1981- what did $400 buy in comic collectibles then? 2 2

[the blob]

8 hours ago, JazzMan said:

Crazy how AF 15 was cheaper than ASM 1.

who says they were actually in the same condition? the initial info we saw had AF 15 nearly 2X the ASM 1 price, I am assuming in the same grade

[csaag]

At that time frame I bought what eventually turned out to be 6.5-9.4 copies of  GS X-Men 1, X-Men 94, Hulk 181, Conan 1, FF 48-50,  HOS 92, GL 85-86 , Iron Man 1  all in the $10-$20 range

I remember seeing the grails - FF 1, ASM 1, AF 15, Showcase 4 etc,  in the glass case under the cash register but don't remember what they were charging for them

[Math Teacher]

I bought a copy of ASM #1, which was ultimately graded at CGC 3.0, for $300 in May, 1980. This $300 was virtually all the money I had gotten for my college graduation. It looks like I overpaid, but that was the first major SA key I ever owned. I remember how excited I was to get it. I still own that book today.

Now, in 1981, I would have been a 2nd-year teacher earning approximately $11,000 per year. That's gross, not net. So, if I had wanted to buy an FF #1 for $400, that would have been 3.6% of my yearly salary. This was no where financially feasible, because, at that time, buying dog food meant that we had to spend less on our food at the grocery store.

[Math Teacher]

5 minutes ago, the blob said:

who says they were actually in the same condition? the initial info we saw had AF 15 nearly 2X the ASM 1 price, I am assuming in the same grade

From what I saw, very few of these ads said anything about condition.

[thunsicker]

18 minutes ago, the blob said:

8 hours ago, JazzMan said:

Crazy how AF 15 was cheaper than ASM 1.

who says they were actually in the same condition? the initial info we saw had AF 15 nearly 2X the ASM 1 price, I am assuming in the same grade

But it's not only that.  In the old days most everyone was a run collector.  ASM 1 was the start of a famous run.  In the same way X-Men 94 was about the same value as GSX 1.

[Gatsby77]

23 minutes ago, the blob said:

all kidding aside, the 5.0 price was a lot closer to the 9.4 price back then, the ratios were different, and OPG had a much bigger say in things

and that $1100 AF 15 would probably be anything 8.0 and up by CGC standards, possibly lower, many comic shop "NMs" back then would be CGC 8.0s now

 

This - 1980 "NM" is likely a solid 8.0-8.5 by today's standards.

Heck, the CGC Census today shows only 13 copies of AF 15 above 9.0, not counting duplicate upgrade attempts.

And it was a *big* deal when the White Mountain copy (now a 9.4) sold for (I believe) $40,000 around 1990. That was the first time anyone had paid "Golden Age money" for a Silver Age book.

 

I want to see the opposite of the cheap books - the $10-$20 hot books in 1980-1985 that eventually plummeted.

Let's see $10 Howard the Duck # 1s, Shazam # 1s, $20 GI Joe # 2s, $10 Fish Police # 1, etc.

For instance, that multi-page catalog above has a few gems:

• Howard the Duck # 1 (G / VG range) for $15
• Conan # 1 (G / VG range) for $50

[Gatsby77]

Also - resto wasn't *nearly* as stigmatized then as now.

Recall that the main reason Nicolas Cage left comic book collecting (the first time) was discovering *tons* of undisclosed resto on his books once CGC came around and he sought to get them slabbed.

I mean, I'd gladly buy nearly all the keys at advertised prices, but grading (and resto) standards today are an order of magnitude stricter, so anyone expecting today's 9.4s in 1980 had better be satisfied with a true 8.0 (slight color touch).

[thehumantorch]

12 hours ago, Azkaban said:

some of my old mail order catalogs from around that time. Check out some of these prices

 

X-men 1 for $150

Tomb of Dracula 10 for $2.50

Werewolf by Night 32 $8.00 about where it should be 

It was a different time.  Sending off a SASE or 25 cents to cover postage for a catalog.  Picking out books from that catalog and picking out alternates because the whole process took so long what you wanted could be long gone.  Mailing it back to the dealer and waiting to see what you actually got.  It was a great day when that package finally arrived.

[thehumantorch]

10 hours ago, James J Johnson said:

  Multi-colored   , or chocolate   ?  

multi-colored, chocolate melts into a sticky mess

[thehumantorch]

In 1980 a local comic shop had dozens of Kirby pages on the walls for $50 each.  $400 would buy 8.  I bought 1 and thought it was a lot of money and thought I would regret it.

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by thehumantorch

[StillOnly25Cents]

14 hours ago, KCOComics said:

It's a Marvel Collecting guide. 

The owner of a new comic shop in Rhode Island bought a collection that included about 100 uncirculated copies of it in an original mailing envelope. 

He gave me one with a purchase. It's got allot of cool stuff. 

since the 14 hours you posted this, this guide is now selling for $1000 

[marvelmaniac]

Considering that I bought an Avengers 4 and ASM 14 for less that $20.00 in each in 81/82 and was given an IH 181 for Christmas in 82/83 that was purchased for $25.00 I would say $400.00 would get you a lot.

[habsfan1]

Bringing back the memories....

I would have been 13, going to Flea Markets with my parents using my hard earned paper route money to buy whatever I could.  One regret was paying $48 for a Conan 1 over the Iron Man and Daredevil 1 he had on display.  Ended up getting the others years and years later, but just remember how much I loved those Conan stories.  We were run collectors...which worked out as I can continually be amazed that some comic I bought as a kid has suddenly taken off.  I remember those ASM 1 and early FF being so out of my range at the time...but kept hoping.  Every year just a little more expensive and out of my range.  Seems like the pattern.  Now that I have a bit extra, when I see something I want, I pull the trigger within reason  

[DanCooper]

Pulled out a Howard Rogofsky catalog from May 1980.

Listed were the following:

Adventure 247 in Near Mint - $350

Amazing Fantasy 15 - $200

Amazing Spiderman 1 - $340

Avengers 1 - $115

Daredevil 1 in MINT - $90

Detective 31 - $400

Detective 225 in Near Mint - $350

Fantastic Four 1 - $535

Tales of Suspense 39 - $100

X-Men 1 - $70

Take it for a what it is, since it is coming from Howard (highest prices in the market plus erratic conditions).

Interesting that by 1980, Howard was breaking out and stating some conditions on the higher end like the Daredevil 1, Adventure 247 and Tec 225. Times were catching up to him! (most likely those were more Fines to VFs)

But, Howard knew the market he was dealing in (in any era) and these give an idea of what other dealers were asking for in price around the 1980-1981 time frame on the high end.

 

 

 

[Larryw7]

Not all of the grading is strict today. I've seen 6.0's in CGC and Voldy slabs that would have barely mustered a VG at the local comic shops in Philly.

[Jesse-Lee]

18 hours ago, KCOComics said:

It's a Marvel Collecting guide. 

The owner of a new comic shop in Rhode Island bought a collection that included about 100 uncirculated copies of it in an original mailing envelope. 

He gave me one with a purchase. It's got allot of cool stuff. 

Something like this guide came in the Marvel Collector Kits that they used to have in the 90s - I got one for Christmas one year. This isn't my pic, but it's basically what you got. I think the best book I got if I remember correctly was X-Men 248...

 

[speedcake]

You could go back to as recently as 2001 and still be crying in your soup.

even later than that for many books, I bet. 

[JazzMan]

8 hours ago, DanCooper said:

Pulled out a Howard Rogofsky catalog from May 1980.

Listed were the following:

Adventure 247 in Near Mint - $350

Amazing Fantasy 15 - $200

Amazing Spiderman 1 - $340

Avengers 1 - $115

Daredevil 1 in MINT - $90

Detective 31 - $400

Detective 225 in Near Mint - $350

Fantastic Four 1 - $535

Tales of Suspense 39 - $100

X-Men 1 - $70

Take it for a what it is, since it is coming from Howard (highest prices in the market plus erratic conditions).

Interesting that by 1980, Howard was breaking out and stating some conditions on the higher end like the Daredevil 1, Adventure 247 and Tec 225. Times were catching up to him! (most likely those were more Fines to VFs)

But, Howard knew the market he was dealing in (in any era) and these give an idea of what other dealers were asking for in price around the 1980-1981 time frame on the high end.

 

 

 

If I recall, Howard thought tape on the cover was perfectly fine to keep the grade.

Edited March 18, 2021 by JazzMan

[James J Johnson]

Howard Rogofsky Comics for Sale Catalog April 20 1967 / HipComic

[bronze_rules]

21 hours ago, piper said:

I can't recall what my allowance was back in 1981 (didn't even have my paper route yet), but suspect it was around $3 per week plus what ever I picked up cutting grass and returning pop bottles.

I barely had enough to buy new books off the stand, let alone buy back issues.

Man, I thought I was the only one cutting grass for a pittance. I used to haul my Dad's mower around the neighborhood.  I got a paper route and would ride miles to a comic shop.

The store had 100 raggedy old comics for twenty dollars with a smurf stamp on all of them. I remember hauling that home in my paper route bag on my bicycle in a storm so strong, that telephone lines were lying battered in the streets. But it was worth it!