OSPG 50th - A Major Disappointment 1 1

[Gambold Vintage]

The 50th Anniversary Edition is distinctly underwhelming - it looks like any other Overstreet Gude of the past ten years.  No effort was made to be special or provide over-arching articles that would cover the history of the hobby. It's just more of the same that we get every year.  Do we really need an annual "War report?"  It's bad enough we've been forced to live with platinum and victorian and pilgrim comics and whatever Diamond wants us to buy, but why feature this hoary genre *every* year?

The missed opportunities here are endless. They could have gone with one distinctive and totally different cover than the usual selection of adequate choices from courant artists.  They could have had a fun section comparing the prices of the current top twenty or so key comics for the past 5, 10, 15, etc years. They could have brought back excerpts from past market reports that are now amusing or prescient (and the major decrease in pages of those reports in this year's Guide is *not* a good sign). 

They could have provided some data on how the numbers of collectors, dealers, and transactions have changed over the years. They could have offered articles by past collecting luminaries on how comics collecting and fandom has become mainstream, and speculated on why. They could have provided frank commentary on some of the more insane price jumps we've seen in the top books over the past two decades, and evaluate the good and bad effects those huge dollar amounts have had on our hobby. 

 In short, the 50th edition could have been a major contribution to comics collecting and history, a signal effort that summarized two generations of fandom. Instead - it's just another Overstreet Guide with less-than-stellar cover choices, weak articles of limited interest to the larger market, a lot of promotion for CGC, ever-shrinking typeface, and more mundane and obvious shilling for comic eras like Pioneer Age that no one collects.

Boo! 

I was really looking forward to this year's Guide to be something special. I'm disappointed in every way. It could be time for a new editing team, because this was a huge opportunity that not only was totally botched, but apparently not even understood to exist.  

Gambold

Edited September 20, 2020 by Gambold
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[1950's war comics]

the "War Report" is a fantastic addition each year, and many people buy the  Overstreet each year just for that report

[DanCooper]

I think when it was decided to go the route of putting out another separate book to cover Overstreet's 50 years, that made them go in the direction of keeping the regular Guide consistent with the format of the past.

It seems a lot of the desired features mentioned, are in this second edition. Although, it will cost another 20 bucks or so to obtain!

Book description: "The 50-year history of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is documented and celebrated in this lush history of book collectors and dealers alike have called “The Bible” of the comic book industry. Veteran collectors, historians, dealers, and Bob Overstreet himself detail the story of the Guide’s early days and its importance to the vibrant comic book market that exists today. Includes vintage concept art, ad materials, a cover gallery spanning five decades, the complete Overstreet Hall of Fame, and more."

[Gambold Vintage]

I could go with that explanation except for two problems. The first is that few people know about this second book, it hasn’t been well promoted, and it’s not even out yet...and Amazon has no release date for it as of this writing.  Given the low incentive for people to pay for another Overstreet book a few months later, I don’t have a lot of confidence in the quality of the content. 

Second, the current Guide says “Special 50th Anniversary Edition” in a gold banner on the front cover. That suggests that special anniversary content is inside and that this particular Guide is thus a unique, even collectible purchase. That is not true, there is nothing special inside, it’s just another Overstreet guide as I stated before. 
 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by Gambold

[KingOfRulers]

I'm of the belief that these message boards serve as a more relevant source of market reporting than the price guide can.

[thecollectron]

I like the War Report.

[aardvark88]

Will contain a 'complete list of Overstreet advisors.' Thus, I can get my copy signed by greggy, DylansUniverse and Harley? Next year's Overstreet should have a reality check in terms of 'How to sell during a year of Covid:' Ebay, mail order, Facebook marketplace , Instagram.

[Jeffro.]

On 9/20/2020 at 6:57 PM, Gambold said:

Do we really need an annual "War report?" 

Do we really "need" anything? It's just comic books. If you don't like the war report then don't read it.

On the other hand, questioning that the 50th anniversary issue should have been more of an extravaganza celebrating 50 years? Yeah, I'd say there's a valid argument there. Releasing a second book celebrating 50 years is a cash grab, nothing else. 

[mackenzie999]

Maybe for their 50th anniversary they could embrace a super-convenient digital format? No, seriously...why are you all laughing?

[Ares]

On 9/20/2020 at 9:44 PM, Gambold said:

I could go with that explanation except for two problems. The first is that few people know about this second book, it hasn’t been well promoted, and it’s not even out yet...and Amazon has no release date for it as of this writing.  Given the low incentive for people to pay for another Overstreet book a few months later, I don’t have a lot of confidence in the quality of the content. 

Second, the current Guide says “Special 50th Anniversary Edition” in a gold banner on the front cover. That suggests that special anniversary content is inside and that this particular Guide is thus a unique, even collectible purchase. That is not true, there is nothing special inside, it’s just another Overstreet guide as I stated before. 
 

 

 

I didn't know that book existed either. I usually visit my comic shop every other week and nothing about this book

[Dick Pontoon]

I like The War Report and am glad to see the authors finally recognizing there's other titles besides the Big 5.

Although I'd be just as happy if they didn't; the less attention paid to books I'd like to buy the better.

[waaaghboss]

On 9/20/2020 at 3:57 PM, Gambold said:

The 50th Anniversary Edition is distinctly underwhelming - it looks like any other Overstreet Gude of the past ten years.  No effort was made to be special or provide over-arching articles that would cover the history of the hobby. It's just more of the same that we get every year.  Do we really need an annual "War report?"  It's bad enough we've been forced to live with platinum and victorian and pilgrim comics and whatever Diamond wants us to buy, but why feature this hoary genre *every* year?

The missed opportunities here are endless. They could have gone with one distinctive and totally different cover than the usual selection of adequate choices from courant artists.  They could have had a fun section comparing the prices of the current top twenty or so key comics for the past 5, 10, 15, etc years. They could have brought back excerpts from past market reports that are now amusing or prescient (and the major decrease in pages of those reports in this year's Guide is *not* a good sign). 

They could have provided some data on how the numbers of collectors, dealers, and transactions have changed over the years. They could have offered articles by past collecting luminaries on how comics collecting and fandom has become mainstream, and speculated on why. They could have provided frank commentary on some of the more insane price jumps we've seen in the top books over the past two decades, and evaluate the good and bad effects those huge dollar amounts have had on our hobby. 

 In short, the 50th edition could have been a major contribution to comics collecting and history, a signal effort that summarized two generations of fandom. Instead - it's just another Overstreet Guide with less-than-stellar cover choices, weak articles of limited interest to the larger market, a lot of promotion for CGC, ever-shrinking typeface, and more mundane and obvious shilling for comic eras like Pioneer Age that no one collects.

Boo! 

I was really looking forward to this year's Guide to be something special. I'm disappointed in every way. It could be time for a new editing team, because this was a huge opportunity that not only was totally botched, but apparently not even understood to exist.  

Gambold

I actually mostly agree.  Read through the war reports and thats mostly it.  A little more content would be nice.  

[mattn792]

On 9/20/2020 at 10:05 PM, aardvark88 said:

Will contain a 'complete list of Overstreet advisors.' Thus, I can get my copy signed by greggy, DylansUniverse and Harley? Next year's Overstreet should have a reality check in terms of 'How to sell during a year of Covid:' Ebay, mail order, Facebook marketplace , Instagram.

I bet for $20 Dylan would post a photo on Instagram of him on the toilet reading your personal copy of OPSG 50.  Way more posterity than a simple signature.

[Gambold Vintage]

> there's other titles besides the Big 5. <   

DO tell.  Just what exactly are these?

 

[F For Fake]

49 minutes ago, Gambold said:

> there's other titles besides the Big 5. <   

DO tell.  Just what exactly are these?

 

Sorry, you'd have to read the War Report for that information.

[Gambold Vintage]

>It's just comic books.<

OMG you typed that out loud. The lancing cruelty of that word "just."

 

 

 

 

 

[Gambold Vintage]

A digital format - we've been asking for this for years. Won't happen under Overstreet. If he hasn't done it by now, he ain't doing it.  There's also the consideration of a subscriber format.  I know some people will state that you can get up-to-date pricing information on e-bay and Heritage etc but searching those sites can be a drag and it's nice to have everything in one place. 

Someone else mentioned the idea of different volumes for different ages. This is not a bad idea but there's not enough interest to sustain an annual print run of just GA or SA guides. I wish there was, and it was tried once with the GA. The prices were completely off the mark. 

Another hurdle is slabs. The Overstreet pricing is all for unslabbed books. We can argue all day if the huge percentage increases for slabs are correct or idiotic but they exist and they haven't "settled down."  

My own opinion is that the Guide started to lose its way when it brought in big little books, platinum comics, and other areas of limited interest that fattened the book and shrunk the type. I wish they spent more ink on the actual business of collecting, and left the articles about artists to other venues.  The market reports may sometimes be self-serving but at least they are about the market. The article writing is the weakest part of the Guide - better writers are all over the Internet and in the TwoMorrows magazines.

I like having a physical annual Guide, I think it adds a kind of touchstone to the hobby. I wish it was better than it is. It seems to be locked in a rut. 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Gambold

[Hutch88]

So... If I purchase both, will one have the correct prices for golden age? 

[musicmeta]

Yes, it definitely felt like just another price guide for a new year.  I didn't really mind and I wasn't expecting anything else so I didn't feel anything then "It's another price guide".  I've got a facsimile of #1 and 2-50.  
I may quite buying now that it's on #50 and only buy a digital copy like from Heritage from now on.

Edited September 23, 2020 by musicmeta

[James J Johnson]

We are talking about a yearly guide, right? No matter how hobby-savvy the writers are, how can a yearly publication be expected to come close to price guides that are updated daily; hourly; minute by minute; state of the art, as it happens, like GP and GC? The overstreet is  a valuable read for studying the historical underpinnings of the hobby, but as far as reporting trends, it's akin to the Farmer's Almanac predicting what the summer of 2021 will be like. As far as pricing info, it's a look into the past; by the time it's published there's new data superseding the old data. .