marvel superheroes vs. 1962-1970 romance books, even DCs.

[vaillant]

If we consider grades, and not absolute scarcity, I can agree that some books (probably the less collected) are tougher in grade.

 

Treasure Chest, which I selectively collected for the communism tales and the life of Pope John XXIII (by the great Joe Sinnott) is a title very tough to find in VF or above, as it was obviously always less collected compared to "mainstream" titles.

It was also distributed in american catholic schools alone, during the school year, so some issues are definitely tough, especially when they intersect with the cold-war and communism area of collecting (Sqeggs knows what I am talking about)…

 

Right. The TC issues with Reed Crandall's This Godless Communism stories are tough in high grade.

I believe most TCs up to these volumes (18-19) are tough. Easier to find the later volumes (20 onwards) but these, which are contemporary to early Marvel SA, have not been collected much.

[Dr. Love]

As far as DC silver romance. True, for many different reasons. As a genre, less readers, and on top of that, young girls were clearly not inclined to keep their books. But many genres that didn't necessarily have the print runs are still represented today because of the actions of the great collectors. However, the collections that contain romance - Church, Crippen, Crowley, Circle 8, Savannah - do not contain early SA DC romance. So there's a big hole for this material. (Of course, the black hole of all black holes would be Charlton atomic romance.)

 

And going even further, there is a tiny subcategory within the one discussed. Let's call it "positive outcome" covers. These are so few and far between. DC had made their editorial decision to go for big drama - tears - and stuck with that model. So there is a lot of this

 

 

 

and very little of this

 

 

 

 

 

[Hepcat]

Huge world of difference between say...1962-1970 Marvel superheroes vs. 1962-1970 romance books, even DCs.

 

Truth!

 

[Hepcat]

Other DC funny animal, teen humor, and romance books from the mid-1950s are probably also good candidates, particularly if you narrow the focus to rarity in high grade.

 

If we consider grades, and not absolute scarcity, I can agree that some books (probably the less collected) are tougher in grade.

 

Very true! Any DC's from the fifties outside the superhero/adventure genres - including romance, funny animal, western and war - are brutally tough to find in grade. In fact, any Charlton, Atlas, ACG or Archie comics of any genre from the fifties are brutally tough in grade.

 

Dells and Harveys though are typically much easier to find in grade than the output of the other publishers. This is due to the existence of file copies and warehouse finds.

 

[Hepcat]

Silver Age books are generally not "rare"....

 

And of course if something is relatively scarce it does not mean it is automatically in the "population" of the slabbed copies on the CGC census.

 

I don't think it unfair to say that the census reflects popularity rather than rarity.

 

Can someone quickly list the current census numbers for some of the highest priced Silver Age comics, e.g.:

 

Amazing Fantasy 15

Fantastic Four 1

Incredible Hulk 1

Amazing Spider-Man 1

X-Men 1

Tales of Suspense 39

Journey into Mystery 83

Showcase 4

Showcase 22

Brave and the Bold 28

Adventure Comics 247

 

[gunsmokin]

Several Atlas pre-implosion titles are tough to find. Ever seen a Sailor Sweeney 12,13 or 14? Rather than hen's teeth.

 

[Mark 1]

Silver Age books are generally not "rare"....

 

And of course if something is relatively scarce it does not mean it is automatically in the "population" of the slabbed copies on the CGC census.

 

I don't think it unfair to say that the census reflects popularity rather than rarity.

 

Can someone quickly list the current census numbers for some of the highest priced Silver Age comics, e.g.:

 

Amazing Fantasy 15

Fantastic Four 1

Incredible Hulk 1

Amazing Spider-Man 1

X-Men 1

Tales of Suspense 39

Journey into Mystery 83

Showcase 4

Showcase 22

Brave and the Bold 28

Adventure Comics 247

 

 

I don't have all the numbers but in order of rarity on the census...the first top two are:

 

1. Adventure comics 247

2. Showcase 4