Silver Age Thor's

[Silver Surfer]

Thats a sweet price for that issue but I doubt your going to see a deal like that come around that often. If I had the option to buy issue # 152 at $300 or issue #151 at $450 I'd probably take the latter 9 out of 10 times, just a personal preference. I wonder if the the owner of that issue actually made a profit.

[drdonaldblake]

yes he did

 

if its the 151 that was on comiclink im pretty sure i know the consignor

 

if its that guy, i sold him the book and its a golden state copy

ccg 9.6 white pages

gorgeous book

[Silver Surfer]

Your right, a tad expensive but great issue in high grade. Not going anywhere soon.

[Silver Surfer]

Having said all this I now see that Mile High has a great sale on this era of books. Perhaps its time to make another purchase.

[tth2]

The one thing to remember is that in general:

 

Silver-Age Marvel's from the 1968-1970 period seems to be in abundance (even in very high-grade).

 

I have tended to stay away from these issues unless I can get them at a significant discount. Simply because (I believe) the census will show in a few years how many more copies there are of these books. I actually think people probably don't submit as many of these books because there already are so many in the census. I can see five years from now, seeing 300-400 copies of many of these books in 9.4 or better (which should lead to falling or at least stagnant prices).

 

You are spot on. I would even move it a bit earlier, to about 1965 or 1966 for books becoming fairly common in high grade. And then it seems like the real explosion of high grades took place around 1968, and continued after that. I used to collect TOS and TTA, and they provided a perfect illustration of this phenomenon. Below 65 or so, generally very hard to find in high grade. After that, much, much easier. And then when the various characters received their own titles in 1968 (Iron Man, Cap, Subby, Hulk), an absolute explosion of NM copies. I think the Census has simply confirmed what a lot of us have believed for years.

[tth2]

which is a shame and a direct result of the current CGC mania. Under the system pre-CGC, these books would steadily increase in price over time allowing collectors to buy nice copies for over Guide and come out even or better over time.

 

But with the price spikes 9.4s and 9.6s have posted, their future looks to be one of diminishing returns. Unless we are wrong and they turn out to be just as rare as buyers today hope they will be. Perhaps (Warning: ConspiracyTheory ahead:) CGC will INSURE their rarity by tightening up their grading standards going forward?? That would keep the game going a while longer.....

 

It's funny, but I come to the absolute opposite conclusion. Yes, it's true that unfortunately some people who jumped on 9.4 and 9.6 copies of post-1966 books got burned by paying too much too soon, but the ability to simply make a quick check of the census now allows other collectors to avoid making the same mistake. I wouldn't call the price movements since then "diminishing returns" so much as a rational correction from an aberrational spike, now that better information has allowed collectors (and speculators) to better assess supply and demand and adjust prices accordingly.

[sfilosa]

You are spot on. I would even move it a bit earlier, to about 1965 or 1966 for books becoming fairly common in high grade. And then it seems like the real explosion of high grades took place around 1968, and continued after that. I used to collect TOS and TTA, and they provided a perfect illustration of this phenomenon. Below 65 or so, generally very hard to find in high grade. After that, much, much easier. And then when the various characters received their own titles in 1968 (Iron Man, Cap, Subby, Hulk), an absolute explosion of NM copies. I think the Census has simply confirmed what a lot of us have believed for years.

 

You're correct that there are clearly books in the 1965-1967 range that are in abundance (FF #44, Thor #132, ASM #33 and even FF #48). But during that period, some are way more common than others. By 1968, it seems like it's much harder to find an issue that is "uncommon" than one that is common.

 

And when you think of it this way, what is the incentive for a dealer who might have 10 more NM or better copies of a Captain America issue, to have these books certified now. They probably have a few CGC copies in NM already. Why submit more (driving the Census up even more), when they can't sell the CGC copies they have now.

[tth2]

And when you think of it this way, what is the incentive for a dealer who might have 10 more NM or better copies of a Captain America issue, to have these books certified now. They probably have a few CGC copies in NM already. Why submit more (driving the Census up even more), when they can't sell the CGC copies they have now.

 

All depends on what price he paid and what he's asking for. Priced right, 9.4 copies of CA 100, Iron Man 1, Hulk 102 and Subby 1 will definitely move. I sold a CGC 9.4 Hulk 102 for $450 recently, which seems to be the "right" price for that particular title in 9.4, because they've been moving at that price on eBay. Not a great premium over Guide, but as discussed further above in these threads, this book doesn't deserve one because it's pretty darn common in 9.4, particularly after the movie caused a quick burst of speculator activity. I was perfectly happy with that price, but only because I picked it up raw for much much less than that about 10 years ago. If I had bought it recently and was looking to flip, wouldn't be so good.

 

Edited to change "Hulk 1" to "Hulk 102". Yes, I am a dumb-.

[supapimp]

I sold a CGC 9.4 Hulk 1 for $450 recently

 

i want a hulk 1 CGC nm 9.4 for $450.

[Aman619]

which is a shame and a direct result of the current CGC mania. Under the system pre-CGC, these books would steadily increase in price over time allowing collectors to buy nice copies for over Guide and come out even or better over time.

 

But with the price spikes 9.4s and 9.6s have posted, their future looks to be one of diminishing returns. Unless we are wrong and they turn out to be just as rare as buyers today hope they will be. Perhaps (Warning: ConspiracyTheory ahead:) CGC will INSURE their rarity by tightening up their grading standards going forward?? That would keep the game going a while longer.....

 

It's funny, but I come to the absolute opposite conclusion. Yes, it's true that unfortunately some people who jumped on 9.4 and 9.6 copies of post-1966 books got burned by paying too much too soon, but the ability to simply make a quick check of the census now allows other collectors to avoid making the same mistake. I wouldn't call the price movements since then "diminishing returns" so much as a rational correction from an aberrational spike, now that better information has allowed collectors (and speculators) to better assess supply and demand and adjust prices accordingly.

 

The key is IF the rest of the HG copies have already come out and been graded...or if they are still out there raw in collections. The Census is a valuable tool for assessing 'rarity in grade....but the guesswork about the census as it now stands is whats still out there and why? In my estimation very few books are graded by collectors just to see what CGC grdes them at. So, generally speaking, all books NOT YET FOR SALE are still raw in boxes... Or, as Ive lately begun to 'maybe' believe, many of these "HG" copies just... aren't in todays eyes and the census will hold up...!! Just dont know yet!

[tth2]

The key is IF the rest of the HG copies have already come out and been graded...or if they are still out there raw in collections. The Census is a valuable tool for assessing 'rarity in grade....but the guesswork about the census as it now stands is whats still out there and why? In my estimation very few books are graded by collectors just to see what CGC grdes them at. So, generally speaking, all books NOT YET FOR SALE are still raw in boxes... Or, as Ive lately begun to 'maybe' believe, many of these "HG" copies just... aren't in todays eyes and the census will hold up...!! Just dont know yet!

 

Sure, of course I don't believe that all HG copies have been graded. But I think the census thus far has been a fairly accurate confirmation of Silver Age rarity/common-ness. And for every 9.4 JIM 84 sitting out there still waiting to be graded, there's probably 100+ 9.4 CA 100s. As books continue to get graded, the general ratios of pre-1964 books in high grade compared to post-1964 books should continue to hold. Let me put it this way, I don't think NM copies of JLA 1-20, or JIM 83-100, or the early issues of ANY silver title, is ever going to start appearing in 1968 (or even 1966) type numbers.

[tth2]

I sold a CGC 9.4 Hulk 1 for $450 recently

 

i want a hulk 1 CGC nm 9.4 for $450.

 

Went back and edited the post. But y'all knew what I meant!

[sfilosa]

Two quick points:

 

1) My comments regarding getting a fairly common book certified was not about the sale price as it was about the fact that well known dealers might already have several CGC 9.4 (or better) copies in inventory. Why spend $25-30 to get another copy graded until you sold most of your grade copies.

 

2) You are correct in saying that the census really only reflects those books that at one time or another were available for sale (in the past four years). Yes, a few collectors might have had their collections graded (probably more for the restoration check), but for all we know, there are only 10 more super high grade collections that haven't been graded, or there might be 500.

[mr_highgrade]

[acesilver]

Any thoughts as to why issues from this era can be obtained at what I think is fairly decent prices. I would have thought with such a great character, even better story lines and outside of Spiderman (single super hero category) probably the most enduring series that Marvel has produced would command a greater demand.

 

By now you've gotten good info from fellow board members. I was a big fan of the series with a run probably from 130-400+. Enjoyable reads, norse mythology, great character but I'd have a hard time putting Thor in a top collecting category overall compared to many other Marvel titles.

 

Still well worth collecting though IMO.

[Silver Surfer]

I've been a huge fan of Thor for many years and with the great art work and story lines I'd love to have an early run of high grade issues for the collection. I think you can get them relatively cheap compared to other titles. I'm not necessarily talking about flipping them for a return on investment but mainly for the love of the book.

[Moondog]

Very interesting thread.

 

Back when I was 15 in 1966 there was a large group of us who collected Marvels. Many of us had been introduced to Marvels when we were younger (10-12) and really got back into them when we got to high school.

 

We all bought multiple copies of each title (read one and put the others away). We were speculating because we knew how hard it was at that time to find 3 and 4-year-old copies (all the early Spidey's and FF's we had were taped and gnarled) of these books we loved.

 

In 1968 I remember buying 20 Iron Man 1's, 20 Cap 100's, 20 IM & Subby 1's, Dr. Strange 169, Hulk 102, etc. When I sold off most of my collection in 1973, I got maybe a dime each for these books they were so common.

 

In my experience the line of demarcation on what was common and plentiful and what was scare and desirable was: Spidey 29, FF 43, DD 14, X-Men 20, TOS 70, TTA 70, ST 130, and JIM 126. Strange Tales Annual # 1 was the holy grail...

 

Silver Surfer: Chuck Rozanski unearthed a huge warehouse find of mid 60's Marvels a couple of decades ago. Absolutely thousands of unread copies of most every issue. He refers to this find as the Mile High 2 Collection. From this he found the 10.0 Thor 146 (I believe). These issues have been entering the market slowly for the past 20 years. That's why a lot of these books from that period are not scare in top condition. You may be able to read Chuck's account of this find at Krause's website. It was serialized in CBG last year.

 

--Gary

[acesilver]

I've been a huge fan of Thor for many years and with the great art work and story lines I'd love to have an early run of high grade issues for the collection. I think you can get them relatively cheap compared to other titles. I'm not necessarily talking about flipping them for a return on investment but mainly for the love of the book.

 

Absolutely. It is a great read IMO. With a superb character that is one of my personal favorites. Regardless of investment likelihood. Which is not high IMO. You could put together a reader run in decent grade without it costing a small fortune I'd expect.

[acesilver]

Silver Surfer: Chuck Rozanski unearthed a huge warehouse find of mid 60's Marvels a couple of decades ago. Absolutely thousands of unread copies of most every issue. He refers to this find as the Mile High 2 Collection. From this he found the 10.0 Thor 146 (I believe). These issues have been entering the market slowly for the past 20 years. That's why a lot of these books from that period are not scare in top condition. You may be able to read Chuck's account of this find at Krause's website. It was serialized in CBG last year.

 

--Gary

 

I believe Thor 124 is an example of what you're talking about. Seems to me I've seen multiple 9.6 and better copies noted as MHII.

[Silver Surfer]

Interesting indeed. I sure I read that artcile at one point when I was sifting through Chuck's website. I think that stash he found had to do with unsold copies that had to be returned to the publisher (can't remember the term he used for them). Boy I'd sure love to stumble on a warehouse full of those.