Value of Strange Tales 110

[TSwift25]

Dr. Strange has always been a tough character for me to gauge. He's (to me) a fascinating character with a ton of potential. He's just little used and often presented in an uninspired manner.

 

I think a more relevant approach with a good modern title might help this book more than a movie (though I guess Daredevil stands to counter that point).

[ComicConnoisseur]

The price of this book has been climbing steadily in recent months, so my question is: Has this book just been undervalued for years and is just now getting its due? Or is it overvalued/overpriced now because of an impending movie release?

It`s been undervalued for years.

Think Doctor Strange was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko the people who created the Amazing Spider-Man.

Doctor Strange if done right will rival Harry Potter.

I see Doctor Strange as being huge with mainstream.

Get your Strange Tales 110 now!

[Mishmashman]

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts. I tend to believe the book is undervalued, largely due to, as many of you pointed out, the fact that DS does not appear on the cover and because he's been underutilized more recently.

 

One issue I'm having with the pricing of the book is the difference in price of a VG/VG+ and an FN/FN+. A VG/VG+ has been going around $400-550? But a FN/FN+ is in the $1000 ballpark. A $500 difference? That's huge, IMO, for not so big a jump in grade. I'm not sure that there will be some market correction in the near future on the prices of ST 110 in the FN range and above. I just have a hard time justifying paying $1000 for an FN copy of ST 110 when an FN copy of DD1 can be had for slightly less--and DD is arguably more popular than DS.

 

But perhaps what I'm witnessing in those higher FN range and above prices is the market correcting itself. Perhaps DS is finally getting his due and then some? Perhaps it's tougher to find ST 110 in high grade than DD1? That's the sense I get based on what I've seen. Can anyone who's been collecting longer speak to this--that it's tougher to find ST 110 in high grade than DD1?

 

Reading a DD1 thread posted here recently, someone pointed out that there were many high grade copies of DD1 compared to other Marvel keys from about the same period.

[mar-vell]

Nice books Dave! That 110's a stunner!

 

I've got the 101-146 run all raw with several mid-to-high-grade CGC slabs cracked out...average grade of my run is FN...I upgrade the books one at a time when the deals are right...

 

Thanks! I have 101 and 106 been planning to get the other torchies but i got bogged down filling holes in my spidey run and completing 1-100 avengers(run should be complete in a few weeks! ) I would love to upgrade my ST run into NM range but like you i will wait for the right deals to do so. Most books in my run are about VF/VF+ so it would be a lot of work.

[trmoore54]

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts. I tend to believe the book is undervalued, largely due to, as many of you pointed out, the fact that DS does not appear on the cover and because he's been underutilized more recently.

 

One issue I'm having with the pricing of the book is the difference in price of a VG/VG+ and an FN/FN+. A VG/VG+ has been going around $400-550? But a FN/FN+ is in the $1000 ballpark. A $500 difference? That's huge, IMO, for not so big a jump in grade. I'm not sure that there will be some market correction in the near future on the prices of ST 110 in the FN range and above. I just have a hard time justifying paying $1000 for an FN copy of ST 110 when an FN copy of DD1 can be had for slightly less--and DD is arguably more popular than DS.

 

But perhaps what I'm witnessing in those higher FN range and above prices is the market correcting itself. Perhaps DS is finally getting his due and then some? Perhaps it's tougher to find ST 110 in high grade than DD1? That's the sense I get based on what I've seen. Can anyone who's been collecting longer speak to this--that it's tougher to find ST 110 in high grade than DD1?

 

Reading a DD1 thread posted here recently, someone pointed out that there were many high grade copies of DD1 compared to other Marvel keys from about the same period.

 

Price-wise in the market the books are pretty comparable...but many more DD 1s CGCed than ST 110...my guess is due to the obvious Key-ness and a #1/origin SA book for DD and the aforementioned lack of cover recognition and perhaps 2nd-tier hero status of DS...and I imagine there are many more mid to HG DD 1s available than ST110 (tough dark cover) which seems to bear out by the census...

 

Some information...

 

ST 110

562 CGC graded...42 restored copies...grades as follows 4.0 through 9.6

9.6 3

9.4 10

9.2 10

9.0 25

8.5 25

8.0 30

7.5 32

7.0 50

6.5 37

6.0 41

5.5 30

5.0 56

4.5 30

4.0 45

 

HG sales...

9.6 Pacific Coast (July 2012) $42130

9.4 $15249 most recent...

9.4 Circle 8 $25500

9.4 Northland $17500

9.4 Twin Cities $22108

 

DD1

2072 CGC graded...232 restored copies

 

9.8 2

9.6 3

9.4 31

9.2 47

9.0 70

8.5 76

8.0 102

7.5 108

7.0 137

6.5 127

6.0 125

5.5 121

5.0 188

4.5 142

4.0 199

 

HG sales data...

9.6 $32999

9.6 Curator $37344

9.6 Twin Cities $28680

[KirbyJack]

Good data! People just aren't submitting their 110s.

 

As far as 'long term collectors" go, I'm a journeyman, I'd say. I've been very interested in SA Marvels since 1988, and I will say that from what I've seen, DD#1 pops up more often than does ST#110.

 

But not much.

[Mishmashman]

Thanks for the helpful data. The CGC data definitely suggests not many ST 110s have been submitted for grading relative to DD1. The prices of ST 110 over the last decade, especially, for the lower end books, just didn't justify the cost of grading?

[Mishmashman]

Good data! People just aren't submitting their 110s.

 

As far as 'long term collectors" go, I'm a journeyman, I'd say. I've been very interested in SA Marvels since 1988, and I will say that from what I've seen, DD#1 pops up more often than does ST#110.

 

But not much.

 

I feel like I see a DD1, of all grade types, coming up for auction on Heritage literally every week. I don't see as many ST 110s out there, but, again, that probably just means people are holding on to the book for a little while longer before selling in order to get a higher price as the movie approaches.

[Comicdey]

ST 110 and 115 are both great Long Term Investments, but they are also a great read. I have lower grade copies of both and should upgrade before they turn TOS on me .

[Spiderphill]

I want to grab a nice ST110 7.0 and TTA27 7.0 before theyre too out of reach. Only a matter of time.

[Erndog]

About 6 months ago, someone here had a ST110 at the sales board CGC 6.0 for around $500-600 if I remember correctly.

 

I hummed and hawed for days! Literally... I dont think I contemplated any book more in my time here. We exchanged a few PMs too. I finally decided on spending the money elsewhere.

 

Now I just at myself.

[Comicdey]

I had a 27 7.0 but I sold it ::

[vaillant]

The price of this book has been climbing steadily in recent months, so my question is: Has this book just been undervalued for years and is just now getting its due? Or is it overvalued/overpriced now because of an impending movie release?

 

What do you mean by "undervalued"? It’s Doctor Strange first appearance, and thus important, but there are a lot of Doctor Strange stories of stellar quality in either the following issues or in the following tenures of the character.

 

A movie release, which often has little to do with the original character, does not add or subtract anything from the quality of the original stories.

[Bomber-Bob]

One issue I'm having with the pricing of the book is the difference in price of a VG/VG+ and an FN/FN+. A VG/VG+ has been going around $400-550? But a FN/FN+ is in the $1000 ballpark. A $500 difference? That's huge, IMO, for not so big a jump in grade.

 

Last month a 4.5 sold for 500.00 and a 6.5 sold for 1100.00 . I think a double in price for two full points on a key is reasonable.

Looking at a Showcase 22 in comparison a 4.5 sold for 1525.00 while a 6.5 sold for 4700.00 . That's a triple in price.

[Mishmashman]

One issue I'm having with the pricing of the book is the difference in price of a VG/VG+ and an FN/FN+. A VG/VG+ has been going around $400-550? But a FN/FN+ is in the $1000 ballpark. A $500 difference? That's huge, IMO, for not so big a jump in grade.

 

Last month a 4.5 sold for 500.00 and a 6.5 sold for 1100.00 . I think a double in price for two full points on a key is reasonable.

Looking at a Showcase 22 in comparison a 4.5 sold for 1525.00 while a 6.5 sold for 4700.00 . That's a triple in price.

 

I could see that with Showcase 22 because high grade is tough to come by. Not so sure yet about ST 110.

[rjpb]

Plenty of early SA and Atom Age books double in value from VG to FN, especially when copies nicer than 5.0 can be much harder o find than under. Really it's no more surprising than the doubling of value from G to VG, which has been the norm for 20 years or more.

[Mishmashman]

The price of this book has been climbing steadily in recent months, so my question is: Has this book just been undervalued for years and is just now getting its due? Or is it overvalued/overpriced now because of an impending movie release?

 

What do you mean by "undervalued"? It’s Doctor Strange first appearance, and thus important, but there are a lot of Doctor Strange stories of stellar quality in either the following issues or in the following tenures of the character.

 

A movie release, which often has little to do with the original character, does not add or subtract anything from the quality of the original stories.

 

By undervalued, I mean its monetary price in comparison to other keys that were released around the same time. It's value isn't close to what you'd see from its peers. I don't mean quality of character or story, the value of which is largely subjective.

[Sqeggs]

Even though the two books were published less than a year apart, I think that Marvel collecting gained significant momentum during that year (early 1963 to early 1964). So there were many more collectors primed to buy and save DD 1 when it came out than there were to save ST 110. In addition to which, of course, a first issue is bound to attract more interest than a first appearance. Finally, the print run on DD 1 was likely to have been significantly greater than for ST 110 (although Marvel was dealing with distribution constraints in those days).

 

The difference in the census probably reflects not just the difference in collectors bothering to have copies of ST 110 slabbed but also the difference in the number of copies that have survived in collectible condition.

[dgarthwaite-migration]

Yes. It is undervalued. I've bought any I've seen locally. I own three.

 

 

 

 

DG

 

 

 

[dem1138]

I love it when you guys talk about this book...