STAR WARS #1 0

[vint43]

Just curious, because until this thread, I never read or heard about this royalty free information. What is the source of that information?

 

There are a few sources for both the royalty free arrangement and the 100,000 copies:

 

First paragraph:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(comics)

 

Second paragraph:

 

http://nothingbutcomics.net/2015/01/19/star-wars-original-70s-adventures/

 

I cannot find the text online, but the book, "How Star Wars Conquered the Universe" researched by Chris Taylor goes into detail about this negotiation.

 

George Lucas was a large comic fan. He could not get Marvel interested in the movie in his first attempts with a "traditional" royalty arrangement so they went back and basically said "print it for free and we will only return if you sell over 100,000". That gave the person the "green light" to go back and resell it to Stan Lee who had already passed on the project.

 

So, I ask you, if it was so clearly "not interesting" to Marvel at the top, and they had to push to the point of giving the first 100,000 to them for free to get them to print the book, why would Marvel turn around and print 280k books?

 

The 100,00 was like a "free trial" on something you had strong doubts about.

 

So, you print 280k? It does not make sense. Now, I cannot find a specific reference that says "we printed 100,000" copies. That is the mystery here. It is implied in all the readings but not specifically stated. So, there is room for interpretation but my interpretation follows logically from what has been documented about this process.

 

They did not believe in this book. It was "pushed on them" until they decided to give it a try. That is why it would have a lessor print run to start. They also had to renegotiate the book after 100,000, it would be natural for them to do reprints AFTER that negotiation was completed. Why print 180k books (180k over the 100k) not even knowing how much they were going to cost you in royalties?

 

Found another reference:

 

http://www.totalcomicmayhem.com/2014/11/star-wars-key-comics.html

 

Not to beat a dead horse - 4th paragraph:

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=i9jABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT49&lpg=PT49&dq=1977+star+wars+comic+royalty+100,000+lucas&source=bl&ots=qLvNudw_CQ&sig=NkFx-6q_IlG-gzog7_T2JZWYT00&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TzznVIKbM9W1sQTXkIDIBA&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=1977%20star%20wars%20comic%20royalty%20100%2C000%20lucas&f=false

Edited February 20, 2015 by vint43

[paul747]

Just curious, because until this thread, I never read or heard about this royalty free information. What is the source of that information?

 

There are a few sources for both the royalty free arrangement and the 100,000 copies:

 

First paragraph:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(comics)

 

Second paragraph:

 

http://nothingbutcomics.net/2015/01/19/star-wars-original-70s-adventures/

 

I cannot find the text online, but the book, "How Star Wars Conquered the Universe" researched by Chris Taylor goes into detail about this negotiation.

 

George Lucas was a large comic fan. He could not get Marvel interested in the movie in his first attempts with a "traditional" royalty arrangement so they went back and basically said "print it for free and we will only return if you sell over 100,000". That gave the person the "green light" to go back and resell it to Stan Lee who had already passed on the project.

 

So, I ask you, if it was so clearly "not interesting" to Marvel at the top, and they had to push to the point of giving the first 100,000 to them for free to get them to print the book, why would Marvel turn around and print 280k books?

 

The 100,00 was like a "free trial" on something you had strong doubts about.

 

So, you print 280k? It does not make sense. Now, I cannot find a specific reference that says "we printed 100,000" copies. That is the mystery here. It is implied in all the readings but not specifically stated. So, there is room for interpretation but my interpretation follows logically from what has been documented about this process.

 

They did not believe in this book. It was "pushed on them" until they decided to give it a try. That is why it would have a lessor print run to start. They also had to renegotiate the book after 100,000, it would be natural for them to do reprints AFTER that negotiation was completed. Why print 180k books (180k over the 100k) not even knowing how much they were going to cost you in royalties?

 

Did you read your source material? Plain as day it says 100,000 was exceeded very quickly. Like others have stated they would have printed more than 100,000 and excepted the fact that the first 100k was royalty free. There have been multiple conversations on the minimum print runs why would they short print the first printing of this book ? I guess the argument could be proven with the second printing or subsequent printing info.

 

 

Lee negotiated a publishing arrangement with no royalties to Lucasfilm until sales exceeded 100,000 at which point legal arrangements could be revisited.[1]

Marvel Comics Group published a series of Star Wars comic books from 1977 to 1986, lasting 107 issues and 3 annuals. According to former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, the strong sales of Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978.[2] Marvel's Star Wars series was one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980.[3] The only downside for Marvel was that the 100,000 copy sales quota was surpassed quickly, allowing Lippincott to renegotiate the royalty arrangements from a position of strength.

Edited February 20, 2015 by paul747

[vint43]

Just curious, because until this thread, I never read or heard about this royalty free information. What is the source of that information?

 

There are a few sources for both the royalty free arrangement and the 100,000 copies:

 

First paragraph:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(comics)

 

Second paragraph:

 

http://nothingbutcomics.net/2015/01/19/star-wars-original-70s-adventures/

 

I cannot find the text online, but the book, "How Star Wars Conquered the Universe" researched by Chris Taylor goes into detail about this negotiation.

 

George Lucas was a large comic fan. He could not get Marvel interested in the movie in his first attempts with a "traditional" royalty arrangement so they went back and basically said "print it for free and we will only return if you sell over 100,000". That gave the person the "green light" to go back and resell it to Stan Lee who had already passed on the project.

 

So, I ask you, if it was so clearly "not interesting" to Marvel at the top, and they had to push to the point of giving the first 100,000 to them for free to get them to print the book, why would Marvel turn around and print 280k books?

 

The 100,00 was like a "free trial" on something you had strong doubts about.

 

So, you print 280k? It does not make sense. Now, I cannot find a specific reference that says "we printed 100,000" copies. That is the mystery here. It is implied in all the readings but not specifically stated. So, there is room for interpretation but my interpretation follows logically from what has been documented about this process.

 

They did not believe in this book. It was "pushed on them" until they decided to give it a try. That is why it would have a lessor print run to start. They also had to renegotiate the book after 100,000, it would be natural for them to do reprints AFTER that negotiation was completed. Why print 180k books (180k over the 100k) not even knowing how much they were going to cost you in royalties?

 

Did you read your source material? Plain as day it says 100,000 was exceeded very quickly.

 

 

Lee negotiated a publishing arrangement with no royalties to Lucasfilm until sales exceeded 100,000 at which point legal arrangements could be revisited.[1]

Marvel Comics Group published a series of Star Wars comic books from 1977 to 1986, lasting 107 issues and 3 annuals. According to former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, the strong sales of Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978.[2] Marvel's Star Wars series was one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980.[3] The only downside for Marvel was that the 100,000 copy sales quota was surpassed quickly, allowing Lippincott to renegotiate the royalty arrangements from a position of strength.

 

Yes, of course, it was in reprints. Issue #1 and issue #2 were already printed before the movie (that was the initial run). After the movie, when demand skyrocketed and they had to renegotiate, they would have moved into reprints to satisfy the demand beyond the initial 100,000.

 

In fact, early on, there were several "types" of reprints:

 

Straight from the Star Wars Wiki:

 

"The original cover price for this issue was 30 cents, but Marvel printed a 35-cent version with a limited distribution of about 1500 copies to six markets within the US. Due to the low print run, the 35-cent version is considered more valuable than the 30-cent one. There were also several reprint versions.

 

Reprints are noted by the word REPRINT that runs along the spine of the book inside of the logo box, the phrase "THIS IS A REPRINT OF A PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ISSUE" on the inside indicia, or both.

 

There is a common misconception about using a diamond vs. box to identify reprints in this series. This misconception was first widely spread when the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide published the technique as a valid method of differentiation. The Overstreet guide stated that issues #1-9 were reprinted and that they should have the word "REPRINT" in the upper left-hand corner of the cover or inside, "or price and number inside a diamond with no date or UPC on cover." In actuality, not all reprints from the early part of this series have the price and number inside a diamond, and not all copies that have their price and number inside a diamond are reprints. "

Edited February 20, 2015 by vint43

[jjeanius]

The kool-aid is strong with this one.

 

Yeesh - I can barely see through the clouds of hype around here. *NEWSFLASH* - this book wasn't discovered yesterday. I remember seeing this book on a dealer wall at my first convention in 1985, with a price tag of $8. Even then, at the age of 10, I was already aware of how incredibly common this book was. It's not rare, it's never been rare, it will never be rare. And Star Wars has been popular for almost 40 years now, and this has *ALWAYS* been reflected in the price of this book. And yet, the book almost triples in "value" over the last six months...? Does that seem reasonable?

 

IMO, dropping $1800 on a 9.8 #1 might be the single WORST thing I can think of to do with that money. If I have the books, I'm selling them All. Day. Long. If I'm a buyer...I'm not buying. Simple as that.

[vint43]

This is what I liked to call the "missing link" reprint:

 

http://www.comics.org/issue/954337/cover/4/

 

Notice, with this pic of all titles of Star Wars #1, there is a 30 cent reprint.

 

It is on the lower left.

 

That reprint could have only lasted for a few short months back when the movie was released.

 

By issue #5, all comics had went to 35 cents (including the reprints). However, at the time of the movie, issue #3 was being prepared and it was still 30 cents.

 

This issue #1 reprint @ 30 cents could have only existed during the time of issue #3 and issue #4.

 

That is the exact time when the movie hits and becomes a big success. This means, as the movie hit and fandom grows, Marvel went immediately into reprints for #1 to satisfy the demand and those only lasted 2 months or so prior to them reverting to the commonly seen 35 cent reprint of #1 by issue #5.

 

So, the only question is how many regular issue #1's did they print prior to the movie being released and the need for this 30 cent reprint which almost immediately appears with the release of the movie?

 

Given they were skeptical of movie tie in comics with their lack of success in the past, and the fact they were given 100,000 royalty free, I have a hard time believing they immediately printed 280k in the initial print prior to the movie - which would have matched the sell through of their most popular comic at the time. Did Stan Lee just like to kill trees? There is no way he thought this was going to match the sales numbers of Spiderman prior the movie. 100,000 is the logical initial print run here.

 

Having been wrong, they had to immediately issue a reprint at 30 cents during the short time period between #3 and #4 issues.

 

In fact, I am very curious "how rare" this 30 cent reprint of #1 would be because it had a short shelf life. I think it is a hidden collector piece in this mess of a story.

[paul747]

The kool-aid is strong with this one.

 

Yeesh - I can barely see through the clouds of hype around here. *NEWSFLASH* - this book wasn't discovered yesterday. I remember seeing this book on a dealer wall at my first convention in 1985, with a price tag of $8. Even then, at the age of 10, I was already aware of how incredibly common this book was. It's not rare, it's never been rare, it will never be rare. And Star Wars has been popular for almost 40 years now, and this has *ALWAYS* been reflected in the price of this book. And yet, the book almost triples in "value" over the last six months...? Does that seem reasonable?

 

IMO, dropping $1800 on a 9.8 #1 might be the single WORST thing I can think of to do with that money. If I have the books, I'm selling them All. Day. Long. If I'm a buyer...I'm not buying. Simple as that.

 

+100 and my last post on this topic ! the print run is definitely over 100,000 copies probably like 400,000 cause i don't think those 200,000 plus supposed returns where destroyed. don't know for sure and really don't care anymore i have seen hundreds hoarded in the last year.

Edited February 20, 2015 by paul747

[jjeanius]

PS--just because they were supposedly "royalty free" for the first 100,000 copies, I see no reason why this would have *ANY* bearing on the print run - especially since the books are returnable, and royalties would only apply AFTER 100,000 copies had already been sold. If anything, this would give Marvel even more incentive to up the print run, as their profit margin would be higher on the first 100,000, and anything after that is just gravy.

[vint43]

The kool-aid is strong with this one.

 

Yeesh - I can barely see through the clouds of hype around here. *NEWSFLASH* - this book wasn't discovered yesterday. I remember seeing this book on a dealer wall at my first convention in 1985, with a price tag of $8. Even then, at the age of 10, I was already aware of how incredibly common this book was. It's not rare, it's never been rare, it will never be rare. And Star Wars has been popular for almost 40 years now, and this has *ALWAYS* been reflected in the price of this book. And yet, the book almost triples in "value" over the last six months...? Does that seem reasonable?

 

IMO, dropping $1800 on a 9.8 #1 might be the single WORST thing I can think of to do with that money. If I have the books, I'm selling them All. Day. Long. If I'm a buyer...I'm not buying. Simple as that.

 

Why, the condescension is strong with this one as well. A lovely trait!

 

A drug bing? Setting it on fire? Going to see "From Justin to Kelly" 1,000 times in the theater until the money was spent? None of these made your lists of worst ideas but this purchase did?

 

I am trying to provide "facts" here. People keep claiming they printed "millions of these things" "one for every man woman and child", etc. and they have no actual data on how this book was printed and the dynamics around the initial print and reprints.

 

"Rare" is relative. Even if they printed 100,000, it was highly collected by many and the survival rate would be high I would think relative to other more common titles.

 

That could result in a supply much above some bronze age comics when you consider survival rates even with a lower initial print run.

 

However, it is a far cry from the "millions" people claim have been printed and the "boxes and boxes" they claim are still lying around supposedly waiting to be opened by the 7th movie.

 

You can mock me for thinking it is not as common as you think by providing data that actually uses real life facts to determine the initial print run. In the end, today, we have just over 300 CGC 9.8 in the census. Given people's theories on this massive print run and hoarding and the fact we all agree it was widely cherished at the time, it is not very big.

 

If that data sounds like cool-aide to you, I guess I should enjoy the cool-aide. I find it more satisfying to do some actual research on the topic then to listen to a story about a boy who was 10 at a convention and making that my "definitive data" on how rare a book actually is.

[vint43]

The kool-aid is strong with this one.

 

Yeesh - I can barely see through the clouds of hype around here. *NEWSFLASH* - this book wasn't discovered yesterday. I remember seeing this book on a dealer wall at my first convention in 1985, with a price tag of $8. Even then, at the age of 10, I was already aware of how incredibly common this book was. It's not rare, it's never been rare, it will never be rare. And Star Wars has been popular for almost 40 years now, and this has *ALWAYS* been reflected in the price of this book. And yet, the book almost triples in "value" over the last six months...? Does that seem reasonable?

 

IMO, dropping $1800 on a 9.8 #1 might be the single WORST thing I can think of to do with that money. If I have the books, I'm selling them All. Day. Long. If I'm a buyer...I'm not buying. Simple as that.

 

+100 and my last post on this topic ! the print run is definitely over 100,000 copies probably like 400,000 cause i don't think those 200,000 plus supposed returns where destroyed. don't know for sure and really don't care anymore i have seen hundreds hoarded in the last year.

 

I am just using this as an example because multiple people post the same thing. Nothing personal.

 

Do you guys have any actual facts or do you just keep repeating the same myths shared by others?

 

Where on Earth did you hear there were 200,000 returns for Star Wars #1? I have never seen that in all the books I have read about Star Wars that cover this story in detail.

 

Why in the heck would Stan Lee print 400,000 of a comic he did not believe in prior to the movie where he only agreed to it thinking he would never have to pay royalties over 100,000?

 

He was selling through 280,000 copies of his best selling title at the time (Spiderman). He was burnt by many the other "tie in" movies and did not want another one. He had to be convinced to "give it a try" on a completely unknown movie.

 

With all of that, he then decides, what the heck, lets print more then we have ever sold through in our best selling title?

 

What actual data supports this story? From the data I know, it does not fit any of the facts around the movie and this comic.

[vint43]

PS--just because they were supposedly "royalty free" for the first 100,000 copies, I see no reason why this would have *ANY* bearing on the print run - especially since the books are returnable, and royalties would only apply AFTER 100,000 copies had already been sold. If anything, this would give Marvel even more incentive to up the print run, as their profit margin would be higher on the first 100,000, and anything after that is just gravy.

 

Read my other posts. Stan Lee did not believe in this book and was reluctant to do it. I am taking the leap of faith he also did not have a real problem with trees, and therefore, would not just print hundreds of thousands of extra books "just in case" when no one, and I mean no one (not even George Lucas), saw what was coming.

 

He also specifically carved out 100,000 in the initial agreement. Why would he settle on such a number? Lucas was willing to give him the farm. He thought that number was the farm. Yet, he would triple or quadruple that print run with zero evidence he wasn't correct in the first place to be leery of this title?

 

Also, he immediately had to issue a reprint after the movie. Obviously, the initial print run went very quickly once the movie hit. He had to issue a 30 cent reprint - something with a short shelf life given the change to 35 cents that was coming. That speaks to fairly quick shortages in the initial print run.

 

Out of all of these facts, you guys claim, with no data, the print was XXX,XXXX.

 

Perhaps you are right, but you really offer nothing to support it.

 

That is what is causing my responses.

 

I would love to find the final source that simply says "Marvel printed XXX,XXX of the initial Star Wars #1 prior to going to reprints". Trust me, I have looked, I cannot find it. Perhaps someone will. For now, I only have the data about how this deal was done and the climate around the comic prior to the movie. None of that speaks to a "massive print" of 400,000, etc. It just does not fit the facts.

 

However, if someone finds out that Marvel "had to print 300,000" or something due to a print contract, massive price discount, etc., that would change it. It would have to be something that forced Marvel to print so many because it was not their belief, their contract with Lucas, nor their excitement over the issue that drove it. They thought 100,000 was plenty.

 

Edited February 20, 2015 by vint43

[paul747]

The kool-aid is strong with this one.

 

Yeesh - I can barely see through the clouds of hype around here. *NEWSFLASH* - this book wasn't discovered yesterday. I remember seeing this book on a dealer wall at my first convention in 1985, with a price tag of $8. Even then, at the age of 10, I was already aware of how incredibly common this book was. It's not rare, it's never been rare, it will never be rare. And Star Wars has been popular for almost 40 years now, and this has *ALWAYS* been reflected in the price of this book. And yet, the book almost triples in "value" over the last six months...? Does that seem reasonable?

 

IMO, dropping $1800 on a 9.8 #1 might be the single WORST thing I can think of to do with that money. If I have the books, I'm selling them All. Day. Long. If I'm a buyer...I'm not buying. Simple as that.

 

+100 and my last post on this topic ! the print run is definitely over 100,000 copies probably like 400,000 cause i don't think those 200,000 plus supposed returns where destroyed. don't know for sure and really don't care anymore i have seen hundreds hoarded in the last year.

 

I am just using this as an example because multiple people post the same thing. Nothing personal.

 

Do you guys have any actual facts or do you just keep repeating the same myths shared by others?

 

Where on Earth did you hear there were 200,000 returns for Star Wars #1? I have never seen that in all the books I have read about Star Wars that cover this story in detail.

 

Why in the heck would Stan Lee print 400,000 of a comic he did not believe in prior to the movie where he only agreed to it thinking he would never have to pay royalties over 100,000?

 

He was selling through 280,000 copies of his best selling title at the time (Spiderman). He was burnt by many the other "tie in" movies and did not want another one. He had to be convinced to "give it a try" on a completely unknown movie.

 

With all of that, he then decides, what the heck, lets print more then we have ever sold through in our best selling title?

 

What actual data supports this story? From the data I know, it does not fit any of the facts around the movie and this comic.

 

 

Man You need to read ! this is a sample just posted by Chuck Gower on last page. Use it as a guide for average print runs from this period. if its even close to right that means 400,000-500,000 where printed. As pointed out above with the 100,000 free of royalty, that probably justified marvel doing their average print run... Even your info says that the 100,000 free of royalty was gone real fast ...

 

As for the return system that has been proven many time's that a portion of these books where never destroyed but in fact hoarded. (see a mile high story on the subject for one example.)

 

If i knew for sure i would just say it, I DON'T, i do know it is not a 100,000 copy rare book.

 

1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

Issue Statement appearing in: #155 April #167 April #178 March #191 April

Date of filing: 9/22/75 9/20/76 9/20/77 9/25/78

Issues published during year: 12 12 12 12

Annual subscription price: $3.50 $4.00 $4.50 $4.50

Cover price during year: $0.25 $0.30 $0.35 $0.35

Total Copies PRINTED (avg): 530,714 555,709 587,702 558,630

Sales through DEALERS (avg): 269,167 278,909 271,491 230,208

Sales by SUBSCRIPTION (avg): 4,606 3,250 10,369 27,948

Total PAID circulation (avg): 273,773 282,159 281,860 258,156

Samples by MAIL (avg): 0 0 200 225

Samples OUTSIDE mail (avg): 0 0 0 0

Total FREE circulation (avg): 0 0 200 225

TOTAL DISTRIBUTION: 273,773 282,159 282,060 258,381

Copies not distributed (office): 3,015 3,080 2,980 2,160

Copies not distributed (RETURNS): 253,926 270,470 302,662 298,030

Reported % Paid/Requested:

% of RUN RETURNED: 47.8% 48.7% 51.5% 53.4% #DIV/0!

Copies existent: 276,788 285,239 285,040 260,541 0

SELL-THROUGH at RETAIL: 51.6% 50.8% 48.0% 46.2% #DIV/0!

Edited February 20, 2015 by paul747

[Hulksdaddy1]

Just a little thought.

 

Diamonds are common as, well, dirt, but their value is elevated simply because of the steady, continuous demand. It doesn't ALWAYS have to be a small supply for prices to be higher than seems logical.

 

SW1 is also benefiting from the current comic key craze going on right now. Rising tide, and all that.

 

I have no idea about the current pricing, whether it will stay, increase, decrease, whatever. Time will tell.

 

And neither does anyone else.

 

 

[Jaydogrules]

The kool-aid is strong with this one.

 

Yeesh - I can barely see through the clouds of hype around here. *NEWSFLASH* - this book wasn't discovered yesterday. I remember seeing this book on a dealer wall at my first convention in 1985, with a price tag of $8. Even then, at the age of 10, I was already aware of how incredibly common this book was. It's not rare, it's never been rare, it will never be rare. And Star Wars has been popular for almost 40 years now, and this has *ALWAYS* been reflected in the price of this book. And yet, the book almost triples in "value" over the last six months...? Does that seem reasonable?

 

IMO, dropping $1800 on a 9.8 #1 might be the single WORST thing I can think of to do with that money. If I have the books, I'm selling them All. Day. Long. If I'm a buyer...I'm not buying. Simple as that.

 

Some good points here.

 

And I recognize some people choose to view this book as a "key". I do not. This term is fluid and can be personal within even a collector's own stash of books. There are a handful of bulletproof "keys" that literally everyone agrees on. I do not believe SW 1 is one of them. It does not matter how many copies it sold because it is not an original comic book property. It's basically just a glorified souvenir mag for the movie. Our medium is an innately creative one, and is at its best when innovating. This is why we have so much alternative media being adapted from comic books, and not vice versa. This is what has made our hobby cool, a cultural phenomenon, and some of these books so dang expensive. SW 1 has its place as probably the best selling movie book of the seventies. But that's because the movie was a hit. That in and of itself does not make it a "key" in this hobby however. My 2 cents.

 

-J.

 

 

[jjeanius]

The kool-aid is strong with this one.

 

Yeesh - I can barely see through the clouds of hype around here. *NEWSFLASH* - this book wasn't discovered yesterday. I remember seeing this book on a dealer wall at my first convention in 1985, with a price tag of $8. Even then, at the age of 10, I was already aware of how incredibly common this book was. It's not rare, it's never been rare, it will never be rare. And Star Wars has been popular for almost 40 years now, and this has *ALWAYS* been reflected in the price of this book. And yet, the book almost triples in "value" over the last six months...? Does that seem reasonable?

 

IMO, dropping $1800 on a 9.8 #1 might be the single WORST thing I can think of to do with that money. If I have the books, I'm selling them All. Day. Long. If I'm a buyer...I'm not buying. Simple as that.

 

Why, the condescension is strong with this one as well. A lovely trait!

Sorry you are so intimidated by logic.

 

 

A drug bing? Setting it on fire? Going to see "From Justin to Kelly" 1,000 times in the theater until the money was spent? None of these made your lists of worst ideas but this purchase did?

 

 

I thought it was fairly obvious that I was speaking within the context of investing the money on comics. I guess you have a hard time inferring what was implied within the context of the conversation, so I will be sure to spell it out for you more clearly in the future.

 

I am trying to provide "facts" here.

Look forward to that. Please proceed whenever you are ready

 

People keep claiming they printed "millions of these things" "one for every man woman and child", etc. and they have no actual data on how this book was printed and the dynamics around the initial print and reprints.

Are you fabricating quotes now, too...?

 

"Rare" is relative.

No, it's not. Rare is rare. Demand might be relative to supply, and vice versa, but RARE is certainly not relative.

 

Even if they printed 100,000, it was highly collected by many and the survival rate would be high I would think relative to other more common titles.

 

That could result in a supply much above some bronze age comics when you consider survival rates even with a lower initial print run.

So, wait...are you saying it's "rare"...?

 

If that data sounds like cool-aide to you, I guess I should enjoy the cool-aide. I find it more satisfying to do some actual research on the topic then to listen to a story about a boy who was 10 at a convention and making that my "definitive data" on how rare a book actually is.

 

Sadly, my 10-year-old self still has a better grasp on this market than you do.

[CBT]

, this thread is funny.

 

people that want to sell, go ahead and sell, If I sold comics as a business, I certainly would, and if I had multiples I would as well.

 

But, this book has been undervalued at UHG relative to the variant for a long time, and very much so compared to tons of modern excrement.

 

To those who think its easy to slab one out at 9.8, get to work. Maybe there are people sitting on supply, but thats true of many books. They arent stupid and arent going to flood the market.

 

The price has been climbing for a long time, and has seen a big bump, obviously it will correct like every book does, but it sure isnt going back to where it was...

[Broke as a Joke]

Reading up on the release of Star Wars #1...

 

Even though the book was released before the film, that didn't stop it from selling very well the week it was released. Marvel knew right away it had a hit on their hands, which means they didn't have to wait a month for the movie to come out to ramp up the printings.

[CBT]

There are a handful of bulletproof "keys" that literally everyone agrees on.

 

nothing is bulletproof, and that describes some of the books that people are going to get taught a serious lesson on, once the whole economy and comic market with it, corrects. If everyone thinks it and is doing the same thing, that should be your first warning that its overbought...

 

True in all markets and all assets, not just comics.

Edited February 20, 2015 by CBT

[Jaydogrules]

There are a handful of bulletproof "keys" that literally everyone agrees on.

 

nothing is bulletproof, and that describes some of the books that people are going to get taught a serious lesson on, once the whole economy and comic market with it, corrects. If everyone thinks it and is doing the same thing, that should be your first warning that its overbought...

 

True in all markets and all assets, not just comics.

 

I agree with you. My statement referred only to content however, not "value". (thumbs u

 

-J.

[PeterPark]

, this thread is funny.

 

people that want to sell, go ahead and sell, If I sold comics as a business, I certainly would, and if I had multiples I would as well.

 

But, this book has been undervalued at UHG relative to the variant for a long time, and very much so compared to tons of modern excrement.

 

To those who think its easy to slab one out at 9.8, get to work. Maybe there are people sitting on supply, but thats true of many books. They arent stupid and arent going to flood the market.

 

The price has been climbing for a long time, and has seen a big bump, obviously it will correct like every book does, but it sure isnt going back to where it was...

 

With the increase in demand for this book, the variant should see some of that increase. Star wars 1 35 cent variant is still overstreet's king of the bronze age

[CBT]

 

I agree with you. My statement referred only to content however, not "value". (thumbs u

 

-J.

 

gotcha, bulletproof in the sense of people can't dispute the 'keyness' of them. That I agree with, but I think the 35 center qualifies this book as a key, so should the far far more common one be regarded as such too?

 

Obviously its not the same, but the fact that the Star Wars 35 center is worth so much more than other price variants, is because its star wars. Would a 9.9 or 10 of the regular one justify a high price, at what point does it become so common, that everyone can have one (and price isnt effected beyond simply the content).

 

I think 9.8s are rare enough even within the huge print run, that they cannot simply be ignored as irrelevant. If I want to own "the" Star Wars comic, this is the book. If I can't spend 5 figures on a price variant, what options are left to me?

 

9.8 is the best one that someone can(could) reasonably afford to seek out and acquire. The crazy price action on less desirable books, plus the generational shift in coming new Star Wars material (comics, live action tv, shared universe movies and spin-offs) triggered by Lucasfilms' sale has cause the book to finally start climbing.

 

A couple people decided they HAD to have one, and over paid and triggered anyone left sitting on the fence to act rather than"be left behind". The price will correct, but given some of the other less important, also common, books fetching 4 figures, I think it will be a long time (if ever, thanks to USD money printing) before a 9.8 of THE Star Wars book will be a 3 figure book again.

Edited February 20, 2015 by CBT