• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Fantastic Four #48 Thread
3 3

Started by shane1956,

50 posts in this topic

shane1956

shane1956

Posted
Posted

With a lot of recent discussion surrounding this amazing book I figured it might be the right time to start a consolidated thread . My 9.2 copy is currently in the mail and I'll post a photo once it arrives. I'll post another once it's custom framed. There is a lot of discussion, hype , debate,and history around this book . The "warehouse" find and the endless comparison to #49 seems to be the source of endless debate.  In the interest of full disclosure I recently paid $4700 U.S for my 9.2 copy which certainly seems to be peak price at the moment. Regardless of the price, this was a must have high grade key for me . In my opinion it is one of if not the most iconic covers of the FF run. 

I'd like to add Surfer #1 at some point but #48 is the "must have".

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chillax23

Chillax23

Posted
Posted

Solid looking 9.2 (weirdly my favourite high grade for a book - I find it the perfect blend of value and appearance). 

FF48 is such a great book - I grabbed my lowly 6.0 rabbit two months before the books recent surge (thinking I would upgrade to a higher grade - but with prices soaring I may have to be content with the 6.0 Berk Copy I own). 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
c_mkv

c_mkv

Posted
Posted

That’s a really nice looking book. Hoping to bring my own ff48 north of the border soon. I agree with prices being at their peak but I can justify paying a premium for the right book...am also a sucker for white pages. Congrats. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shane1956

shane1956

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

I spoke to a number of "experts" (the collectors that have been dealing with the book for decades ) before I made the purchase. I was a little uncomfortable buying with the recent bump in prices but what I was told was helpful and shared by everyone I spoke to. Basically it's always been an essential key. It has an iconic cover , an epic story arch , and a long history of high demand. I didn't want to wait and take a risk being priced out of the 9.2 range a few months down the road. 

A recent perfect example is what has happened with FF #52. Personally had I been looking for a 9.2  the time was months ago. It's now exceeded the limits I'm willing to spend . I'm a 9.2 collector with a clear collecting goal of obtaining specific books. I've been focused in on that for a few years now and this book was at the top. I waited a bit long but my gut tells me it's only going to get harder on the wallet the longer we wait. 

I picked out the custom framing options for the book yesterday and I'll post the "completed project" when it comes in after a few weeks. 

 

Edited by shane1956
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robo99

Robo99

Posted
Posted

Here’s something that occurred to me today. FF48 might be making a ST110 run. It’s tracking like ST110 did in 2013 - undervalued for decades and then the rumors of a doctor strange movie lit a fire and then boom. What do you guys think? Is FF48 going to mirror the good doctors meteoric rise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tdotcbc84

tdotcbc84

Posted
Posted

I remember buying my FF48 CGC 8.0 for only $500 (CAD) --- at the time, I was already really happy to find a copy from a dealer in Canada.  This was like back in 2010-11ish.  I stopped collecting comics for maybe half a decade, got back into it, and BAM, I didn't realize this book is going for so much.

Now I'm in search of a FF49 ---- I recently scored a FF50 CGC 8.5.

(shameless plug - know anyone selling a FF49 ?????)

Back to OG POST - GREAT BOOK SHANE :) I'm a sucker for white pages as well, but reality is, OW-WHITE, or even OW pages is probably the page quality of older books over time, even if it says "WHITE PAGES".  I try to only stay away from Cream-OW pages.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Callaway29

Callaway29

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, tdotcbc84 said:

I remember buying my FF48 CGC 8.0 for only $500 (CAD) --- at the time, I was already really happy to find a copy from a dealer in Canada.  This was like back in 2010-11ish.  I stopped collecting comics for maybe half a decade, got back into it, and BAM, I didn't realize this book is going for so much.

Now I'm in search of a FF49 ---- I recently scored a FF50 CGC 8.5.

(shameless plug - know anyone selling a FF49 ?????)

Back to OG POST - GREAT BOOK SHANE :) I'm a sucker for white pages as well, but reality is, OW-WHITE, or even OW pages is probably the page quality of older books over time, even if it says "WHITE PAGES".  I try to only stay away from Cream-OW pages.

 

 

There’s a raw mid grade on the boards right now for a fair price and good eye appeal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tdotcbc84

tdotcbc84

Posted
Posted
On 4/16/2018 at 8:20 AM, Callaway29 said:

There’s a raw mid grade on the boards right now for a fair price and good eye appeal.

I try to avoid raw copies, unless I see it in person.  I've heard too many horror stories, and it seems like gambling to me.  Sometimes, even the seller has no idea how to price it, and I don't blame them.

But thanks for the heads up :) And I just found a copy from a helpful member here!! And if you guys are interested, PM me -- I actually comfortably OVERPAID GPA for the book :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fantastic_four

fantastic_four

Posted
Posted (edited)

FF 48 isn't comparable to any other Silver Age Marvel key I can think of due to the comparatively high supply.  It's in greater supply because tens of thousands of copies meant to be destroyed weren't, and years later they entered the collector's market.  The same applies to most other titles issued within a month of FF 48 such as Amazing Spider-Man 33, Avengers 26, X-Men 18, etc.  One issue from around that time for every title is available in huge supply compared to all issues around it.  It's not all March 1966 titles, some are February 1966 such as Spidey 33.

The book is a mega-key and would dwarf FF 52 in value if it were available in equivalent supply, but it isn't, so the price will always be watered down by the fact that it's the easiest Silver Age Marvel key to find.  If it were available in a supply proportionate to issues before and after it (i.e. #47 and #49) I'm guessing it would be the second-most valuable issue of FF behind #1.

Edited by fantastic_four
Link to comment
Share on other sites
fantastic_four

fantastic_four

Posted
Posted (edited)

One additional note about February/March 1966 Marvels that are available in comparatively huge supply--I bet there's a root cause that someone out there knows.  Something like a printing issue that caused a bunch of copies to sit and not be tracked.  All of the issues are present in MULTIPLE warehouse finds; for example they're all in the semi-famous Mile High 2 warehouse buy by Chuck Rozanski at Mile High comics, but it's not just that one, so for whatever reason these issues were sitting undestroyed in warehouses in multiple locations around the country.  Comics from that month also have an infamously bad front-to-back cover wrap, so maybe Marvel switched printers, or they saw the quality control problems with the printer and made them warehouse a bunch of books.  Those are just educated guesses, but I bet there's a root cause someone could potentially identify.  I've heard other people claim over a decade ago in these forums that they can see a distinct difference in the color palettes on different copies of FF #48, but I could never tell that when looking at side-by-side comparisons of the ones that supposedly had different colors.

Here's an educated guess--the majority of copies of FF 48 (or Spidey 33, Avengers 26, etc) that have bad wrap are ones from the warehouse finds because Marvel noticed the problem and told the printer to fix it, and the more normal wraps are the ones that hit the stands.  We'll probably never know if that's true or not.  (shrug)  But I can say that all issues that coincidentally are available in huge supply today also have the consistently worst wrap of the early to mid Marvel Silver Age, so it would make perfect sense if that's what happened.

Edited by fantastic_four
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tdotcbc84

tdotcbc84

Posted
Posted

wait wait ... so it's "fact" there are a lot of FF48 around?  And that is the reason why there is double the amount of FF48 compared to FF49 on CGC Census?

I'm pretty "newbie" to comic book history and all that stuff, so I like hearing it from other people.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shane1956

shane1956

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Although this book is a bit more common in higher grades the hard CGC census evidence does NOT support the notion that "Huge" amounts exist in high grade or that there are "Multiple warehouse finds" of this book in high grade. If we were to define high grade as 9.0 and above there are still only 546 copies. If you go 9.2 and above it is 369. I bet there are more than enough Surfer or FF fans to continue the rising  demand for high grade copies of this book. Yes it's not scarce in high grade but let's not convince ourselves that it's very plentiful in 9.0 and above either. Comparatively More common yes ,but not "huge" amounts in existence. Many posts see, to imply the book is just another New Mutants 98 or some other early 90s copper key when it come to available high grade copies.

Even with the numbers as they , this book in high grade will continue to be in high demand and I think the prices will continue to reflect that.

 

 

 

Edited by shane1956
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tdotcbc84

tdotcbc84

Posted
Posted

high supply or not, if you look online right now, not a lot of copies out there for you to pick from.

Are people just hoarding?  Who knows ........... but interesting to see that comparatively there are more copies of FF48 than comics around it.

 

At the end of the day, it will be the demand that drives any comic book.  I almost didn't want a HULK 181, when I realized how many there are.  But guess what --- 110% I still want more than 1 copy lol

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chillax23

Chillax23

Posted
Posted

I agree that the supply of FF48 suppresses its value somewhat - but I would also argue it is the second most important FF book (it is either FF5 or FF48 and likely FF5, I just happen to be a big Silver Surfer fan :) )

I saw the writing on the wall about 2-3 months before the Fox deal was final and managed to pick up my FF48 CGC 6.0 (the Berk Copy) and my FF49 CGC 7.0 for very "good" prices relative to what they are going for now - I just need to find a nice FF50 to complete the set:

5ad66a1e82aa7_FF48CGC6_0FC.thumb.jpg.17903757355900885bc7c5d858a1be69.jpgFantastic-Four-49_1038026009f.thumb.png.8f9e1651fb4c04b34b6c12da0f80d305.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
3 3
Go to topic listing