Star Wars Comic No. 1 Hoard 0

[Captain_Pike]

Speaking of remembering back in the summer in 1978 I bought a copy of Star Wars 1 for $4.00 at comic convention in Toronto, a year after the movie and hype died down. The dealer at the time had 5 copies I bought the best one. Looking back I should have negoatiated with him to buy the rest at a discount.

I had the book signed by Stan Lee then slabbed back in Aug 2013 and it came back cgc 9.8

Edited July 13, 2015 by Captain_Pike

[valiantman]

I noticed a couple dozen pages back there was some talk about how "Manipulated" the market was on this book, especially in 9.8.

 

I was too lazy to look until today, but GPA bears this out. Holy cow. Someone's playing games with sales. The same books are changing hands at bloated prices repeatedly.

 

Without GPA there would be almost no way to ever know.

 

I don't think there's as much manipulation as people are suggesting.

 

Yes... there is one "sale" on June 16th that was $2,500 on CGC 9.8 Serial 1159273008 that repeats on July 10th with the same price and serial number.

 

That's fishy... but that's one book... probably one guy. For whatever reason, I don't get any results on the CGC serial number lookup. Is the book even legit?

 

Every other CGC 9.8 serial number for Star Wars #1 recorded in GPAnalysis is either a single sale, or a second sale (three times) that were at least four months later. No third sales. 31 different CGC 9.8 serial numbers since January 1.

 

Where is the vast conspiracy? I see one guy, who might have a counterfeit slab.

[the blob]

I think Star Wars 1 needs to be looked at differently that comic book superhero #1s due to the incredibly broad fan base. If Star Trek 1 had come out before the TV show it would be similar (if not 5X more expensive). There are many more people out there who view this as a collectible than, let's say, those who view Iron Man 55 as one. I don't know if $1500, $2,000 or whatever is sustainable given the population of copies, but there is no reason the number should not be a lot more than what we, as comic collectors, consider makes sense given how common we know the book to be.

[fastballspecial]

I would take this hoard and sell it one book at a time.

 

 

[HOTFLIPS]

my sale last month of a 9.8 white was legit ($1892)

 

 

That one makes sense....the two $2500 sales with the same serial number sold a month apart don't.

 

A side effect of weird high sales, repeating over and over is helping legit sellers get a nice price from anyone who doesn't look too closely at the sales data.

 

$1892 is probably right, but it looks like a steal.

 

Those were both mine, someone who just signed on that day ended at my price, It turns out that it came from the same IP address and someone is manipulating these auctions on ebay / Buy it now. I don't expect to get that, I do expect to get offers to consider

I did relist it again & yes it is the same serial number

 

There is someone selling a 9.8 right now on eBay and is up to $1,825 with 4 hours left

[comix4fun]

my sale last month of a 9.8 white was legit ($1892)

 

 

That one makes sense....the two $2500 sales with the same serial number sold a month apart don't.

 

A side effect of weird high sales, repeating over and over is helping legit sellers get a nice price from anyone who doesn't look too closely at the sales data.

 

$1892 is probably right, but it looks like a steal.

 

Those were both mine, someone who just signed on that day ended at my price, It turns out that it came from the same IP address and someone is manipulating these auctions on ebay / Buy it now. I don't expect to get that, I do expect to get offers to consider

I did relist it again & yes it is the same serial number

 

There is someone selling a 9.8 right now on eBay and is up to $1,825 with 4 hours left

 

 

So someone's messing with your auctions and making it look like the book is selling for $2500 a pop? That stinks. All that effort to sell undermined.

 

Sorry to hear that.

[Jaydogrules]

my sale last month of a 9.8 white was legit ($1892)

 

 

That one makes sense....the two $2500 sales with the same serial number sold a month apart don't.

 

A side effect of weird high sales, repeating over and over is helping legit sellers get a nice price from anyone who doesn't look too closely at the sales data.

 

$1892 is probably right, but it looks like a steal.

 

Those were both mine, someone who just signed on that day ended at my price, It turns out that it came from the same IP address and someone is manipulating these auctions on ebay / Buy it now. I don't expect to get that, I do expect to get offers to consider

I did relist it again & yes it is the same serial number

 

There is someone selling a 9.8 right now on eBay and is up to $1,825 with 4 hours left

 

Yes and someone is jacking around with that dude's auction as well.

 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=161758004772&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

 

The nonstop shilling going on with this book is making it look like a huge turd.

 

-J.

[Lavaman-migration]

Fascinating reading. And if the story is true congratulations! You could sell them all and buy a house!

[GACollectibles]

my sale last month of a 9.8 white was legit ($1892)

 

 

That one makes sense....the two $2500 sales with the same serial number sold a month apart don't.

 

A side effect of weird high sales, repeating over and over is helping legit sellers get a nice price from anyone who doesn't look too closely at the sales data.

 

$1892 is probably right, but it looks like a steal.

 

Those were both mine, someone who just signed on that day ended at my price, It turns out that it came from the same IP address and someone is manipulating these auctions on ebay / Buy it now. I don't expect to get that, I do expect to get offers to consider

I did relist it again & yes it is the same serial number

 

There is someone selling a 9.8 right now on eBay and is up to $1,825 with 4 hours left

 

Yes and someone is jacking around with that dude's auction as well.

 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=161758004772&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

 

The nonstop shilling going on with this book is making it look like a huge turd.

 

-J.

 

We'll see how it shakes down at the end, I'll certainly report any non-payers or other skullduggery. It's frustrating that people will waste other people's time & money, but I guess the lure of $$ is too overwhelming.

[rjrjr]

 

When I say "bona fide keys" I am referring to books that indeed are (and have been) slab worthy in nearly every grade other than 9.6/9.8 since the advent of CGC. (I don't consider PPSM to be a "key" either BTW, and I'm a foaming at the mouth Spider-man fan).

 

In that regards, SW 1 blows every other book out of the water with its copious amounts of 9.8's that have already been slabbed even prior to the speculative movie hype that has bloated its apparent "FMV" to its current levels. Here's just a small sampling for comparison:

 

ASM 129, 9.8's- 93

 

IH 181, 9.8's- 26

 

GL 76, 9.8's- 2

 

X Men 94, 9.8's- 26

 

Conan, 9.8's- 37

 

WWBN 32, 9.8's- 11

 

TOD 10, 9.8's- 24

 

Marvel Spotlight 5, 9.8's - 2

 

 

Star Wars 1, 9.8's- 346

 

In many cases the tremendous amounts of SW 1, 9.8's exceed those keys books' numbers in 9.8, 9.6, 9.4, etc. combined.

 

-J.

 

 

That's a good chart but the implicit logical flaw is discounting that every other book on that list was published in 1975 or before, at the very infancy of the direct market.

 

You can't really compare high-grade populations of 1970-1975 books to 1976-1980 books any more than you can compare the vastly lower quantities of 1960-1964 books relative to their 1965-1970 counterparts.

 

Yes -- there are _huge_ numbers of Star Wars # 1 out there. But there are also huge numbers of its peers -- Peter Parker # 1 (347 9.8s), Nova # 1 (134 9.8s) and She Hulk # 1 (755 9.8s).

 

Likewise, it's specious to claim that these latter books weren't "slab worthy...since the advent of CGC" because these 1976-1980 books have only become truly valuable within the last 15 years.

 

A 1977 book was 23 years old at the advent of CGC; vs. 38 years old today.

 

The "reasons" why there are extreme amounts of SW 1 in a 9.8 out there (compared to actual BA keys) was irrelevant to my analysis. You are also lumping SW 1 with other "not-key", mass collected and hoarded books that only sell for a couple hundred dollars to maybe $700 max (that being Nova 1, which is also the beneficiary of a temporarily bloated movie hype bubble like SW 1). I do agree that SW 1 does belong in that same "value" tier as those books, but for the moment at least, it is not in that value tier, it is closer to the books I listed (at least in 9.8). Hence some of these nonsensical prices we are seeing on ebay for SW 1 need to be placed in a similar context, since this book is "as common as dirt" as they say, and readily available in mass quantities in a 9.8, as opposed to the bona fide BA keys that I mentioned, that are not. (thumbs u

 

-J.

 

So, the problem is Star Wars #1 is as popular or more so than some of the precious superhero keys?

Edited July 13, 2015 by rjrjr

[jcjames]

.

nm

Edited July 13, 2015 by jcjames

[jimjum12]

My 9.8 sold on Clink (fixed price listing) for 2K over a month ago. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Jaydogrules]

 

When I say "bona fide keys" I am referring to books that indeed are (and have been) slab worthy in nearly every grade other than 9.6/9.8 since the advent of CGC. (I don't consider PPSM to be a "key" either BTW, and I'm a foaming at the mouth Spider-man fan).

 

In that regards, SW 1 blows every other book out of the water with its copious amounts of 9.8's that have already been slabbed even prior to the speculative movie hype that has bloated its apparent "FMV" to its current levels. Here's just a small sampling for comparison:

 

ASM 129, 9.8's- 93

 

IH 181, 9.8's- 26

 

GL 76, 9.8's- 2

 

X Men 94, 9.8's- 26

 

Conan, 9.8's- 37

 

WWBN 32, 9.8's- 11

 

TOD 10, 9.8's- 24

 

Marvel Spotlight 5, 9.8's - 2

 

 

Star Wars 1, 9.8's- 346

 

In many cases the tremendous amounts of SW 1, 9.8's exceed those keys books' numbers in 9.8, 9.6, 9.4, etc. combined.

 

-J.

 

 

That's a good chart but the implicit logical flaw is discounting that every other book on that list was published in 1975 or before, at the very infancy of the direct market.

 

You can't really compare high-grade populations of 1970-1975 books to 1976-1980 books any more than you can compare the vastly lower quantities of 1960-1964 books relative to their 1965-1970 counterparts.

 

Yes -- there are _huge_ numbers of Star Wars # 1 out there. But there are also huge numbers of its peers -- Peter Parker # 1 (347 9.8s), Nova # 1 (134 9.8s) and She Hulk # 1 (755 9.8s).

 

Likewise, it's specious to claim that these latter books weren't "slab worthy...since the advent of CGC" because these 1976-1980 books have only become truly valuable within the last 15 years.

 

A 1977 book was 23 years old at the advent of CGC; vs. 38 years old today.

 

The "reasons" why there are extreme amounts of SW 1 in a 9.8 out there (compared to actual BA keys) was irrelevant to my analysis. You are also lumping SW 1 with other "not-key", mass collected and hoarded books that only sell for a couple hundred dollars to maybe $700 max (that being Nova 1, which is also the beneficiary of a temporarily bloated movie hype bubble like SW 1). I do agree that SW 1 does belong in that same "value" tier as those books, but for the moment at least, it is not in that value tier, it is closer to the books I listed (at least in 9.8). Hence some of these nonsensical prices we are seeing on ebay for SW 1 need to be placed in a similar context, since this book is "as common as dirt" as they say, and readily available in mass quantities in a 9.8, as opposed to the bona fide BA keys that I mentioned, that are not. (thumbs u

 

-J.

 

So, the problem is Star Wars #1 is as popular or more so than some of the precious superhero keys?

 

Yes it's right up there with rocket raccoon and star lord.

 

-J.

[kav]

I remember buying SW 1. As mentioned back then everyone bought every #1 that came out even Ragman. I thought the comic was a bit interesting. There was definitely a huge buzz about the movie before it came out. There had really never been a major sci fi movie before. 2001 was kind of a niche movie. So people were pretty excited about star wars. When it started and the giant star destroyer came on screen everyone was hooked. There had never been a movie like this before. I didn't notice it had any real affect on the comic value though. Howard the Duck-that was the big one.

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

If this is how simply the market worked then literally almost no price for a 9.8 copy would be "too high" (and fear not, there are far, far more than the 350, 9.8 copies out there than we see on the census now, which are already far, far more 9.8 copies than every other bona fide Bronze Age key)..

 

-J.

 

The are 346 9.8s of all flavors of Star Wars #1.

 

There are 373 Spectacular Spiderman #1s.

 

There are 150 Nova #1s.

 

There are 99 Ms. Marvel #1s, although Ms. Marvel is a late player to the game.

 

There are 210 X-Men #121s.

 

(And this all assumes no duplication!)

 

I don't know if that is "far, far more 9.8 copies than every other bona fide BA key", but Star Wars #1 has been the most important book of 1977 since the beginning. Of course, it's going to have more higher grade copies than most....but it still doesn't beat PPSS #1.

 

It probably will...but a lot of the other "bona fide Bronze Age keys" from this era still aren't worth slabbing.

 

When I say "bona fide keys" I am referring to books that indeed are (and have been) slab worthy in nearly every grade other than 9.6/9.8 since the advent of CGC. (I don't consider PPSM to be a "key" either BTW, and I'm a foaming at the mouth Spider-man fan).

 

In that regards, SW 1 blows every other book out of the water with its copious amounts of 9.8's that have already been slabbed even prior to the speculative movie hype that has bloated its apparent "FMV" to its current levels. Here's just a small sampling for comparison:

 

ASM 129, 9.8's- 93

 

IH 181, 9.8's- 26

 

GL 76, 9.8's- 2

 

X Men 94, 9.8's- 26

 

Conan, 9.8's- 37

 

WWBN 32, 9.8's- 11

 

TOD 10, 9.8's- 24

 

Marvel Spotlight 5, 9.8's - 2

 

 

Star Wars 1, 9.8's- 346

 

In many cases the tremendous amounts of SW 1, 9.8's exceed those keys books' numbers in 9.8, 9.6, 9.4, etc. combined.

 

-J.

 

 

There is a phenomenal, substantive, massive shift in collecting dynamics that had happened by 1977. Every single book you cite is from 1975 or prior, and NONE OF THEM ARE #1s except Conan #1, which came out in an entirely different mindframe, 1970.

 

No, you're never going to see "X-Men #94" in anywhere near the numbers of Star Wars #1 in 9.8.

 

Star Wars #1 was a #1, smack dab in the middle of the era when #1s were all the rage.

 

Star Wars #1 was nearly an immediate colossal success, ensuring that high grade copies would be safely tucked away for a long time.

 

Every book you mentioned except Conan #1 was essentially ignored by the hobby of the day, slowly succumbing to attrition over years and sometimes decades.

 

Why, then, would it be a surprise that, under these conditions, Star Wars #1 would have a far higher survival rate than the books you mentioned?

 

It's apples to welding goggles.

[RockMyAmadeus]

my sale last month of a 9.8 white was legit ($1892)

 

 

That one makes sense....the two $2500 sales with the same serial number sold a month apart don't.

 

A side effect of weird high sales, repeating over and over is helping legit sellers get a nice price from anyone who doesn't look too closely at the sales data.

 

$1892 is probably right, but it looks like a steal.

 

Those were both mine, someone who just signed on that day ended at my price, It turns out that it came from the same IP address and someone is manipulating these auctions on ebay / Buy it now. I don't expect to get that, I do expect to get offers to consider

I did relist it again & yes it is the same serial number

 

There is someone selling a 9.8 right now on eBay and is up to $1,825 with 4 hours left

 

 

So someone's messing with your auctions and making it look like the book is selling for $2500 a pop? That stinks. All that effort to sell undermined.

 

Sorry to hear that.

 

There has been someone out of North Carolina who has been hitting BINs, and walking away.

 

Happened to many of us in the past three months.

[Martin Sinescu]

Does anyone else feel like the OP just whacked a hornet's nest and ran away?

[kav]

I'm gonna start a pressing thread

[Illustrious]

I'm gonna start a pressing thread

 

Wait til Friday.

[Mr 9.8]

Does anyone else feel like the OP just whacked a hornet's nest and ran away?

Which makes me believe he was lying from the start.