OAAW 83's potential to be a top 5 SA key?

[Aman619]

its not already? how many war keys are there? Its one of the few first appearances in DC War Id have thought it already ranked pretty high.

 

[bronze johnny]

Read the War Report in the OSPG to get an idea as to the number of war keys. I'd be surprised if she doesn't make the War Report's top 10 next year.

[thirdgreenham]

You there! Settle down.

[Aman619]

okay, read the list of keys, and since I wa speaking of DC war books (and thought everyone else here was too), when you take out Sgt Fury 1, TwoFisted Tales 18, Frontline Combat 1, Mlle Marie is already in tenth position.

 

Id also bump her ahead of OFF 1, and OAAW 88. That places her in 8th with a shot at moving up a few more notches (OAAW 82 and maybe GIC 44 someday)

 

Thats as far as she goes IMO… and its maybe a stretch to bump the early Rock issues

[bronze johnny]

okay, read the list of keys, and since I wa speaking of DC war books (and thought everyone else here was too), when you take out Sgt Fury 1, TwoFisted Tales 18, Frontline Combat 1, Mlle Marie is already in tenth position.

 

Id also bump her ahead of OFF 1, and OAAW 88. That places her in 8th with a shot at moving up a few more notches (OAAW 82 and maybe GIC 44 someday)

 

Thats as far as she goes IMO… and its maybe a stretch to bump the early Rock issues

 

I agree with you. The one thing to look for is if the Rock prototypes fall out of the top 10 books? My guess is they will eventually. The first appearance books will move up as more SA key "portfolio"collectors discover the genre and seek out the war key challenge- with OAAW 83 being the K2 of SA keys. I'm not sure whether the prototypes will benefit further. DC SA War keys like SSWS 84 and G.I. Combat 87 will also benefit as more collectors seek out these books.

[bronze johnny]

You there! Settle down.

 

I can't help it...got Rock(s) in my head!

 

Blame it on the education the War Report is providing to the comic book community about this great SA genre.

 

It's your fault...

[Aman619]

one aspect that keeps me wary of DC war books appreciation in values is that for the past decade, the values have been buoyed and skewed by a few(one) overzealous "buy them at any price" collector(s). And when they periodically cease buying, prices fall back and stagnate.

 

It would be a healthier market if the pool were deeper. Or, one might argue that now's a great time to jump in!

 

[peewee22]

Is a Rock movie in the works or still in the thought process?

[the blob]

Sgt. Rock might make for a better TV show. Heck, they have the first 200 or so episodes already written!

[bronze johnny]

one aspect that keeps me wary of DC war books appreciation in values is that for the past decade, the values have been buoyed and skewed by a few(one) overzealous "buy them at any price" collector(s). And when they periodically cease buying, prices fall back and stagnate.

 

It would be a healthier market if the pool were deeper. Or, one might argue that now's a great time to jump in!

 

This is an unprecedented historic time for the war comic. It's the first time in comic book history that a war comic has made the OSPG top 20 SA keys list. The SA is more than the superhero genre. The greatest war comics come out of the SA. The number 1 Sci-Fi key is now a SA key- SC 17. Again, this is unprecedented- throw prior practices out the window!

[comick1]

You there! Settle down.

 

word

[Jeffro.]

one aspect that keeps me wary of DC war books appreciation in values is that for the past decade, the values have been buoyed and skewed by a few(one) overzealous "buy them at any price" collector(s). And when they periodically cease buying, prices fall back and stagnate.

 

It would be a healthier market if the pool were deeper. Or, one might argue that now's a great time to jump in!

 

This is an unprecedented historic time for the war comic. It's the first time in comic book history that a war comic has made the OSPG top 20 SA keys list. The SA is more than the superhero genre. The greatest war comics come out of the SA. The number 1 Sci-Fi key is now a SA key- SC 17. Again, this is unprecedented- throw prior practices out the window!

You need a valium or four?

[comick1]

And when they periodically cease buying, prices fall back and stagnate.

 

 

 

Oh yes!!!!

[lou_fine]

one aspect that keeps me wary of DC war books appreciation in values is that for the past decade, the values have been buoyed and skewed by a few(one) overzealous "buy them at any price" collector(s). And when they periodically cease buying, prices fall back and stagnate.

 

It would be a healthier market if the pool were deeper. Or, one might argue that now's a great time to jump in!

 

Would this also apply to low grade copies of the DC war books since I know they are extremely tough to find in high grade, but not so sure about low grade?

 

I was at a local comic convention this past Sunday and there was a new vendor setting up for the first time. It was obvious that he was a DC war collector which he confirmed as almost his entire table was populated with long boxes of the DC Big 5 war books.

 

The grey tone covers really stood out for me even though virtually all of the books were in low grade G to VG condition. He said that he still has his own personal collection at home which I assume would be higher grades as duplicate copies of some issues would confirm that he upgrades as he finds a nicer copy of a particular issue. Any idea what these books would generally go for in low grade relative to guide since I am not a DC war collector myself?

 

Noticed that he did have a couple of the keys such as SSWS #84 and the red cover one with the planes flying vertically down. He had these 2 laying out on top in an attempt to possibly attract more customers. Took a look at the SSWS #84 and thought it was priced too high at something like $350 CDN, although now that I think about it, everything else appear to be priced from $30 to $75 in the boxes. Maybe it was a mistake on my part and should have asked him about the price

 

He was there with his wife and said he is in the process of clearing out some of his books and this is the first time he has ever set up at a con. He said that he did quite well and might even consider setting up on the next go round. Hope to do a little more research in this area before the next con just in case he does come back.

 

I guess we'll see since I bumped into him in the parking lot as he was loading up and he asked me to bring more money next time.

[comick1]

I've searched for those washtone covers for a really long time. I've upgraded in some cases or found nice copies early on, well before they were mentioned in the OPG or even prior to the Pedrin Big-5 Guide. I have a number of friends who did the same. . .not necessarily in grade, but just any nicely presenting copy. In general, those don't look terribly nice if the cover is pretty ragged, so a Good tends to be passed up even if it's at guide which, for most of those, isn't very much money. I'd be tempted to say that the Good prices hold up, but a lot of the collectors I know don't want to settle for anything less than VG-. A REALLY nicely presenting VG-

 

For the majority of collectors of key books, the covers tend to be secondary to the appearance or the origin or the #1, etc., but here's an example of a genre where the covers are the primary REASON collectors go after them. Now just trying to find a Good on some books is pretty challenging, but getting a VG range or better is nearly impossible. In answer to your question, I'm not sure how sustainable those VG prices are for the majority of serious cover collectors, but I think it tends to be a function of perceived supply. When a lot of collectors see something that guides in VG for $58.00 (i.e. AAMOW #35), they think that's too expensive for a non-key issue. At the same time, they're kind of deceptive because they're so tough that it's not likely that you WILL get a copy in the VG range again. In general, I think that lower grade war non-keys are a bit OVER-priced, unless they have a really compelling cover. . .but a LOT of war books have really compelling covers.

 

To be specific, I really DON'T often see copies of the early washtones. . .in almost any shape. I don't look all that hard for them anymore, but I still tend to make a mental note, as I'm sifting through boxes of comics, that I'm looking at a washtone. It tends to be true that the earlier you go for the washtones, the tougher they are. So the SSWS #45, AAMOW #35 (with that crazy black cover), the OAAW #49, 57, and 60 and the GIC #44 are all completely impossible in grade, but relatively uncommon in lower grade. The GIC44 is a bit of an outlier because it tends to be expensive for the reason that it's the defacto #1 in the DC series. Its expense, though, might make it somewhat more prevalent so it might be a bit OVERrepresented here.

[thirdgreenham]

If I may add my here, I would say that Overstreet is probably a little high on G and VG prices for most of the war books. The only exception seems to be the bigger keys.

 

When selling at shows, I have always found price resistance at asking Guide prices. When selling here, the 10/12 cent war books were even difficult to move at half guide. They did start to fly when priced around 30-33% of guide.

 

I found lesser 2nd tier keys, such as 1st Losers, 1st Gunner and Sarge, etc. wouldn't sell at Guide, but usually moved pretty well at 50%.

 

Top books like GIC 87, OAAW 81-83, SSWS 84, etc. would always sell for more than Guide. Heck, I was offering double guide for GIC 87 for a long, long time, as I felt the price listed there was too low.

 

When I was putting my run together, I usually found most of the common issues in dealer's 25-50% boxes.

 

I myself, showed resistance paying full guide unless the book hit the Fine grade. I think if it's a 10 cent DC war book in true Fine condition, paying Guide for it should be a treat. I believe this is a very important grade range. 10-cent DC war in Fine or better is pretty darned tough. Below Fine, pretty darned common, especially so if below VG.

 

 

[comick1]

Re

If I may add my here, I would say that Overstreet is probably a little high on G and VG prices for most of the war books. The only exception seems to be the bigger keys.

 

When selling at shows, I have always found price resistance at asking Guide prices. When selling here, the 10/12 cent war books were even difficult to move at half guide. They did start to fly when priced around 30-33% of guide.

 

I found lesser 2nd tier keys, such as 1st Losers, 1st Gunner and Sarge, etc. wouldn't sell at Guide, but usually moved pretty well at 50%.

 

Top books like GIC 87, OAAW 81-83, SSWS 84, etc. would always sell for more than Guide. Heck, I was offering double guide for GIC 87 for a long, long time, as I felt the price listed there was too low.

 

When I was putting my run together, I usually found most of the common issues in dealer's 25-50% boxes.

 

I myself, showed resistance paying full guide unless the book hit the Fine grade. I think if it's a 10 cent DC war book in true Fine condition, paying Guide for it should be a treat. I believe this is a very important grade range. 10-cent DC war in Fine or better is pretty darned tough. Below Fine, pretty darned common, especially so if below VG.

 

 

Well said, Andy.

 

[lou_fine]

Re

If I may add my here, I would say that Overstreet is probably a little high on G and VG prices for most of the war books. The only exception seems to be the bigger keys.

 

When selling at shows, I have always found price resistance at asking Guide prices. When selling here, the 10/12 cent war books were even difficult to move at half guide. They did start to fly when priced around 30-33% of guide.

 

I found lesser 2nd tier keys, such as 1st Losers, 1st Gunner and Sarge, etc. wouldn't sell at Guide, but usually moved pretty well at 50%.

 

Top books like GIC 87, OAAW 81-83, SSWS 84, etc. would always sell for more than Guide. Heck, I was offering double guide for GIC 87 for a long, long time, as I felt the price listed there was too low.

 

When I was putting my run together, I usually found most of the common issues in dealer's 25-50% boxes.

 

I myself, showed resistance paying full guide unless the book hit the Fine grade. I think if it's a 10 cent DC war book in true Fine condition, paying Guide for it should be a treat. I believe this is a very important grade range. 10-cent DC war in Fine or better is pretty darned tough. Below Fine, pretty darned common, especially so if below VG.

 

 

Well said, Andy.

 

Greatly appreciate the well thought out and detailed info from both of you!

 

Now this is the exact type of info that I was looking for since I am not a seasoned DC war collector veteran that you guys are. Sounds as though I made the right move by not picking up any of the war books without checking into them. Now that I have a little more info, I'll know what I am looking for next time.

 

Wasn't a total loss as my gut feeling told me instead to pick up the minty fresh off the newsstand looking early issues of TMNT #2 to #4 first prints that he also had laying on top of his boxes. Even though the TMNT books are not really part of my collecting bailiwick, I just keep seeing on the boards here that they are the books to get for the Copper Age, although I think they are really talking about just TMNT #1.

 

Oh well, they were just too minty fresh looking for 30 years old books to pass up, and the price seem reasonable in relationship to the guide when we checked them. (thumbs u

[thirdgreenham]

Arm yourself with this year's Overstreet the next time you go looking for some sweet DC war books.

 

In this year's War Report, (which is and has been the final market report for the last 6 Overstreet Guides) you'll find a checklist of what I feel are keys/semi-keys/desirable books that folks can try to find. I'd suggest looking for any and all of those issue listed, if you're going to get right into it.

 

Cheers!

 

Andy

[comick1]

Not to mention that they printed a corrected version of my article (in the same section that Andy's referring to) about the DC washtones. You'll see all the 10¢ and early 12¢ washtone war books listed out. (Last year, they tried to print it, but neglected to highlight the washtones so the whole point of the checklist was kinda ruined. Ahh well, it happens. This year, they got it right!).