Fawcett Books can be so Damn Cheap 6 6

[pemart1966]

A few issues in this "Marvel" family always do well.  Generally though:  dead titles; dead characters; weak content (stories seemed to have been written for the younger kids); weak movie; plentiful inventory (for the most part) - all add up to generally low prices.

Edited February 28, 2020 by pemart1966

[adamstrange]

5 hours 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

I highly recommend Roger Hill's book on Mac, which includes among its many wonders a list of his cover credits.

https://www.amazon.com/Mac-Raboy-Master-Roger-Hill/dp/1605490903/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=mac+raboy&qid=1582913518&sr=8-2

[Kevin.J]

I probably have a few dozen or so mainly Captain Marvel, I wish they were more readily available over here in the UK, I would buy them 

 

 

 

 

[MrBedrock]

The more folks think they are cheap the sooner they will not be cheap.

As it is, now is a great time to be buying them.

[William-James88]

1 hour ago, Robot Man said:

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. 

When you do choose to get rid of more, please let me know. I too believe that some of these hold up with the best of GA. 

36 minutes ago, Kevin.J said:

I probably have a few dozen or so mainly Captain Marvel, I wish they were more readily available over here in the UK, I would buy them 

 

 

 

 

You got some pretty amazing looking books there. That Captain Marvel Adventures #26 is now a nice key to have. Did you know the UK have their own variants? They are pretty awesome too.

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by William-James88

[Kevin.J]

1 minute ago, William-James88 said:

When you do choose to get rid of more, please let me know. I too believe that some of these hold up with the best of GA. 

Did you know the UK have their own variants? They are pretty awesome too.

 

Yeah I have a few somewhere but I generally dont collect British comics, most of my British stuff is boxed up in my loft.

[Kevin.J]

I knew I had some more photos of Cap 

[Kevin.J]

[William-James88]

1 minute ago, Kevin.J said:

I knew I had some more photos of Cap 

Those are all really beautiful looking copies. I especially love the ones which have him flying against (or with) missiles. And you may not have seen my edit above, but your number 26 is a pretty good book to have right now.

[Robot Man]

13 minutes ago, William-James88 said:

When you do choose to get rid of more, please let me know. I too believe that some of these hold up with the best of GA. 

You got some pretty amazing looking books there. That Captain Marvel Adventures #26 is now a nice key to have. Did you know the UK have their own variants? They are pretty awesome too.

 

I ran a sale right here on the boards. They basically just sat there. I ended up trading them drastically in another collector’s favor for a couple Timelys that I’d I’d much rather have. 

[Marty Mann]

Two of my all time favorite CAPTAIN MARVEL'S.

[William-James88]

16 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I ran a sale right here on the boards. They basically just sat there. I ended up trading them drastically in another collector’s favor for a couple Timelys that I’d I’d much rather have. 

I know, interest is very low, hence the prices. But I am here now (wasn't before). So if you want to sell some more and are looking for a buyer, let me know what you have.

13 minutes ago, Marty Mann said:

Two of my all time favorite CAPTAIN MARVEL'S.

haha, that's a good example of two books I don't have in my collection yet.

[Cat-Man_America]

23 hours ago, William-James88 said:

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  )

 

All opinions are subjective based on what we are drawn to as collectors.  As someone who’s never collected Fawcett books, my observations.are based on discussions with Capt. Marvel fans and collectors stretching back to the 1960’s.

First of all, from a historical perspective, Fawcett was a strong publisher with lines of books which were hugely popular in the 1940’s.  IMO, the disappearance of Fawcett’s comic lines in the 1950’s and subsequent acquisition, rebranding and mishandling of their iconic characters and titles has contributed greatly to chipping away at their popularity.

Originally, the demographic of Captain Marvel was younger than DC’s Superman. CC Beck’s art was simplified, less violent and more magical than typical superhero yarns of the era.  For those not tuned into these characters, Capt. Marvel was designed to be charmingly childlike, just like the boy inhabiting Capt. Marvel’s body. .In contrast, Capt. Marvel, Jr. was created for older readers, counterbalancing the simplicity of Capt. Marvel’s magic with more violent, topical war stories and amazingly realistic art by Mac Raboy.  

Both of these characters and their extended Marvel family had strong readership and fan following during WWII.  When collecting comics grew into fandom in the 1960’s the lack of any outside media interjection led to ongoing debates over which character was more popular with fans, Capt. Marvel or Superman? For many years Whiz #2 rivaled Action #1 value-wise in the eyes of collectors.  That’s the historical backdrop.

Moving forward to today’s markets.  What happened is no real mystery.  Superman ...through it’s parent company DC and media partner Time/Warner... received all the juice.  By juice (in this context), I mean serious market attention.  While DC/Warner have full rights to Superman they failed to acquire ownership of the name Capt. Marvel.  For whatever reason, after DC acquired Captain Marvel they chose not to develop the character as a serious alternative or counterpart to Superman.  

Instead, in the midst of the superhero movie craze they made Captain Marvel into a superhero spoof.  While the good Captain is basically an innocent kid with a sense of humor, he was never sold as camp or silly to his fans.  The good Captain could never work as a foul mouthed Deadpool or snarky hip Spider-Man knock off.  Looking at legacy comics in this light, the mediocrity and weak BO of the SHAZAM! movie has further impacted interest in the character.

Leaving aside the media failure, collecting the GA Captain Marvel comic has other hurdles.  First, is the long run of issues with few real standouts aside from a couple of popular story arcs like the Mr. Mind series.  CC Beck was a good journeyman artist who did most of the Captain Marvel stories and covers.  His work is under appreciated in any evaluation of GA art.  Meanwhile, Mac Raboy’s highly artistic CM, Jr., is much more in demand with collectors, but auction and wall sales may be lagging due to the CM connection.

The bottom line is that Superman still has the corporate support and media energy to fuel new series and reboots which in turn will rally fans and comic speculation of Superman family titles.  Conversely, Captain Marvel will continue to struggle for attention on all fronts, caught in no man’s land where DC owns the Fawcett characters and SHAZAM trademark and Marvel Studios and their subsidiaries owns the now definitive Captain Marvel franchise.

Sorry, probably too much caffeine this morning.  

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by Cat-Man_America

[circumstances]

Other than the few classic issues/covers, there is waaaayyyyy more available than interest.

[Cat-Man_America]

3 minutes ago, circumstances said:

Other than the few classic issues/covers, there is waaaayyyyy more available than interest.

This is true too, but interest drives value more than availability.

[circumstances]

46 minutes ago, Cat-Man_America said:

This is true too, but interest drives value more than availability.

It's the killer combo.

Little interest.

Mucho availability!

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, Cat-Man_America said:

All opinions are subjective based on what we are drawn to as collectors.  As someone who’s never collected Fawcett books, my observations.are based on discussions with Capt. Marvel fans and collectors stretching back to the 1960’s.

First of all, from a historical perspective, Fawcett was a strong publisher with lines of books which were hugely popular in the 1940’s.  IMO, the disappearance of Fawcett’s comic lines in the 1950’s and subsequent acquisition, rebranding and mishandling of their iconic characters and titles has contributed greatly to chipping away at their popularity.

Originally, the demographic of Captain Marvel was younger than DC’s Superman. CC Beck’s art was simplified, less violent and more magical than typical superhero yarns of the era.  For those not tuned into these characters, Capt. Marvel was designed to be charmingly childlike, just like the boy inhabiting Capt. Marvel’s body. .In contrast, Capt. Marvel, Jr. was created for older readers, counterbalancing the simplicity of Capt. Marvel’s magic with more violent, topical war stories and amazingly realistic art by Mac Raboy.  

Both of these characters and their extended Marvel family had strong readership and fan following during WWII.  When collecting comics grew into fandom in the 1960’s the lack of any outside media interjection led to ongoing debates over which character was more popular with fans, Capt. Marvel or Superman? For many years Whiz #2 rivaled Action #1 value-wise in the eyes of collectors.  That’s the historical backdrop.

Moving forward to today’s markets.  What happened is no real mystery.  Superman ...through it’s parent company DC and media partner Time/Warner... received all the juice.  By juice (in this context), I mean serious market attention.  While DC/Warner have full rights to Superman they failed to acquire ownership of the name Capt. Marvel.  For whatever reason, after DC acquired Captain Marvel they chose not to develop the character as a serious alternative or counterpart to Superman.  

Instead, in the midst of the superhero movie craze they made Captain Marvel into a superhero spoof.  While the good Captain is basically an innocent kid with a sense of humor, he was never sold as camp or silly to his fans.  The good Captain could never work as a foul mouthed Deadpool or snarky hip Spider-Man knock off.  Looking at legacy comics in this light, the mediocrity and weak BO of the SHAZAM! movie has further impacted interest in the character.

Leaving aside the media failure, collecting the GA Captain Marvel comic has other hurdles.  First, is the long run of issues with few real standouts aside from a couple of popular story arcs like the Mr. Mind series.  CC Beck was a good journeyman artist who did most of the Captain Marvel stories and covers.  His work is under appreciated in any evaluation of GA art.  Meanwhile, Mac Raboy’s highly artistic CM, Jr., is much more in demand with collectors, but auction and wall sales may be lagging due to the CM connection.

The bottom line is that Superman still has the corporate support and media energy to fuel new series and reboots which in turn will rally fans and comic speculation of Superman family titles.  Conversely, Captain Marvel will continue to struggle for attention on all fronts, caught in no man’s land where DC owns the Fawcett characters and SHAZAM trademark and Marvel Studios and their subsidiaries owns the now definitive Captain Marvel franchise.

Sorry, probably too much caffeine this morning.  

 

I don’t care that much for Superman either. A little less wimpy than the good Captain but not by much. 

I like darker characters with a little more substance like Batman, The Spectre and Capt. America. A little grittier and made you think and use your brain. 

[William-James88]

34 minutes ago, circumstances said:

It's the killer combo.

Little interest.

Mucho availability!

Where are you guys seeing all these wow comics, mary marvel comics, bulletman comics and captain marvel jr comics?

Edited February 28, 2020 by William-James88

[Randall Dowling]

On 2/27/2020 at 3:36 PM, William-James88 said:

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?
 

Shhhh...  don’t draw attention to them... just get while the gettin’s good...  

[batman_fan]

I am not a huge collector of Fawcett's but there are several I am quietly searching for.  Here is one I snagged for slightly more that $100 several years back.

I just love this cover!  

Personally I think there are a ton of awesome covers throughout the various titles like Nickel, etc.