Which Books Have Increased The Most After Relative Obscurity...

[cloudofwit]

Spiderman #129 (Puisher) is the most extreme example I know. It didn't even get broken out from surrounding issues for many years.

 

Also, Daredevil #131 (first Bullseye), nobody cared until MIller came along

 

All Batman first silver age appearances of villians (#155, 181, 189, 234, etc)

 

Hulk #181, a totally meaningless issue until GS Xmen #1

 

Iron Fist #14 (first Sabertooth)

 

House Of Secrets #92 (first Swampy), it was always worth more than other issues, but is now highly sought after

 

 

 

The other day I decided to look at ASM #129 via Overstreet 10 years after it came out (when it was indeed grouped within the #123-140 category), 20 years, 30 years, and now:

 

1984: 2.00

1994 275.00

2004: 400.00

2008: 700.00

[sterlingcomics]

I think a couple true out of nowhere books, if you look at early 90's guide prices being $2.00 (Even MS5 was at least a $8 book then) & under, with high grades going for $500+ now...

 

House of Mystery #174

House of Secrets #81

Tomahawk #114

Weird War #1

 

I'd also add Witching Hour #1 especially...a 9.4 cost me about $400 some years ago and now it's around $850 for a 9.4...and a 9.6 is going for around $1800+. A lot of these early issues on these series are now breaking or flaunting with the $1k mark in the next year or so just for 9.4. A lot of this is due to the GL #76 effect...few copies...just enough demand to keep prices up.

 

House of Secrets #105 is also a brain stumper for me. Metro had an Oakland 9.8 at $400 and the same copy sold on Heritage for over $800+. Even 9.4s get strong money because of the Sparling cover.

[tth2]

I would say ultra-HG DC BA Horror. You almost couldn't give most of those books away just 5 years ago, and now they consistently command high prices. I think the Boards definitely helped to influence that trend.

[the blob]

Ms. Marvel 18 or whatever is considered 1st Mystique

Spotlight 28 - 1st Spiderwoman

 

Both books were regularly available in 25 cent/50cent/dollar boxes until the mid/late 90s (and probably still are nowadays by accident)

 

But I suppose the real money is mainly in very HG copies

 

 

[sterlingcomics]

I would say ultra-HG DC BA Horror. You almost couldn't give most of those books away just 5 years ago, and now they consistently command high prices. I think the Boards definitely helped to influence that trend.

 

I'd preface that with EARLY. Most of the later stuff you still can't give away.

[tth2]

I would say ultra-HG DC BA Horror. You almost couldn't give most of those books away just 5 years ago, and now they consistently command high prices. I think the Boards definitely helped to influence that trend.

 

I'd preface that with EARLY. Most of the later stuff you still can't give away.

Yup, 15, 20 and some 25 cent covers.

[brasseye]

I would say ultra-HG DC BA Horror. You almost couldn't give most of those books away just 5 years ago, and now they consistently command high prices. I think the Boards definitely helped to influence that trend.

 

Yes but that ssems to be wanning now, as the census fills out more and more with these in the big horror DC titles.

Certain obscure ones, still elude, but none of them have any significant difficult issues. At least nothing you can't see in any other title that has an issue or two that eludes encapsulation.

 

[brasseye]

Ninja Turtles 1. This book was going for $200-$300 in VF - NM copies up until about 2002. Now VF-NM copies go anywhere from $1000 - $5000

 

No, TMNT was hugely hot, and expensive in it's inital 5 years, and turtle mania period that swept the world. Typically back then a top copy could command as much as $1000!

The price of the book was linked to the fad, and once it had passed, the book slipped off the radar.

 

The only thing that changed subsequent to this to reinvigorate the book was it reaching the 25 year birthday mark.

It was a classic, and people realised this combined with the limited print run, it's iconic status in modern culture was secure.

Thus prices began to escalte once again.

[joe_collector]

The other day I decided to look at ASM #129 via Overstreet 10 years after it came out (when it was indeed grouped within the #123-140 category), 20 years, 30 years, and now:

 

1984: 2.00

1994 275.00

2004: 400.00

2008: 700.00

 

Sure, but the book broke out for collectors earlier than that (ASM 129 was always missing in stores) and for the OS, it broke probably around 1987. But OS was following trends then, and smart collectors were buying ASM 129 and knew its significance.

 

Just a different time for Bronze books and OS values, and even Hulk 181 was a $30 book back in the mid-80's. I can still remember a guy at a 1986 Con screaming that he had "NM Hulk 181's for sale! $30 a piece!".

[dekeuk]

I can still remember a guy at a 1986 Con screaming that he had "NM Hulk 181's for sale! $30 a piece!".

 

 

 

So you bought every copy he had........ right?

[joe_collector]

I can still remember a guy at a 1986 Con screaming that he had "NM Hulk 181's for sale! $30 a piece!".

 

So you bought every copy he had........ right?

 

Nope, I personally thought that was really high, as I'd recently seen a nice copy for $20.

 

Plus, first appearances hadn't really taken off as yet, and no one knew how crazy high the book would go.

[brasseye]

I can still remember a guy at a 1986 Con screaming that he had "NM Hulk 181's for sale! $30 a piece!".

 

So you bought every copy he had........ right?

 

Nope, I personally thought that was really high, as I'd recently seen a nice copy for $20.

 

Plus, first appearances hadn't really taken off as yet, and no one knew how crazy high the book would go.

 

So what waves have you caught....Howard the Duck, Dazzler, New Universe

[tth2]

I would say ultra-HG DC BA Horror. You almost couldn't give most of those books away just 5 years ago, and now they consistently command high prices. I think the Boards definitely helped to influence that trend.

 

Yes but that ssems to be wanning now, as the census fills out more and more with these in the big horror DC titles.

Certain obscure ones, still elude, but none of them have any significant difficult issues. At least nothing you can't see in any other title that has an issue or two that eludes encapsulation.

Yes, but across the board prices are still astronomically higher than they were 5 years ago.

[joe_collector]

So what waves have you caught....Howard the Duck, Dazzler, New Universe

 

None, I have always bought what I liked and didn't pay attention to fads. At that Con, I believe I was trying to complete some BA Spideys and Avengers.

 

Are you one of these people who somehow believe that "if I had been around in the 70's, I would have bought a few longboxes of Hulk 181"?

 

Pure fantasy, and all the speculators of that era have longboxes of Godzilla, Tarzan, John Carter, Kazar, Micronauts, Moon Knight, King Conan, etc. Just like in the early-90's, the fools were hoarding new issues, and #1's, as that's what was deemed collectible at the time.

[tth2]

Ninja Turtles 1. This book was going for $200-$300 in VF - NM copies up until about 2002. Now VF-NM copies go anywhere from $1000 - $5000

 

No, TMNT was hugely hot, and expensive in it's inital 5 years, and turtle mania period that swept the world. Typically back then a top copy could command as much as $1000!

The price of the book was linked to the fad, and once it had passed, the book slipped off the radar.

 

The only thing that changed subsequent to this to reinvigorate the book was it reaching the 25 year birthday mark.

It was a classic, and people realised this combined with the limited print run, it's iconic status in modern culture was secure.

Thus prices began to escalte once again.

Au contraire. The book never slipped off the radar in terms of prices, just in terms of availability. I couldn`t find a NM 1st print copy back in 1985, and I still couldn`t find a NM copy in 20 years of looking afterwards until CGC`s high prices finally brought a few to market.

[brasseye]

Ninja Turtles 1. This book was going for $200-$300 in VF - NM copies up until about 2002. Now VF-NM copies go anywhere from $1000 - $5000

 

No, TMNT was hugely hot, and expensive in it's inital 5 years, and turtle mania period that swept the world. Typically back then a top copy could command as much as $1000!

The price of the book was linked to the fad, and once it had passed, the book slipped off the radar.

 

The only thing that changed subsequent to this to reinvigorate the book was it reaching the 25 year birthday mark.

It was a classic, and people realised this combined with the limited print run, it's iconic status in modern culture was secure.

Thus prices began to escalte once again.

Au contraire. The book never slipped off the radar in terms of prices, just in terms of availability. I couldn`t find a NM 1st print copy back in 1985, and I still couldn`t find a NM copy in 20 years of looking afterwards until CGC`s high prices finally brought a few to market.

 

Tim, I guess that would definitely be the case for a lot of collectors. I managed to find a VF+ copy about 6 months beofre prices started moving for £250. Needless to say, John Skoulides the dealer involved, informed me the seller wasn't happy when the high dollar sales started emerging.

[brasseye]

So what waves have you caught....Howard the Duck, Dazzler, New Universe

 

None, I have always bought what I liked and didn't pay attention to fads. At that Con, I believe I was trying to complete some BA Spideys and Avengers.

 

Are you one of these people who somehow believe that "if I had been around in the 70's, I would have bought a few longboxes of Hulk 181"?

 

Pure fantasy, and all the speculators of that era have longboxes of Godzilla, Tarzan, John Carter, Kazar, Micronauts, Moon Knight, King Conan, etc. Just like in the early-90's, the fools were hoarding new issues, and #1's, as that's what was deemed collectible at the time.

 

JC, I think your right there.

Guys that did have those books, seemed to have them as a matter of course with thousands of other's. So no better than dumb luck.

 

Though Harley Yee did tell me of one guy/hoarder who had a box Silver Surfer's #4's. But I assume somone like that would of had a box of all of them, and just released them last, as that was the stand out issue.

No points for putting away square bound issues of a popular charater in his first title.

[The Black Hand ®]

Suspense 3 after being showcased in the Gerber Guide

 

Does the original cover art exist for that book?

[the blob]

$30 in 1986 was real money though, in terms of what you could get in terms of SA and some GA and early BA. Yes, not relative to what the book fetches now, sure. And sure, people were also blowing $30 on some comic that came out 2 months before too.

[sterlingcomics]

I would say ultra-HG DC BA Horror. You almost couldn't give most of those books away just 5 years ago, and now they consistently command high prices. I think the Boards definitely helped to influence that trend.

 

Yes but that ssems to be wanning now, as the census fills out more and more with these in the big horror DC titles.

Certain obscure ones, still elude, but none of them have any significant difficult issues. At least nothing you can't see in any other title that has an issue or two that eludes encapsulation.

 

Do you already have a 9.6+ high grade set of these? Yes, there are about a dozen of "significantly difficult" issues to find in hg. At least in the titles I'm collecting. Chartons are even more obscure, but I won't go there.

 

I'll admit that the books were easier to find once the prices brought out the sellers, but it's a far cry from a cake walk either. Also, if anyone has noticed, fewer are now being offered for sale. Esoteric collectors hold on to these books it seems- or they are waiting for the next gravy train high to come along to cash in.