MARKET REPORT:
- 2011 MARKET REPORT -
TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE 41ST EDITION OF THE OVERSTREET PRICE GUIDE.
The Overstreet
Price Guide is due out July 20th, 2011, which is when our market report
for 2010 will be published here on the Cloud 9 website.
- 2010 MARKET REPORT -
AS PUBLISHED IN THE 40TH EDITION OF THE OVERSTREET PRICE GUIDE.
First off, I would not call 2009 “Another Banner Year”
as it seems is published by many dealers in this guide year after year.
Global economic problems, a continued collapse in the housing market,
and high unemployment are putting strains on everyone regardless of their
income level. Heck even Amazing Spider-Man isn’t invincible. In
August, a CGC 9.4 sold for $83,650, down $20,000 from its previous sale.
Ebay still continues to move huge amounts of books, and represents a pretty
good market value. Most books unless they are high grade, keys, or scarce
books are not only selling below guide, but often well below. I’ve
actually purchased some great high grade Silver Age books on Ebay this
year at well below guide, so…. if you have money, now is a GREAT
time to buy! I’m also noticing an increasing trend of more people
entering the hobby due to our beloved books hitting the big screen. Yes,
books often soar in value 2 years to six months before the film is released,
then the bottom falls out of those books (300, Watchmen, etc..), or the
movies due little to increase sales (Spider-Man 3, Transformers 2, etc..).
What I am noticing though, is that these movies are creating an overall
resurgence in people returning to collecting. Many of my customers are
in their mid 30’s, and have children 1-5 years old, and are now
buying cheap $.50 books for their kids to read. This is easing my worries
about new comics disappearing (say like our newspapers) or if there will
be a “Next” generation of collectors. I was also worried that
comics could suffer the same fate as the music industry where teenagers
have all but abandoned purchasing cd’s or lp’s, and are just
purchasing mp3’s/downloads. Will today’s pre-teens purchase
paper comics and not DVD’s in the future, my current thoughts are
Yes.
GOLDEN AGE:
Record sales this year include Action Comics #1 CGC 6.0 $317,200 (the
highest unrestored, certified copy to sell on the open market with only
4 higher, the highest being an 8.5 which is easily a million dollar book
at this point), Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories CGC 9.4 $116,513,
Detective Comics 27 CGC 1.5 $83,650, Action Comics CGC 1.8 $94,001, and
a Captain America Comics #2 CGC 9.2 $103,099. Some of my sales include:
Four Color 8 5.0 $250, Prize Comics Western 26 5.0 $18, and Treasure Comics
4 1.0 $10. In general I saw less Golden Age books at shows, on the web
and in shops this past year. Books that have sat in our local shops for
the last few years are now gone. On a regional level I attribute this
to a few things, more collectors in the NW entering this market and the
market catching up to the prices on these books as they continue to look
like better values compared with modern $4.00 cover prices. People who
might have spent $20 on a hot new variant are now purchasing older books.
In demand: Timely, Nedor, DC, Fiction House, Dell, MLJ. Not in demand:
Classics Illustrated, Boy Comics, True Comics.
ATOMIC AGE:
An often overlooked and still very affordable portion of the market from
the end of WW2 presents tons of great artwork and stories that are not
that common. EC’s, Star, St. John, Allen Hardy, Avon One Shots,
the boom of romance books (which are less common then most think, especially
in grade), Good Girl artwork, War Titles, Charlton’s numerous titles,
the list goes on. This period to me parallel’s the Bronze Age where
publishers were trying many things with crazy stories and pushing the
(pre-code) boundaries. Ton’s of great artwork from Baker, Feldstein,
Ditko, L.B. Cole, Wolverton and many others. L.B.’s romance books
in this period are awesome! Prices across the board here are affordable
with many titles and keys within reach of those without deep pockets.
In demand: High grade, horror, romance, and artwork from key artists.
Not in demand: funny animals.
SILVER AGE:
Amazing Fantasy 15 continues to be the best book to invest in. It is more
affordable and available then the Golden Age keys and shows large returns
in short periods of time. A CGC 8.0 sold for $70,500! The only Golden
Age books at 8.0 or lower to sell for this value are: Action 1, Dectective
27, Batman 1, and Marvel Comics 1. This book sold at an average of $1,200
in 2002 in CGC 2.0 and now, 8 years later, sells at an average of $3,200
at CGC 2.0. That’s doubling at the good line listing every 3 years!
Some of my sales include: AMZ 19 4.0 $42, Avengers 1 5.0R $335, 57 $70,
Batman 181 7.0 $80, Daredevil 37 9.2 $75, FF4 52 8.5 $85, 75 9.0 $110,
Iron Man 1 8.0R $100, and World’s Finest 176 8.0 $30. I’m
seeing increased action in DC’s like Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder
Woman. High grades of these books are scarce and sell above guide almost
always with little resistance. Green Lantern #7 (origin/1st Sinestro)
I think is going to explode as this book is scarce in any grade. I looked
on Ebay, Comiclink Mile High, and Metropolis’s websites for this
book, and there was only 1 copy for sale, a VG on Ebay, with heavy bidding,
selling well above guide. Increased interest also I’m seeing in
Mystery In Space, Hawkman, Aquaman, Showcase, Teen Titans, and Brave and
the Bold. Finding these in VF or higher is difficult, forget NM- or higher.
On the Marvel side, Avengers prices have skyrocketed with the movie in
the works. #1 is pretty common compared with Incredible Hulk #1, but is
selling above guide in all grades. Tales of Suspense Iron Man appearances
are moving steady in all grades and Thor’s/Journey Into Mystery
are hard to find anywhere in VF or higher. Although AMZ outpaces all other
titles in sales by a large %, sales on many books have been flat or need
to be discounted a little to move unless they are true NM- or higher.
Also, Detective Comics 378 has an ad for Angel and The Ape in it which
predates their first appearance in Showcase by a month. I know this makes
a difference for the TMNT in the modern age, should it for other periods/titles/characters?
In Demand: High Grade Marvel & DC, Marvel’s starting at VF/NM
9.0 and DC’s starting at VF 8.0, early horror magazines like Creepy
and Vampirella #1. Avengers $.12 issues are very hot, as are 9.4 Green
Lantern’s. Not in Demand: VG-VF on non keys.
BRONZE AGE:
My favorite period due to its diversity of genres, it’s still a
great time for investment, but time is running out, as more people begin
to realize this, and are cleaning out shops of books that have sat for
years. Some of my sales include: AMZ 101 3.0 $14, 129 9.0 $400, 135 9.0
$70, 194 9.2 $60, Beyond the Grave 1 9.2 $30, Champions 1 8.5 $20, Daredevil
168 9.4 $175 & 9.0 $75, Ghost Rider 1 7.5 $62, Incredible Hulk 181
8.5 $600, Inhumans 1 9.4 $30, Spider-Woman 1 9.2 $20, and Uncanny X-Men
136 9.4 $55. Great titles include: Werewolf By Night, Luke Cage, Conan,
Night Nurse (yes, Night Nurse!), Tomb of Dracula, New Gods, Iron Fist,
Bryne X-Men, Neil Adam’s Green Lantern, Batman, Cerebus The Aardvark,
Astonishing Tales, House of Secrets, Ghost Rider, Forrever People, Shade
The Changing Man, Firestorm, the list goes on and on… Some crazy
sales occurred this year including Green Lantern 76 CGC 9.6 $30,500, Incredible
Hulk 181 CGC 9.8SS $32,001, Batman 227 CGC 9.8 $13,000, Cerebus 1 CGC
9.4SS $7,754, Night Nurse 1 CGC 9.8 $3,850, and Marvel Spotlight 2 CGC
9.6 $3,000. Many books in this period have doubled in only 5 years or
close to that. Tomb of Dracula 10 (1st Blade) went from $175 to $350,
Marvel Spotlight 5 (1st Ghost Rider) from $220 to $450, Marvel Spotlight
2 (1st Werewolf By Night) from $230 to $375, Wonder Woman 179 (1st issue
without costume) from $65 to $115, Green Lantern 76 (first N. Adams) from
$500 to $1200 (and may I add selling well above this presently!), Conan
1 from $270 to $400 & 23 (1st Red Sonja) from $40 to $80. Then you’ve
got the price variants like Iron Fist 14 $.35 which went from $400 to
$1200 (selling well above this), and Star Wars #1 $.35 variant which just
finally got a line listing in guide and had a CGC 9.0 sell this year for
$3,000 (2x guide). Many non keys though are also going up faster percent
wise then other time periods such as Werewolf By Night, which has increased
about 60% as a title in 5 years, same as Bryne’s X-Men run. Trying
finding high grade 9.6 or higher copes of Firestorm #1 or Shade The Changing
Man #1? Trying finding a Ghosts #1 in 9.2 or higher? I haven’t even
seen that book in Portland in the six years I’ve lived here (in
any grade!). Tough books like Batman 227 are selling for crazy multiples
above guide in 9.6 or 9.8’s. What’s up with Heavy Metal not
being in guide? This is a well read magazine. Also the Brittish Magazine
Warrior isn’t in guide and should be as it features the first appearances
of Miracleman and V for Vendetta. In Demand: High Grade of almost any
title/publisher and Good copies for $.50 to read. Not in demand VG-VF
unless in the $.50-$1 range.
COPPER/MODERN AGE
There are many opportunities to find key issues here, but large print
runs, and plenty of high grades still floating around keep prices down.
Some of my sales include: AMZ 225 9.6 $33, 238 9.6 $125, 245 9.8 $38,
252 9.0 $40, Fables 1 9.4 $45, John Bryne’s Next Men 9.4 $45 &
$35, Ms. Marvel 17 9.4 $40, New Mutants 1 PGX 9.9 $120, 98 9.4 $62(2x),
Preacher 1 9.2 $25, Sandman 1 9.4 $45, and Transformers 1 9.2 $25. I’ve
noticed an increase in demand for $.50 & $.75 cover price books. Moon
Night #1 $.50 cover is getting harder to find in NM-, as is New Mutants
1, and Alpha Flight 1. Ghost Rider (’92 series) is in demand again,
as are Valiant’s, especially Solar Man of the Atom, Rai, and Harbinger.
Now is the time to put complete runs together of 9.6/9.8’s of these
books while they are cheap, cause these books that are $6 in guide will
be $15 in guide probably sooner then you realize. Solar Man of the Atom
10 CGC 9.8 sells for like $500, but watch for 9.8’s of issues 4
& 5, both tough to find in grade. The new House of Mystery series
is a great read and has awesome mini stories within most issues by some
great upcoming writers & artists. Mouse Guard first printings are
hard to find and a great read/investment. Buffy The Vampire Slayer season
8 sells well, although the story is beginning to drag. Walking Dead CGC
9.2’s & unslabbed NM- books are selling between $100-$150, which
makes it one of the most valuable modern age books (could someone tell
me why?). I know Kirkman is doing good work, but why this series and not
Invincible or Marvel Zombies? Buy all 3 of these though, all great reads/artwork
and valuable books. Miracleman continues to sell well in all issues with
later issues scare in grade. Trying finding a 9.8 of issue 23 or 24! There
is only 1 recorded sale of a Miracleman 23 CGC 9.8, which happened in
2008 for $823, where issue 15 sells every year in this grade for less.
NYX 3 has cooled a bit, but I think over the long run is going to be an
important modern key book as this character develops. The entire 7 issue
series is a great read with awesome artwork. Small indie’s are available
all over the place, many not in guide such as Continum and Panda Khan.
Micronauts #1 should have a line listing now as it’s from 1979 and
is a 59 issue series. Vertigo, Dark Horse, and Image seem to be paving
the way on the modern front with great stories/artwork, and Marvel/DC
seem more and more predictable. Older Vertigo #1’s are high in demand
and sell at or above guide consistently. New Mutants 87 & 98 are very
in demand (is there any reason why 98 does not have a line listing of
at least $35 for NM-??). Fables 1 is a hot book and the entire series
sells well, as does Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Transformers and GI Joe
are both selling well and good investments. In Demand: Vertigo #1’s,
Kirkman (Invincible, Walking Dead, Marvel Zombies), Kick Ass, Chew, New
Mutants 1, 87, 98, Green Lantern, and Buffy season eight. Not in Demand:
$3 back issues & $4 cover prices!