Incredible Hulk #181 - is it *that* red-hot? 17 17

[Archaeos]

13 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

I would still love to see a graph of those who collect the book because they are Wolverine fans VS those who have a lot of cash and are simply buying it like a hedge fund. Bet the latter is greater than the former.

Or option 3 which is a little of both.....a huge wolverine fan so has it and has no plan on selling it, but also happy in knowledge that god forbid I ever need money desperately I have something I can generate cash reasonable quick. 

[Randall Ries]

1 minute ago, Archaeos said:

Or option 3 which is a little of both.....a huge wolverine fan so has it and has no plan on selling it, but also happy in knowledge that god forbid I ever need money desperately I have something I can generate cash reasonable quick. 

Yup! That's reasonable. I imagine that number is much smaller but sure. To tell the truth, the only way my wife is comfortable with me buying books is I presented them to her as an "investment opportunity". What she DOESN'T realize is I have no intention of selling them. Well, ONCE I did. A nice Bat #3 in CGC 8.5. She had a tumor in the middle of her pancreas, needed surgery and I panicked about meeting payroll. So, yes. I was GLAD I owned the book. Was SAD when the dust settled it turned out I didn't really need to sell it. I did what I felt was right just in case. But that was a Bat #3. Not an IH 181 with a zillion copies flying around.

[I am not Glenda]

It's really simple when you get past all the BS posted on here Wolverine has been and continues to be a fan favorite, I grew up watching his popularity grow from Claremont/Byrne cult status ( unless you read comics in 1982 you had no idea who the hell he was) to Millers masterpiece to BWS amazing origin and so on right up to him become the main character in just about all the X men movies for the past 20 years! He is a very lucrative property & world wide phenomenon & on par with all but a handful of comic characters. If you don't dig his "freaky claws" & bad attitude " just walk away" no big deal, it's ok if continue to think there are to many #181 for the market to continue to grow whatever turns you on. But the fact is the little short guy with the bad temper is going to be around a lot longer then most of us & I would bet my hard earned cash on a guy named Logan any day. On a serious side note the day #181 drops 50% is the day almost all comic books collectors/investors have a real problem. 

[Randall Ries]

16 minutes ago, I am not Glenda said:

It's really simple when you get past all the BS posted on here Wolverine has been and continues to be a fan favorite, I grew up watching his popularity grow from Claremont/Byrne cult status ( unless you read comics in 1982 you had no idea who the hell he was) to Millers masterpiece to BWS amazing origin and so on right up to him become the main character in just about all the X men movies for the past 20 years! He is a very lucrative property & world wide phenomenon & on par with all but a handful of comic characters. If you don't dig his "freaky claws" & bad attitude " just walk away" no big deal, it's ok if continue to think there are to many #181 for the market to continue to grow whatever turns you on. But the fact is the little short guy with the bad temper is going to be around a lot longer then most of us & I would bet my hard earned cash on a guy named Logan any day. On a serious side note the day #181 drops 50% is the day almost all comic books collectors/investors have a real problem. 

Sure enough. I was just wondering how many people buy the book as a fan and how many are buying the book as a property. Of course Wolverine isn't going anywhere. Never doubted his pop.

 

[Mjolnir!]

2 hours ago, Randall Ries said:

Sure enough. I was just wondering how many people buy the book as a fan and how many are buying the book as a property. Of course Wolverine isn't going anywhere. Never doubted his pop.

 

Good question. 

I bought the book because it's considered to be one of the top 3 trilogy Marvel BA books which include GS X-1 and X94. I just wanted to finally be able to have a piece of history that changed the comic industry forever.

But when I bought those books I never ever imagined they would have increased in value like they have. But then again there are a lot of books that have skyrocketed that were considered "common" so you may have a point, people are buying them for the sole point of flipping them.

Because I don't need the money I haven't bothered to slab books.  But man this really is an awesome sellers market and I wonder if I should just sell.  Not the top BA books I just mentioned but all the others.  We may in the "peak golden time" seller's market right now.

Just so many books at record levels right now.  How can this be?  The spike is unbelievable.      

[spracknetch23]

I only bought IH 181 because I was trying to complete a Hulk run. That’s also the only reason I bought 271. I’m sure I’m in the monitory here. 

[Randall Ries]

1 hour ago, Mjolnir! said:

Good question. 

I bought the book because it's considered to be one of the top 3 trilogy Marvel BA books which include GS X-1 and X94. I just wanted to finally be able to have a piece of history that changed the comic industry forever.

But when I bought those books I never ever imagined they would have increased in value like they have. But then again there are a lot of books that have skyrocketed that were considered "common" so you may have a point, people are buying them for the sole point of flipping them.

Because I don't need the money I haven't bothered to slab books.  But man this really is an awesome sellers market and I wonder if I should just sell.  Not the top BA books I just mentioned but all the others.  We may in the "peak golden time" seller's market right now.

Just so many books at record levels right now.  How can this be?  The spike is unbelievable.      

Agreed. You see, I quit collecting comics in 1988 or so. Got back into it lightly in 2010. i buy the books I love. DC, really. I have ONE Marvel comic book. The recent Immortal Hulk 22. The one with the so-called "woke" Jewish jab.

Nevertheless, I missed a lot over the years. What I haven't missed is the gradual climb in prices of IH 181. Sure. Makes sense. X-men and the Wolvie movies brought the character into a better view of the masses.

But in the last year and a half or so, suddenly it hit the gas and went straight up. No movies. No special comic book series. Just suddenly a lot of people with a lot of money started buying them. Then, it seemed like people saw the activity and panic bought to a degree. Wanted to get in on it before they were "All Gone". And the prices kept going up. STILL going up.

I considered buying one a couple years ago. They were within reach. In high grade. Now, they are not. Not for me. And I am not interested enough in the character to knock myself out.

So, sure. You COULD sell and keep your keys. I'll keep mine because I actually love the books. They mean something to me beyond money. It's nice they have some value but when I think about selling, I think "Well? NOW all I have is money. Meh."

But you would know far better than me when it's time to sell. And I am sure you are in a better position to suppose what is the larger demographic buying this book. The flippers? Or the lovers of the character? I think the people who want to buy it AND love the character is a pretty thin slice. I have a feeling it's pretty much one or the other. If it's people wanting to flip or the actual economy goes REALLY wonky, there will be a mass selloff and the market will become a buyers market. To me, this happened way too fast.

[piper]

I finally broke down and bought a copy of this common key (CGC 8.5) at the encouragement (continued insistence) of @Artboy99 a few years ago.  I should have bought 10 copies.

[mcduckz]

9 hours ago, piper said:

I finally broke down and bought a copy of this common key (CGC 8.5) at the encouragement (continued insistence) of @Artboy99 a few years ago.  I should have bought 10 copies.

We all should have. 

[Gary Strange]

On 5/10/2021 at 6:35 PM, spracknetch23 said:

I only bought IH 181 because I was trying to complete a Hulk run. That’s also the only reason I bought 271. I’m sure I’m in the monitory here. 

Nope, same here.

[MattTheDuck]

I "only" bought IH 181 because it was one of the titles I bought every month in those days.  The last one I bought was #189, so Wolvy got in under the wire in my collection .  Wish I'd had more vision on that one.

I do wonder if anyone spends $10,000 on a book just because they "like the character."  That's a real commitment.

[alexgross.com]

On 5/10/2021 at 8:50 PM, piper said:

I finally broke down and bought a copy of this common key (CGC 8.5) at the encouragement (continued insistence) of @Artboy99 a few years ago.  I should have bought 10 copies.

that is one of the risks of spending too much time on the boards- one sometimes ends up believing nonsense if its spouted by more than one or two people, such as "it's a common book, it'll never go up in value."

[valiantman]

10 hours ago, alexgross.com said:

that is one of the risks of spending too much time on the boards- one sometimes ends up believing nonsense if its spouted by more than one or two people, such as "it's a common book, it'll never go up in value."

If 5 people want a book with 10 copies, it's too common.

When 20,000 people want a common book and there are only 14,000 slabs, it isn't common enough.

 

 

[IMJ]

I sold my 8.0 a few months back and did fairly well on it. Given what I wound up doing with the money I don't have any regrets on selling, although I do have the small, curious sadness of knowing that I'll most likely never dive into another copy of this one again.

[Randall Ries]

On 5/21/2021 at 12:22 AM, alexgross.com said:

that is one of the risks of spending too much time on the boards- one sometimes ends up believing nonsense if its spouted by more than one or two people, such as "it's a common book, it'll never go up in value."

Not sure anyone said that. A common book that won't go up in value is a book that has nothing going on in it by way of first appearance or death of a major character. Death is almost always reversed. 1st appearances are not. IH 181 enjoys the status of the paradox. More than enough copies to go around and valuable as heck.

[Off Panel]

So, here's another data point that may speak to the "red-hot"ness  of this book. Apparently, within the last month, CGC has raised the registry points for a Hulk 181 in 9.8 from 20,800 to 50,000. More than double.

[djzombi]

I just checked GoCollect, and it seems my Hulk 181 7.0 just had experienced a huge drop in value over the last 12 hours.  Like, a drop of over $1k.  
Or do I need better glasses?  

[ADAMANTIUM]

8 minutes ago, djzombi said:

I just checked GoCollect, and it seems my Hulk 181 7.0 just had experienced a huge drop in value over the last 12 hours.  Like, a drop of over $1k.  
Or do I need better glasses?  

You're not telling us any values  that your seeing, looks like it sold fairly well at around $6000, but more qualified 7.0's for not as much than have sold than universal for around $6000

Edited May 27, 2021 by ADAMANTIUM

[djzombi]

2 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

You're not telling us any values  that your seeing, looks like it sold fairly well at around $6000, but more qualified 7.0's for not as much than have sold than universal for around $6000

As of this writing, GoCollect.com lists a Universal 7.0 as having FMV of $5,000.  I'm fairly certain it was at least $6,000 (or more) when I checked it this AM.  

I posted this in relevance to the topic as a possible sign of cooling down (for now)?  Though that's a big drop.  

The Incredible Hulk #181 (1974) Value - GoCollect

[MattTheDuck]

The current CL auction has a 6.5/WP with a bid of $6,501 with a half hour to go.

Edited May 27, 2021 by MattTheDuck