Rare! Really?

[Tatterdamillion]

There are a bunch of books in the early silver age late gold that are listed in Overstreet as rare or scarce, and some of these books I see in abundance even though I don't even look for them. How much of these claims to rarity do you think are factual, as I feel some of them are not only dubious at best but in some small way an attempt to distort values of books. I myself want a bunch of them but feel the prices are a little inordinate.

 

I am sure value has much to do with these books actually showing up to market. In that I mean there are no doubt lesser value books that are way more impossible to get that will never show up for sale as it is just not worth selling them for anywhere close to their guide price.

 

Does anyone here have any insight or revelations.

 

For instance All American Comics #102 seems to be around as much as any comic as does Flash 104. Congo Bill #1 I see often as well. The Phantom Strangers I do see fairly often yet always beaten up.

[adamstrange]

There are books that are scarce in any grade and there are books that are scarce in high grade. I think the 4 books you cite fall into the latter category.

 

Past thread on this topic link

 

 

[jimjum12]

Plus...most of the books were designated rare/scarce before the days of the internet. Nothing is terribly rare anymore....scarce maybe.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[trmoore54]

I still get a kick out of so many eBay listings that cite the book as RARE...totally random...and yet not so totally RARE...fairly humorous, but again, it is the Bay...

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

Hey, let's ask Ian his thoughts on this matter...?

 

Rick

[Jeffro.]

Plus...most of the books were designated rare/scarce before the days of the internet. Nothing is terribly rare anymore....scarce maybe.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

I agree. The internet has made many previously "scarce" books not so scarce.

[tth2]

Hey, let's ask Ian his thoughts on this matter...?

 

Rick

I think he`s said that no SA book is rare or really scarce, but there are definitely GA DCs that are rare.

[Juswuh]

If you really want a comic to be rarer you could always tear it up.

[Blind Owl]

Hey, let's ask Ian his thoughts on this matter...?

 

Rick

I think he`s said that no SA book is rare or really scarce, but there are definitely GA DCs that are rare.

 

Quite a few Centaurs too!!!! I believe more so than DC!!!!

 

Just not in demand as much!!!

 

Don't forget St. John, Fox and some Dell & Fiction House too.

[kimik]

There are a lot of early GA books (pre-1940) that are hard to find at all. The one that I own is Detective #28, but there are a number of early Actions that are tough, as well as most of the pre-hero books.

[KirbyJack]

I still get a kick out of so many eBay listings that cite the book as RARE...totally random...and yet not so totally RARE...fairly humorous, but again, it is the Bay...

 

I caught a segment of one of those comic book sales on QVC. They descibed the Jim Lee X-Men #1 as "rare".

 

That has to be the single most common comic in the world.

[jimjum12]

Back before the internet even books that weren't considered rare actually were.I'm working on a 50's Atlas run now called 'Menace' in a 5.0 - 6.5 range. Putting it together before the internet would've been a pipe dream...and they're only Gerber 4's and 5's. I got one from England, one from California, and two from New York. I've actually got a line on copies of most of the rest...only a lack of money holds me back. Those Phantom Strangers are tough especially in solid mid grade or up. Gene Carpenter had them all together at a show in the late 90's in VG+ and I was amazed. I traded him a couple of Bullseye issues and the last issue of Whiz...3 other tough issues. The internet has made it so much easier...I was actually surprised that the availability didn't cause prices to plummet...the opposite seems to have occured.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Flash105]

Fortunately, most pre 1970 books are somewhat scarce or rare in 9.4 or above. To me the terms are merely marketing and meaningless without numbers. AF15 is not rare by any stretch of the imagination but a 9.4 AF15 is rare by all measures.

[jimjum12]

Scarcity has always been a factor in my buying decisions....something appeals to me about the hunt. Here lately those AF 15's have become rare to me...my wallet keeps making it hard for me to get one .GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[JohnT]

Back before the internet even books that weren't considered rare actually were.I'm working on a 50's Atlas run now called 'Menace' in a 5.0 - 6.5 range. Putting it together before the internet would've been a pipe dream...and they're only Gerber 4's and 5's. I got one from England, one from California, and two from New York. I've actually got a line on copies of most of the rest...only a lack of money holds me back. Those Phantom Strangers are tough especially in solid mid grade or up. Gene Carpenter had them all together at a show in the late 90's in VG+ and I was amazed. I traded him a couple of Bullseye issues and the last issue of Whiz...3 other tough issues. The internet has made it so much easier...I was actually surprised that the availability didn't cause prices to plummet...the opposite seems to have occured.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Yes, the internet has revised how we see rarity, but on the other hand it has also made clear just how many collectors and collections there are out there, and how much competition there is for some of these uncommon books. For example, there was a time when I figured I was one of the only one's interested in the obscure Atom Age DC series like Robin Hood and Frontier Fighters. But since I've joined the boards I've found a bunch of people who would like to land those books.

[wicked game-migration]

From someone who collected in the pre internet days...

 

I always assumed that "rare' and "scarce" were reference to problems that limited production or distribution. Often times that could be a regional problem. Like a fire or some other accident at a facility that made an impact on more localized supplies of books.

 

I remember reading the regional contributors to the Overstreet monthly. Sometimes there would be mention that a book that was noted as "scarce" or "rare' was in fact quite common in their corner of the world and sold at less than guide prices.

[nmtg9]

i started collecting seriously in the 80's in the north of england. most key books were scarce simply because of a lack of supply. i remember seeing x men2 for sale and being amazed ! now if i wanted that book i could get it delivered to me within a few days.

i feel the terms rare and scarce have become relatively meaningless for issuse. nowadays to get a feel for a book being scarce or rare you need to look at the high grade issues as jackcsco said.

[cd4ever]

It's like Conan 3 or Silver Surfer 4.......They've been list as Scarce - Low print run books forever.

 

They are just as common as the surrounding issues. Perhaps the print run was slightly smaller but not enough to make any sort of noticable difference in the ,market. But Overstreet has put that in there every year and they've been selling for a premium ever since. Granted, SS 4 would sell for a premium anyway.