Guardians comics question (actually requesting an opinion)...

[BD-Punisher]

Not that anyone really "invests" in comics any more, but if you could only buy 1 GOTG comic as an investment (meaning to hold, enjoy for some time (measured in years) and then sell for a profit), what comic would that be (and why)?

 

Thanks in advance for any/all "answers"...

[Jaydogrules]

None. (thumbs u

 

-J.

[paperheart]

Green Lantern #1 or Showcase #23 (if Mr. Ween can convince OSPG & CGC that a voice is a first appearance)

[Ronnylama]

Detective comics go up 15% each year. Any key Marvel 1st appearance as well as DC. I like Showcase for their 1st appearances...who knows what can happen with Gotham and DC movies.

Moon Knight will be big (I hope) someday as well as Power Man and Iron Fist (that would be a brilliant movie...with loads of puns)

I always see improvements on the Batman Neal Adams run as well as Neal in general.

I would love to get a great copy of Archie #1 some day....that is one that goes up every year

[HighStakesComics]

I like to hoard books that are out of favor and hope that the market turns. Avengers 93 has tanked 50% in 9.4 yoy. While it is not technically a GOTG some collectors consider it the start of the Marvel cosmic storyline. It is the beginning of the Kree-Skrull war and features an Avengers vs Fantastic Four Neal Adams battle cover. For a long time it was considered one of the key Marvel Bronze Age issues but you can probably find a decent (6.0-7.0) copy for $50 to $60 nowadays. If Disney were ever to acquire the rights to Fantastic Four this book could regain its prestige amongst collectors.

If money is no object buy a 9.4-9.8 Marvel Preview #4. GOTG isn't going anywhere and the team captains debut trades at a discount to the Raccoon.

The best advice is to just buy what makes you happy. That way you cannot lose. If you enjoy speculating on comics as I do. These would be my picks.

[Jaydogrules]

I like to hoard books that are out of favor and hope that the market turns. Avengers 93 has tanked 50% in 9.4 yoy. While it is not technically a GOTG some collectors consider it the start of the Marvel cosmic storyline. It is the beginning of the Kree-Skrull war and features an Avengers vs Fantastic Four Neal Adams battle cover. For a long time it was considered one of the key Marvel Bronze Age issues but you can probably find a decent (6.0-7.0) copy for $50 to $60 nowadays. If Disney were ever to acquire the rights to Fantastic Four this book could regain its prestige amongst collectors.

If money is no object buy a 9.4-9.8 Marvel Preview #4. GOTG isn't going anywhere and the team captains debut trades at a discount to the Raccoon.

The best advice is to just buy what makes you happy. That way you cannot lose. If you enjoy speculating on comics as I do. These would be my picks.

 

On paper this makes sense. But I'm going to have to stick with my "none" advice.

 

Any comic that was $5.00 less than a year ago (basically every BA/CA GOTG book) and then, based entirely on movie hype and nothing more (like prior collector interest, appearances in a continuous title, large and loyal fan base, etc.), is suddenly "selling" for four figures (in mostly shilled ebay transactions when they do) cannot in anyway be considered a sound "investment". Movie hype can only take a book so far before fundamentals reassert themselves. My

 

-J.

[MisterX]

Tales to Astonish 13.

 

Kirby monster books in HG were a good buy before the movie, and probably will be for some time.

[RCheli]

Now isn't really the time to buy any Guardians books, probably. There will likely be a lull between now and when the second movie comes out, and you'll probably be able to pick up something good then.

 

However, I don't know if any GOTG book would be a great long-term investment. As cool as the movie was, these are not recognizable characters and are not ones that are going to resonate with people beyond the collecting world.

 

If I had a chance to buy a high-grade Marvel Super-Heroes #18 or a high-grade key BA Spider-Man (similarly priced), I'd go with the Spidey every time.

[HighStakesComics]

So you'd take ASM 121-122 over Marvel Preview 4 & 7? Interesting.

[RCheli]

So you'd take ASM 121-122 over Marvel Preview 4 & 7? Interesting.

 

Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

I have a Marvel Preview 4, and I'd trade it straight up for an ASM #121.

[Jaydogrules]

So you'd take ASM 121-122 over Marvel Preview 4 & 7? Interesting.

 

Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

I have a Marvel Preview 4, and I'd trade it straight up for an ASM #121.

 

I agree that's a no brainer. ASM 121-122 are decades-established history making keys.

 

MP 4/7 and their GOTG related ilk are speculator/bandwagon movie books that have only been of interest to anybody for the last 9-12 months or so based on nothing more than the movie.

 

-J.

[rjrjr]

So you'd take ASM 121-122 over Marvel Preview 4 & 7? Interesting.

 

Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

I have a Marvel Preview 4, and I'd trade it straight up for an ASM #121.

 

I agree that's a no brainer. ASM 121-122 are decades-established history making keys.

 

MP 4/7 and their GOTG related ilk are speculator/bandwagon movie books that have only been of interest to anybody for the last 9-12 months or so based on nothing more than the movie.

 

-J.

 

Jaydogrules, you didn't know that when a successful movie comes out, the comic the movie is based on is immediately and forever a major key worth substantially more than other keys that have had years of interested behind them not driven by the movie craze? It doesn't matter that there was no interest in these comics before the movies came out. And it also doesn't matter that these properties theatrical releases will be finished and never to see the silver screen again. They will forever be major keys worth more than established keys!

 

[vaillant]

On the other hand, there is to say that Marvel Preview #7 is an important Satana story. For a relatively short-lived character, Satana was an integral part of Daimon Hellstrom history. Not interested in the mess Marvel made with these characters in the last 20 years (beginning with Daimon… ) but the story in MP #7 is the penultimate before Satana…

 

sacrifices her life to save the soul of Dr. Strange, in two beautiful issues of Marvel Team-Up written by Chris Claremont.

 

[vaillant]

Jaydogrules, you didn't know that when a successful movie comes out, the comic the movie is based on is immediately and forever a major key worth substantially more than other keys that have had years of interested behind them not driven by the movie craze? It doesn't matter that there was no interest in these comics before the movies came out. And it also doesn't matter that these properties theatrical releases will be finished and never to see the silver screen again. They will forever be major keys worth more than established keys!

 

 

 

[HighStakesComics]

That's your mistake, Jaydog. The movies run 80% of the comics market. What MP 4 was worth a year ago is irrelevant. It's htf for a BA key. As long as GOTG is relevant I would accumulate these books if they sell off after the movie gets yanked.

[Mike's Rack]

That's your mistake, Jaydog. The movies run 80% of the comics market. What MP 4 was worth a year ago is irrelevant. It's htf for a BA key. As long as GOTG is relevant I would accumulate these books if they sell off after the movie gets yanked.

[Jaydogrules]

That's your mistake, Jaydog. The movies run 80% of the comics market. What MP 4 was worth a year ago is irrelevant. It's htf for a BA key. As long as GOTG is relevant I would accumulate these books if they sell off after the movie gets yanked.

 

If movies run 80% of the comics market now I may have to re-think my hobby choices . In all seriousness though while I think it's great that marvel can dust off irrelevant, little known and/or forgotten characters and feed them to a mass audience and cause people to search out their early appearances in comics, as a response to the OP's first question, there is no way I would call any of those GOTG books good "investments" unless you have a short box of them right now and are dumping them off on ebay this very minute. I am already observing a cooling in the market as the speculative hoards and bandwagon collectors are searching for the next "big thing". Inhumans anyone ?

 

And I know some of these GOTG books' "rarity" was the story line when the speculator fervor first began but hasn't that been more or less debunked by now? I mean as we speak there's about 30-40 copies of MP 4/7 available on eBay alone right now....

 

-J.

[Jaydogrules]

So you'd take ASM 121-122 over Marvel Preview 4 & 7? Interesting.

 

Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

I have a Marvel Preview 4, and I'd trade it straight up for an ASM #121.

 

I agree that's a no brainer. ASM 121-122 are decades-established history making keys.

 

MP 4/7 and their GOTG related ilk are speculator/bandwagon movie books that have only been of interest to anybody for the last 9-12 months or so based on nothing more than the movie.

 

-J.

 

Jaydogrules, you didn't know that when a successful movie comes out, the comic the movie is based on is immediately and forever a major key worth substantially more than other keys that have had years of interested behind them not driven by the movie craze? It doesn't matter that there was no interest in these comics before the movies came out. And it also doesn't matter that these properties theatrical releases will be finished and never to see the silver screen again. They will forever be major keys worth more than established keys!

 

 

 

[HighStakesComics]

That's your mistake, Jaydog. The movies run 80% of the comics market. What MP 4 was worth a year ago is irrelevant. It's htf for a BA key. As long as GOTG is relevant I would accumulate these books if they sell off after the movie gets yanked.

 

If movies run 80% of the comics market now I may have to re-think my hobby choices . In all seriousness though while I think it's great that marvel can dust off irrelevant, little known and/or forgotten characters and feed them to a mass audience and cause people to search out their early appearances in comics, as a response to the OP's first question, there is no way I would call any of those GOTG books good "investments" unless you have a short box of them right now and are dumping them off on ebay this very minute. I am already observing a cooling in the market as the speculative hoards and bandwagon collectors are searching for the next "big thing". Inhumans anyone ?

 

And I know some of these GOTG books' "rarity" was the story line when the speculator fervor first began but hasn't that been more or less debunked by now? I mean as we speak there's about 30-40 copies of MP 4/7 available on eBay alone right now....

 

-J.

 

Market timing slabbed comics is an extremely risky proposition, Jaydog, but let me ask you this. Do you think a Walking Dead #1 9.8 will sell for more now or right before the 3rd or 4th episode? Same with FF 45. It will certainly sell for more in the weeks before the movie than it will now, right? There is a cyclical logic of a similar nature that can be applied to GOTG. The movie hype is dying down and , yes, you will see prices drop 30%. I don't think this is a throwaway franchise. That movie was awfully good.

[Jaydogrules]

That's your mistake, Jaydog. The movies run 80% of the comics market. What MP 4 was worth a year ago is irrelevant. It's htf for a BA key. As long as GOTG is relevant I would accumulate these books if they sell off after the movie gets yanked.

 

If movies run 80% of the comics market now I may have to re-think my hobby choices . In all seriousness though while I think it's great that marvel can dust off irrelevant, little known and/or forgotten characters and feed them to a mass audience and cause people to search out their early appearances in comics, as a response to the OP's first question, there is no way I would call any of those GOTG books good "investments" unless you have a short box of them right now and are dumping them off on ebay this very minute. I am already observing a cooling in the market as the speculative hoards and bandwagon collectors are searching for the next "big thing". Inhumans anyone ?

 

And I know some of these GOTG books' "rarity" was the story line when the speculator fervor first began but hasn't that been more or less debunked by now? I mean as we speak there's about 30-40 copies of MP 4/7 available on eBay alone right now....

 

-J.

 

Market timing slabbed comics is an extremely risky proposition, Jaydog, but let me ask you this. Do you think a Walking Dead #1 9.8 will sell for more now or right before the 3rd or 4th episode? Same with FF 45. It will certainly sell for more in the weeks before the movie than it will now, right? There is a cyclical logic of a similar nature that can be applied to GOTG. The movie hype is dying down and , yes, you will see prices drop 30%. I don't think this is a throwaway franchise. That movie was awfully good.

 

Walking Dead #1 is a modern, but even still it has 11 years of good will, and continuous print. And as a weekly TV show it had a better chance of becoming more ingrained in pop culture.

 

FF 45 and the inhuman books are having their pre-movie hype surge now. But again, they have been moderately used throughout the MCU on a fairly consistent basis over the last 50 years, been in their own titles and do have somewhat of a cult following and built - in fan base.

 

All of the GOTG books, on the other hand seem to have a "thing" about them that makes them kind of "off".

 

Hulk 271- Not really RR's first appearance even though half the labels still say it, and even the ones with the correct labels have sellers still calling it his first appearance.

 

MP4/7- These books are tainted by all the shilling that happened early in their speculative cycle and they feature the first appearances of characters nobody cared about for the past 40 years. And the "Starlord" in MP 4 basically just happens to have the same name as the character in the movie.

 

MSH 18- This book has nothing to do with the GOTG in the movie. The only thing that people are evidently buying is the title "Guardians of the Galaxy".

 

TTA 13- A largely forgotten book from the SA (though still of note of course to the pre-hero Marvel collectors), where the character presented in the book is absolutely nothing like what is in the movie.

 

 

Herein lies the problem.. We have a bunch of books that were either ignored or forgotten about before the movie. The masses are not buying the books because they are beloved characters, and that's not why the speculators are selling them to them. There is no through line for the books, because the movie is a ret-con of a bunch of different characters thrown into a movie that happens to be called "Guardians of the Galaxy". This is movie book hyping taken to a whole different level, and I think that's why there is a certain amount of derision toward them from the long time collecting community. We obviously do not know what an "Inhumans" movie will look like yet, but odds are it will feature most, if not all of the well known "royal family", which makes the early FF run much easier to collect.

 

I'm not saying these GOTG books will go back to the dollar bin when the movie hype is gone, but they will not be considered "keys" by any stretch either. Expect a 40-60% price correction until the sequel. Then another bump, and then another correction. Market fundamentals will eventually and inevitably dilute the movie bump. My

 

-J.