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Overstreets definition of scarce comics.

Started by bronzilla,

56 posts in this topic

JohnT

JohnT

Posted
Posted

What is this Gerber index, and is it online somewhere?

 

In defense of Overstreet, they do say estimated. Sounds like they aren't very quick to change their estimates in the face of new evidence, however.

 

 

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JohnT

JohnT

Posted
Posted
What is this Gerber index, and is it online somewhere?

 

In defense of Overstreet, they do say estimated. Sounds like they aren't very quick to change their estimates in the face of new evidence, however.

 

 

Okay, I found out the numbers are in a book called Gerber's Photo Journal to Comic Books.

 

Did a little searching and found this interesting ebay forum thread:

 

http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000411989&tstart=0&mod=1186896968665

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icefires

icefires

Posted
Posted
"Now, as for what they mean when they say DC 100-page 5 is "scarcer," who knows!"

 

Scarcer = 20 - 40? 20 - 50?

 

There was an article by Alan Bahr in the Comic Book Marketplace issue #22 (March 1995) about DC 100 pagers.

 

In this article he stated "Both Young Love and Young Romance are extremely difficult to find, especially in high grade. The scarcity of these issues is surpassed only by their predecessor, Super Spectacular #5, Love Stories... which ranks an uncontested first on my list of the rarest comic books from the modern age."

 

At that time, Overstreet guide on this book was $3.00 for NM. :screwy:

 

Well, I spent the next two years searching for this book (I was actually going to cons then), and no one had a copy. In fact, many dealers had never heard of this book.

 

Today, there are 33 graded copies, and I have seen quite a few crappy raw copies on Ebay. I have one graded and two raw copies myself.

 

Isn't it amazing how these so-called "scarce" books come out of the woodwork when the price gets high enough? lol

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thirdgreenham

thirdgreenham

Posted
Posted

Overstreet also uses the term "Low distribution". Case in point, Space Family Robinson #1. I think it used to be called "Scarce" so I searched for it and ended up with 4 or 5 copies. Now I'm wondering what I'm doing with them. (shrug)

 

Andy

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Mr.Diggler

Mr.Diggler

Posted
Posted

I am usually looking for two books that are "hard to find in high grade".

Conan 275, OS lists this as "low print" $5

Creepy 32 , OS lists this as "scarce" $75

 

Going to local conventions I find that this is accurate. I have only found and purchased a few copies of Creepy 32 in fine or less condition. As far as the Conan 275, the very few dealers that have a copy ask an outrageous price for this issue. OS lists at $5. I know it is "low print" and a black cover but $75-100!

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testinadical-migration

testinadical-migration

Posted
Posted
I am usually looking for two books that are "hard to find in high grade".

Conan 275, OS lists this as "low print" $5

Creepy 32 , OS lists this as "scarce" $75

 

Going to local conventions I find that this is accurate. I have only found and purchased a few copies of Creepy 32 in fine or less condition.

 

True for cons, not so for Ebay. I got my Creepy # 32 from a guy who had a box of them. He put one copy up a week. I waited for a couple months and got a lower grade copy for cheap. He musta had 30 copies ranging from high grade to reading copies.

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Scheradon

Scheradon

Posted
Posted

2300+ rare comics on eBay right now, including this RARE BA Marvel Cat set...

http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-CAT-1-4-1-2-3-4-FULL-RUN-BRONZE-AGE-MARVEL-RARE_W0QQitemZ280142748497QQihZ018QQcategoryZ35761QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

324 scarce comics on eBay including this elusive gem: X-Factor #8 from June, 2006...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/X-FACTOR-8-SCARCE-MARVEL-CIVIL-WAR-TIE-IN-ISSUE-1-2_W0QQitemZ300141402526QQihZ020QQcategoryZ32750QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

17 tough and very tough (is that the same as really tough?) books on eBay right now including some Dark Horse Star Wars issues...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Star-Wars-Jedi-Aayla-Secura-Dark-Horse-Tough-Issue_W0QQitemZ170138081492QQihZ007QQcategoryZ32762QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Now, while I didn't find any comics that fall under the "Does not exist" catagory, I did find a law book matching that catagory and in honor of our many lawyer friends here on the boards will provide the link for them...

http://cgi.ebay.com/An-item-that-does-not-exist_W0QQitemZ180149355514QQihZ008QQcategoryZ2228QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD4VQQcmdZViewItem

 

 

You really can find anything on eBay I guess. lol

 

 

 

 

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Dale Roberts

Dale Roberts

Posted
Posted

Whoever said you can find almost anything once the price gets high enough is right. The number of books which are truly rare issues is very small. I do think it is significant to note which issues of a particular run are harder to find than other surrounding issues though. Actually, the books with that designation should be expanded in Overstreet. No question that certain books are just tougher to find than other issues, and there are many, many issues which are tough to find in high grade.

 

For example, take Wonder Woman #105. Yes, this is a fairly tough issue, but it is extremely tough in grade. I, in fact, have never seen a truly high grade copy. You can say this about most DC comics produced between 1955 and 1961. Many of the issues don't seem to exist above 8.0 and a nice 6.0 is truly hard to find. I would venture to say that very few people anywhere have extensive collections of this type material. Ever seen a World's Finest #71 - 75 in 8.0 or better? Ever seen Detective #180 - 220 in 8.0 or better? How about Batman #70 - 110? Superman #70 - 110? How about Jimmy Olsen #1 - 20? Lois Lane #1 - 20? Superboy #25 - 50? And anything above 8.5? You just don't see them.

 

In regards to this, I have an intriguing question which comes up often in pricing comics for retail. I recently sold a very tough Detective Comic in CGC 7.0 for alot of money. It was the 2nd highest grade copy, with only an 8.0 exceeding that grade. If there is no comic graded at 9.2 at the current time, is the 8.0 worth 9.2 guide? Is it worth more than 9.2 guide, since in fact, it is the closest to MINT copy known to be in existence.

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bronzilla

bronzilla

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I would have to say yes. In that situation through the guide out. You sort of answered your own question when you mentioned selling the 7.0 for a lot of money. Bet you got at least the overstreet 9.2 price or more.

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JohnT

JohnT

Posted
Posted
Whoever said you can find almost anything once the price gets high enough is right. The number of books which are truly rare issues is very small. I do think it is significant to note which issues of a particular run are harder to find than other surrounding issues though. Actually, the books with that designation should be expanded in Overstreet. No question that certain books are just tougher to find than other issues, and there are many, many issues which are tough to find in high grade.

 

For example, take Wonder Woman #105. Yes, this is a fairly tough issue, but it is extremely tough in grade. I, in fact, have never seen a truly high grade copy. You can say this about most DC comics produced between 1955 and 1961. Many of the issues don't seem to exist above 8.0 and a nice 6.0 is truly hard to find. I would venture to say that very few people anywhere have extensive collections of this type material. Ever seen a World's Finest #71 - 75 in 8.0 or better? Ever seen Detective #180 - 220 in 8.0 or better? How about Batman #70 - 110? Superman #70 - 110? How about Jimmy Olsen #1 - 20? Lois Lane #1 - 20? Superboy #25 - 50? And anything above 8.5? You just don't see them.

 

In regards to this, I have an intriguing question which comes up often in pricing comics for retail. I recently sold a very tough Detective Comic in CGC 7.0 for alot of money. It was the 2nd highest grade copy, with only an 8.0 exceeding that grade. If there is no comic graded at 9.2 at the current time, is the 8.0 worth 9.2 guide? Is it worth more than 9.2 guide, since in fact, it is the closest to MINT copy known to be in existence.

 

I suppose the only reason it might not get the money of a 9.2 is there's no guarantee there isn't a 9.2 out there somewhere. Sure you're buying one of the top issues now, but down the road it may turn out to be the 3rd or 6th best issue.

 

 

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Dale Roberts

Dale Roberts

Posted
Posted
Whoever said you can find almost anything once the price gets high enough is right. The number of books which are truly rare issues is very small. I do think it is significant to note which issues of a particular run are harder to find than other surrounding issues though. Actually, the books with that designation should be expanded in Overstreet. No question that certain books are just tougher to find than other issues, and there are many, many issues which are tough to find in high grade.

 

For example, take Wonder Woman #105. Yes, this is a fairly tough issue, but it is extremely tough in grade. I, in fact, have never seen a truly high grade copy. You can say this about most DC comics produced between 1955 and 1961. Many of the issues don't seem to exist above 8.0 and a nice 6.0 is truly hard to find. I would venture to say that very few people anywhere have extensive collections of this type material. Ever seen a World's Finest #71 - 75 in 8.0 or better? Ever seen Detective #180 - 220 in 8.0 or better? How about Batman #70 - 110? Superman #70 - 110? How about Jimmy Olsen #1 - 20? Lois Lane #1 - 20? Superboy #25 - 50? And anything above 8.5? You just don't see them.

 

In regards to this, I have an intriguing question which comes up often in pricing comics for retail. I recently sold a very tough Detective Comic in CGC 7.0 for alot of money. It was the 2nd highest grade copy, with only an 8.0 exceeding that grade. If there is no comic graded at 9.2 at the current time, is the 8.0 worth 9.2 guide? Is it worth more than 9.2 guide, since in fact, it is the closest to MINT copy known to be in existence.

 

I suppose the only reason it might not get the money of a 9.2 is there's no guarantee there isn't a 9.2 out there somewhere. Sure you're buying one of the top issues now, but down the road it may turn out to be the 3rd or 6th best issue.

 

Well, that can always be the case. You might buy a 9.8 of a bronze age book and a 10.0 or 9.9 could come out of the woodwork. I don't really think that most people buying those issues are worried if it is the highest graded, but more that they would like a nice, high grade run of those books, and the copies are just not available in the desired grade.

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Mister_Comics

Mister_Comics

Posted
Posted

We could go to the opposite extreme and say the highest amount of a comic to be called... OVER ABUNDANCE. So many that everyone in the world could have one. A completely worthless book. And make the list down to the least amount.

 

And I also think EXTINCT should be in there for the comics that are no longer around. They existed once. Should be noted.

 

Some comics that are far & few...

The Story Of Westinghouse

Treasure Chest Teachers Edition

Spider-Man Peanutbutter Taskmaster Challenge

These are just a few of the ones that were thought not to exist. But with the computer age they have turned up. I don't think OS even mentions a lot of the scarce ones.

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