Incredible Hulk #181 - is it *that* red-hot? 17 17

[WolverineX]

On 2/24/2021 at 11:49 PM, Poekaymon said:

Hail to the King of the Bronze.

One day the 9.4 Hulk 181 will reach 9.4 Cerebus 1 levels...  @Stingrayiii

Edited February 26, 2021 by Wolverinex

[I am not Glenda]

I love the Aardvark and have a complete run up to the Mid 200s ( jusy got to wacked for me) & I treasure the early issues However regardless of comic value WOLVERINE is the king of the Bronze age hands down. What I find so funny is there was a time in High School when I had the same conversation (1986) if it was Punisher or Wolverine.

[MGsimba77]

20 hours ago, IngelsFan said:

Testament to the 🔥🔥🔥 of this book, a single page just sold for $286. Only one side was a story page, the other was an ad.

I figured a while back to snap up an old 180 with the cover torn in half for 40 dollars. I wanted the page to have some glory one day. Only reason I haven't sent it in yet is because I'm sure they're going to put the wrong side of the page on the front of the slab. Regardless of written instructions 

[WolverineX]

On 2/26/2021 at 4:30 PM, I am not Glenda said:

I love the Aardvark and have a complete run up to the Mid 200s ( jusy got to wacked for me) & I treasure the early issues However regardless of comic value WOLVERINE is the king of the Bronze age hands down. What I find so funny is there was a time in High School when I had the same conversation (1986) if it was Punisher or Wolverine.

8.0 cerebus 1 just sold for 7500. Cerebus 1 is nearing $1000 a point, which could vault it over hulk 181. Let's see what happens when the next authentic copy gets listed. 

[MGsimba77]

13 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

8.0 cerebus 1 just sold for 7500. Cerebus 1 is nearing $1000 a point, which could vault it over hulk 181. Let's see what happens when the next authentic copy gets listed. 

That is NOT attributable to newbs!

[WolverineX]

14 minutes ago, MGsimba77 said:

That is NOT attributable to newbs!

lol, definitely not.  I'm sure went to a comic connoisseur's permanent collection.

[Poekaymon]

On 2/26/2021 at 2:51 PM, Wolverinex said:

One day the 9.4 Hulk 181 will reach 9.4 Cerebus 1 levels...  @Stingrayiii

That dirty aardvark can be the jester in H181's royal court.  

 

[Hey Kids, Comics!]

I've never spent more than $1k on a single book until this week. I plunked down $5k for a 7.5 and don't regret it at all. Pretty hot. 

[LDarkseid1]

23 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

8.0 cerebus 1 just sold for 7500. Cerebus 1 is nearing $1000 a point, which could vault it over hulk 181. Let's see what happens when the next authentic copy gets listed. 

That's super impressive considering an 8.5 as I recall was on ebay some months ago I believe for $5500 best offer. I really regretted not getting it at the time seeing other independent keys going up.

[The Man Without Beer]

 

2 hours ago, Hey Kids, Comics! said:

I've never spent more than $1k on a single book until this week. I plunked down $5k for a 7.5 and don't regret it at all. Pretty hot. 

I'm with you on this. Most expensive book purchase for me as well. Also like you, I picked it up this week. Spent $2800 for a blue label 4.0. Didn't hesitate 1 second. 

[lou_fine]

3 hours ago, Poekaymon said:

On 2/26/2021 at 11:51 AM, Wolverinex said:

One day the 9.4 Hulk 181 will reach 9.4 Cerebus 1 levels...  @Stingrayiii

That dirty aardvark can be the jester in H181's royal court.  

I find it rather funny that there's always been this long standing controversy on the boards here as to which one of these books is more valuable. 

Personally to me, the answer is that both are as it really depends on the specific grade that you are talking about.  

[Poekaymon]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

I find it rather funny that there's always been this long standing controversy on the boards here as to which one of these books is more valuable. 

Personally to me, the answer is that both are as it really depends on the specific grade that you are talking about.  

I didn't realize it was a controversy--you uppity comic collectors can turn everything into a debate!

Anyway, I wasn't suggesting H181 is the most valuable in terms of getting top dollar right this moment.  It might not even be #2.  But it doesn't even matter.  There's more to being the book of an age than just price @ grade.  Nothing against Cerebus, but I actually had never even heard of it before, and I'm mostly an 80s collector.  Even laypersons have heard of H181 because numerous articles have been written about it and it's often used a stock image when comics come up and its gains are compared against the Dow, etc.  Wolverine is also, I feel that I am safe in stating this as fact, more popular and more culturally significant than Cerebus.  Also more likely to stick around, though that's more of an opinion.  So for me it doesn't matter, say, if a 9.4 Cerebus sells for 30k or 100k.  It's just too niche to be taken seriously with its low print and narrow appeal.  

Consider this.  Let's say someone discovers a 1980 book with only a single copy in existence.  Just the one.  It grades at a 9.0.  It goes to market and someone pays a million dollars for it and puts it in their vault.  That's amusing, and makes it rare, and a grail or whatever, but you can't rightly say it defines the age or anything.  I'm not even sure you can rightly say it's worth a million dollars--easy to skew the #s if some billionaire wants something.  (Robert Redford paid a million dollars for a night with Demi, don't forget.)  H181, on the other hand, is the single biggest and baddest exemplar of the Bronze Age.  I don't care if it's not the most expensive.

[Albert Thurgood]

On 2/27/2021 at 8:06 AM, MGsimba77 said:

I figured a while back to snap up an old 180 with the cover torn in half for 40 dollars. I wanted the page to have some glory one day. Only reason I haven't sent it in yet is because I'm sure they're going to put the wrong side of the page on the front of the slab. Regardless of written instructions 

It is clear that the value of Hulk 181 does not derive from the awesomeness of the artwork. ;-)

[rogue14]

Not sure if this is the right thread for this comment, if not please let me know.

considering the increasing cost for hulk 181, would it be ideal to get a raw restored copy in what looks to me to be between the 7.0 - 8.5 range and having the restoration removed to avoid the purple label, or leave it as is? Only ask as there is no chance of me getting a blue label anytime soon if prices keeping increasing. 

[The Man Without Beer]

19 minutes ago, rogue14 said:

Not sure if this is the right thread for this comment, if not please let me know.

considering the increasing cost for hulk 181, would it be ideal to get a raw restored copy in what looks to me to be between the 7.0 - 8.5 range and having the restoration removed to avoid the purple label, or leave it as is? Only ask as there is no chance of me getting a blue label anytime soon if prices keeping increasing. 

I would say it depends on many things. You can get your foot in the door with a lower grade blue label for what price you are looking at with a 7.5 resto label. Also, some restorations may not be easily undone. Ultimately depends how much you really care about the final presentation.

[alexgross.com]

22 minutes ago, rogue14 said:

Not sure if this is the right thread for this comment, if not please let me know.

considering the increasing cost for hulk 181, would it be ideal to get a raw restored copy in what looks to me to be between the 7.0 - 8.5 range and having the restoration removed to avoid the purple label, or leave it as is? Only ask as there is no chance of me getting a blue label anytime soon if prices keeping increasing. 

its a crazy hot time now for this and many other keys. that doesnt mean it wont go down a bit at some point. might just be time to wait. 

a book like hulk181 is so easy to find in all grades that i don't personally think restored copies are worth it. there's a grade for every budget. but it might just be time to wait and see what happens to this market in a little while. 

[rogue14]

36 minutes ago, The Man Without Beer said:

I would say it depends on many things. You can get your foot in the door with a lower grade blue label for what price you are looking at with a 7.5 resto label. Also, some restorations may not be easily undone. Ultimately depends how much you really care about the final presentation.

Book I’m looking at is offered at 2k. Not sure if I would be able to find a low grade blue label. Think they said there color touch, glue, a married page and trimming. I know trimming cannot be reversed but hopeful about the others. Maybe haggle a little.

1 hour ago, www.alexgross.com said:

its a crazy hot time now for this and many other keys. that doesnt mean it wont go down a bit at some point. might just be time to wait. 

a book like hulk181 is so easy to find in all grades that i don't personally think restored copies are worth it. there's a grade for every budget. but it might just be time to wait and see what happens to this market in a little while. 

Sadly, I’ve been waiting for a bit now and the more I wait the more out of range the book gets. 

[THE_BEYONDER]

Just now, rogue14 said:

Book I’m looking at is offered at 2k. Not sure if I would be able to find a low grade blue label. Think they said there color touch, glue, a married page and trimming. I know trimming cannot be reversed but hopeful about the others. Maybe haggle a little.

Sadly, I’ve been waiting for a bit now and the more I wait the more out of range the book gets. 

Trimmed gets a purple label no matter what you do. 

[rogue14]

18 minutes ago, THE_BEYONDER said:

Trimmed gets a purple label no matter what you do. 

Good point. Welp. Guess I’ll have to decide to either wait it out or get a restored copy with removal of the what’s possible and just keep the purple for trimming. 

[The Man Without Beer]

Might be able to get a presentable 2.5 blue label for 2k