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Can someone tell me why this issue is in such demand?

Started by Mr 9.8,

14 posts in this topic

Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted

Supposedly most had a defect along the spine that was a production error, keeping these books out of the 9.8 category. But lately, quite a few 9.8s have been cropping up, driving the price down from a high of $2,500 to a low of some in the $300-$400 range.

 

Here's additional details for you Sam.

 

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/issue.asp?cn=251

 

A number of copies have a split in the cover at the spine, appears to be a common printing defect.

 

Not sure why, but Valiant used three staples on issue #1, but any later issues they went to two staples. Maybe the third staple is what contributed to the defect.

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rjpb

rjpb

Posted
Posted
Supposedly most had a defect along the spine that was a production error, keeping these books out of the 9.8 category. But lately, quite a few 9.8s have been cropping up, driving the price down from a high of $2,500 to a low of some in the $300-$400 range.

 

The danger of paying huge premiums for top census copper/modern books illustrated.

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
Posted
Supposedly most had a defect along the spine that was a production error, keeping these books out of the 9.8 category. But lately, quite a few 9.8s have been cropping up, driving the price down from a high of $2,500 to a low of some in the $300-$400 range.

 

Here's additional details for you Sam.

 

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/issue.asp?cn=251

 

A number of copies have a split in the cover at the spine, appears to be a common printing defect.

 

Not sure why, but Valiant used three staples on issue #1, but any later issues they went to two staples. Maybe the third staple is what contributed to the defect.

 

 

It wasn't the staple it was the paper stock used.

 

It is dramatically more flimsy and susceptible to splitting and flaking than the cover stock on Magnus, Solar, X-0 or almost any other valiant.

 

C

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Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted
Supposedly most had a defect along the spine that was a production error, keeping these books out of the 9.8 category. But lately, quite a few 9.8s have been cropping up, driving the price down from a high of $2,500 to a low of some in the $300-$400 range.

 

Here's additional details for you Sam.

 

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/issue.asp?cn=251

 

A number of copies have a split in the cover at the spine, appears to be a common printing defect.

 

Not sure why, but Valiant used three staples on issue #1, but any later issues they went to two staples. Maybe the third staple is what contributed to the defect.

 

 

It wasn't the staple it was the paper stock used.

 

It is dramatically more flimsy and susceptible to splitting and flaking than the cover stock on Magnus, Solar, X-0 or almost any other valiant.

 

C

Thanks Chris for the education. I knew there was some form of defect, but never heard this before about the paper stock used.

 

But in checking my early Harbingers, the first seven issues all seem to be using the same paper from a layman's glance if there is a difference. Why would #1 have this defect and not the later issues?

 

Just wondering.

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Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted
It will probably lvl off and hold at 350-400

I have to agree. It's still a tough early Valiant to find in 9.8 condition, but never deserved a $2,500 pricetag. Heck, it didn't deserve a $500-$600 pricetag.

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valiantman

valiantman

Posted
Posted

It's pretty clear that CGC "loosened up" the definition of 9.8 on this book.

 

The first 285 copies that CGC graded had only 12 copies as CGC 9.8.

The next 154 copies that CGC graded had 30 copies as CGC 9.8.

There are now 42 CGC 9.8s on the census, not counting Signature.

 

While I'm sure some portion of those 30 are legit, there's no way that 20% have been 9.8 worthy (30 out of 154)

after 9 years of grading and consistently seeing under 5% as CGC 9.8 (12 out of 285).

 

Check the progression...

 

When there were only 12 after 8 years, the supply was much lower than demand at $1,000 (or even $2,000).

People paid whatever they had to... only 1 or 2 copies per year was tough.

Now at 42... the supply is much higher than demand anywhere near $1,000...

It's pretty clear that the supply is too high to maintain even $500 today.

 

But another question you have to ask is...

"Do I want to pay even $300 to own a 9.8 book that's likely closer to the 9.6s from a few years ago?"

 

The price of the CGC 9.6 Harbinger #1 has historically been anywhere from $75 to $200...

and it's likely that many of these latest 9.8s are no better than those. How much is that 9.8 on the label worth?

 

For what it's worth, I think that CGC 9.8 has been "loosened up" for MANY of the submissions since last year,

not just Harbinger #1. Check out G.I. Joe #21 for another example.

 

hm

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Bosco685

Bosco685

Posted
Posted
It's pretty clear that CGC "loosened up" the definition of 9.8 on this book.

 

The first 285 copies that CGC graded had only 12 copies as CGC 9.8.

The next 154 copies that CGC graded had 30 copies as CGC 9.8.

There are now 42 CGC 9.8s on the census, not counting Signature.

 

While I'm sure some portion of those 30 are legit, there's no way that 20% have been 9.8 worthy (30 out of 154)

after 9 years of grading and consistently seeing under 5% as CGC 9.8 (12 out of 285).

 

Check the progression...

 

When there were only 12 after 8 years, the supply was much lower than demand at $1,000 (or even $2,000).

People paid whatever they had to... only 1 or 2 copies per year was tough.

Now at 42... the supply is much higher than demand anywhere near $1,000...

It's pretty clear that the supply is too high to maintain even $500 today.

 

But another question you have to ask is...

"Do I want to pay even $300 to own a 9.8 book that's likely closer to the 9.6s from a few years ago?"

 

The price of the CGC 9.6 Harbinger #1 has historically been anywhere from $75 to $200...

and it's likely that many of these latest 9.8s are no better than those. How much is that 9.8 on the label worth?

 

For what it's worth, I think that CGC 9.8 has been "loosened up" for MANY of the submissions since last year,

not just Harbinger #1. Check out G.I. Joe #21 for another example.

 

hm

I have no problem with your assessment there has been a slight change in grading. I've seen some 9.8 books lately that left me wondering.

 

But it is difficult to assume any portion of the Harbinger 1s are not true 9.8s without inspecting every book. And the early Harbinger issues were heavily hoarded, so I am not surprised of the growth on 9.8 copies. Probably that $2,500 pricetag really brought folks out in finally submitting their precious Harbinger 1s, leading to a small spike in 9.8s.

 

It's not a bad thing. I was happy with my CGC 9.6, as it had a tiny little stress line. CGC made the right judgement call on this book - and I'm okay with that.

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