Brock Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) Hi everyone - It's that time of year again, when I have to start to put together my annual Market Report for the Overstreet Comic Price Guide (OSPG). Some of you may recall that for the past few years, I've been "crowdsourcing" a list of the Top 50 Copper Age keys to include in the report (and crediting the Board for the collective insight). The list is (more or less) a 1982-1992 list, and generally doesn't worry about variants, errors or similar rarities... Think more "Incredible Hulk #181" and less "Star Wars #1 35 cent variant", to use a bronze age example. To start with, here's the list as it appeared in last year's OSPG (page 112, for those that want to check if this is legit!): • Albedo #2 • Amazing Spider-Man #238, #252, #298, #300, #301, #361 • Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #320 • Batman #357, #404, #428 • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 • Batman: The Killing Joke • Bone #1 • Caliber Presents #1 • Comico Primer #2 • Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 • The Crow #1 • Daredevil #181 • DC Comics Presents #47 • Evil Ernie #1 • G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1 • Harbinger #1 • Incredible Hulk #271, #340 • Iron Man #282 • Legends #3 • Marvel Graphic Novel #4 • Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 • Miracleman #15 • New Mutants #87, #98 • Sandman #1, #8 • Spectacular Spider-Man #64 • Suicide Squad #1 • Superman #75 • Swamp Thing #21, #37 • Starslayer #2 • Tales of the New Teen Titans #44 • Thor #337 • Transformers #1 • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 • Uncanny X-men #221, #248, #266 • Warrior (UK Magazine) #1 • Watchmen #1 • Wolverine (limited series) #1 • X-Factor #6, #24 There's last year's list... what changes should be made to update it, based on how 2016 has played out? What books should be added? What books should be dropped? As always, I exercise a bit of editorial control at the end of the process, but I try as much as possible to reflect the community's collective thoughts on these books! Thanks in advance for all your ideas and contributions... Edited November 19, 2016 by Brock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valiantman Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 You probably need to call it "more or less" 1982-1992, since some of the biggest books on the list are 1982. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Yes, thanks - a typo, as we'd hashed out dates in previous years. Thanks for catching it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valiantman Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Yes, thanks - a typo, as we'd hashed out dates in previous years. Thanks for catching it! Is it time to add Omega Men #3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Sinescu Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 X-Men 248, ASM 301 are weak entries in my opinion. I may be wrong, but my assumption is 248 is for the first Jim Lee art on X-Men, but I think 268 would be more relevant if we're basing it on Lee's influence on the title. ASM 301, is that just on there because it's hard to find in high-grade or am I missing something else 'cause that would be lame. I really think GI Joe 21 should be on there. 1st Storm Shadow, Silent Issue which was pretty unique in comic storytelling at the time and probably stands as the most famous book of the run. Also, and I believe this has shifted over the years, I still feel the nod should go to Batman 427 as more significant than 428 as that was the issue that had the actual phone number to decide whether Robin lives or dies, which is what made Death in the Family ground-breaking and drew the outside media attention. Plus, that's the actual beatdown issue. 428 to me was just an afterthought. Parabellum 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Yes, thanks - a typo, as we'd hashed out dates in previous years. Thanks for catching it! Is it time to add Omega Men #3? This book was on the list a couple of years ago, IIRC, but got bumped as X-Factor books and Apocalypse appearances started to heat up... I think you're right, though, that this has started to pick back up this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 X-Men 248, ASM 301 are weak entries in my opinion. I may be wrong, but my assumption is 248 is for the first Jim Lee art on X-Men, but I think 268 would be more relevant if we're basing it on Lee's influence on the title. ASM 301, is that just on there because it's hard to find in high-grade or am I missing something else 'cause that would be lame. I really think GI Joe 21 should be on there. 1st Storm Shadow, Silent Issue which was pretty unique in comic storytelling at the time and probably stands as the most famous book of the run. Also, and I believe this has shifted over the years, I still feel the nod should go to Batman 427 as more significant than 428 as that was the issue that had the actual phone number to decide whether Robin lives or dies, which is what made Death in the Family ground-breaking and drew the outside media attention. Plus, that's the actual beatdown issue. 428 to me was just an afterthought. There was some discussion of X-Men 248 last year, and it's definitely borderline... and if ASM 301 is off, are others heating up, like ASM 315/316 or 344? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Sinescu Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 X-Men 248, ASM 301 are weak entries in my opinion. I may be wrong, but my assumption is 248 is for the first Jim Lee art on X-Men, but I think 268 would be more relevant if we're basing it on Lee's influence on the title. ASM 301, is that just on there because it's hard to find in high-grade or am I missing something else 'cause that would be lame. I really think GI Joe 21 should be on there. 1st Storm Shadow, Silent Issue which was pretty unique in comic storytelling at the time and probably stands as the most famous book of the run. Also, and I believe this has shifted over the years, I still feel the nod should go to Batman 427 as more significant than 428 as that was the issue that had the actual phone number to decide whether Robin lives or dies, which is what made Death in the Family ground-breaking and drew the outside media attention. Plus, that's the actual beatdown issue. 428 to me was just an afterthought. There was some discussion of X-Men 248 last year, and it's definitely borderline... and if ASM 301 is off, are others heating up, like ASM 315/316 or 344? They may be within the ASM canon but as far as "copper keys", I don't think they rank near any of the other books in importance. Spider-man has more-than-adequate representation already. I will also mention Teen Titans 39 (D-ck Grayson retires his Robin persona and Kid Flash quits the TT), should get some consideration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin76 Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 • Albedo #2 • Amazing Spider-Man #238, #252, #298, #300 • Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #320 • Batman #357, #428 • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 • Bone #1 • Caliber Presents #1 • Comico Primer #2 • The Crow #1 • DC Comics Presents #47 • Evil Ernie #1 • G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1 • Harbinger #1 • Incredible Hulk #271 • Marvel Graphic Novel #4 • Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 • Miracleman #15 • New Mutants #87, #98 • Sandman #1, #8 • Spectacular Spider-Man #64 • Swamp Thing #21, #37 • Starslayer #2 • Tales of the New Teen Titans #44 • Thor #337 • Transformers #1 • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 • Uncanny X-men #266 • Warrior (UK Magazine) #1 • Watchmen #1 • Wolverine (limited series) #1 Cleaned up the List a bit and is looking much better now Add DC Comics Presents 26, Daredevil 168, New Teen Titans 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Personally I would drop XMen 221 and 248 and ASM 252. I'd add Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Star Wars 107 and Omega Man 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin76 Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Personally I would drop XMen 221 and 248 and ASM 252. I'd add Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Star Wars 107 and Omega Man 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valiantman Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Add DC Comics Presents 26, Daredevil 168, New Teen Titans 2 Those aren't 1982-1992. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Sinescu Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Add DC Comics Presents 26, Daredevil 168, New Teen Titans 2 Those aren't 1982-1992. Although I would agree with Kevin76 as those are the heralds of Copper, esp. the Titans stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Sinescu Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 X-Men is a real conundrum here. It really dominated the age, but so much of this seems irrelevant in hindsight. All the crossovers, major arcs, buckets of new characters.... and we're seriously debating stuff like 248 and 221 as the only representations for the mighty X-Men. Even New Mutants has more viable entries. It's just weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Personally I would drop XMen 221 and 248 and ASM 252. I'd add Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Star Wars 107 and Omega Man 3. I might be digging a deeper hole but I'll try to justify. From the standpoints of value and rarity CGC 9.8 TMNT 2 and Star Wars 107 got the three discards beat. Plus neither are going anywhere in popular culture. I'll toss Omega Man 3 and add the Penthouse with Vanessa Williams and George Burns on the cover (and TL on the inside). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakman29 Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Personally I would drop XMen 221 and 248 and ASM 252. I'd add Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Star Wars 107 and Omega Man 3. Personally I think TMNT 2 through 4 should be included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardian Comics Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Secret Wars #8 is on the list but not #1 So why in the world is Crisis #1 on the list but not #7 or #8? That's the most glaring error I see on the list. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semicentennial Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Cry for Dawn #1 should be on the list and maybe #4 (1st and 2nd print). Darkhorse Presents #24 is another good book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin76 Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Add DC Comics Presents 26, Daredevil 168, New Teen Titans 2 Those aren't 1982-1992. You're right, glad to see you're paying attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comiconxion Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 (edited) I'm going to throw a few more out there for consideration... Tick Special Edition #1 - especially with the new show - how could this not be on the list? Evil Ernie is on the list and the Tick is not? TMNT #3 NYCC Variant or Turtlemania Gold - The Turtlemania is arguably more valuable than a TMNT #1. And of course Gobbledygook #1 (first Fugitoid and launched Mirage Studios). Albedo #0 Yellow/Gold. I've only ever seen 2 of these books and I don't think any of the sales have ever been public, but this book was fetching $800 back in the 80's. Even if it has cooled down, it is more valuable than many of the books on the list. But, I get why it may not be on the list - no longer hot. I'm surprised Captain America Annual #8 doesn't garner a mention - one of the most classic covers from the Copper Age and classic Wolverine app. Another Zeck classic - ASM #294 - Death of Kraven. You probably see more Web of Spider-man #32's slabbed because of the cover, but this issue killed off a major villain. Hulk #340 - This got dropped over ASM #298? Much better art, but can live with it. Marvel Graphic Novel #1 - Death of Captain Marvel - issued in an era of Marvel Graphic Novels and dealt with the realities of cancer in the Superhero world. #5 with X-Men God Loves Man Kills is also noteworthy. Along the same lines.,, Marvel Fanfare #1... actually never mind... significant, but no one cares. G.I. Joe #2 as well as #21 should be contenders. Agree #21 beats #2 for significance in the long run. Amethyst #1 35 cent variant of JLA #3 Superman logo variant - DC officially creating variants for test markets. Killing Joke - Umpteenth printings, but classic book that didn't make the list? Creepshow #1 by Wrightson from 1982. Still fetches a pretty penny and had a classic movie tie-in, But hot, probably not. In 1992, a little book called Spawn launched...top selling book that launched an empire, What's hard to determine with this list is whether we defining "top" by price or by significance? Some of the above are based more on price than significance. As far as books to drop, I'd suggest: - ASM #298 - the #300 far outshines this book. - Evil Ernie #1 - Does anyone still care about Lady Death? - Spectacular Spider-man #64 - I never found C&D that significant - Starslayer #2 - Agree that Rocketeer is a nice creation of the 80's by Dave Stevens, but this book has never really been that hot. - Tales of the Teen Titans #44 - Is Nightwing that important? - DC Comics Presents #47 - I get that it's the first He-Man in comics, but us he a hot comic? More of a tie-in to a cartoon. - B&V #320 - Is Cheryl Blossom that significant? Just some thoughts... feel free to debate. Edited November 20, 2016 by comiconxion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...