A market for highgrade gold keys?

[shrunkenhead]

Hiya folks,

 

Recently got back a very nice batch of highgrade horror-related gold keys from CGC (twilight zones, ripley's, dark shadows, etc.) Do you guys think the market is strong for these books? Seems to me that most of these books are way undervalued in guide, though I'm not sure what the current state of demand is for these....any opinions??

[valiantman]

I've often heard of "lots of copies found" at some point in high grade condition...

but I don't know the full "Gold Key warehouse" story. Anyone?

[Bullet123]

I think you will find that market is not that strong. Pedigree has some nice ones on his sight but these books just do not command the multiples that superheroes do.With that being said, I would be interested in some of them. Send me a list

[the blob]

I hope you get more than $31 on that twilight zone! that would be a real shame.

 

with that said, i have seen a lot of sharp copies of those late 60s/early 70s Dells. i always figured nobody had read them when they came out so they didn't get damaged. i love the painted covers, but i guess nice covers only go so far in getting bucks for your books.

 

most of the collector interest in Gold Keys is going to go toward the characters that became Valiant characters 30 years later. Those books are due for a re-resurgence any day now.

[sfilosa]

think you will find that market is not that strong. Pedigree has some nice ones on his sight but these books just do not command the multiples that superheroes do.With that being said, I would be interested in some of them. Send me a list

 

 

That was a smooth transition.

 

Yeah, nobody wants these.

 

But, I'll take them off you hands.

 

[ComicBookGuy]

I would be interested in what you have as well. I have complete runs of these but always like to upgrade.

FYI, I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4. So there is a market, and a lot of people on the Bronze horror thread would likely be interested as well.

Once you decide to sell, let us all know where it will be so we can all get a crack at them and you can get top dollar.

Good luck.

Joe

[shrunkenhead]

think you will find that market is not that strong. Pedigree has some nice ones on his sight but these books just do not command the multiples that superheroes do.With that being said, I would be interested in some of them. Send me a list

 

 

That was a smooth transition.

 

Yeah, nobody wants these.

 

But, I'll take them off you hands.

 

 

...

 

 

 

[shrunkenhead]

I would be interested in what you have as well. I have complete runs of these but always like to upgrade.

FYI, I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4. So there is a market, and a lot of people on the Bronze horror thread would likely be interested as well.

Once you decide to sell, let us all know where it will be so we can all get a crack at them and you can get top dollar.

Good luck.

Joe

 

PM sent!

[shrunkenhead]

Just took a gander at the gold keys on pedigree's site. They're priced to the moon, IMO, I'm not surprised they haven't moved.

[burntboy]

think you will find that market is not that strong. Pedigree has some nice ones on his sight but these books just do not command the multiples that superheroes do.With that being said, I would be interested in some of them. Send me a list

 

 

That was a smooth transition.

 

Yeah, nobody wants these.

 

But, I'll take them off you hands.

 

 

hi steve - congrats on your sweet sixteen appearance. we're all hoping to stay clear of you for a few more rounds.

 

when i read this post, i immediately thought the exact same thing

[sfilosa]

hi steve - congrats on your sweet sixteen appearance. we're all hoping to stay clear of you for a few more rounds.

 

I could be willing to take a dive for the right bribe. Maybe a few TTA's?

[the blob]

"I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4"

 

At first I thought to myself "so what", but then I looked it up. I can't believe that's only $90 in 9.2 guide. Unlike most gold keys, that series went almost 15 years and almost 100 issues.

[shrunkenhead]

"I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4"

 

At first I thought to myself "so what", but then I looked it up. I can't believe that's only $90 in 9.2 guide. Unlike most gold keys, that series went almost 15 years and almost 100 issues.

 

Agreed, does seem undervalued to me. Same with the Twilight Zones, but the Dark Shadows books seem to guide a little higher. Guess Barnabas Collins still has something of a rabid (though small) crossover following?

[tth2]

"I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4"

 

At first I thought to myself "so what", but then I looked it up. I can't believe that's only $90 in 9.2 guide. Unlike most gold keys, that series went almost 15 years and almost 100 issues.

 

Agreed, does seem undervalued to me. Same with the Twilight Zones, but the Dark Shadows books seem to guide a little higher. Guess Barnabas Collins still has something of a rabid (though small) crossover following?

 

Dark Shadows, Lost in Space and Star Trek seem to command higher prices, undoubtedly because of their crossover appeal. As a result, more copies were better preserved, as they are easier to find in HG than more obscure GK titles from the period.

 

Magnus, Solar and Turok got huge bumps from the Valiant craze, but seem to have stabilized and go for decent prices in HG. Solar seems particularly plentiful in HG, Magnus is really really tough (except for #2, for some reason), and Turok is pretty tough.

[FFB]

"I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4"

 

At first I thought to myself "so what", but then I looked it up. I can't believe that's only $90 in 9.2 guide. Unlike most gold keys, that series went almost 15 years and almost 100 issues.

 

Agreed, does seem undervalued to me. Same with the Twilight Zones, but the Dark Shadows books seem to guide a little higher. Guess Barnabas Collins still has something of a rabid (though small) crossover following?

 

Dark Shadows, Lost in Space and Star Trek seem to command higher prices, undoubtedly because of their crossover appeal. As a result, more copies were better preserved, as they are easier to find in HG than more obscure GK titles from the period.

 

Magnus, Solar and Turok got huge bumps from the Valiant craze, but seem to have stabilized and go for decent prices in HG. Solar seems particularly plentiful in HG, Magnus is really really tough (except for #2, for some reason), and Turok is pretty tough.

 

SQUEEEEE!!!!!!

 

I love Magnus: Robot Fighter.

[tth2]

"I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4"

 

At first I thought to myself "so what", but then I looked it up. I can't believe that's only $90 in 9.2 guide. Unlike most gold keys, that series went almost 15 years and almost 100 issues.

 

Agreed, does seem undervalued to me. Same with the Twilight Zones, but the Dark Shadows books seem to guide a little higher. Guess Barnabas Collins still has something of a rabid (though small) crossover following?

 

Dark Shadows, Lost in Space and Star Trek seem to command higher prices, undoubtedly because of their crossover appeal. As a result, more copies were better preserved, as they are easier to find in HG than more obscure GK titles from the period.

 

Magnus, Solar and Turok got huge bumps from the Valiant craze, but seem to have stabilized and go for decent prices in HG. Solar seems particularly plentiful in HG, Magnus is really really tough (except for #2, for some reason), and Turok is pretty tough.

 

SQUEEEEE!!!!!!

 

I love Magnus: Robot Fighter.

 

So do I, but just try finding 1-10 (except #2) in high grade.

[ComicBookGuy]

"I bought the Curator Ripley's 1 off ebay and it went for $242 in cgc 9.4"

 

At first I thought to myself "so what", but then I looked it up. I can't believe that's only $90 in 9.2 guide. Unlike most gold keys, that series went almost 15 years and almost 100 issues.

 

What's even more amazing is that John Hauser had a reserve on it of $242 that I hit. The next highest bid was about $100 less, so clearly I am one of the few - maybe one of the only - people willing to pay much more than guide for Gold Key horror. But, having said that, I spent years assembling complete sets of this stuff and know it is tough to find in high grade. There were file copies of some of the issues in the run, and I bought lots of them from Al Stoltz and Metro, but if I had never found those, I'd still be looking. Collectors just discovering these comics may not know about their relative scarcity in high grade so are not willing to shell out the $$$. Others don't know about them at all, and since they are not very common, especially in many parts of the US where they were not distributed, people don't collect them cause they don't see them enough to know to collect them!!! Stores in NY and NJ always carried GK comics in the 60s and 70s, but I never saw ONE in any store in the DC area where I grew up. I only knew about them cause we went to Jersey to the beaches in the summer as a kid. Overall, it took about 20 years to assemble complete hg sets of Twilight, Ripley's, and Karloff.

Joe

[the blob]

I don't find the Gold Keys in reasonably high grade terribly uncommon here in NY.

 

Whether they're 9.4 - 9.8 is an entirely different story though. I've certainly seen plenty of solid 8.0s. And I buy them when the price is right. I love the painted covers. They're all little works of art. The stuff inside... well, maybe if I'm quarantined for a couple of years I'll get around to reading them.

[the blob]

$242 seems like a lot of money vs. guide, but not a lot of money for a slabbed 9.4 #1 from 1965 of a 15 year/100ish issue title that also has some limited cross-over appeal to non-comic collectors.

 

If I really decided I wanted the book I probably would have bid in the $125-$150 range to factor in the cost of the slab and a premium above the 9.2 price because it's a 9.4. I guess I won't be winning too many auctions on slabbed pre-1966 9.4 silver age books using that mindset.

[shrunkenhead]

I guess I won't be winning too many auctions on slabbed pre-1966 9.4 silver age books using that mindset.

 

Um, nope.