• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Toughest Bronze Age Marvels?

Started by JiveTurkeyMoFo,

101 posts in this topic

JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Trust me, if a early 70's Marvel's Greatest CGC 9.4 copies started selling for $500, you'd see these things coming out of the woodwork. Chuck probably has a nice hoard from his MH2 days.

 

I've contacted two of the "warehouse" dealers (Dolgoff, Sulipa) on Marvel's Greatest Comics already. Dolgoff's website only offers low and mid-grade copies of the earliest issues (and by mid-grade, I mean G/VGs not his F/VFs which are normally pretty nice). Doug had a handful of the early issues that he graded VF to VF/NM and offered them to me at well over NM Guide. Doug basically gave me the "they're rare, so the price is higher" sales pitch. These books may exist out there in high grade, but those two big guys don't have 'em!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
joe_collector

joe_collector

Posted
Posted

Well that counts on par with two dead flies.

 

Awhile back, I emailed all of the big dawgs with a complete list of 70's Byrne Marvels (other than X-Men) I wanted in NM, and you know how many they could find?

 

Two.

 

Now using this logic, NM 70's Byrne comics are extremely rare in HG.

 

I honestly believe these guys either don't know what they have, don't feel the need to sell some issues NM raw, or their supplies are seriously over-rated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well that counts on par with two dead flies.

 

We'll see....again, after a few months of hunting, and perhaps a tour of the summer convention circuit, I'll have a better idea of how tough these books really are. But to me, the preliminary evidence suggests I can't just walk into any comic shop or convention and find them in NM. I'll ask a few dealers, drop a few want lists, and post a few WTB threads in the marketplace and see what develops.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Chuck probably has a nice hoard from his MH2 days.

 

Actually, thanks for the idea...I checked the Mile High website and Chuckles has just one of the giant size and one of the 20-centers available in "Mile High NM" (which is a grade that I don't have the utmost of faith in). Great reference though as far as the covers are concerned!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted
Chuck probably has a nice hoard from his MH2 days.

 

Actually, thanks for the idea...I checked the Mile High website and Chuckles has just one of the giant size and one of the 20-centers available in "Mile High NM" (which is a grade that I don't have the utmost of faith in). Great reference though as far as the covers are concerned!

 

I'm not sure this means alot actually. Hulk Annual #3 was a MH2 book that I've noticed will be listed as available and unavailable in NM regularly (usually disappears shortly after going on sale). Thor 132 also. Even NM Captain Marvel #13 copies "disappear" off his website on occasion and we know he has massive amounts of this comic.

 

I've noticed the same thing with horror reprint titles but in those cases he will go months before restocking them on the website.

 

What I think Chuck's doing is going to the "pile" once his on-line supply runs out. The quick movers get instant restock...those that aren't are added as there's time.

What I also think is happening is Chuck, ever the savvy dealer, is letting stock "run out" to give the illusion that the comic isn't as plentiful in-stock as it actually is thus justifying his price for them.

 

Jim

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Oh, I don't trust Chuck as far as I can throw him, so I only put so much faith in his website as an indicator of anything other then his unbridled avarice.

 

But here is something else to consider...the majority of the Marvel reprints alternated between monthly, bi-monthly and quarterly publication. Consider the cover dates for Marvel Triple Action:

 

# 1 (02/72)

# 2 (05/72) three months later!?!

# 3 (06/72) monthly now?

# 4 (08/72) bi-monthly now?!?

# 5-8 (09/72-12/72) Monthly again

# 9-19 bi-monthly again

# 20/21 monthly

 

now it gets real funky because I am missing issues...

 

# 24 (03/75)

 

don't have # 25 & 26...but

 

# 27 (01/76)....indicating there was a break in production of the title at some point because even quarterly production of # 25 & 26 wouldn't account for the 10 month difference between 24 + 27.

 

Most of the rest were back to bi-monthly.

 

This is the most erratic publication of a Marvel title I have ever seen! Hardly an indication of high circulation. I wonder how many of the other reprint titles suffered from such an unpredictable publication schedule?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
underthebigw

underthebigw

Posted
Posted

I've been holding my tongue for a while, for fear of being seen as jumping on the bandwagon, but I've spent the last three months looking for the same books. And it's incredibly challenging and fun to find them in grade. And the nostalgia factor is pretty high--good bang for the buck. I always try to go where the money isn't. And right now, no one cares about high grade reprints, even with new cover art. And it's some pretty spectacular cover art, at that.

 

Of course, I still can't find my 9.0 + Marvel Superheroes 47.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
underthebigw

underthebigw

Posted
Posted

 

The exception to this rule was Swamp Thing #1.

 

893scratchchin-thumb.gif Was 72-73 the result of the first of the Great Spec Crashes? 27_laughing.gifdevil.gifpopcorn.gif

 

Not really the exception. For almost 15 years, the ST books sat around in piles. Sure, people loved them and recognized them as classics, but I remember going to shows and seeing piles of solid NM+ copies for $3-5 a piece for years. I even remember seeing adds in CBG asking similar prices as late as 1977. People stockpiled these and the price didn't rise for years after the initial speculation. Even now, it is one of the easiest 70's DC titles to find in super high grade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Metarog

Metarog

Posted
Posted

I definitely agree that a lot of these reprints where pretty good sellers and/or profit makers for Marvel. What I think affects the relative scarcity of these reprints is that almost nobody wanted them in the 80's and 90's.

 

To illustrate-when I was working in my LCS in the early 80's we would buy all sorts of collections and I remember one in particular regarding reprints. A gentlemen walked in with a long box and some bags of all sorts of 70's reprints including Marvel Adventure, Super Action, Special Marvel Edition, Nick Fury, Human Torch and just about every Marvel western at the time. These were in near perfect shape probably at least a 9.4 by today’s standards with a few 8.0 to 9.2. Well the owner offered him $20 or $25 for over 400 comics and he TOOK IT!

 

All these nice books where bagged and placed in the back issue bins for cheap prices (I don't remember exactly but less the $1.00) and they just sat for a year or more. The vast majority ended up in the quarter bin where they were bent up, stained etc. Something like this probably occurred all over the place, which left fewer NM copies to go around. This was just one buy but almost all of these reprints went straight to the quarter bin regardless of condition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

A gentlemen walked in with a long box and some bags of all sorts of 70's reprints including Marvel Adventure, Super Action, Special Marvel Edition, Nick Fury, Human Torch and just about every Marvel western at the time. These were in near perfect shape probably at least a 9.4 by today’s standards with a few 8.0 to 9.2. Well the owner offered him $20 or $25 for over 400 comics and he TOOK IT!

 

This is similar to what happened to me recently. I stumbled upon an original owner collection from someone who bought books directly off the rack in the 70s. Turns out at least two other collectors picked through the books before I got there, and most of the mainline titles were gone. However, all the reprint titles were intact (and most unread NM to NM+). Their lack of interest in the books allowed me to nab 'em, and I couldn't be happier with my decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
joe_collector

joe_collector

Posted
Posted

I do collect these reprints, but ONLY those with brand new, compelling covers.

 

I really don't see the need to buy a copy of Marvel Tales with the same cover as the original issue. confused-smiley-013.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

Posted
Posted
I do collect these reprints, but ONLY those with brand new, compelling covers.

 

I really don't see the need to buy a copy of Marvel Tales with the same cover as the original issue. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

To each their own....

 

YHXPH-MARVELTALES99.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing