Top Ten Silver Age Investment Comics of 2013

[BarryAllen]

Never really cared for Namor but I recognize how significant he was to the early SA of Marvel. Where would the Marvel Age have gone without Doom and Namor at the very beginning?

 

I don't like him that much either, I find his character "whinny" (sorry to the Subby fans out there).

 

Doom has set the bar for all villains to follow and short of Darkseid from DC, I find comparison hard.

 

As to where Marvel would be without them, no idea. We would probably be talking about Magneto or Thanos instead.

 

What I would LOVE to see from Marvel, is a villain or anti-hero centric movie. How cool (and great for the genre) would a Doom or Magneto movie be?

[Buzzetta]

What's on my radar? I have an itch for a couple of these...

Order is as they come to mind... I already have a few of these but may pick up more dupes.

 

Ten books or linked books in some cases.

 

Strange Tales 110

Amazing Fantasy 15

Amazing Spider-man 14 / 37

Fantastic Four 4

Fantastic Four 45

Fantastic Four 48

Daredevil 1

Daredevil 7

X-Men 1

Hulk 180 / 181

 

 

[AGGIEZ]

I'll throw a few out there...

 

 

Avengers #57 - 1st appearance of Vision (speculation of movie appearance)

 

Tales to Astonish #35 - 1st appearance of Ant-Man in costume (movie)

 

Tales to Astonish #44 - 1st appearance of Wasp (movie)

 

Captain America #117 - 1st appearance of the Falcon (ST, LT only if

Cap2 is great)

 

Strange Tales #110 - 1st appearance of Dr. Strange (speculation of solo movie)

 

Thor #165 - 1st full appearance of Him (Adam Warlock) (GotG universe, maybe GotG2?)

 

Fantastic Four #52 - 1st appearance of Black Panther (speculation of solo movie)

 

B&B #34 - 1st SA appearance of Hawkman and Harkgirl (underrated)

 

Strange Adventures #205 - 1st appearance of Deadman (movie)

 

Demon #1 - 1st appearance of Demon (Entrigan) (movie)

 

 

There are a few that have already taken off and are quickly getting out of collector's reach...FF52 and ST110 for example. These two have increased in value pretty significantly lately.

[BarryAllen]

I'll throw a few out there...

 

 

Avengers #57 - 1st appearance of Vision (speculation of movie appearance)

 

Tales to Astonish #35 - 1st appearance of Ant-Man in costume (movie)

 

Tales to Astonish #44 - 1st appearance of Wasp (movie)

 

Captain America #117 - 1st appearance of the Falcon (ST, LT only if

Cap2 is great)

 

Strange Tales #110 - 1st appearance of Dr. Strange (speculation of solo movie)

 

Thor #165 - 1st full appearance of Him (Adam Warlock) (GotG universe, maybe GotG2?)

 

Fantastic Four #52 - 1st appearance of Black Panther (speculation of solo movie)

 

B&B #34 - 1st SA appearance of Hawkman and Harkgirl (underrated)

 

Strange Adventures #205 - 1st appearance of Deadman (movie)

 

Demon #1 - 1st appearance of Demon (Entrigan) (movie)

 

 

There are a few that have already taken off and are quickly getting out of collector's reach...FF52 and ST110 for example. These two have increased in value pretty significantly lately.

 

Great list!

 

From your opinion (or anyone else's as well) - what do you consider out of a collector's reach? $250? $500?

[comicartfan]

A few things that I am noticing about these threads is the biased towards Marvel. While there no question that Marvel really rejuvinated the super hero genre as a whole, they weren't alone.

 

There are quite a few books that were very important to the SA from DC and I believe will appreciate. DC books are generally much more difficult to obtain in high grade and even then, the top tier copies are minimal. Key characters were introduced, costumes were changed and origins redefined. Of course, there was a lot of drek too.

 

I was wondering if the OP was talking about books to be sold in 2013 or books that are a good investment (buying price vs. selling price) later on down the road. Looking for books that can be flipped in 6 months is much different that holding books for a period of time...There will always be "hot" books that will only be that way for a short time. Then we have books that have always been higher dollar values, but enjoy a surge due to a periphal item. (ie. movie, tv show, video game)

I don't consider what is happening "now" an accurate predication of a book's potential. "The Sixth Gun 1" was a super hot book for a period of time. There was a TV pilot being shot on a major network. The print run for #1 was small and a fair cult following of the series....then bang, the pilot was shelved and the book's price tanked.

The speculation on Dr. Strange, Ant Man, Wasp and others is very similar...at least to me.

 

That being said, here are some books that I think are overlooked by most collectors and could have big potential later on down the road.

 

Detective 359 - first Batgirl (Barbara Gordon). - Still an important character in the DC Universe. Everyone knows Batgirl, whether it be from the campy TV show or from other means...

 

Batman 171 -1st Silver Age Riddler - Not that common in higher grades, tough in 8.0 or higher -

 

Superman 199 - 1st SA Flash/Superman race - ok, not a big key, but sells very quickly in almost every grade and really tough in grades over 8.0 ...undervalued in Overstreet -

 

Detective 327 - first "new look" Batman. Book can only go up

 

Action Comics 242 - first appearance of Brainac. Tough, tough, tough key issue.

 

Superboy 68 - first appearance of Bizarro. Another tough book that is rarely found in grades over 6.0

 

Hawkman 4 - first appearance of Zatanna. Popular female character in a little collected title. Book has gone up in value over past year or so

[Buzzetta]

I sold my Detective 327 8.5 Rocky Mountain Pedigree last year...

Sort of regret doing so but whatever... I think I would rather go a bit higher on that book - at least a 9. something.

[Stevenrams]

Please add Batman 189 to the list. It's the first Silver-age appearance of The Scarecrow with a great retelling of his origin from World's Fintest Comics #3. Great cover,too.

 

SLR

[BarryAllen]

A few things that I am noticing about these threads is the biased towards Marvel. While there no question that Marvel really rejuvinated the super hero genre as a whole, they weren't alone.

 

There are quite a few books that were very important to the SA from DC and I believe will appreciate. DC books are generally much more difficult to obtain in high grade and even then, the top tier copies are minimal. Key characters were introduced, costumes were changed and origins redefined. Of course, there was a lot of drek too.

 

I was wondering if the OP was talking about books to be sold in 2013 or books that are a good investment (buying price vs. selling price) later on down the road. Looking for books that can be flipped in 6 months is much different that holding books for a period of time...There will always be "hot" books that will only be that way for a short time. Then we have books that have always been higher dollar values, but enjoy a surge due to a periphal item. (ie. movie, tv show, video game)

I don't consider what is happening "now" an accurate predication of a book's potential. "The Sixth Gun 1" was a super hot book for a period of time. There was a TV pilot being shot on a major network. The print run for #1 was small and a fair cult following of the series....then bang, the pilot was shelved and the book's price tanked.

The speculation on Dr. Strange, Ant Man, Wasp and others is very similar...at least to me.

 

That being said, here are some books that I think are overlooked by most collectors and could have big potential later on down the road.

 

Detective 359 - first Batgirl (Barbara Gordon). - Still an important character in the DC Universe. Everyone knows Batgirl, whether it be from the campy TV show or from other means...

 

Batman 171 -1st Silver Age Riddler - Not that common in higher grades, tough in 8.0 or higher -

 

Superman 199 - 1st SA Flash/Superman race - ok, not a big key, but sells very quickly in almost every grade and really tough in grades over 8.0 ...undervalued in Overstreet -

 

Detective 327 - first "new look" Batman. Book can only go up

 

Action Comics 242 - first appearance of Brainac. Tough, tough, tough key issue.

 

Superboy 68 - first appearance of Bizarro. Another tough book that is rarely found in grades over 6.0

 

Hawkman 4 - first appearance of Zatanna. Popular female character in a little collected title. Book has gone up in value over past year or so

 

Great input, question and recommendations! To be honest, my post was originally intended to be more open in the sense that others could define "investment."

 

My personal investment strategy is long-term (30 year payout) and I collect primarily DC. However, I do collect Marvel large keys as well. I am not a fan of the quick flip, particularly when it comes to Copper/Modern books floating on artificial highs (WD, NM98 and even IH181). These books are not rare and not hard to find; in some cases comic book shop owners are sitting on dozens of copies and slowly releasing them one $200-1,500 sale at a time. Nothing illegal here, but a little unethical and opportunistic for my taste.

 

I also agree on the 2nd tier character relevance as investments is only good if a GOOD movie pans out (Dr. Strange, Ant Man, Wasp, etc). Otherwise they will spike prior to the movie and shrink back after the character fails to gain critical acclaim. This provides for an excellent opportunity to take risks and buy 1st appearances in high grade, hoping the characters take off. Overall, logic would follow that if I bought all the books you listed about (along with some of the other Silver Marvel books noted) it would be easy to make a solid profit if timed well over then next 12-24 months.

 

Bottom-line - THANK YOU for bringing some other great DC comics into the fold!!!

[AGGIEZ]

I'll throw a few out there...

 

 

Avengers #57 - 1st appearance of Vision (speculation of movie appearance)

 

Tales to Astonish #35 - 1st appearance of Ant-Man in costume (movie)

 

Tales to Astonish #44 - 1st appearance of Wasp (movie)

 

Captain America #117 - 1st appearance of the Falcon (ST, LT only if

Cap2 is great)

 

Strange Tales #110 - 1st appearance of Dr. Strange (speculation of solo movie)

 

Thor #165 - 1st full appearance of Him (Adam Warlock) (GotG universe, maybe GotG2?)

 

Fantastic Four #52 - 1st appearance of Black Panther (speculation of solo movie)

 

B&B #34 - 1st SA appearance of Hawkman and Harkgirl (underrated)

 

Strange Adventures #205 - 1st appearance of Deadman (movie)

 

Demon #1 - 1st appearance of Demon (Entrigan) (movie)

 

 

There are a few that have already taken off and are quickly getting out of collector's reach...FF52 and ST110 for example. These two have increased in value pretty significantly lately.

 

Great list!

 

From your opinion (or anyone else's as well) - what do you consider out of a collector's reach? $250? $500?

 

 

I was thinking more like $1,000.

 

CGC 6.0 copies of Strange Tales #110 are now going for $1,500. I wouldn't be surprised to see CGC 4.0 copies selling for $1,000+ by the end of the year. The last 4.0 sale that GPA has was $700!

 

CGC 9.0 copies of Fantstic Four #52 are now selling for over $1,000. One recent sale brought $1,375. CGC 9.2 copies are approaching $2,000...which is freaking crazy. This one is likely one of the hottest books on the market right now.

[Buzzetta]

I was going to say $1000 is the benchmark as well.

 

 

[trmoore54]

I was going to say $1000 is the benchmark as well.

 

 

+2

[Buzzetta]

I've actually been considering the idea of putting up a wanted ad for a ST110 over on the other side of the forum... but I would like to see what the July auctions have in store for people.

[BarryAllen]

Really - $1,000 is the threshold..?

 

Honestly I would have thought it would be higher given the value of the books listed and the dollars needed to buy a high grade copy. I said $250/500 mostly in jest considering that $500 wouldn't buy much these days (at least it is hard to buy both desired and high grade at that value).

 

My thoughts were the $2,500 separates the men from the boys (or if you prefer the ladies from the girls) so to speak.

 

Any other perspectives?

[Buzzetta]

Really - $1,000 is the threshold..?

 

Honestly I would have thought it would be higher given the value of the books listed and the dollars needed to buy a high grade copy. I said $250/500 mostly in jest considering that $500 wouldn't buy much these days (at least it is hard to buy both desired and high grade at that value).

 

My thoughts were the $2,500 separates the men from the boys (or if you prefer the ladies from the girls) so to speak.

 

Any other perspectives?

 

Depends on your list... as I stated before....

 

Strange Tales 110

Amazing Fantasy 15

Amazing Spider-man 14 / 37

Fantastic Four 4

Fantastic Four 45

Fantastic Four 48

Daredevil 1

Daredevil 7

X-Men 1

Hulk 180 / 181

 

Within $1000 will get you a nice solid copy of ASM, 37, FF 45, 48 Hulk 180, 181 and DD 7

It will get you midgrade copies of ASM 14, FF4, DD 1, and ST 110

It will get you a lower grade copy of X-Men 1 just to get you a ticket...

 

AF15 is not happening though at almost any level

[comicartfan]

$1,000 seems to be the "magic" number that collectors leave thier comfort zone and enter another realm. Why this number ? - Probably because it's a three figure book vs. a four figure one.

Now this might be different for Golden Age collectors. They will have a different comfort level with higher priced books. These collectors know the rarity will add $$$ to the books mostly sought after by collectors.

 

I thought about Batman 189 and I didn't add it for various reasons. One, it seems to be more common in high grade. There are some Pedigree copies out there. Second, while I agree it's a great cover (one of my favorites), I don't see alot of growth potential. Scarecrow was already featured in the first Christopher Nolan Batman film, so any bump from multimedia exposure has come and gone.

[Mmanick]

when I first started collecting comics at almost 9 months ago I wish I had gotten a st 110.....I'm a few thousand in on my collection but I've got a lot of keys and solid books and Still going strong.

[comicartfan]

Here's a couple more SA that I think can appreciate :

 

Aquaman 35 - first Black Mantra - super tough in almost anything over VF -

 

Daredevil 1 - already mentioned, but I think it's undervalued as an important key

 

While we're at it, if you want to consider other eras for books that I think are sleepers:

 

Batman Adventures 12 - first appearance of Harley Quinn. A hugely popular character with the female comic community. (still have room for growth, especially if Harley hits the big screen)

 

DC Super Stars 17 - origin and first appearance of Huntress. Tougher Bronze Age book with few high grade copies out there publicly.

 

Tales of the Teen Titans 44 - first Nightwing - going up in value for 9.8 copies...used to be a $75-100 book, now closer to $175-$200

 

DC Comics Presents 26 - - first appearance of Starfire, Cyborg and Raven. First Teen Titans of current team..goes for decent money in 9.8 ($200 range), but lower grades are a great buy.

 

DC Comics Present 47 - first He-Man in comics. What you have here is a toy line that was super successful and a growing population of people who loved the action figures and now are settled in careers...and looking for some nostalgia.

[Trev]

On the Archie front, you can still get some great deals in GA and SA. I mostly collect SA in Archie but dabble in the GA stuff when I can. And then for the movie speculators there's this:

 

http://comicsbeat.com/archie-comics-are-going-to-the-big-screen/

[HarveySwick]

My thoughts were the $2,500 separates the men from the boys (or if you prefer the ladies from the girls) so to speak.

Can we change that to $2,400... that's what my DD #1 cost me! I want to be a man!

[Sam I am]

My thoughts were the $2,500 separates the men from the boys (or if you prefer the ladies from the girls) so to speak.

Can we change that to $2,400... that's what my DD #1 cost me! I want to be a man!

 

That was one of the best posts in the thread thus far. Thanks for the laugh. Sorry it was at your expense.