Married comic value 0

[drmanhattanite]

Hi, approximately how much are married comics deducted from original value? I know it is considered a type of restoration, but if a comic were only married, on say the fourth wrap, would this book still be worth approx. half value of an unrestored book in the same grade?

Thanks

[marvelmaniac]

I have no experience with restored books and since no specific book was mentioned I am assuming this is a hypothetical question.

Value of any collectible is only determined by what someone is willing to pay, so it will depend on the book, it's overall condition and its supply and demand, an Action Comics #1, TEC 27 or AF 15 with a married page and a Purple CGC Label will still bring in a good amount compared to a more common book from the 50's/60's/70's, etc.

Go to... https://comics.gocollect.com/, type in the specific book you are looking at and it will show you a graph of the sales for all CGC labels of that book.

[Tony S]

If nothing else has been done to a comic, CGC gives books with married covers/interior pages a green, qualified label. As far as value goes, there is a reason Green labels have a nickname of GLOD. Green Label Of Death (as far as value goes) 

Though most of us wish there was, there is no "formula" for determining the value of purple and green labels compared to blue. It depends on what was done to earn the purple and green, It depends on how high the condition is. It depends on just how valuable and how much in demand the book is. There are some general guidelines. But only general. 

Generally, green and purple labels have a lesser impact on value compared to universal blue labels in lower grades. Assuming the book is expensive otherwise and there is demand. If a book is otherwise cheap in low grade, there is going to be next to no demand for a restored or qualified copy.  So if your book - let's say an Amazing Fantasty 15 - is a 2.0 green label then you may well get 60-65% of blue label price. But if your book is 9.6 green label, you may well end up getting 10% of blue label. Why is easy to understand. AF 15 in 9.6 is over a million bucks.  For 50% of that price - over half a million - which would you rather own? A green label 9.6 or a blue label 9.2? The answer is obvious. So then it becomes a matter of sliding the grade down and "now which would you prefer?"  Even $100,000 gets a 6.5-7.0 blue label. 

So there is no formula and thus no easy answer. Depends on the book, the demand, the grade and the price of an equivalent  blue label. 

[rjpb]

As Tony S mentions, the higher the apparent grade the smaller the percentage of "blue label" value a book will have, for the simple reason that the higher multiples people are willing to pay for mid and high grade is because they are still in their original state. 

My experience is with Golden Age, and I've found with that era, books with a married element in 2.0 to 4.0 condition sell for 50-75% of what you might expect had they had no work done, though it could be less if it's a big dollar book. It gets trickier when you get to 6.0 and above, if only because there are huge differences in what GA sell for in upper mid to high grade relative to lower grade depending on title, genre and publisher, but generally you can assume the value will increase at a more measured scale, as with restored books, as you go up the grade ladder.

[Spidey 62]

I recently purchased an ASM 13 5.0 green label, 5th wrap married.  I paid half the price of a blue label.  There would be a lot of work in marrying a 5th wrap, I would suppose.  Unbending the staples, matching the new page staple holes, and reassembling the book.  I don't consider it a glod.  I consider it a gthi (glad to have it). 

[shadroch]

1 hour ago, Spidey 62 said:

I recently purchased an ASM 13 5.0 green label, 5th wrap married.  I paid half the price of a blue label.  There would be a lot of work in marrying a 5th wrap, I would suppose.  Unbending the staples, matching the new page staple holes, and reassembling the book.  I don't consider it a glod.  I consider it a gthi (glad to have it). 

Why wouldn't that book get a purple label? 

[Spidey 62]

14 minutes ago, shadroch said:

2 hours ago, Spidey 62 said:

I recently purchased an ASM 13 5.0 green label, 5th wrap married.  I paid half the price of a blue label.  There would be a lot of work in marrying a 5th wrap, I would suppose.  Unbending the staples, matching the new page staple holes, and reassembling the book.  I don't consider it a glod.  I consider it a gthi (glad to have it). 

Why wouldn't that book get a purple label? 

I don't know.  Green label with note that says 5th wrap married.  I am just assuming how the wrap would get installed.   I don't think married stuff gets purple. 

[Tony S]

1 hour ago, shadroch said:

Why wouldn't that book get a purple label? 

Married pages/covers get a green, Qualified label. There might not be a reason to ask "why".  This was the decision made long ago. 

I can see the logic of a restored grade. But I can see the logic of a Qualified grade. With the assumption of married page/cover being the ONLY thing done to the book, maybe it's the difference between recreating the missing page/cover or using an original page/cover. Sort of like using original factory parts when restoring a car versus reproduction parts. The first is more desirable - closer to "original"