Best place to source rare silver age titles 0

[Darth_Vader]

Newbie here.  Was an avid reader in the early 90’s when I was at university.  Had a stable diet of McFarlane, Larsen, Jim Lee etc before they moved off to Image.  Then graduated and left that world behind me.  Recently my parents dug out my old comics and this resulted in a renaissance with comics.  I’m 40 now and financially in a position to potentially source some of the titles that I just could not afford when I was a poor student.  Although I wished I had taken the hit back then given the appreciation over the last 20 years.  

So advice I’m looking for is, what’s the best place to get not only quality books but also at good value?  Is it eBay,  these sort of forums, local comic book stores or conventions?

Im interested in key silver and Bronze Age issues.  Would love to get my hands on a high grade fantastic four 48, since always loved the silver surfer.

Thanks in advance

 

[DarthRawn]

Hey there my apparent doppelganger, greetings and salutations. I like you collected in the 90's when I was a teen, and today finally finishing grad school I am able to pick back up the hobby. YES! how these comics have inflated in price, but being in a similar situation I will tell you what I have found, just my opinion. Comic cons are comics being sold by people who are aware of the value and demand so you will pay a high price. Comic shops are a hit or miss, they are willing to bargain with you at times, I suppose it is all about what kind of business they have been doing.  I have found e-bay to offer reasonable opportunities for raw comics at certain times but you have to be really really careful as they're are plenty of scammers and scalpers running hustles on there. The most common scams I have been seeing it people trying to pass of restored comics with trimming, color touch, pressing, as if they have never been touched by the hand of man which is sometimes obviously laughable. I have found the most perfect example while hunting for a FF52. One week an issue was sold for about 250 and I remember it specifically had a hand writing on the sun. 2 weeks later i found the exact same writing, same location, on another book but it they had attempted to clean off the writing, there was obvious color touch over areas that color was broken on the original, and there was clearly trimming. After all this harm befell upon this comic, he still ended up selling it for almost triple the price. I feel bad for that buyer. There is a really good example of a FF48 being possibly passed off as not having piece missing from the cover by coloring the page in with a marker possibly, This was a post here I read today. SO be careful!  

[Darth_Vader]

DarthRawn - appreciate the useful insight.  Things have certainly changed since I was in my early 20’s.  I remember just picking up an amazing Spider-Man 300 from the shelf as a pimply teenager and now looking at some of these values.  I seem to recall almost taking the plunge and buying a very good raw hulk 181 for less than £500.  My dad would’ve killed me!  Looks like I would need to spend at least 10 times that!

Also grading has now become an industry in itself.  Suppose given the money involved now, needs some sort of benchmarking and self regulation.  Although a comic book should be read and seems a shame just to entomb it and just look at its cover behind a plastic cover.  

Then again if you’ve spent a small fortune on something like an Amazing Fantasy 15, you want to protec my your capital!

Im going to draw up a list and then start to get some values and slowly dip my toes back in, in terms of purchases, whist i start reading some of the old titles that i used to read.

I know I want the FF48-50 Silver Surfer Galactus Arc, as well as Silver Surfer 4.   That’s probably as good a start. 

One final thing.  What’s with these variant covers?  They seem all the rage nowadays.  Back in the 90’s we had different covers or maybe a trading card or hologram.  Gimmicks if you asked me.

excelsior!

[DarthRawn]

I know exactly what you mean regarding the onslaught of variant covers. So, i have no clue on what makes one more collectible than another. I typically purchase the main cover and if I purchase a variant it is because I like the cover. I view it as any other art, buy what you like. Art like these comics are only worth what one would pay for them, obviously supply and demand plays into this as well. I think I am possibly going to consider yard sales or estate sales from time to time to see if I can find any treasures. I am now aware of newsstand editions having less print numbers than issues that are direct edition so there is a perceived increased value with this. This is something I haven't known until this past year from reading different articles. 

You are right about the grading "industry". I understand the value to this to a point; protecting a very valuable comic and having a non-biased evaluation of the comics condition. I am not particularly fond of the price that is charged to grade high value comics however. I perhaps don't understand the reason for this but I don't feel right about paying upward of 100 dollars to get a few comics slabbed especially if I am not planning on selling them. I am considering getting some slabs and protecting them on my own, but I am open to others advice on this issue.

I am with you on the FF48, it is on my list to obtain someday!

[Djrodunchained]

I'm in the same situation as you both! My older brother got me into comics as a kid and I loved it till the 90's... killed it for me. Now I am back in and find myself drawn to the art, stories and nostalgia of the silver/bronze age! I picked up a FF49 for a good price earlier in the year (CGC of course!) and will also be looking for a solid FF48, amongst other comics! Nice to meet you both!

[porcupine48]

Keep an eye on the sales forums here gang.Some great great trustworthy sellers here,and deals to be had.

[Djrodunchained]

I have been browsing them for a few months. Definitely some great comics! The ones lately have been insane! haha

[AJD]

1 hour ago, porcupine48 said:

Keep an eye on the sales forums here gang.Some great great trustworthy sellers here,and deals to be had.

And also some horrible grading at times. No selling venue of raw comics is foolproof - thought this is probably the best.

Before you start spending big bucks on comics, you really need to get a good feel for modern grading, and definitions of universal, restored, conserved etc.