Will the true rarity of CGC 9.8 late 1970s unpopular titles ever be appreciated?

[carcrawfordfan]

Look at this guy's auctions. Most of these cards are commons. See what they go off for and I will find some completeds and be back.

 

LOW POP Commons for big $$$

[joe_collector]

It depends on the POP (census) of the card and how actively the set is being built.

 

But baseball cards are built by set, while comics are not.

 

Otherwise, the CGC Registry would include sets for 1965, 1966, 1967, etc., rather than by title. Then, collectors would be looking around for that HTF Romance book from 1961 to complete their Registry.

[Mr. Zipper]

Look at this guy's auctions. Most of these cards are commons. See what they go off for and I will find some completeds and be back.

 

LOW POP Commons for big $$$

 

True, but there are many baseball card collectors who go for the entire year's set, which includes the commons of course.

 

I don't know if the same scenario applies to comics.

[joe_collector]

Look at this guy's auctions. Most of these cards are commons. See what they go off for and I will find some completeds and be back.

 

LOW POP Commons for big $$$

 

Yes, and I'm sure that lots of non-key comics from 1954 are worth some cash too.

[the blob]

that guy is getting good money for run of the mill 50s cards in 9 or 10. i'm thinking those are pretty frigging HTF in sharp condition and are worth a few bucks raw in nice shape? i tried to compare late 70s comics to late 70s cards.

 

hey, virtually any 9.4+ comic from the 50s is going to command a nice premium (other than maybe major inapak), even the frowned upon funny animal books.

[bronzilla]

I think the chances of these books becoming worth a boatload of cash is pretty much non-existant, but collectors have driven prices up on lots of ridiculous things before, so who knows.

 

And, while I agree with your premise about some books not-existing in 9.8, I think you're picking the wrong titles. I'd guess almost every superhero issue published by Marvel or DC, reprint or not, has 9.8 copies sitting out there. Don't underestimate the degree of hoarding that took place, even on an individual basis.

 

The books that may not exist in 9.8 (and I'd guess there are 1000's of them) are the Charlton (and even DC and Marvel) romances, the westerns, the Archies, the licensed animated properties, Red Circle books, early digests, give-aways (there are some issues of March of Comics that were so bad, I don't think anyone ever took care of them), and even Dennis the Menace. If you collect any of these books in high grade, you're often happy to find a VF copy.

 

Nothing short of warehouse finds or dramatic pressing will change this.

The above list looks like my inventory of comics..Just sayin....I like what most dont

[CAMERANIAC]

I think the chances of these books becoming worth a boatload of cash is pretty much non-existant, but collectors have driven prices up on lots of ridiculous things before, so who knows.

 

And, while I agree with your premise about some books not-existing in 9.8, I think you're picking the wrong titles. I'd guess almost every superhero issue published by Marvel or DC, reprint or not, has 9.8 copies sitting out there. Don't underestimate the degree of hoarding that took place, even on an individual basis.

 

The books that may not exist in 9.8 (and I'd guess there are 1000's of them) are the Charlton (and even DC and Marvel) romances, the westerns, the Archies, the licensed animated properties, Red Circle books, early digests, give-aways (there are some issues of March of Comics that were so bad, I don't think anyone ever took care of them), and even Dennis the Menace. If you collect any of these books in high grade, you're often happy to find a VF copy.

 

Nothing short of warehouse finds or dramatic pressing will change this.

The above list looks like my inventory of comics..Just sayin....I like what most dont

Don't worry, you're not alone. (thumbs u

[seanfingh]

I tend to think of things in the same way.

 

Then reality bites me and I remember that no matter how rare something is, it's only worth something if someone else wants it. The values will probably always remain low for these titles...that said, I still pick them up uber-high grade, raw and slabs, cheap whenever I see them because they make me happy.

 

This quote sums it up nicely for me as well, with the added language.

 

 

[underthebigw]

I think the chances of these books becoming worth a boatload of cash is pretty much non-existant, but collectors have driven prices up on lots of ridiculous things before, so who knows.

 

And, while I agree with your premise about some books not-existing in 9.8, I think you're picking the wrong titles. I'd guess almost every superhero issue published by Marvel or DC, reprint or not, has 9.8 copies sitting out there. Don't underestimate the degree of hoarding that took place, even on an individual basis.

 

The books that may not exist in 9.8 (and I'd guess there are 1000's of them) are the Charlton (and even DC and Marvel) romances, the westerns, the Archies, the licensed animated properties, Red Circle books, early digests, give-aways (there are some issues of March of Comics that were so bad, I don't think anyone ever took care of them), and even Dennis the Menace. If you collect any of these books in high grade, you're often happy to find a VF copy.

 

Nothing short of warehouse finds or dramatic pressing will change this.

The above list looks like my inventory of comics..Just sayin....I like what most dont

Don't worry, you're not alone. (thumbs u

 

Yep, there's a surprisingly large number of us. And why not, when you can find books like below for anywhere from $5 to $35. You could look for higher graded copies for years and not find them.

 

[jimm94]

I think that the non-hero Marvels, particularly those of the early to mid 70's, will continue to be difficult to find in high grade. So many collections continue to pop up that have great depth and quality - except when it comes to non-hero titles. Very few high grade collections are truly complete.

[underthebigw]

By the way, the Kid Colt is actually mine--I just saved the scan from MH. I nabbed this during one of their sales, when somehow this slipped through the cracks of one of Chucks "algorithims".

 

 

[valiantman]

Will the true rarity of CGC 9.8 late 1970s unpopular titles ever be appreciated?

I think the key word there is "unpopular".

 

If popularity were to increase, the price would probably also increase accordingly.

 

The bad news is that these are already 30-year-old books and they're what you call "unpopular".

 

The good news is that a popularity increase could come from anywhere.

Perhaps more collectors become interested:

- when they're 40 or 50 years old

- when they want to expand their collections

- if some new version of the characters is introduced (to keep the copyrights alive, most likely)

- if they decide to collect comics from the year they were born

- if they compare census to price and decide it's a "win-win"

 

...pretty much anything could have a positive effect because

"unpopular" only has the potential to stay the same or increase in popularity.

 

It's hard to say that nothing will ever affect popularity of these books.

But... 30 years in... they're not looking too good.

[shadroch]

How about we put together a syndicate. We raise $500,000. We use $250,000 to buy up all the copies of an obscure 70s book and we use the other $250,000 to bribe Alan Moore and Brian Bolland to do a 12 part revival.

[underthebigw]

Will the true rarity of CGC 9.8 late 1970s unpopular titles ever be appreciated?

I think the key word there is "unpopular".

 

If popularity were to increase, the price would probably also increase accordingly.

 

The bad news is that these are already 30-year-old books and they're what you call "unpopular".

 

The good news is that a popularity increase could come from anywhere.

Perhaps more collectors become interested:

- when they're 40 or 50 years old

- when they want to expand their collections

- if some new version of the characters is introduced (to keep the copyrights alive, most likely)

- if they decide to collect comics from the year they were born

- if they compare census to price and decide it's a "win-win"

 

...pretty much anything could have a positive effect because

"unpopular" only has the potential to stay the same or increase in popularity.

 

It's hard to say that nothing will ever affect popularity of these books.

But... 30 years in... they're not looking too good.

 

Things do change.

 

Even after the Harvey warehouse was found, Geppi couldn't even make a dent in the stockpile of HG books. Now look at the prices they get on ebay and Heritage.

 

When I started collecting BA Archies, I had very little competition, mostly from people who could care less about grade. I knew I could wait until the end of a show and hammer out some nice deals on HG BA copies. Not so anymore. Every show has 5 or 10 collectors digging out the same stuff.

 

I also detect a number of BA collectors looking for more challenges within the same time period, which speaks to your 2nd point. Charltons used to languish. Now, if they're in grade (VF or better) they actually can bring in some nice dough on ebay. Still not a ton, but no longer do they sell for 2-5 bucks, esp. NM copies

 

Things do change. I'm with you though--most of these books will be of the same relative value as they are now.

[tth2]

Popular titles like xmen, batman and spiderman are common in 9.8 but I am convinced there are at least 2000 or more copies of every single issue available in 9.8 of the popular titles, they just have not been graded yet, they are sitting in various collections.

Fixed that for you.

 

But are there any copies at all in the world that would qualify as a CGC 9.8 for the unpopular titles? (assuming they could be found and submiited to CGC and get a 9.8)

 

Take some of these unpopular DC titles for example, like Black Lightning, Ragman, Freedom Fighters, DC Superstars, etc. Nobody read these comics when they were published, they had low print runs, and all were cancelled shortly after they started publishing.

Tell you what, start offering $500 per 9.8 copy, which is an amount high enough to compensate people for the risk that issues submitted will come back in 9.6 or lower. You will be absolutely stunned by the number of 9.8 copies of these lesser known titles that will start to emerge from the woodwork. Perhaps not as many as the mainstream titles, but still a lot. Might there be 1 or 2 issues that ends up being truly scarce in 9.8 because of some confluence of circumstances? Sure. But not most.

 

[tth2]

It may someday be recognized, but never appreciated. Those books sucked, that's why they're rare. Nobody in their right mind would appreciate them.

You could say the same thing about a lot of GA and Atomic Age titles. They blow in all respects (art and story). Yet today people collect them just because they're old and they're rare.

[carcrawfordfan]

It depends on the POP (census) of the card and how actively the set is being built.

 

But baseball cards are built by set, while comics are not.

 

Otherwise, the CGC Registry would include sets for 1965, 1966, 1967, etc., rather than by title. Then, collectors would be looking around for that HTF Romance book from 1961 to complete their Registry.

 

How is a run of some junk book any different than a set??

[bronzilla]

I think the chances of these books becoming worth a boatload of cash is pretty much non-existant, but collectors have driven prices up on lots of ridiculous things before, so who knows.

 

And, while I agree with your premise about some books not-existing in 9.8, I think you're picking the wrong titles. I'd guess almost every superhero issue published by Marvel or DC, reprint or not, has 9.8 copies sitting out there. Don't underestimate the degree of hoarding that took place, even on an individual basis.

 

The books that may not exist in 9.8 (and I'd guess there are 1000's of them) are the Charlton (and even DC and Marvel) romances, the westerns, the Archies, the licensed animated properties, Red Circle books, early digests, give-aways (there are some issues of March of Comics that were so bad, I don't think anyone ever took care of them), and even Dennis the Menace. If you collect any of these books in high grade, you're often happy to find a VF copy.

 

Nothing short of warehouse finds or dramatic pressing will change this.

The above list looks like my inventory of comics..Just sayin....I like what most dont

Don't worry, you're not alone. (thumbs u

 

Yep, there's a surprisingly large number of us. And why not, when you can find books like below for anywhere from $5 to $35. You could look for higher graded copies for years and not find them.

 

Nice to here from people with similar interests Those Harvey packs are Awesome!!

For me Digests are the funnest to collect in High grade!!

Just try putting together A collection of DENNIS THE MENACE POCKETFULL OF FUN in high grade Or some of the Harvey digests.

Gold Key Story Digests...Good luck!!

Few copies out there... and the ones that are, have Rubbing wear at best and fall into the vg/ fine category. These were not really considered collectible at the time and were not stored properly. I Looked for years to find my N/M copy Of pocket full of 1, Finally found it! Nearly completed my full set on this title in high grade and it was a BEAR!!!

CHARLTON COMICS....Sub par printing process and Paper... not really considered cool in the day.

High grade in these can be nearly impossible, and they had some really good artist and writers in their time...Joe Staton John Byrne Steve Ditko to name a few.

So the interest in these should be high.

At least I hope so! VIVA LA ODDBALL!!!!

[the blob]

How is a run of some junk book any different than a set??

-----------------------------

 

The baseball card set will have some cards/players you actually want?

[joe_collector]

How is a run of some junk book any different than a set??

 

Sports card set are by YEAR and comic runs are by TITLE.

 

This is a huge difference, and one major reason why comparing the card census/registry to the comic ones is impossible.