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THE FANTASTIC FOUR #1 CLUB
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Started by HarveySwick,

1,088 posts in this topic

MattTheDuck

MattTheDuck

Posted
Posted
On 10/17/2021 at 11:59 AM, HighVoltage said:

Speaking of time travel - here’s a note regarding FF 1 selling for as much as $50 in Bullpen Bulletins from Avengers 121 (or 122)…

691FB40B-E91B-4991-8FF1-ABD4CDFBA92D.jpeg

The irony of encouraging you to maim your comics while touting the value of unmaimed FF 1

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HighVoltage

HighVoltage

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On 10/17/2021 at 1:09 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

And it also mentions "Spidey 1," a clear snub of AF 15!

I know - I thought the same thing... and then I thought it could actually be AF 15. Not sure the Bulletins writer(s) would've really noted the distinction back then?

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Sweet Lou 14

Sweet Lou 14

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On 10/18/2021 at 12:59 PM, HighVoltage said:

I know - I thought the same thing... and then I thought it could actually be AF 15. Not sure the Bulletins writer(s) would've really noted the distinction back then?

Not sure.  My initial thought was, Stan was first and foremost a salesman and if he promotes ASM #1 and FF #1 he's also, by association, promoting the latest issues of ASM and FF now available at your newsstand.  But he would have no interest in promoting an issue from a now defunct title like AF.

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KirbyJack

KirbyJack

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Posted (edited)

In the very early days, number ones were more highly regarded than first appearances. Superman 1 was more valuable than Action 1, Batman 1 > Det 27, etc. 
It’s very possible that Amazing Spider-Man 1 was, at the time that was written, a more expensive comic than Amazing Fantasy 15.

Edited by KirbyJack
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Albert Thurgood

Albert Thurgood

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On 10/19/2021 at 10:33 PM, KirbyJack said:

In the very early days, number ones were the more highly regarded than first appearances. Superman 1 was more valuable than Action 1, Batman 1 > Det 27, etc. 
It’s very possible that Amazing Spider-Man 1 was, at the time that was written, a more expensive comic than Amazing Fantasy 15.

That is my recollection at the time. Back in the '70s I had the opportunity to buy AF15 or ASM1. I couldn't afford ASM1 so got the AF15 as a consolation.

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Sweet Lou 14

Sweet Lou 14

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On 10/19/2021 at 10:33 AM, KirbyJack said:

In the very early days, number ones were the more highly regarded than first appearances. Superman 1 was more valuable than Action 1, Batman 1 > Det 27, etc. 
It’s very possible that Amazing Spider-Man 1 was, at the time that was written, a more expensive comic than Amazing Fantasy 15.

 

On 10/19/2021 at 8:59 PM, Albert Thurgood said:

That is my recollection at the time. Back in the '70s I had the opportunity to buy AF15 or ASM1. I couldn't afford ASM1 so got the AF15 as a consolation.

Wow, that is great information.  Who would have thought ... 

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HighVoltage

HighVoltage

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On 10/19/2021 at 7:02 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

 

Wow, that is great information.  Who would have thought ... 

RE: ASM 1 vs AF 15, the value and desirability at least had turned to AF 15 by 1990.

I can remember going to SDCC & looking for AF 15 & finding the prices a good step above ASM 1 from at least Good to Fine grades (I wasn't looking for higher than that at the time).
I ended up getting an AF15 in a cash/trade deal.

One of my friends had wanted an AF 15 at that time as well, but decided to pursue FF 1 and ASM 1 instead, as he didn't want an AF 15 in the VG or lower grade, which is what his price point was dictating at the time. So he ended up with Fine-ish copies of FF 1 and ASM 1.

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peewee22

peewee22

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On 10/19/2021 at 9:33 AM, KirbyJack said:

In the very early days, number ones were more highly regarded than first appearances. Superman 1 was more valuable than Action 1, Batman 1 > Det 27, etc. 
It’s very possible that Amazing Spider-Man 1 was, at the time that was written, a more expensive comic than Amazing Fantasy 15.

In one Overstreet I believe Spidey 1 surpassed AF15.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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On 10/17/2021 at 3:09 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:
On 10/17/2021 at 2:59 PM, HighVoltage said:

Speaking of time travel - here’s a note regarding FF 1 selling for as much as $50 in Bullpen Bulletins from Avengers 121 (or 122)…

 

And it also mentions "Spidey 1," a clear snub of AF 15!

 

On 10/19/2021 at 10:33 AM, KirbyJack said:

In the very early days, number ones were more highly regarded than first appearances. Superman 1 was more valuable than Action 1, Batman 1 > Det 27, etc. 
It’s very possible that Amazing Spider-Man 1 was, at the time that was written, a more expensive comic than Amazing Fantasy 15.

 

On 10/19/2021 at 8:59 PM, Albert Thurgood said:

That is my recollection at the time. Back in the '70s I had the opportunity to buy AF15 or ASM1. I couldn't afford ASM1 so got the AF15 as a consolation.

 

On 10/23/2021 at 10:06 AM, peewee22 said:

In one Overstreet I believe Spidey 1 surpassed AF15.

I think that's a very interesting observation and phenomenon.

Talking to some new collectors and surprisingly, I found out that they feel the same way about #1 issues.

There's something about that #1 on the cover that draws people, as opposed to #15 or #83 or #110, especially noobs or less mature collectors.

That's exactly why comic companies continue to reboot titles with a new #1 and have been doing it since the 70's or so.

Fascinating.

 

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Sweet Lou 14

Sweet Lou 14

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Posted (edited)
On 10/28/2021 at 1:58 AM, VintageComics said:

 

 

 

I think that's a very interesting observation and phenomenon.

Talking to some new collectors and surprisingly, I found out that they feel the same way about #1 issues.

There's something about that #1 on the cover that draws people, as opposed to #15 or #83 or #110, especially noobs or less mature collectors.

That's exactly why comic companies continue to reboot titles with a new #1 and have been doing it since the 70's or so.

Fascinating.

 

I agree that #1s continue to get collector interest that's a bit out of proportion.  Take for example two pairs of books that came out at literally the same time, and are as close as you can get to exact comps across different titles:

  • Iron Man #1 vs. Captain America #100
  • Sub-Mariner #1 vs. Incredible Hulk #102

In both cases, it was a completely arbitrary choice by Marvel which character would get the "#1" and which would continue the numbering of the old title (TOS/TTA).  In both cases, you have one character with a first appearance in the Silver Age that's out of reach for most collectors, and another character with a somewhat more affordable first appearance in the Silver Age and a forget-about-it first appearance in the Golden Age.  And in both cases, the "#1" book commands higher prices than the other one.

But we shouldn't imagine for a moment that the "#1" is ever going to be as valuable as the true first appearance.  Putting aside the examples above for a few more recent ones, where it took less time for characters to jump to their own titles, it's clear that the "#1" lags far behind the first appearance.  To take one example off the top of my head, Marvel Spotlight #5 completely blows away Ghost Rider #1, it's not even close.  An order of magnitude difference in value.

While not always as drastic, there are similar disparities in favor of the following books (again, going completely off the top of my head):

  • Thor #165 vs. Warlock #1
  • Werewolf By Night #32 (or even Marvel Spotlight #28) vs. Moon Knight #1
  • Marvel Spotlight #32 vs. Spider-Woman #1

Those are just a few, I'm sure there are plenty more.

Edited by Sweet Lou 14
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october

october

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Here's my FF 1. 

Back in the summer of 2016 I bought some silver age issues on eBay and got to talking to the seller. It was a woman and her son who were selling off their husband/father's collection after he had passed some years prior. After some back and forth, I flew out to Brooklyn to check it out. I met them at their upholstery store, went through a bunch of stuff, spent a ton, ate a slice of pizza and went back to the hotel. Flew back out the next morning. They had some nice stuff at favorable (but not crazy low) prices. Picked up a beater AF 15, an ASM 1, a bunch of other early silver and this FF group. Everything was eventually resold (got to feed the beast, can't buy more without selling), but I hung onto the FF 1 and maybe one or two others. Eventually graded out a 6.5 CR/OW and I still have it. 

1590899734_FF1(2).thumb.jpg.f0d51a91db8a34181723f9c5bfa545e0.jpg834189467_8.9.16(6).thumb.jpg.3843fad19cd49846ea1e13d31a030e10.jpg

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