Shap

I'm curious to know people's thoughts on whether they think Batman Adventures 12 in 9.8 grade is a sell or hold at current market prices. I know there's been a lot of past discussions regarding buyer exuberance and eventual market price correction, although this is the one book and character that seems to defy conventional wisdom. I purchased my CGC 9.8 copy a little over 2 years ago for less than $300. When the book jumped up to the $800-$900 range, I thought it may be worth considering selling at that point and now I'm glad I didn't. I never imagined that the book would be selling in the $2000 range. Obviously, I know I will never lose money on the book based on what I originally paid for it, but I'm interested to know what others think in terms of whether the book has a lot more room to grow both in the short term and long term or if the current market prices represent the apex in value of what we're likely to see for some time.

The book I purchased was securely packaged and quickly shipped. I would not hesitate to buy from again.

Only 36 9.8 copies on the census, which is not very many for a key copper book.

Looks like New Mutants Annual #2 is on the rise again. Not sure if this is a record high for a 9.8 blue label. New Mutants Annual #2 9.8

Here's my graded copy and I eventually plan on submitting my NM raw copy that I bought back in the early 90's for $25.

1st Taskmaster!! And great cover wrap!!! Congrats! GREAT book!! Thanks, Harvey! It's been tough to track down a 9.8 with white pages, let alone with no miswrap.

Just received this book today after searching for awhile for one with white pages and nice wrap. Taskmaster has always been one of my favorite characters.

I think it really comes down to personal preference. As a collector of high grade copper keys, I don't mind paying double or in some cases 3-4 times the amount of a 9.6 for a 9.8. I will say though that I have seen many 9.6 copper books that look just as good as their 9.8 counterparts, but for me given the option, I'm always going to go for the 9.8 if it's a copper book.

This book is officially on fire! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-Adventures-12-CGC-9-8-WHITE-Pages-1st-Harley-Quinn-1993-DC-/251363508753?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=RN%252F7qUKb%252B6sXPedsFB7r4qnugtY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Wow, congratulations on the sale

Wow, this is incredible if this sale goes through! I've been holding tight to my 9.8, but this has gotten crazy! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-Adventures-12-CGC-9-8-WHITE-Pages-1st-Harley-Quinn-1993-DC-/251363508753?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=RN%252F7qUKb%252B6sXPedsFB7r4qnugtY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Picked this newsstand edition up recently. Definitely one of my favorite books and covers of the late bronze/early copper age.

This book in 9.8 has been in the $300 range for awhile. It had been on my radar to get until I finally picked up a 9.8 this summer for under $300. I don't see 9.8 copies dropping back to that price range again. The 9.8 copies seem to be mostly in the hands of collectors at this point. The fact that even the last couple of sales that broke $700 did not spark more listings seems to further support this theory. However, the recent sales should result in more submissions to CGC and probably from people looking to sell, which should, in turn, result in a new average GPA albeit significantly higher than the previous price point of $300. Several people have noted that they are sitting on 9.8 candidates, so it will be interesting to see in the next coming months how many additional 9.8 copies surface on the census.

I think the difference with BA 12 when compared with the other books you mentioned is the relative scarcity of it in 9.8 combined with the fact that there are none graded higher. Also, most of the 9.8's seem to be in the hands of collectors, myself being one of them, as opposed to people looking to sell or turn a profit. Lately, you rarely see a 9.8 come up for sale. Even the people who may be inclined to sell are probably reluctant because they worry they may not be able to pick up another one later. There's been multiple threads in the "want to buy" section with people offering anywhere between $500-$700 for a 9.8 with no takers. I think the book has probably been undervalued for quite some time and now the demand is just beginning to far outweigh the supply of high grade copies.

TMNT 1 is in a whole different league and probably somewhat of an unfair comparison. The prices on those are out of the range of the average collector. TMNT 1 is also a lot rarer, especially in high grade. I think the better comparison in terms of investment potential from the Copper/Modern era, which has previously been mentioned, would be ASM 300. That book graded 9.8 regularly sells in the $700-$900 range but is more easily attainable in 9.8 condition than BA 12. It will be interesting to see in a year or two how the prices compare.