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The Golden Age (for buying Copper 9.8s, anyways)

Started by RockMyAmadeus,

43 posts in this topic

Hamlet

Hamlet

Posted
Posted

I've been wondering for awhile whether it is going to be practical to slab common coppers in the long term. If a common book is only worth a buck or two in 9.0-9.2, how many people are going want to pay $30-$50 for a CGC 9.8?

 

Take the run of Byrne FF's. This is one of my favorite runs for the time, but I am unlikely to spend the $30-$50 to get a 9.8 in a plastic case when I can get all the 9.2's I want for $2 or less.

 

It seems to me like the cost of slabbing is more than the 9.8's are worth to most people at this time.

 

I'm wondering if there is some minimum price that 9.2's need to be going for to generate enough interest to make the 9.8's worth the slabbing costs?

 

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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I've been wondering for awhile whether it is going to be practical to slab common coppers in the long term. If a common book is only worth a buck or two in 9.0-9.2, how many people are going want to pay $30-$50 for a CGC 9.8?

 

Take the run of Byrne FF's. This is one of my favorite runs for the time, but I am unlikely to spend the $30-$50 to get a 9.8 in a plastic case when I can get all the 9.2's I want for $2 or less.

 

It seems to me like the cost of slabbing is more than the 9.8's are worth to most people at this time.

 

I'm wondering if there is some minimum price that 9.2's need to be going for to generate enough interest to make the 9.8's worth the slabbing costs?

Some people seem to think that if they spend $30 slabbing a $1 comic, they'll have a $31 comic. All the slabs I see selling for between $4 and $15 tell a different story though. I wouldn't pay more than a dollar for a dollar comic no matter what kind of container it was in.
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Gatsby77

Gatsby77

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Just finished my Death in the Family (Batman 426-429) set in 9.8 white. Cost was $500 spread total spread over 4 years. Current 90-day GPA for the set is $576 and falling.

 

Remains to be seen how foolish investment these books are as they have been plummeting (ie, GPA for 428 alone in 2008 was $594) and likely will continue to do so. Meanwhile, you can buy raw sets in 9.0/9.2 all day long for $40 per (or less).

 

Guess I'm a sucker for paying for the slabs, but these books were the holy grail since I first started collecting in 1989, and they graced the wall of my LCS for $140 the set.

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Hamlet

Hamlet

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Well, in my example, I would assume that a 9.8 copy of say FF 257 (non-key, but cool Galactus cover), would be worth a premium over the $2 9.0-9.2 copies that are all over the place. The problem is, that premium is probably not enough to pay for slabbing most of the 9.8 copies out there.

 

If the market price for a 9.8 is only $10, it doesn't make sense to slab the books.

 

I'm guessing that unless the 9.2 books start selling for more, there isn't going to be enough demand to slab most of the common 9.8's. With grading costs, the cost of the comics, shipping, etc, I can't imagine that it is going to make much sense to slab stuff that is going to sell for less than say $40-$50.

 

One real important question is whether these more run-of-the-mill 80s books are ever going to generate real dollars in non-perfect grades. The 70s books were considered garbage, and then they took off. Will the 80s books do the same?

 

I'm unsure. I think that the numbers of 80s books out there that have gotten saved is quite a bit larger than the 70s books. It may keep the prices down to a point that makes slabbing a silly exercise for the non-key books.

 

Some people seem to think that if they spend $30 slabbing a $1 comic, they'll have a $31 comic. All the slabs I see selling for between $4 and $15 tell a different story though. I wouldn't pay more than a dollar for a dollar comic no matter what kind of container it was in.
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AGGIEZ

AGGIEZ

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CGC 9.8 DHP#24 for $30.....yeh, I'm buying all day long. You're not going to see that price though...or even $50

 

You're not...?

 

Last sale was in Feb, 2009 for $52.....

 

 

That was almost a year and a half ago...

 

And much more expensive @ $52... ;)

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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CGC 9.8 DHP#24 for $30.....yeh, I'm buying all day long. You're not going to see that price though...or even $50

 

You're not...?

 

Last sale was in Feb, 2009 for $52.....

 

 

 

That was almost a year and a half ago...

 

And much more expensive @ $52... ;)

 

I found a solid 9.4 RAW for 50 cents last week at a small show. Had been looking for a quality copy of that book for some time.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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Just finished my Death in the Family (Batman 426-429) set in 9.8 white. Cost was $500 spread total spread over 4 years. Current 90-day GPA for the set is $576 and falling.

 

Remains to be seen how foolish investment these books are as they have been plummeting (ie, GPA for 428 alone in 2008 was $594) and likely will continue to do so. Meanwhile, you can buy raw sets in 9.0/9.2 all day long for $40 per (or less).

 

Guess I'm a sucker for paying for the slabs, but these books were the holy grail since I first started collecting in 1989, and they graced the wall of my LCS for $140 the set.

 

Congrats that you were able to snag that #428 for only $150. That was a steal! If I'd seen it, it would have been mine...

 

:cloud9:

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JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

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I think my best Copper buy of the year was snagging five late run CGC 9.8 Harbingers off a guy on ebay...I think I paid a total of $17, with a couple of them only going for a buck (prices are still in GPA if you want to see). He even honored the stated "free shipping" he advertised in his auctions and mailed them via Flat Rate Priority Mail box at a cost of about $13 or so.

 

I figure he must've easily lost $75-$90, between CGC & ebay fees, on the deal, but he was pretty cool about it.

 

Bargains can be had folks, if you're willing to find them.

 

Second best purchase would have to be the longbox I picked up from Earl Shaw on set-up night at Heroes. Lots of great NM/NM+gems in there for a buck.

 

Nice thing about the Copper Age is that you can still run across unread copies in dollar boxes (much like Bronze Age material 10-15 years ago) . Provided you know what you're looking for, you can do real well.

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seanfingh

seanfingh

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Nice thing about the Copper Age is that you can still run across unread copies in dollar boxes (much like Bronze Age material 10-15 years ago) . Provided you know what you're looking for, you can do real well.

 

Very true. To me, the main problem is that without any increases in prices, a lot of them are still buried in back rooms and not being put out for sale or brought to shows.

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DarkKnightReturns

DarkKnightReturns

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Another great thing I find about copper age books is you can actually find them on craigslist in great condition. Yes theres often early moderns in there too :sick: but I've found that a lot of people still have coppers in great shape.

 

This reminds me that my older cousin who got me into collecting in the 80's said he still has all his Batmans. I'm going over there soon to check'em out. :banana: The first Bats I read were his DKR and Death in the family mini :cloud9: Thats why when I hear people talking about a possible foolish investment I think who cares ? If it's something you loved as a kid and now have beautiful examples of, congrats to you, I say. If it was purely an investment I say at least they are classic books !

 

Great thread RMA !

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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One real important question is whether these more run-of-the-mill 80s books are ever going to generate real dollars in non-perfect grades. The 70s books were considered garbage, and then they took off. Will the 80s books do the same?

I hope not because I love buying them but at the same time I don't know why they aren't worth a fortune already because they are so awesome :)
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