Star wars #1 should be worth a lot more.

[lou_fine]

Supply doesn't seem to be relevant - while there are more 9.8's of star wars #1 than 9.8s of IH 181, there are far more IH 181 than star wars #1 (from the cgc census):

 

Number of 9.8s (including SS, qualified, restored, etc.):

Star wars #1: 480

IH 181: 103

 

Number overall:

star wars #1: 5927

IH 181: 9014

 

Because submitting a $50 book doesn't make sense?

 

+1

 

Definitely far too much hassle and a money loser to be subbing $50 books once you factor in all of the other associated ancillary costs and time involved to sub a book.

 

 

[AKA Rick]

More than Hulk 181 for instance. First appearance of Star Wars eclipses first appearance of hey bub.

 

I would 100% disagree.

 

Star Wars was already a bonafide success when the comic book was released. Star Wars first appeared on the big screen as a motion picture, so it's first appearance is in film. When Marvel acquired the license to make the comic book, it cranked out the presses and fans collected the comic book very well knowing what it is and was, as fans of a known quality.

 

Wolverine, on the other hand was a brand new unknown character whose arrival had no fanfare and was a true debut. He was underneath the radar for a longer time and his popularity grew organically.

 

It would be similar to say if a comic book featuring Michael Jordan, George Washington, Babe Ruth, Elvis, Albert Einstein or even Jesus came out, and you claimed how popular those folks are, therefore their first comic book appearance would and should be worth tons more than anything else in the comic book hobby.

 

Star Wars was a licensed property, if anything, I honestly think Star Wars #7 comic book should be worth more than #1 in that Isssues #1 - 6 were movie adaptations, but #7 was the first new folklore, having brand new scripted stories of the characters not seen in film.

 

I'd speculate the print run of #7 is lower than the movie adaptation of the first 6 issues as well, and was possibly less collected at the time.

[Goldeneye]

More than Hulk 181 for instance. First appearance of Star Wars eclipses first appearance of hey bub.

 

I would 100% disagree.

 

Star Wars was already a bonafide success when the comic book was released. Star Wars first appeared on the big screen as a motion picture, so it's first appearance is in film. When Marvel acquired the license to make the comic book, it cranked out the presses and fans collected the comic book very well knowing what it is and was, as fans of a known quality.

 

Wolverine, on the other hand was a brand new unknown character whose arrival had no fanfare and was a true debut. He was underneath the radar for a longer time and his popularity grew organically.

 

It would be similar to say if a comic book featuring Michael Jordan, George Washington, Babe Ruth, Elvis, Albert Einstein or even Jesus came out, and you claimed how popular those folks are, therefore their first comic book appearance would and should be worth tons more than anything else in the comic book hobby.

 

Star Wars was a licensed property, if anything, I honestly think Star Wars #7 comic book should be worth more than #1 in that Isssues #1 - 6 were movie adaptations, but #7 was the first new folklore, having brand new scripted stories of the characters not seen in film.

 

I'd speculate the print run of #7 is lower than the movie adaptation of the first 6 issues as well, and was possibly less collected at the time.

 

The comic came out before the film was released in theaters about a month. That is the real reason why that comic has the value it does.

[Goldeneye]

More than Hulk 181 for instance. First appearance of Star Wars eclipses first appearance of hey bub.

Kav the key thing you are forgetting in this mess is that Hulk 181 had a Marvel Stamp in it that countless number of kids cut out of the comic because Marvel encouraged it for collecting. That made an intact Hulk 181 hard to find. Also do a search of Star Wars 1 comic on eBay 1600 results come up do a search on Hulk 181 about 270 results nearly 6 times the amount of Star Wars 1 available

[shadroch]

Kav's whole premise is that the Star Wars comic is the first star Wars. It isn't. The novel came out almost a year before. The fact that the comic was a huge success and may have saved the entire comic industry is great, but it doesn't make it the first appearance of Star Wars.

What's interesting would be the value of Star Wars #7. The first six issues followed the movies, so issue 7 is the first original story in the Star Wars universe not in the movie. I'd think that would be huge, but its not.

[Goldeneye]

Kav's whole premise is that the Star Wars comic is the first star Wars. It isn't. The novel came out almost a year before. The fact that the comic was a huge success and may have saved the entire comic industry is great, but it doesn't make it the first appearance of Star Wars.

What's interesting would be the value of Star Wars #7. The first six issues followed the movies, so issue 7 is the first original story in the Star Wars universe not in the movie. I'd think that would be huge, but its not.

6 months before, but yep and Darth Vader looks right.

[chrisco37]

The first scene turned me off when the guys came through the door in the cool white polymer Iron Man type armor and they were using ... Guns! C'mon, no hand beams, super strength, flight, etc? Then an obvious Dr Doom knock-off walks through the doorway. For me as a young comic book reader, it was just too ordinary. I wanted superhero level characters, not a Flash Gordon update.

 

 

I think that's awesome. Love it!

[Readcomix]

I see no downside to buying a Hulk 180.

 

Except for the fact it's the wrong one

 

Relax...I just picked up a Journey into Mystery #84...ya never know....

 

Seriously, I said I saw no downside to a Hulk 180, I never said it was a better book to own than a 181. I get that 181 is the wolverine fans' Grail. I get that wolverine fans like lots of different books featuring wolverine. I don't get how 180 has leprosy.

 

I agree completely on no downside for snagging a #180.

 

If the value of #180 goes down, it would likely be accompanied by a drop in #181's value as well. If #181 continues to rise, #180 should at least remain stable in price where it's at, or rise in conjunction.

 

The wild card factor is that the 1st Wolverine appearance eventually takes the path of the 1st Sgt. Rock appearance. While admittedly this is an apples/oranges thing (since the Sgt. Rock change dealt with prototypes and "actual" first appearances), there is always a chance that the marketplace could shift their opinion on which is more desirable between the two, making the #180 a smart pickup. (For full disclosure, I have gone the best way possible -- I own high grade copies of both. ).

 

As far as Star Wars #1 goes, it feels like a book that should command more, but it just doesn't. As other people have pointed out, the timing of its release and the print runs largely have much to do with it.

 

Yes, all that, mostly. I was just saying 180 is legit in its own right. (2nd Wendigo too, ya know!) In the case of Sgt Rock, OOAW 81 was at one time the bigger book, but the prototype factor vs true first led to correction. But sometimes cameo firsts do outweigh full firsts, go figure, eg Jimmy Olsen 134.

 

Back to Star Wars, I agree #7 should be bigger. Does anyone remember back when #4 was "low distribution" in the guide?

[F For Fake]

People love Star Wars because of the movies, not the comic book,

 

People love Wolverine because of the comic book(s).

 

Probably as simple as that.

 

 

This.

[comicwiz]

Kav's whole premise is that the Star Wars comic is the first star Wars. It isn't. The novel came out almost a year before. The fact that the comic was a huge success and may have saved the entire comic industry is great, but it doesn't make it the first appearance of Star Wars.

What's interesting would be the value of Star Wars #7. The first six issues followed the movies, so issue 7 is the first original story in the Star Wars universe not in the movie. I'd think that would be huge, but its not.

 

The novelization has no bearing on the film being adapted for the first time in comics before the movie was released. By your logic, everyone should be collecting Marvel's FOOM #2 revealing Andy Olsen's contest submission if they want the first Wolverine.

[Lazyboy]

I see no downside to buying a Hulk 180.

 

Except for the fact it's the wrong one

 

Relax...I just picked up a Journey into Mystery #84...ya never know....

 

Seriously, I said I saw no downside to a Hulk 180, I never said it was a better book to own than a 181. I get that 181 is the wolverine fans' Grail. I get that wolverine fans like lots of different books featuring wolverine. I don't get how 180 has leprosy.

 

I agree completely on no downside for snagging a #180.

 

If the value of #180 goes down, it would likely be accompanied by a drop in #181's value as well. If #181 continues to rise, #180 should at least remain stable in price where it's at, or rise in conjunction.

 

The wild card factor is that the 1st Wolverine appearance eventually takes the path of the 1st Sgt. Rock appearance. While admittedly this is an apples/oranges thing (since the Sgt. Rock change dealt with prototypes and "actual" first appearances), there is always a chance that the marketplace could shift their opinion on which is more desirable between the two, making the #180 a smart pickup. (For full disclosure, I have gone the best way possible -- I own high grade copies of both. ).

 

As far as Star Wars #1 goes, it feels like a book that should command more, but it just doesn't. As other people have pointed out, the timing of its release and the print runs largely have much to do with it.

 

Yes, all that, mostly. I was just saying 180 is legit in its own right. (2nd Wendigo too, ya know!) In the case of Sgt Rock, OOAW 81 was at one time the bigger book, but the prototype factor vs true first led to correction. But sometimes cameo firsts do outweigh full firsts, go figure, eg Jimmy Olsen 134.

 

Back to Star Wars, I agree #7 should be bigger. Does anyone remember back when #4 was "low distribution" in the guide?

 

Yes, because supply and demand determine price, while a first appearance (brief or full) is just one factor, albeit a fairly large one, that affects one half of that equation - demand.

[cousin itt]

Does anyone remember back when #4 was "low distribution" in the guide?

 

I remember hearing when I was a kid that #4 was the "valuable" issue.

[the blob]

Kav's whole premise is that the Star Wars comic is the first star Wars. It isn't. The novel came out almost a year before. The fact that the comic was a huge success and may have saved the entire comic industry is great, but it doesn't make it the first appearance of Star Wars.

What's interesting would be the value of Star Wars #7. The first six issues followed the movies, so issue 7 is the first original story in the Star Wars universe not in the movie. I'd think that would be huge, but its not.

 

The novelization has no bearing on the film being adapted for the first time in comics before the movie was released. By your logic, everyone should be collecting Marvel's FOOM #2 revealing Andy Olsen's contest submission if they want the first Wolverine.

 

You are entitled to your opinion. But it would be a bigger deal collectability-wise if the world learned of these characters for the first time in SW 1. I know you view money as a cancer on all of this, but $$$ was the whole premise of the original post, so there is some relevance here even if it is crass and all of that.

 

Of course, didn't we go through this a while back with Harley Quinn? I can't remember when it was decided that the kiddie book actually came out.

 

As for Foom 2, the name is the same and it looks nothing like the eventual character. No claws = no Logan. And people are collecting Foom 2. Heck, New Mutants 86 has Cable's face in a teaser!

[Theagenes]

Does anyone remember back when #4 was "low distribution" in the guide?

 

I remember hearing when I was a kid that #4 was the "valuable" issue.

 

I remember that too. I think there were several of these "low distribution" books back then that turned out not to be the case. Conan 3 is another one.

 

I would also agree that SW 7 doesn't get the love it probably should, but actually Pizzazz 1 is the first new SW story, beating out SW 7 by a few weeks, making it the first appearance of what would become the expanded universe.

 

Just in case anyone was wondering, SW1 went on sale April 12, so about six weeks before the big opening weekend.

 

BTW, here's the paperback first everyone is talking about. It came out in Nov/Dec 1976:

 

 

And Pizzazz 1:

 

 

 

 

[comicwiz]

There were lower distribution examples of the initial print run which were meant to be distributed in multipacks. These three seen here are not reprints - they are the 30¢ diamond price box version. The multipack contains issues #2 - #4 - no #1 was distributed with this pack. The reprints have a 35¢ cover price in the diamond price box. These are much scarcer than their 30¢ newsstand counterparts, second only to the 35¢ test price variants:

 

 

[comicwiz]

It is my theory the Marvel UK market counterparts ran at the same time as the above, but instead for UK market distribution - again, no first issue ever made it to the the UK, at least not from the original print run.

[ADAMANTIUM]

Does anyone remember back when #4 was "low distribution" in the guide?

 

I remember hearing when I was a kid that #4 was the "valuable" issue.

 

"I remember that too. I think there were several of these "low distribution" books back then that turned out not to be the case. Conan 3 is another one."

 

IS SILVER SURFER #4 another one of those?? I noticed that it still said it in the new OSPG, didn't know if it was really true or how they calculated that or got their info...

 

[the blob]

Yeah, but Surfer 4 has an awesome cover, so it's all good

[kav]

What if SW 1 was drawn by Neal Adams-think that would boost it?

[Aweandlorder]

More than Hulk 181 for instance. First appearance of Star Wars eclipses first appearance of hey bub.

 

Am curious as to why youd compare this property to Wolvie.. What was the thought process behind this

If youre identifying SW as a bigger property than him, you may as well easily compare it to Hulk himself, heck even Spidey.. the only comparison measure you have here it appears is the fact that both books were printed in the 70s? That doesnt mean anything

WD1 is a modern book and it gets far better coin than SW1.. So clearly, comic eras are not a measuring tool