Most Undervalued Silver Age Comics?

[namisgr]

Everything Silver is fair-valued, isn't it?

 

I second the notion that the early Dell/GK painted covers are dirt cheap - just try finding the first 10 issues of Magnus or Dr. Solar in high grade. Must be little demand for these books to account for their ultralow prices.

 

While the Conan 1 is plentiful in high-grade, Savage Tales #1 is not. It also was Marvel's first attempt to get away from the code with a series and appeal to a more mature audience, and essentially started their monthly magazine business. So the ST #1 mag gets my vote, pending resolution of whether it is a silver or bronze title.

[the blob]

I don't think there are a lot of copies of Magnus/Solar 1-10 out there, period, at least compared to Marvels and DCs from the same era. Gold Key was a big publisher, but does that mean every title had big runs, and importantly, since these titles died in the 70s, were they kept?

 

Moreover, maybe people who paid big money for them 10 years ago (perhaps not in 9.4, but maybe 8.0 - 8.5) want to hold on to recoup their investment.

 

Most of mine are low or mid-grade (a couple of nice ones) picked up in the last 5 years and I have no intention of selling any time soon although most of the rest of my collection is in play.

[joe_collector]

If you word it that way, then I think the answer may be "not much". I'm (barely ) old enough to remember people scoffing at the idea that BA books would ever be worth anything

 

This is about the 3 millionth time I've seen this mentioned, but exactly who were these mysterious "people" I hear so much about? I've never met any, and I can remember buying New X-Men books for big $$ (relative to the era) a couple of years after they came out. It was the same for key ASM issues like 121 and 122, these were more expensive than many key mid-Silver issues like ASM 50.

 

When I was trying to find those elusive X-Men 94 and 95 for less-than nosebleed prices, I would have loved to meet all these "people" you refer to, as they surely would have sold them to me at cover price or lower.

 

The important thing to remember is, that outside of ultra key Silver first issues and appearances, virtually no 1963-up comics were worth a significant amount in the late-70's. This continued into the 80's, until the huge speculator boom of 1987-89, where Silver exploded and Bronze followed.

 

That's what is kind of confusing about your statement. When 99% of Silver was cheap, so was Bronze, and they both appreciated drastically at about the same time...

[Kakapo]

When 99% of Silver was cheap, so was Bronze, and they both appreciated drastically at about the same time...

 

Sorry for not making myself clearer. I wasn't talking about buying GSX#1 in 1982, rather comparing a guide from 10 years ago with one today. (sweeping generalisation warning) Bronze has appreciated more in %age terms than Silver in the last 8-10 years, particularly the obscure stuff - I'm sure Night Nurse was $1.50 in one of the old 90s guides I have...Tomb of Dracula and WBN are both way higher than seemed plausible back then. Still cheaper than Spidey and X-Men of course, but I think when those two titles start to look expensive, people look at the much cheaper Marvel etc. titles drawn by many of the same people, and the prices on those go up. But Spidey is still Spidey, so prices begin an upward climb again...

 

Circa 1993, I'm sure that Silver in FN and below was basically the same price as it is today, whereas HG Bronze has shot up. House of Secrets 82-91 for 8 bucks each in NM (mid-90s)?

[joe_collector]

I agree that *esoteric* Bronze has shot up by an insane amount, especially since most of the stuff wasn't even listed in the Guide Updates during the early 90's. Horror is the same way, kind of like undiscovered gold, at least it used to be a decade ago.

 

But for mainstream superhero books like ASM and X-Men I disagree, as most HG key Silver Age books have far outpaced HG key Bronze over the same time period.

[the blob]

I think you could mail order an alleged near mint copy of ASM 129 from Mile High for $2 in 1982.

 

Byrne X-men, ASM 121/122 and Hulk 181 were "hot" books of their day, just like we scoff at moderns never being worth anything, but there are always exceptions: e.g., USM #1, etc.

 

High grade copies of many generic non-key BA books like Avengers, even Spidey and a fair number of others (as well as many DCs) could be fished out of 50 cent bins up until and even into the early 90s. I don't know what they were in guide, probably $3-$5. I'm not talking about 1984 BA either, 1974-1977.

[KingOfRulers]

I'd say that many of the books that have already been discussed are probably undervalued, but one that hasn't (I think should be) is (I think) among the most under-valued SA books are the Avengers. I know that it is quite common, but even so it's always in high demand. Also when I talk about undervalued I'm talking about #'s 1-10 and some various keys like #57. They seem to always sell at or above guide as long as they are at least in VF condition. Even on Ebay you have them selling for over guide; esspecially #1 and #5; #5 sells like mad in VF. I don't know why #5 is always selling for so much above guide.

[the blob]

I don't have much experience selling VF or better Avengers, but I agree that there's plenty of interest in the title. Probably because the new series is doing well and there are a lot of characters with a following who appear in the issues: Thor, Cap'n America, Iron Man, Black Panther, Beast (in the 70s), etc. I've sold a bunch of low and mid grade copies for a solid 65-85% of guide, which, in relative terms, means that title is burning hot considering I sold 2 spiderman auctions/store items out of about 15 listed and probably sold about 50% of my avengers comics. I was a bit disappointed that my 57 didn't do better than 50%, but it had a cruddy looking spine roll that probably turned low grade collectors off.

[goldust40]

In many respects the Avengers is the hottest Silver Age title, as it's still perceived as a bargain. Plus, apart from a slightly samey period featuring Heck art from the late 20s to about 40, the stories and characterization were always top notch.

 

Once you get past issue 11, this title becomes very affordable in all grades up to NM-, with one or two previously noted exceptions.

[joe_collector]

I think you could mail order an alleged near mint copy of ASM 129 from Mile High for $2 in 1982.

 

Of course, but we're talking about the boom period of 1988-91 or so, when ASM 129 went to over $500 and I saw copies hitting $750-$1K at conventions and shows. A lot of buyers lost money on those transactions, even counting CGC 9.0-9.4 (if you were lucky) sales of $300-$850 or so. You'd need a 9.6 to make any sort of profit.

[Kevin76]

Journey into Mystery books are undervalued. Hulk 2-6 is undervalued. Daredevil 7 is too

All just rare books in high grade and just rare books to begin with.Alot of the golden age books are undervalued as well. IMO

[ComicBookGuy]

I don't think any books are undervalued. But then again, I do most of my buying on eBay, so outside of high opening bids and reserve prices, the market determines the price.

 

Some comics that I still buy and that are still surprisingly affordable are the following, pretty much all of which are non-superhero books: Marvel horror, reprint, & humor books; westerns; Gold Key horror & humor; Charlton horror & humor; Archie; Dennis the Menace; Christian comics; fanzines; pretty much any Dell. Low and mid-grade grade comics of all titles may be the best bang for your buck in the current comic market.

 

Some humor books, like Richie Rich and other Harvey titles, seem to sell much better than other humor titles and really aren't bargains at all anymore.

 

I agree that Avengers, relative to other Marvel superheroes, are a bargain. The same used to be true with Daredevil and Thor, but that has changed. There just seem to be a lot of Avengers out there, though the numbers between #50 to #120 are not as common. Sub-Mariner is still a great title and relatively affordable since there are only 72 issues in the title, and they are not as sought-after as other books from the same era.

 

I'm always hearing that SA DC is undervalued but don't agree with this at all. If you take any non-key Marvel and pair it up with a non-key DC from the same month and have them each slabbed at 9.4 and put up on eBay, the DC will outprice the Marvel I would think almost every time, especially if it's a Superman or Batman title. Are DC's harder to find? Yes. But when they do turn up they go for top dollar - and if Joe Serpico wants it, forget about it.

 

Joe

[tth2]

I'm always hearing that SA DC is undervalued but don't agree with this at all. If you take any non-key Marvel and pair it up with a non-key DC from the same month and have them each slabbed at 9.4 and put up on eBay, the DC will outprice the Marvel I would think almost every time, especially if it's a Superman or Batman title.

Joe, can this really be true? When it comes to pre-1964 issues, I would say that DCs definitely go for a higher multiple of OS than their Marvel counterparts (with the exception of Journey into Mystery, where the multiples tend to be DC-like), indicating that in fact they are undervalued. But your post seems to imply that they actually go for more in absolute dollar terms, which I would find shocking. I`m not saying it`s not true, I simply don`t know. I`d love if someone with a GPA subscription could do a random comparison of various 9.4 DC non-key issues, pre- and post-1964, with Marvels from the same month and see what the results turn up.

 

Are DC's harder to find? Yes. But when they do turn up they go for top dollar - and if Joe Serpico wants it, forget about it.

I think Joe Serpico is hard to beat out because he seems to set his target prices in terms of absolute dollars rather than as a multiple of OS or even a multiple of average GPA. As a result, he seems to be very hard to beat when it comes to HG late-SA and BA DC, because the prices he`s willing to pay represent staggering multiples of OS. But when it comes to HG early SA DC, his absolute dollar limits seem to top out pretty quickly, well short of the kind of multiples usually paid for those books.

[ComicBookGuy]

I'm always hearing that SA DC is undervalued but don't agree with this at all. If you take any non-key Marvel and pair it up with a non-key DC from the same month and have them each slabbed at 9.4 and put up on eBay, the DC will outprice the Marvel I would think almost every time, especially if it's a Superman or Batman title.

Joe, can this really be true?

 

Hi, Tim,

I will qualify my statement above to "wondering out loud" as opposed to stating fact. It's an issue I've been wondering about for a while. I am not someone who keeps records of auctions, statistics, facts, prices, GPA, etc., but I think this would make an interesting experiment to say the least. Take a non-key Superman comic or Batman comic and see what it sells for in 9.4 when compared to a 9.4 non-key TTA, TOS, X-Men, FF, DD, Thor, Spidey from the same month. My gut instinct tells me the DC will do better since they turn up much less frequently. Factors like page quality and reputation of the seller are variables that come into play, but nevertheless I am willing to bet DC outprices Marvel in the long run. Whether I'm right or wrong, the results would be interesting.

Joe

[tth2]

Hi Joe, I would definitely take that bet if the Marvel is ASM or X-Men. Both titles are extremely expensive even though they started relatively late. In fact, I would be willing to bet that JLA, Flash and GL are more expensive in any given month than most Superman titles.

[Kakapo]

Superman, as loudly proclaimed on the covers, was the world's best-selling comics magazine...so sure, you'd expect fewer JLA/Flash/GLs to have survived in 9.4, and consequently fetch higher prices. SA Superman in low grades is very cheap, but...yay supply, I suppose...

 

If Supes sold 1 million, that would suggest 2 copies for every issue of ASM out there, 3 if the returns (on ASM) were pulped rather than being stashed away by far-sighted future dealers.

[Forbush-Man]

Some of the Gold Key books, Doctor Solar, Magnus, Space Family Robinson's, Twilight Zone are reasonably priced. I also like Tower books, THUNDER Agents, Dynamo, Noman. JMHO.