shane1956

It's a fair comment to say that it's one of if not the biggest key book post 1963. After you get past the original Marvel releases of ASM 15, TOS 39, X-Men #1, etc , this book is THE book for serious Marvel collectors. It's not going down in price or demand. The Silver Surfer is key to the Marvel Universe.

No only that but, I would add that FF #48 has an iconic cover while ST110 and Hulk 180 are a little bland by comparison Like it or not in the age of CGC books cover is often king.

Although this book is a bit more common in higher grades the hard CGC census evidence does NOT support the notion that "Huge" amounts exist in high grade or that there are "Multiple warehouse finds" of this book in high grade. If we were to define high grade as 9.0 and above there are still only 546 copies. If you go 9.2 and above it is 369. I bet there are more than enough Surfer or FF fans to continue the rising demand for high grade copies of this book. Yes it's not scarce in high grade but let's not convince ourselves that it's very plentiful in 9.0 and above either. Comparatively More common yes ,but not "huge" amounts in existence. Many posts see, to imply the book is just another New Mutants 98 or some other early 90s copper key when it come to available high grade copies. Even with the numbers as they , this book in high grade will continue to be in high demand and I think the prices will continue to reflect that.

Iconic book. Here's my copy. I posted it in the other thread but you can never get enough of these 48s.

I spoke to a number of "experts" (the collectors that have been dealing with the book for decades ) before I made the purchase. I was a little uncomfortable buying with the recent bump in prices but what I was told was helpful and shared by everyone I spoke to. Basically it's always been an essential key. It has an iconic cover , an epic story arch , and a long history of high demand. I didn't want to wait and take a risk being priced out of the 9.2 range a few months down the road. A recent perfect example is what has happened with FF #52. Personally had I been looking for a 9.2 the time was months ago. It's now exceeded the limits I'm willing to spend . I'm a 9.2 collector with a clear collecting goal of obtaining specific books. I've been focused in on that for a few years now and this book was at the top. I waited a bit long but my gut tells me it's only going to get harder on the wallet the longer we wait. I picked out the custom framing options for the book yesterday and I'll post the "completed project" when it comes in after a few weeks.

I found myself asking the same thing when I was looking for my copy. When I reached out to the guys who really seem to know prices I was told over and over that the book has always been a high demand key and get it now if you can. It has certainly gone up in value and prices in all the higher grades have been all over the place the past few months. I got stuck buying at the top of the current value. I was a little uncomfortable with that but the demand is there and it's real. It's an essential key. I didn't want to find myself in a situation such as FF #52 by debating and in 6 months it gets out of reach. Sorry I couldn't help you with the exact price but I'll repeat what I was told. Get it now even with the current price bump !

It just arrived! Move over Hulk 181 I think it's my new favorite book! Based on the SN # I think it was once owned by a fellow board member called "surfer collector". That's cool as well. Happy to bring this one to Canada.

With a lot of recent discussion surrounding this amazing book I figured it might be the right time to start a consolidated thread . My 9.2 copy is currently in the mail and I'll post a photo once it arrives. I'll post another once it's custom framed. There is a lot of discussion, hype , debate,and history around this book . The "warehouse" find and the endless comparison to #49 seems to be the source of endless debate. In the interest of full disclosure I recently paid $4700 U.S for my 9.2 copy which certainly seems to be peak price at the moment. Regardless of the price, this was a must have high grade key for me . In my opinion it is one of if not the most iconic covers of the FF run. I'd like to add Surfer #1 at some point but #48 is the "must have".

I'm not a dealer , investor or a guy hoping to turn a profit at some point. I wouldn't even consider myself much of a big time collector when compared to many on these boards. My entire collection is limited and only contains 10 books. All 9.2 except a single 9.0. (Hulk 181 9.2, Amazing Spider-Man 129 9.2, Marvel spotlight 5 9.2, Giant X Men 1 9.2, Iron Man 1 9.2 , Captain America 100 9.2, Thor 126 9.2 , Hero for Hire 1 9.2, Fantastic Four 48 9.2, Dare Devil 7 9.0) Please don't take my original post as complaining . I'm simply commenting that I personally find it harder, based on my experience , to get higher grade key books like the ones I posted above from sellers within Canada. Also, the higher they go the bigger the hit when buying at the current exchange rate .

Hey Andrew , I'll be in London for a week the end August for work. I'll be sure to stop in. For anyone looking to buy some great books and deal with a class A seller Forrest City coins is an essential stop if you are in and around London Ontario.

You get my point and I don't plan on getting into a colorful debate about semantics. .My point is a Canadian buyer forced to buy the same book in the U.S because they can not find a copy in Canada ends up paying 30-33 % more than the same U.S buyer when factoring in exchange. So to answer your colorful question, my comment relates to 30-33% more relative to whom. My answer is the U.S. buyer. I'm aware of the fact that Canadian sellers selling in Canadian $ probably mark up the exchange difference. The two comments in the first paragraph were not meant to be linked together . Perhaps I should have been more specific : 1)It's getting harder and harder to fill my personal collection from sellers/dealers inside Canada. 2)More often that not the high grade books I'm after end up being from the U.S. and cost 30-33 % more. (Insert 30-33% more compared to the same U.S buyer who currently makes the identical salary and pays in U.S currency compared to a Canadian buyer who pays in Canadian currency) NOT 30-33% more than the same book should it be available in Canada. Each of the two comments are independent of each other. I'll be more specific next time.

Outside getting into a debate about Healthcare and income tax the reality is that it's getting harder and harder to fill my personal collection from sellers/dealers inside Canada. More often that not the high grade books I'm after end up being from the U.S. and cost 30-33 % more. I can say that if I ever do cash them out and the buyer is from Canada, those original costs are certainly going to be passed on to my fellow Canadians. Their won't be any "home town" discount from this guy when it comes time. I'll be selling in U.S dollars and adding in the projected cost of duty and taxes which would otherwise have to be paid to get them here.

No way around the pain. I find if you are in Canada looking for a particular book in high grade from a Canadian seller it can take years for it to happen. Even then I'm not convinced that there are lot of high graded keys of particular book "floating" around Canada. For example, I wanted a Fantastic Four 48 in 9.2 or higher from a Canadian dealer/seller. The odds of that happening were slim . I'm sure a few copies may be in Canadian collections but by a few I mean near non existent. To get truly amazing high grade books I'm convinced that there is a very limited supply in Canada . It seems like every time I'm looking for a 9.2 I end up importing from the U.S . Over and over , year after year.

Hello everyone, I recently purchased of a Marvel Key for $4700 U.S + $100 shipping off Ebay. After the Canadian exchange it came out to approximately $6400 Canadian. It's likely going to be bit more if taxes and duty get added to the mix during shipping. This got me thinking, how are the big Canadian dealers dealing with this? It's getting harder and harder to justify the added cost of getting these books to Canada with the sad state of our Canadian dollar. Are there any magic tricks that I haven't been told about? In order for the fellow Canadians to get these keys we basically have to commit to the fact that we will be overpaying. Thoughts?

Just a little up date on the prices, two CGC 9.2s just sold on Ebay for $4800 U.S and $4700 U.S. plus shipping. I paid the $4700 moments ago and couldn't be happier with the thought of adding this Key to my 9.2 collection. Many of you follow the prices closer than I do, however, the days of getting this book in high grade at a "low" price seem to be long gone. I wanted Silver Surfer's first appearance in 9.2 for years now and the more I waited the price kept getting higher and higher. I just couldn't stand back and watch any longer. Very happy!

I thought I would add another I just back from framing. I'm going to need more wall space soon.

I'm not . Probably because I bought in a few years back and my cost was at a fraction of today's prices. However, when or if this book pops the entire CGC comic market will. The book is a top key of one of the most popular superheroes of all time. It's an essential must have for many high grade collectors. Yes there are a lot more 181's in these grades than say AF #15 but its price is still but a small fraction to pay for such a popular character in the highest end of grades. There are enough people in this hobby with more than enough "mad" money to buy up these 9.4's, 9.2's etc. at the current or even higher prices. I'd drop 10 grand tomorrow for a 9.4 if I had to. It's not an investment to everyone. I'm convinced there are many others out there that would do the same if they had too. My guess is that $7300 will be the 9.2 price and $10,000 will be the 9.4 price before too long. I don't think it will slow down anytime soon.

This is truly one of my favourite covers of all time and I've personaly viewed it as the true DD book to have (for me anyway). It's DD as we know him . When I set out to add a key DD book to my framed collection this is the one I wanted and not #1. There is just something about this book, amazing cover with great colours , and flow . I'm happy to see others out there sharing such an interest in DD#7 . The price is no doubt reflective of the scarce numbers in 9.0 and higher. A quick look at the census and there are only 42 9.0's , 24 9.2's , 9 9.4s , and 3 9.6's for a total of 78 copies 9.0 or higher. This is a scarce key book in high grade given the number of collectors who want to own DD in his first red costume. I set out to get a 9.2 years ago and it was hard to find with nothing coming up for years. I "settled" on a 9.0 when all my others are 9.2. I now kind of like when others ask why is that the only 9.0? The simple answer is because there are only 36 higher options available! Prices are starting to reflect how hard it is to obtain this key book in high grade.

The delay in responding to my offer is killing me. I'm in a holding pattern at $3700 with Comiclink for another 2 days 9 hours. The nicer of the two 9.2's listed is actually an old label and that current offer price is $3650. I figured the seller would snap up my $3700 for the new label under those circumstances. However, they seem to be holding out. No doubt the seller is also a board member sitting back reading all of this. I haven't exactly followed the pre 2018 prices in great detail but I get the sense that a 9.2 might have been in and around the $2500 mark prior to the Disney hype. I think it's a solid fair market offer but others may disagree.

As an update I have a $3700 bid up for a 9.2. I can't see the book being higher than that . I love these comics but certain keys at 9.0 and above are starting to get less and less "affordable".

So after years of putting this book off I'm now ready to just come to terms with the fact that it's not going to be cheap. I've been on the hunt for a 9.2 (yes I'm one of those guys who likes having matching grades) . Is it just me or does it look like this book is up above $3,500 U.S. in 9.2? I'm dreading the thoughts of having it shipped to Canada with our terrible exchange, taxes and duty but I'm doubtful that there are going to be too many floating around up here. It's a dream book for me and can't wait to add it to my framed collection. Any of my fellow Canadian members own this book in high grade?

Amazing and rare in that grade! Classic cover and first red DD. Wow! I'll trade you my 9.0 haha Nice to have this in Canada as well.

I hope I didn't overpay. I don't think but I find it was expensive and perhaps reflective of the hyped market as a whole. It seems every book is getting that way now .

So I've taken a real interest in this book ; so much so I just picked up a CGC 9.2 on eBay for $1350 U.S. plus shipping ,exchange , Canadian taxes and duty. Total cost to me was just above $ 2000 Canadian. It's hard being a Canadian collector bringing these books over with the fees and exchange but that's another topic. I'll start by saying I haven't seen the show but always liked the character and tend to collect covers to display. I'm wondering what others think. He was kind of an obvious B list character back when I collected as a kid around 1990. From what I've seen , he's always trailed many of the other characters in popularity by a good margin. Am I missing something? What is behind the big price tag? I'm very happy with the book but is this price tag a product of the limited numbers (only 229 in 9.2 and higher), t.v hype, a Luke Cage renaissance, a total product of a comic book bubble where even historically "B listers " are going for big money in higher grades? Sorry to all the Cage fans, myself included, for saying he's a " B lister" in terms on comparison to Spider-Man, hulk , wolverine, etc. This book was more than my 9.2 Hulk 181 bought in 2012. Looking forward to hearing what people think.

In case anyone is looking to get their raw ASM 361 or 344 on check out AMG collectibles in Halifax Nova Scotia. The dealer's name is Brent . Very nice guy. I don't know how he does it but he literally finds stacks of mint Copper. This is just another example of the theory that key copper books are easily found in the wild. Notice that the 361's are Newsstands as well.