Fawcett Books can be so Damn Cheap 6 6

[William-James88]

Granted, not complaining, just curious. A total change in my collection habits changed this past year. While I always liked Captain Marvel (more than Supes), my favourite was Batman (I am very original that way). And 10 years ago I bought what I could afford with GA books, which accounted for a mere handful of nice issues from Batman and Detective. They were expensive then, and they only grew since. What I find nuts was seeing the left over prices behind the boards they came in, which showed prices they sold at in another era. Seeing a handwritten scribble marking $100 on the back of a book I bought for $400 shows me a window to a cheaper time for Golden age. But then I discovered Fawcett. 

What was interesting though was the price. They too were as cheap as other superhero golden age books back in the day (20-30 years ago), but unlike others, they didn't increase in the price. Either in prices sold on auction or in the price guide. Some even went down in the span of 15-20 years. Here's an example, below is a Whiz Comics 88 in 9.0, CGC. There are none graded higher than that. And it sells for around $150 USD. That means grading it professionally cost a third of it's worth on the market. And that's also consistently selling below the guide price which is just a bit over $200  (which in itself is quite cheap). So a slabbed book with the highest grade selling 25% less than guide, consistently. That's just one example. I just purchased a pedigree copy of Marvel Family 3, in those nice new golden CGC slabs for lower than guide as well. I see no indication that these books are less rare than other golden age superhero comics (you don't find that many Bulletman comics out there, for instance) and yet, you can get decent looking Fawcett comics for as low as $50 a piece, in auction. So my question is, why are all these comics still so damn low? (Also, if you do have any Bulletman for these low low prices, let me know  )

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by William-James88

[ThothAmon]

Darn good question!  

[batman_fan]

Fawcett seems to be more expensive for specific issues but cheap for run of the mill.  My view is you don't have a lot of run collectors and nothing is driving an increase in demand so just those key issues like Mac Raboy covers, Captain Nazi, etc seem to still be pretty hot.

[lou_fine]

1 hour ago, batman_fan said:

nothing is driving an increase in demand

Didn't they just have a Shazam movie earlier this year which should have sent the book right into the stratosphere from a valuation point of view?  

I guess the so-called hype and increased interest that books are supposed to receive from movies do not necessarily apply in all cases.  

[batman_fan]

1 minute ago, lou_fine said:

Didn't they just have a Shazam movie earlier this year which should have sent the book right into the stratosphere from a valuation point of view?  

I guess the so-called hype and increased interest that books are supposed to receive from movies do not necessarily apply in all cases.  

Did you watch the movie?  

It was pretty bad at all levels.  Probably a 8-12 year old would like it.  I am guessing it knocked 20% off prices.  

[lou_fine]

1 hour ago, batman_fan said:

so just those key issues like Mac Raboy covers, Captain Nazi, etc seem to still be pretty hot.

Just try to track down some of those early Master issues with the classic Raboy covers like Master 27 and Master 33 and you'll definitely find out the meaning of high pricing, if you are lucky enough to even find any decent copies available in the marketplace.    

[Straw-Man]

honestly, and from someone who has a few short boxes of 'em, very few interest me outside raboy cover-issues.  they'll stay cheap if it requires me to bid 'em up.

[Straw-Man]

now, mac, on the other hand...

[Straw-Man]

...could draw a little bit.

[lou_fine]

1 minute ago, batman_fan said:

5 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Didn't they just have a Shazam movie earlier this year which should have sent the book right into the stratosphere from a valuation point of view?  

I guess the so-called hype and increased interest that books are supposed to receive from movies do not necessarily apply in all cases.  

Did you watch the movie?  

It was pretty bad at all levels.  Probably a 8-12 year old would like it.  I am guessing it knocked 20% off prices.  

No, since I actually find most superhero movies to be virtually unwatchable, especially from a storyline point of view.  

Result is that I usually tend to doze off multiple times before I ever get to the end of the movie if I am not already sound asleep by then.  

From other movie related comic books here, I would actually expect a much greater than 20% AFTER the movie comes out, but isn't there usually a huge hike prior to the actual release of the movie when it gets announced?  Or more than likely, this type of more volatile price action usually occurs with the more recent versions of the books since they are readily available for speculation and doesn't necessarily extend all the way back to the GA books. 

[lou_fine]

2 hours ago, William-James88 said:

(Also, if you do have any Bulletman for these low low prices, let me know  )

Now hold on here, if it's Bulletman 3 or Bulletman 5 with the once designated (but now no longer) classic Raboy covers, I believe I already have first dibs on them.    

Edited February 28, 2020 by lou_fine

[William-James88]

13 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Now hold on here, if it's Bulletman 3 or Bulletman 5 with the once designated (but now no longer) classic Raboy covers, I believe I already have first dibs on them.    

Once a classic, always a classic, isn't that how it works? That's how I see it. You can take 5, but you'll have to arm wrestle me for 3. Man, joking aside, those comics do not end up on the market much at all.

14 hours ago, batman_fan said:

Did you watch the movie?  

It was pretty bad at all levels.  Probably a 8-12 year old would like it.  I am guessing it knocked 20% off prices.  

It might have (see below) but I actually liked the film. Quite a lot. I do agree with the 8-12 year old statement but to me that's what differentiates it from the rest. Captain Marvel was always about wish fulfillment, it was a comic tailor made for kids. So having the film follow that same idea is beautiful and it makes a nice contrast to the other superhero films around at the moment.

15 hours ago, batman_fan said:

Fawcett seems to be more expensive for specific issues but cheap for run of the mill.  My view is you don't have a lot of run collectors and nothing is driving an increase in demand so just those key issues like Mac Raboy covers, Captain Nazi, etc seem to still be pretty hot.

I don't know man, for golden age books that are supposed to be "hot", they still seem ridiculously cheap.

I just bought a slabbed Captain Marvel Jr 28. It's the second copy Heritage ever sold. They sold it unslabbed for 179 and then it was brought back 3 years later, slabbed and sold (to me) for 89. A Mac Raboy cover, and a comic many Raboy collectors don't have (assumption based on very small amount of recorded sales). And yet I bought it at a price that resulted in the seller getting nothing for it. That 89 bucks doesn't cover the fees spent on grading and selling at auction. That just sounds like the opposite of a hot comic. Am I the only one thinking these prices are low? Like lower than one would assume? Once again, not complaining, I love being able to buy these awesome books for the same price they were 20 years ago, now that I finally have some more disposable income. Good thing I prioritized Marvel Silver age 10 years ago when it was still  somewhat affordable. Hey, maybe that's what's happening. So much money is being dumped elsewhere that something had to give.

 

14 hours ago, Straw-Man said:

...could draw a little bit.

 

I LOVE Mac. I love those Mac prices even more 

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by William-James88

[MusterMark]

I liked Shazam quite a bit!

[adamstrange]

The cover artist is Bud Thompson who took over for Raboy.

 

7 hours ago, William-James88 said:

Here's a gorgeous Mac Raboy cover I just bought. A gorgeous VF or better book, with amazing colours. Just for $144. That's how much a mid grade copy of Detective Comics 109 would sell 20 years ago.

The next one is nuts though. I just bought a slabbed Captain Marvel Jr 28. It's the second copy Heritage ever sold

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by adamstrange

[William-James88]

12 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

The cover artist is Bud Thompson who took over for Raby.

 

 

So all the CGC slabs have the wrong info? It's written Raboy cover on them:

https://www.cgccomics.com/census/grades_standard.asp?title=Captain+Marvel+Jr.&issue=32&publisher=Fawcett+Publications&year=1945&issuedate=9-10/45

[bronze johnny]

20 minutes ago, William-James88 said:

So all the CGC slabs have the wrong info? It's written Raboy cover on them:

https://www.cgccomics.com/census/grades_standard.asp?title=Captain+Marvel+Jr.&issue=32&publisher=Fawcett+Publications&year=1945&issuedate=9-10/45

Not a Raboy cover. Still a great book to have. Best to always verify cgc designations since they aren’t always accurate

[Straw-Man]

clearly not mac; mine bought before i knew label was wrong, but there's been no burden to owning it.

[Straw-Man]

just look at the difference...

[William-James88]

21 minutes ago, Straw-Man said:

clearly not mac; mine bought before i knew label was wrong, but there's been no burden to owning it.

 

Same for me on both accounts. I bought it raw but the description in the listing said it was a Raboy cover. A beautiful book none the less, I love the colours. 

Edited February 28, 2020 by William-James88

[Robot Man]

Good question. There are a lot of great covers but content, in general, has always been a little weak to me. They are also pretty available. There are standouts but I can whip through one pretty quick. That being said, I recently cut my collection of them down from 4 magazine boxes to two. I could probably cut another third of them without missing them. There are some though that hold up well with the best of the GA. Every serious GA collector really need a handful in their collection.