Star Wars #1 CGC 9.6 35C sold for $21,805 last night on CL

[Gatsby77]

As big a Star Wars fan as I am, I'd rather have the Iron Fist 14 $.35 variant and $15,000 left in my bank account.

[Wally's Comics]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

I'd rather have both my eyes gouged out before taking that SW1 over a GL76. I enjoy Star Wars more than the Green Lantern, but valuing the book so highly just due to the front cover price is

 

I agree.

 

There are a lot of variant books in the GA and SA out there that are more rare than this one.

 

This just caught the hype bug and it will keep on riding that wave until specific warehouse

finds bring it back down to earth.

 

 

ok now that caught my eye.

 

It can happen...

 

We are only talking about late BA '77 books (even though this was only released in certain states). I don't think it is out of the question that these can magically pop-up when the demand and $$$ call them up out of the abyss.

 

I think rareness is the key on this book vs GL 76.

 

I mean think about it if ten (or five for that matter) 9.6's were found what would it do to the price

of the GL 76 vs the coveted SW 1 variant in this grade???

 

 

 

[Topnotchman]

Given time a hoard of late 70's comics will turn up, they will originate from one of the communities that the variant was distributed. Whamo now you have an uncirculated stack of a late bronze 35 cent variant keys with 50% of the books being 9.6-9.8 quality. You have the odds that the finder of the books does not realize they are variants, than sells them to knowledgeable dealer A. Who can't keep the smirk off his face when he see's them. Closes the deal at the sellers full asking price. Than goes and buys a bottle of fine wine.

 

[Bronty]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

the very idea of that preference makes me ill

[RockMyAmadeus]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

the very idea of that preference makes me ill

 

 

Gold Nintendo World Championships

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

I'd rather have both my eyes gouged out before taking that SW1 over a GL76. I enjoy Star Wars more than the Green Lantern, but valuing the book so highly just due to the front cover price is

 

I agree.

 

There are a lot of variant books in the GA and SA out there that are more rare than this one.

 

This just caught the hype bug and it will keep on riding that wave until specific warehouse

finds bring it back down to earth.

 

 

 

There will never be a "warehouse" find of these books. They were distributed for a very specific reason, they were COMPLETELY distributed, they were distributed clandestinely, and most of the collecting world had no idea most of them existed for a decade and a half after they were released.

 

While Star Wars #1 got press right away, that press didn't translate to the rest of the Marvel runs. How many people knew, for example, that there were identical circumstances for #2-4? Nobody!

 

The reason this sells for so much, and has retained its value is because not even the POSSIBILITY that these could be "stashed in a warehouse somewhere" exists.

 

The biggest hoards out there are ones that have been painstakingly...and I mean PAINSTAKINGLY...assembled over the years, most over the last decade and a half. Before eBay and the internet, these were UNCOLLECTABLE.

 

Yes, there is always the possibility that collections will turn up with pristine copies of these books from original owners...but they will be, like most pedigrees, SINGLE copies. No one had any reason to buy multiple copies of these books, ESPECIALLY back in 1976 and 1977. This would be compounded even further if it was determined that the REGULAR copies were placed on, or near, the same racks that these were (though this has never been proven.)

 

So those hoping for a warehouse find, keep hoping.....

[seanfingh]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

I'd rather have both my eyes gouged out before taking that SW1 over a GL76. I enjoy Star Wars more than the Green Lantern, but valuing the book so highly just due to the front cover price is

 

I agree.

 

There are a lot of variant books in the GA and SA out there that are more rare than this one.

 

This just caught the hype bug and it will keep on riding that wave until specific warehouse

finds bring it back down to earth.

 

 

 

There will never be a "warehouse" find of these books. They were distributed for a very specific reason, they were COMPLETELY distributed, they were distributed clandestinely, and most of the collecting world had no idea most of them existed for a decade and a half after they were released.

 

While Star Wars #1 got press right away, that press didn't translate to the rest of the Marvel runs. How many people knew, for example, that there were identical circumstances for #2-4? Nobody!

 

The reason this sells for so much, and has retained its value is because not even the POSSIBILITY that these could be "stashed in a warehouse somewhere" exists.

 

The biggest hoards out there are ones that have been painstakingly...and I mean PAINSTAKINGLY...assembled over the years, most over the last decade and a half. Before eBay and the internet, these were UNCOLLECTABLE.

 

Yes, there is always the possibility that collections will turn up with pristine copies of these books from original owners...but they will be, like most pedigrees, SINGLE copies. No one had any reason to buy multiple copies of these books, ESPECIALLY back in 1976 and 1977. This would be compounded even further if it was determined that the REGULAR copies were placed on, or near, the same racks that these were (though this has never been proven.)

 

So those hoping for a warehouse find, keep hoping.....

 

I think you are wrong, bud. Several years ago, there was a dude that had bought (or had owned for a long time) the stock of an old newsstand. (joe rodrigues?) He had multiples of books that you never see multiples of including charltons and the Marvel Hanna-Barbera books that were only distrubted through newsstands.

 

There is absolutely no reason that someone, in one of the test markets of course, doesn't have a couple of cases of 35 cent Star Wars #1s. Is it likely, maybe not. But it is not the metaphysical certitude that you put it out there to be. Just because they were completely disseminated to distributors (and presumably not returnable to complete your logic) does not mean that there is not a treasure trove of them out there.

 

Waiting for me to discover, I hope.

[Topnotchman]

How about Spider-Man platinum which was given out one to a store and was hard to find. Than a warehouse of sealed cases turn up. Primer #2 where a dealer acquired half the print run of uncirculated copies. These finds were remainders from the publisher, and Marvel is not going to have any copies going back to the late 70's so you can scratch that off.

 

A more likely scenario is a collector who by chance lived in a community where his only option was to buy the variant cover price. Could of easily bought 5 copies of Star Wars #1 and put them in a box. The Iron Fist 14 to me is the real winner. Since it was not a #1 and buying multiple copies of a third tier comic is unlikely. Still to this day I continue to find dealers who are acquiring multiple copies of Star Wars #1 first printings in collections. Star Wars #1 was bought and hoarded the day it came out. It all comes down to the specific collector who lived in a specific town who did not have any other option other than buying the variant cover price editions. He had no idea he was buying a winning lotto ticket.

[rodan57]

ComicLink Comments:

This upper Near Mint CGC 9.6 NM+ is the highest graded example for the Price Variant of Star Wars #1, the most valuable Bronze Age comic book and it is 1 of only 2 ever certified at this top tier. We have to go back to the ComicLink Featured Auction of November 2009 to find the last, and only time, another 9.6 price variant has changed hands (at $26,250). Both that example and the one presented here leave nothing to be desired, with CGC's perfect page quality designation of White Pages complementing the highest certified grade of 9.6.

 

... and a nice little miswrap. (summo = Mr. Grumpy)

[FlyingDonut]

The level of FAIL in this thread is staggering.

 

Just off the top of my head...and I think I'm pretty read in on this area.

 

1) The existence of the Star Wars 1 35 cent variant has been known and confirmed for over 30 years. People have been looking for it ALL THE TIME.

2) There have been "hoards" of 35 cent variants found. A "hoard" of 35 cent variants is 15. 30. Something like that. There are NOT "big collections" of them out there.

3) The previous sale of a 9.6 was for $26K, so this was a big hit to the seller.

4) A 9.8 copy of this book would sell for at least $40K.

5) 35 cent variants were only sold on newstands in six small markets and aren't in high grade. There are much fewer high grade 35 cent variants than 30 centers.

6) Print runs on the 35 cent variants were very small. 1500 copies is the number I've always heard for Star Wars 1, and I think that is high.

 

[bronze_rules]

I have never really done the variant search, but I can attest to some elderly geezers hoarding multiple #1s of Marvels/Charltons/etc in their dank cellars, scattered randomly amongst multiples of several haphazard random other issues in numerous stacked boxes.

 

I managed to pry a few very high grade bronze 1s off one (before he nervously told me that was enough box searching), but they tend to be a bit on the paranoid side (seeing as their vision and trust-worthiness has gone by the wayside years ago).

 

I don't know what volume/title is considered to be classified as warehouse find, but I'm talking about maybe a quarter of a long box worth of 1st-10 or so issues in the aforementioned case.

 

Heck I just came across a dollar box with a 1st issue Star Wars (reprint with the empty box) the other day in a used book-store. Hard to believe what the perceived value premium of a simple unusual printing (35c) will do for the obsessive amongst us. But then again, social network stocks, are currently considered the most prized and valued IPOs of the current post-dot com generation-- go figure.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Given time a hoard of late 70's comics will turn up, they will originate from one of the communities that the variant was distributed. Whamo now you have an uncirculated stack of a late bronze 35 cent variant keys with 50% of the books being 9.6-9.8 quality. You have the odds that the finder of the books does not realize they are variants, than sells them to knowledgeable dealer A. Who can't keep the smirk off his face when he see's them. Closes the deal at the sellers full asking price. Than goes and buys a bottle of fine wine.

Does anybody have any info where the Star Wars #1 35 cent was distributed?

Someone suggested to me that it might have been in the mid-west years ago.

EDIT

looks like Memphis was one city.

[Johncan]

I never saw any variants while living in Sparta in the 1970s and certainly none of Star Wars ones. My brother and I hoarded any Star Wars comics that we got from World Color Press. Whatever small print runs were made, none ever made it into any of comics collections I ever saw in Sparta. FlyingDonut went through my World Color Press collection about ten years and all he found was 1 variant copy of Ka-Zar (low-grade copy).

[RockMyAmadeus]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

I'd rather have both my eyes gouged out before taking that SW1 over a GL76. I enjoy Star Wars more than the Green Lantern, but valuing the book so highly just due to the front cover price is

 

I agree.

 

There are a lot of variant books in the GA and SA out there that are more rare than this one.

 

This just caught the hype bug and it will keep on riding that wave until specific warehouse

finds bring it back down to earth.

 

 

 

There will never be a "warehouse" find of these books. They were distributed for a very specific reason, they were COMPLETELY distributed, they were distributed clandestinely, and most of the collecting world had no idea most of them existed for a decade and a half after they were released.

 

While Star Wars #1 got press right away, that press didn't translate to the rest of the Marvel runs. How many people knew, for example, that there were identical circumstances for #2-4? Nobody!

 

The reason this sells for so much, and has retained its value is because not even the POSSIBILITY that these could be "stashed in a warehouse somewhere" exists.

 

The biggest hoards out there are ones that have been painstakingly...and I mean PAINSTAKINGLY...assembled over the years, most over the last decade and a half. Before eBay and the internet, these were UNCOLLECTABLE.

 

Yes, there is always the possibility that collections will turn up with pristine copies of these books from original owners...but they will be, like most pedigrees, SINGLE copies. No one had any reason to buy multiple copies of these books, ESPECIALLY back in 1976 and 1977. This would be compounded even further if it was determined that the REGULAR copies were placed on, or near, the same racks that these were (though this has never been proven.)

 

So those hoping for a warehouse find, keep hoping.....

 

I think you are wrong, bud. Several years ago, there was a dude that had bought (or had owned for a long time) the stock of an old newsstand. (joe rodrigues?) He had multiples of books that you never see multiples of including charltons and the Marvel Hanna-Barbera books that were only distrubted through newsstands.

 

There is absolutely no reason that someone, in one of the test markets of course, doesn't have a couple of cases of 35 cent Star Wars #1s. Is it likely, maybe not. But it is not the metaphysical certitude that you put it out there to be. Just because they were completely disseminated to distributors (and presumably not returnable to complete your logic) does not mean that there is not a treasure trove of them out there.

 

Waiting for me to discover, I hope.

 

First thing...

 

Comics distributed to the newsstands in 1976 and 1977 were still distributed "the old way", that is, stringed up like newspapers. There wouldn't be any cases in any event.

 

Second thing...

 

These were limited to, according to Sol Brodsky (I think it's Sol, correct me FD if I'm wrong) 1,500 copies each, at least of the Star Wars #1. While it's not a foregone conclusion, it's reasonable to surmise that that was the print run for all of them. They were sent to six distribution cities/test markets throughout the US. That means each center got, at best, 250 copies total. That means that each individual newsstand *may* have gotten 10-20 copies, total, and probably less.

 

Third thing...

 

They WERE returnable, as that was the distribution system in place at the time. That was the best way Marvel could have accurately gauged the success of the program (even though it might not have made much sense for the later books in the program.)

 

For a scenario like yours to be likely, someone would have had to be in the precise right test market at the precise right time, and if the buyer bought the books before they were put on sale (keeping in mind that Star Wars, especially, was SMOKIN' hot at the time, and would have sold out across the land. This would have created an uproar if a certain segment of newsstand consumers simply did not get their latest new books, making such a scenario even more unlikely. This is one of the reasons why the 35 cent #1 WAS discovered so soon: people were buying up any and every copy available, and a distribution center would have had to be in DIRE straits to sell their entire lot, risking the wrath of both the publishers AND their newsstands, to one person.)

 

Is it possible? Sure, anything's possible. Is it likely that someone bought one of the very, very few newsstand distributions BEFORE it was placed on sale, at EXACTLY the time these were released? So unlikely as to be statistically neglible.

 

But the point I was making to Nerf is this: those "warehouses" usually consisted of undistributed books, books that never made it to a retail selling point (rack, stand, etc.) These books were designed to be placed on sale. As this was now the second time they did it, I'm sure Marvel distribution contacted the test market distribution centers and told them these books had to go out first. And, since the numbers were so small to begin with, it's most likely they were distributed far and wide, and would never even have seen the inside of a warehouse for more than the time it took to receive them from the printer and then bundle them to individual newsstands.

[Gatsby77]

I was in an antiques mart last weekend outside of Lansing, Michigan and was excited to find a 5.0 $.35 John Carter variant for $2, only to then notice the blank UPC box, so I passed, assuming it was a reprint similar to the Star Wars issues.

 

Anyone confirm whether John Carter # 1 had a $.35 reprint?

[seanfingh]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

I'd rather have both my eyes gouged out before taking that SW1 over a GL76. I enjoy Star Wars more than the Green Lantern, but valuing the book so highly just due to the front cover price is

 

I agree.

 

There are a lot of variant books in the GA and SA out there that are more rare than this one.

 

This just caught the hype bug and it will keep on riding that wave until specific warehouse

finds bring it back down to earth.

 

 

 

There will never be a "warehouse" find of these books. They were distributed for a very specific reason, they were COMPLETELY distributed, they were distributed clandestinely, and most of the collecting world had no idea most of them existed for a decade and a half after they were released.

 

While Star Wars #1 got press right away, that press didn't translate to the rest of the Marvel runs. How many people knew, for example, that there were identical circumstances for #2-4? Nobody!

 

The reason this sells for so much, and has retained its value is because not even the POSSIBILITY that these could be "stashed in a warehouse somewhere" exists.

 

The biggest hoards out there are ones that have been painstakingly...and I mean PAINSTAKINGLY...assembled over the years, most over the last decade and a half. Before eBay and the internet, these were UNCOLLECTABLE.

 

Yes, there is always the possibility that collections will turn up with pristine copies of these books from original owners...but they will be, like most pedigrees, SINGLE copies. No one had any reason to buy multiple copies of these books, ESPECIALLY back in 1976 and 1977. This would be compounded even further if it was determined that the REGULAR copies were placed on, or near, the same racks that these were (though this has never been proven.)

 

So those hoping for a warehouse find, keep hoping.....

 

I think you are wrong, bud. Several years ago, there was a dude that had bought (or had owned for a long time) the stock of an old newsstand. (joe rodrigues?) He had multiples of books that you never see multiples of including charltons and the Marvel Hanna-Barbera books that were only distrubted through newsstands.

 

There is absolutely no reason that someone, in one of the test markets of course, doesn't have a couple of cases of 35 cent Star Wars #1s. Is it likely, maybe not. But it is not the metaphysical certitude that you put it out there to be. Just because they were completely disseminated to distributors (and presumably not returnable to complete your logic) does not mean that there is not a treasure trove of them out there.

 

Waiting for me to discover, I hope.

 

First thing...

 

Comics distributed to the newsstands in 1976 and 1977 were still distributed "the old way", that is, stringed up like newspapers. There wouldn't be any cases in any event.

 

Second thing...

 

These were limited to, according to Sol Brodsky (I think it's Sol, correct me FD if I'm wrong) 1,500 copies each, at least of the Star Wars #1. While it's not a foregone conclusion, it's reasonable to surmise that that was the print run for all of them. They were sent to six distribution cities/test markets throughout the US. That means each center got, at best, 250 copies total. That means that each individual newsstand *may* have gotten 10-20 copies, total, and probably less.

 

Third thing...

 

They WERE returnable, as that was the distribution system in place at the time. That was the best way Marvel could have accurately gauged the success of the program (even though it might not have made much sense for the later books in the program.)

 

For a scenario like yours to be likely, someone would have had to be in the precise right test market at the precise right time, and if the buyer bought the books before they were put on sale (keeping in mind that Star Wars, especially, was SMOKIN' hot at the time, and would have sold out across the land. This would have created an uproar if a certain segment of newsstand consumers simply did not get their latest new books, making such a scenario even more unlikely. This is one of the reasons why the 35 cent #1 WAS discovered so soon: people were buying up any and every copy available, and a distribution center would have had to be in DIRE straits to sell their entire lot, risking the wrath of both the publishers AND their newsstands, to one person.)

 

Is it possible? Sure, anything's possible. Is it likely that someone bought one of the very, very few newsstand distributions BEFORE it was placed on sale, at EXACTLY the time these were released? So unlikely as to be statistically neglible.

 

But the point I was making to Nerf is this: those "warehouses" usually consisted of undistributed books, books that never made it to a retail selling point (rack, stand, etc.) These books were designed to be placed on sale. As this was now the second time they did it, I'm sure Marvel distribution contacted the test market distribution centers and told them these books had to go out first. And, since the numbers were so small to begin with, it's most likely they were distributed far and wide, and would never even have seen the inside of a warehouse for more than the time it took to receive them from the printer and then bundle them to individual newsstands.

 

So what you're saying is that I am right and you are a mo-mo. Do I have that right?

[RockMyAmadeus]

The level of FAIL in this thread is staggering.

 

Until I came along, that is...

 

Just off the top of my head...and I think I'm pretty read in on this area.

 

2) There have been "hoards" of 35 cent variants found. A "hoard" of 35 cent variants is 15. 30. Something like that. There are NOT "big collections" of them out there.

 

Except, of course, the complete and near complete collections that have been put together by Harry, Terry Hall, etc.

[drbanner]

...but I recall a lot of pooh-poohing of this book back in the early days of the forum.

 

Guess some things never change!

 

Let me see if I can dig up a thread...

[RockMyAmadeus]

Honestly so would I .

 

i'd rather have the SW1 .35 cents variant than a GL 76 in CGC 9.6.

 

I'd rather have both my eyes gouged out before taking that SW1 over a GL76. I enjoy Star Wars more than the Green Lantern, but valuing the book so highly just due to the front cover price is

 

I agree.

 

There are a lot of variant books in the GA and SA out there that are more rare than this one.

 

This just caught the hype bug and it will keep on riding that wave until specific warehouse

finds bring it back down to earth.

 

 

 

There will never be a "warehouse" find of these books. They were distributed for a very specific reason, they were COMPLETELY distributed, they were distributed clandestinely, and most of the collecting world had no idea most of them existed for a decade and a half after they were released.

 

While Star Wars #1 got press right away, that press didn't translate to the rest of the Marvel runs. How many people knew, for example, that there were identical circumstances for #2-4? Nobody!

 

The reason this sells for so much, and has retained its value is because not even the POSSIBILITY that these could be "stashed in a warehouse somewhere" exists.

 

The biggest hoards out there are ones that have been painstakingly...and I mean PAINSTAKINGLY...assembled over the years, most over the last decade and a half. Before eBay and the internet, these were UNCOLLECTABLE.

 

Yes, there is always the possibility that collections will turn up with pristine copies of these books from original owners...but they will be, like most pedigrees, SINGLE copies. No one had any reason to buy multiple copies of these books, ESPECIALLY back in 1976 and 1977. This would be compounded even further if it was determined that the REGULAR copies were placed on, or near, the same racks that these were (though this has never been proven.)

 

So those hoping for a warehouse find, keep hoping.....

 

I think you are wrong, bud. Several years ago, there was a dude that had bought (or had owned for a long time) the stock of an old newsstand. (joe rodrigues?) He had multiples of books that you never see multiples of including charltons and the Marvel Hanna-Barbera books that were only distrubted through newsstands.

 

There is absolutely no reason that someone, in one of the test markets of course, doesn't have a couple of cases of 35 cent Star Wars #1s. Is it likely, maybe not. But it is not the metaphysical certitude that you put it out there to be. Just because they were completely disseminated to distributors (and presumably not returnable to complete your logic) does not mean that there is not a treasure trove of them out there.

 

Waiting for me to discover, I hope.

 

First thing...

 

Comics distributed to the newsstands in 1976 and 1977 were still distributed "the old way", that is, stringed up like newspapers. There wouldn't be any cases in any event.

 

Second thing...

 

These were limited to, according to Sol Brodsky (I think it's Sol, correct me FD if I'm wrong) 1,500 copies each, at least of the Star Wars #1. While it's not a foregone conclusion, it's reasonable to surmise that that was the print run for all of them. They were sent to six distribution cities/test markets throughout the US. That means each center got, at best, 250 copies total. That means that each individual newsstand *may* have gotten 10-20 copies, total, and probably less.

 

Third thing...

 

They WERE returnable, as that was the distribution system in place at the time. That was the best way Marvel could have accurately gauged the success of the program (even though it might not have made much sense for the later books in the program.)

 

For a scenario like yours to be likely, someone would have had to be in the precise right test market at the precise right time, and if the buyer bought the books before they were put on sale (keeping in mind that Star Wars, especially, was SMOKIN' hot at the time, and would have sold out across the land. This would have created an uproar if a certain segment of newsstand consumers simply did not get their latest new books, making such a scenario even more unlikely. This is one of the reasons why the 35 cent #1 WAS discovered so soon: people were buying up any and every copy available, and a distribution center would have had to be in DIRE straits to sell their entire lot, risking the wrath of both the publishers AND their newsstands, to one person.)

 

Is it possible? Sure, anything's possible. Is it likely that someone bought one of the very, very few newsstand distributions BEFORE it was placed on sale, at EXACTLY the time these were released? So unlikely as to be statistically neglible.

 

But the point I was making to Nerf is this: those "warehouses" usually consisted of undistributed books, books that never made it to a retail selling point (rack, stand, etc.) These books were designed to be placed on sale. As this was now the second time they did it, I'm sure Marvel distribution contacted the test market distribution centers and told them these books had to go out first. And, since the numbers were so small to begin with, it's most likely they were distributed far and wide, and would never even have seen the inside of a warehouse for more than the time it took to receive them from the printer and then bundle them to individual newsstands.

 

So what you're saying is that I am right and you are a mo-mo. Do I have that right?

 

Nope. It's also possible that you could hand over your entire collection to me, as well as all your other assets, and agree to be my butler/chauffer/foot rubber for free for the rest of your natural life, too, but that's not very likely, is it...?

[RockMyAmadeus]

I was in an antiques mart last weekend outside of Lansing, Michigan and was excited to find a 5.0 $.35 John Carter variant for $2, only to then notice the blank UPC box, so I passed, assuming it was a reprint similar to the Star Wars issues.

 

Anyone confirm whether John Carter # 1 had a $.35 reprint?

 

No. It's an early Whitman/Direct Market version, distributed either in 3-packs by Western (as JC contends) or directly to the early comics shops. I contend it was most of Western, and a little of the DM (Western being the major player in the DM in the late 70's.)

 

The myth that there are reprints of these late Bronze books floating around is one that was perpetrated by Overstreet for decades.

 

Common sense alone dictates that. Marvel had no incentive to reprint books that didn't sell out in the first place.