Comics You personally can't Understand Cost So Much

[sufunk]

Adventure Comics #210 - First Krypto the Superdog.

 

Close to $300 for some beater copies. Damn.

 

I saw a copy at NYCC that was a 2.0 at best. Brittle pages and just a horrible copy....it was at Metro's booth and they wanted like a grand for it.

 

Has anyone on this thread actually purchased one before? Does it command a premium?

 

Here is the exact book. It's graded a 4.0 by Metro, which doesn't have any validity as far as I am concerned. I've seen the book in person, with the tanning, tear and overall eye appeal, it's a 2.0-2.5 at best....And it's almost 700 bucks.....I was off a bit on the price, but point was made.

http://www.metropoliscomics.com/load_bookDetails.php?id=305825&set=0

 

 

YIKES!!!

 

If thats a 4.0, i have about 3,000 10.0's in my collection! That book is FUGLY to the extreme

[500Club]

Night Nurse 1-4 ?

Definitely a niche market - low supply, low demand. These came out during my 'silver-age' when I was buying everything Marvel produced......, except Night Nurse, the reprints, and the horror titles.

 

I remember one of the OS Advisors pimping this book repeatedly in the circa-1990 guides and updates.

 

Eventually it seemed to morph into a case of 'if he's gotta have it, I've gotta have it too'

I can't believe what OSPG has listed on this title Sometimes I think some of this is a self-fulfilling prophecy...., like you mention with the OSPG Advisors. It seems like in the 90's, you could put an ad in CBG for some obscure, little collected title, and then in the next OSPG, the values would double, even though I never saw any activity on the title - I suppose because 'people were looking for it now.' I know that's not how it is supposed to work, but I have my suspicions.

 

We have more than suspicions here.. we have actual examples. Take the Hulk 377 3rd print that RMA started a thread about in the Copper section.

 

I also think that this board's enthusiasm for GL76 has been a factor in that book's rate of rise over the past 3-5 years.

[cd4ever]

Night Nurse 1-4 ?

Definitely a niche market - low supply, low demand. These came out during my 'silver-age' when I was buying everything Marvel produced......, except Night Nurse, the reprints, and the horror titles.

 

I remember one of the OS Advisors pimping this book repeatedly in the circa-1990 guides and updates.

 

Eventually it seemed to morph into a case of 'if he's gotta have it, I've gotta have it too'

I can't believe what OSPG has listed on this title Sometimes I think some of this is a self-fulfilling prophecy...., like you mention with the OSPG Advisors. It seems like in the 90's, you could put an ad in CBG for some obscure, little collected title, and then in the next OSPG, the values would double, even though I never saw any activity on the title - I suppose because 'people were looking for it now.' I know that's not how it is supposed to work, but I have my suspicions.

 

Sorry Mike but I'll disagree with this if that's ok!

 

I think Overstreet had this undervalued for so long because there were so few sales for them to go by because it is a tough book to find in HG. Pre-internet, if one of the 20 or so so-called 'advisors' didn't have any recorded sales of the book (because they didn't have any in stock) then the prices would stagnate.

 

Once Ebay and the like came around, more books came to market and we could see it's true value.

 

There is a small but strong group of collectors for these kinds of books, Night Nurse, Petey, Homer, Romance, Millie, etc......

 

And to label us as collectors of these books because 'someone else wants it' is a little short-sighted and not giving enough credit.

[sufunk]

I'd disagree about the Night Nurse books. They may not be ASM or X-men hot but they definitely have their fan base.

 

People think Lynda Carter is hot as hell and its a BA 1st issue. Alot of people, including myself want a nice HG copy if for nothing else to complete their BA 1st issue registry sets. Its fairly rare, at least for a BA Marvel and imo has a fanbase larger than the available HG copies.

 

I think the price is reasonable considering

[RockMyAmadeus]

Night Nurse 1-4 ?

Definitely a niche market - low supply, low demand. These came out during my 'silver-age' when I was buying everything Marvel produced......, except Night Nurse, the reprints, and the horror titles.

 

I remember one of the OS Advisors pimping this book repeatedly in the circa-1990 guides and updates.

 

Eventually it seemed to morph into a case of 'if he's gotta have it, I've gotta have it too'

I can't believe what OSPG has listed on this title Sometimes I think some of this is a self-fulfilling prophecy...., like you mention with the OSPG Advisors. It seems like in the 90's, you could put an ad in CBG for some obscure, little collected title, and then in the next OSPG, the values would double, even though I never saw any activity on the title - I suppose because 'people were looking for it now.' I know that's not how it is supposed to work, but I have my suspicions.

 

We have more than suspicions here.. we have actual examples. Take the Hulk 377 3rd print that RMA started a thread about in the Copper section.

 

I also think that this board's enthusiasm for GL76 has been a factor in that book's rate of rise over the past 3-5 years.

 

And countless more examples....

[sufunk]

Night Nurse 1-4 ?

Definitely a niche market - low supply, low demand. These came out during my 'silver-age' when I was buying everything Marvel produced......, except Night Nurse, the reprints, and the horror titles.

 

I remember one of the OS Advisors pimping this book repeatedly in the circa-1990 guides and updates.

 

Eventually it seemed to morph into a case of 'if he's gotta have it, I've gotta have it too'

I can't believe what OSPG has listed on this title Sometimes I think some of this is a self-fulfilling prophecy...., like you mention with the OSPG Advisors. It seems like in the 90's, you could put an ad in CBG for some obscure, little collected title, and then in the next OSPG, the values would double, even though I never saw any activity on the title - I suppose because 'people were looking for it now.' I know that's not how it is supposed to work, but I have my suspicions.

 

Sorry Mike but I'll disagree with this if that's ok!

 

I think Overstreet had this undervalued for so long because there were so few sales for them to go by because it is a tough book to find in HG. Pre-internet, if one of the 20 or so so-called 'advisors' didn't have any recorded sales of the book (because they didn't have any in stock) then the prices would stagnate.

 

Once Ebay and the like came around, more books came to market and we could see it's true value.

 

There is a small but strong group of collectors for these kinds of books, Night Nurse, Petey, Homer, Romance, Millie, etc......

 

And to label us as collectors of these books because 'someone else wants it' is a little short-sighted and not giving enough credit.

 

+1

 

Basically what i was typing as you were typing. I just didnt say it as eloquently (thumbs u

[500Club]

I remember one of the OS Advisors pimping this book repeatedly in the circa-1990 guides and updates.

 

Eventually it seemed to morph into a case of 'if he's gotta have it, I've gotta have it too'

 

Bingo.

 

The only reason anything has any value is because someone else wants it. Even necessities. After all, once you've eaten, food becomes utterly valueless to you (that is, you have no demand for it) until you're hungry again. But if someone else wants it...voila! It has value even if you don't want it at the moment.

 

I'm considering writing a short story on the value of anything in an I Am Legend type scenario...

 

Wow.

 

That's boiling it all the way down!

 

 

[asr0462]

The one book I've found to be particularly rare is Detetive Comics #31. I never see that book for sale.

[500Club]

I'd disagree about the Night Nurse books. They may not be ASM or X-men hot but they definitely have their fan base.

 

People think Lynda Carter is hot as hell and its a BA 1st issue. Alot of people, including myself want a nice HG copy if for nothing else to complete their BA 1st issue registry sets. Its fairly rare, at least for a BA Marvel and imo has a fanbase larger than the available HG copies.

 

I think the price is reasonable considering

 

My post was more focused on the 2-3 year period in the early 90s, pre-internet, when a single OS advisor pushed the book and seemed to single-handedly fuel a sharp rise in price. Suddenly, a whole lot of new Night Nurse collectors seemed to be born.

[sufunk]

I'd disagree about the Night Nurse books. They may not be ASM or X-men hot but they definitely have their fan base.

 

People think Lynda Carter is hot as hell and its a BA 1st issue. Alot of people, including myself want a nice HG copy if for nothing else to complete their BA 1st issue registry sets. Its fairly rare, at least for a BA Marvel and imo has a fanbase larger than the available HG copies.

 

I think the price is reasonable considering

 

My post was more focused on the 2-3 year period in the early 90s, pre-internet, when a single OS advisor pushed the book and seemed to single-handedly fuel a sharp rise in price. Suddenly, a whole lot of new Night Nurse collectors seemed to be born.

 

That could be. I didnt pay ANY attention to it back then so i cant really speak intelligently about that(or a lot of other things!).

 

I'd guess the advent of the CGC registry has had a lot to do with its recent popularity since i know for a fact theres a decent amount of people, myself included, that want it to fill their registry set.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I'd disagree about the Night Nurse books. They may not be ASM or X-men hot but they definitely have their fan base.

 

People think Lynda Carter is hot as hell and its a BA 1st issue. Alot of people, including myself want a nice HG copy if for nothing else to complete their BA 1st issue registry sets. Its fairly rare, at least for a BA Marvel and imo has a fanbase larger than the available HG copies.

 

I think the price is reasonable considering

 

 

There was, for a very long time (well into the 80's), a very clear disdain for what was perceived as "girls comics", and if you collected them as a male, there was something very wrong with you.

 

Yes, this is a generalization. Yes, there were men collecting these books.

 

But not many, and certainly not enough to be on ANYONE'S radar.

 

That is precisely why they are so very rare today.

 

Imagine the new comics rack in 1972...what comics buyer who is male is going to buy something called "Night Nurse" when there's Spidey, Hulk, Cap, Bats, Supes, etc etc etc.

 

Nobody (meaning very, very few) bought "girl's comics" because they thought the girls were hot. That was what the magazines were for.

 

Now, of course, the story is completely diferent. It's rare, Marvel, and hip to collect.

 

But if it wasn't Marvel (but everything else was identical) would it be worth what it is...?

[thecollectron]

Adventure Comics #210 - First Krypto the Superdog.

 

Close to $300 for some beater copies. Damn.

 

I saw a copy at NYCC that was a 2.0 at best. Brittle pages and just a horrible copy....it was at Metro's booth and they wanted like a grand for it.

 

Has anyone on this thread actually purchased one before? Does it command a premium?

 

I have a copy that I bought a long time ago. I don't remember how much I paid for it, but I'm a cheap low-grade copy collector so I probably got a pretty good deal on it.

I like Krypto.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I'd disagree about the Night Nurse books. They may not be ASM or X-men hot but they definitely have their fan base.

 

People think Lynda Carter is hot as hell and its a BA 1st issue. Alot of people, including myself want a nice HG copy if for nothing else to complete their BA 1st issue registry sets. Its fairly rare, at least for a BA Marvel and imo has a fanbase larger than the available HG copies.

 

I think the price is reasonable considering

 

My post was more focused on the 2-3 year period in the early 90s, pre-internet, when a single OS advisor pushed the book and seemed to single-handedly fuel a sharp rise in price. Suddenly, a whole lot of new Night Nurse collectors seemed to be born.

 

100% True. I thought it absurd at the time, but I nevertheless hunted them down.

 

Someone else wanted it, after all.

[500Club]

And to label us as collectors of these books because 'someone else wants it' is a little short-sighted and not giving enough credit.

 

Happy to give all the credit in the world to those collectors who quietly looked for the book prior to the OS pimping. (thumbs u

 

But the demand spike in the early 90's wasn't due to a whole group of collectors suddenly wanting the books because 'the story is underrated', 'my jones for Lynda Carter suddenly flared up', 'the covers are iconic', etc. It's not at all short sighted to think herd mentality played a role.

[500Club]

I'd disagree about the Night Nurse books. They may not be ASM or X-men hot but they definitely have their fan base.

 

People think Lynda Carter is hot as hell and its a BA 1st issue. Alot of people, including myself want a nice HG copy if for nothing else to complete their BA 1st issue registry sets. Its fairly rare, at least for a BA Marvel and imo has a fanbase larger than the available HG copies.

 

I think the price is reasonable considering

 

My post was more focused on the 2-3 year period in the early 90s, pre-internet, when a single OS advisor pushed the book and seemed to single-handedly fuel a sharp rise in price. Suddenly, a whole lot of new Night Nurse collectors seemed to be born.

 

100% True. I thought it absurd at the time, but I nevertheless hunted them down.

 

Someone else wanted it, after all.

 

Who was the advisor? I can't recall - I'm at work now - but may just have to dig out my old OSs and OSPG updates.

[thecollectron]

What are comics that you personally can't understand why they cost so much.

 

I know I'll get flack for this, but I personally can't see why Adventure Comics #247 is so expensive. I know it's the first Legion, but that book goes for stupid money.

 

I won't give you any flack, but I am a Legion fan.

I bought this copy decades ago.

Back then, it wasn't so easy to find. I got it at San Diego Comic-Con.

I remember a dealer had a really tattered copy, much lower grade than this one, and he crowed that it was the only copy in the room. It turned out that his was one of two copies in the room, and I bought this one for 1/4 of his price.

Anyway, it used to be a bit scarce.

 

[asr0462]

What are comics that you personally can't understand why they cost so much.

 

I know I'll get flack for this, but I personally can't see why Adventure Comics #247 is so expensive. I know it's the first Legion, but that book goes for stupid money.

 

I won't give you any flack, but I am a Legion fan.

I bought this copy decades ago.

Back then, it wasn't so easy to find. I got it at San Diego Comic-Con.

I remember a dealer had a really tattered copy, much lower grade than this one, and he crowed that it was the only copy in the room. It turned out that his was one of two copies in the room, and I bought this one for 1/4 of his price.

Anyway, it used to be a bit scarce.

 

Did you pay a nickel for it? Haha. I see the nickel stamp. Nice copy, though. I'm glad you could get one.

[RockMyAmadeus]

What are comics that you personally can't understand why they cost so much.

 

I know I'll get flack for this, but I personally can't see why Adventure Comics #247 is so expensive. I know it's the first Legion, but that book goes for stupid money.

 

I won't give you any flack, but I am a Legion fan.

I bought this copy decades ago.

Back then, it wasn't so easy to find. I got it at San Diego Comic-Con.

I remember a dealer had a really tattered copy, much lower grade than this one, and he crowed that it was the only copy in the room. It turned out that his was one of two copies in the room, and I bought this one for 1/4 of his price.

Anyway, it used to be a bit scarce.

 

And it was a throwaway story!

 

The Legion wouldn't appear again for nearly another TWO YEARS!

 

[CartoonFanboy]

Every variant ever made.

 

Agreed. Seriously, that stupid Danger Girls variant recently went for over $900.00 on ebay. NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS! What am I missing? Are the contents of the book different? Does this cover hold some special significance? Did Jeffery Scott Campbell come to the guy's house, draw the issue in front of him and print it on his portable press? WHY?

 

It's a completely different cover from the regular, it's extraordinarily suggestive, and it's incredibly rare.

 

That's why.

 

Variants really shouldn't be a part of this thread. They are manufactured collectibles, with a few exceptions, and play by a slightly different set of rules than a "regular" comic.

 

Oh gosh, a completely different cover you say.

 

Yes, I say.

 

Well that changes everything.

 

Great! I'm glad we see eye to eye.

 

Look, I don't begrudge people their enjoyment of collecting variant covers,

 

Sure you do. You're doing it right now.

 

I'm calling out an instance where a variant cover of an otherwise inexpensive comic has sold for close to 1K. It does not matter how rare this is, that price is nuts and I don't personally understand that (which is the very title of the thread).

 

That's fine, but it's being explained to you: RARITY. People want it = demand. Not very many exist = supply.

 

Combine the two, and it doesn't matter what it is, it has value.

 

Yes, even $900 for a lame ol' variant cover.

 

That it is a variant of an otherwise valueless comic is utterly irrelevant. It is its variant-ness that drives its value.

 

After all...why would anyone want an uncolored, dingy, grungy, stained, maybe white-out'd piece of art, when they can own a beautiful, fully colored, perfectly printed version of that art instead....? Why is the thing used to make that otherwise inexpensive comic worth so much more than the finished product? Is corn and sugar more expensive than Frosted Flakes™?

 

While your attempt to turn this discussion into a "What I collect is cooler than yours" is adorable, your anger confuses me? Even in the sub-comic arena I choose to collect in I find instances of prices I consider ridiculous, and I have not problem admitting that. A Romita Sr. recreation of a Spider-man cover going for almost 80k at auction seems crazy to me, much like a $900.00 Danger Girls comic. Saying that these things are rare does not justify how overboard these prices clearly became. I've already said I don't have anything against people collecting variants, but this is excessive, which is the whole point of the topic.

 

If you could have pointed out an instance where say the supply of this comic was limited because the publisher recalled books containing this cover due to its suggestive nature, than I would at least understand why someone would go overboard with its purchase. It would have been scandalous, people would have been rushing out to find the infamous cover before it got sent back; I may not think that's worth $900.00, but I would understand it. Since that is apparently not the case however, I don't see how a modern comic book - with no key events or characters - could sell for $900.00 based solely on the fact it has a different cover. I'm not saying it's wrong to pay more for a cover that is limited in print, I'm saying it's outrageous to pay almost 1k for it.

 

Is my attacking this particular instance of variant madness automatically mean I'm condemning variant cover collecting as a whole? It must because your reaction continues to baffle me. Unless you were the person who paid this price, my taking umbrage with this Danger Girls variant really shouldn't bother you at all. Comparing original artwork to the corn and sugar that makes up Frosted Flakes, really? You crack me up.

[asr0462]

In regards to variants:

 

I'm a big Daredevil collector, and I try to get all of the variants. But that's only because I like Dardevil, not the idea of a variant.

 

So, I can see collecting variants within a given collection.