Was the run-up in the 1990s all in my head? 0

[Westy Steve]

I seem to remember back in the 1990s, golden age material really took off price-wise. Or was that my imagination since I wasn’t fully tuned into that market? Did it happen? What caused it? My hazy memory is that silver age stuff got too high and it moved up in sympathy. Anybody remember?

[Westy Steve]

Hmph.  Must have been.

[aardvark88]

3 hours ago, Westy Steve said:

 Must have been.

Yes, syncopation for GA in early 1990s:

[Randall Dowling]

On 11/26/2019 at 2:33 PM, Westy Steve said:

I seem to remember back in the 1990s, golden age material really took off price-wise. Or was that my imagination since I wasn’t fully tuned into that market? Did it happen? What caused it? My hazy memory is that silver age stuff got too high and it moved up in sympathy. Anybody remember?

In the early 90s there was a bit of inflation of prices for golden age books.  I always attributed it as a reaction to the explosion of silver age books (as you said) wherein golden age books looked very reasonable.  That's around the time I first started buying golden age comics.  The other factor was the publication of the Gerber photo-journals which allowed collectors to see many thousands of books that they had never seen before.  I remember things changed for me greatly after I got those in 1991.

[lou_fine]

On 11/26/2019 at 12:33 PM, Westy Steve said:

I seem to remember back in the 1990s, golden age material really took off price-wise. Or was that my imagination since I wasn’t fully tuned into that market? Did it happen? What caused it? My hazy memory is that silver age stuff got too high and it moved up in sympathy. Anybody remember?

Well, since it seems that you aren't getting much of a response to your questions here, let me answer based upon my somewhat fading memory. 

If I remember correctly, SA books started to wake up from their almost decades long slumber as the 80's was coming to a close and the dawning of the 90's was approaching.  This was then quickly followed by the red hot rise of the MA newsstand books as both Image and Valiant came onto the scene in the early part of the 90's.  After a few years of meteoric rises in the SA books and the eventual collaspe of the overprinted Valiant and Image books, the GA books probably looked cheap by comparison.  

As a result, there was a short 2+ year time period from somewhere in 1994 to 1996 whereby the GA books just took off like a rocket and did a fast catch up to what had taken place in the other sectors of the comic book marketplace.  This was a time period which was highlighted by the release of books from the massive Overstreet Collection in January/February of '95 and seem to start to wind it self down by the time Bill Ponseti's newly discovered More Fun Collection of books started to come to market.  

As we all know by now, Overstreet is proned to being very conservative when it comes to price increases in his guide as clearly evident by his standard of single digit percentage price increases in his Top 100 GA listing, even in today's hot marketplace.  Yet, a check of his 1995 edition of the price shows the average percentage price increase in his Top 100 GA listing was over 25% YOY, with only 6 books having single digit percentage gains.  This was followed the next year with his 1996 edition which had an average percentage price increase of over 30% YOY in his Top 100 GA listing, with only 3 books this time having single digit percentage gains.  Looks like the range ran from 5% for Comics Magazine #1 right up to 305% for Mystery Men #1 as it went from $2,100 the previous year all the way up to $8,500.      Needless to say, very un-Overstreet like and basically killed the then red hot marketplace for Mystery Men and Fox related titles as all of a sudden, they were no longer seen as being undervalued.  As we all know, people love to buy things when they perceive them to be undervalued, and not so much when they perceive them to be either fairly valued or possibly even overvalued.    

Definitely a super hot time period for GA books for that short 2 year time period as I clearly remember some dealers offering multiples of guide for certain GA books which was definitely out of the norm as compared to the past. 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by lou_fine

[Black Bat]

Love the history- thanks!

[aardvark88]

2 hours ago, lou_fine said:

    

Definitely a super hot time period for GA books for that short 2 year time period as I clearly remember some dealers offering multiples of guide for certain GA books which was definitely out of the norm as compared to the past. 

 

Overstreet GA comic bk Update 1996: Mask Comics exploded. #1 findable grade of vg $238, #2 vg $150.

[Hepcat]

11 hours ago, aardvark88 said:

Yes, syncopation for GA in early 1990s:

 

6 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

The other factor was the publication of the Gerber photo-journals which allowed collectors to see many thousands of books that they had never seen before. 

 

Yes, those were indeed the two key developments right there. Until I was exposed to all those great covers from the Golden Age in those publications, I had basically zilch interest in Golden Age comics.

[Crowzilla]

8 hours ago, lou_fine said:

After a few years of meteoric rises in the SA books and the eventual collaspe of the overprinted Valiant and Image books, the GA books probably looked cheap by comparison

I think one of my favorite examples of this phenomena during that time was that we actually had a year or so where Showcase #8 was valued higher in the guide than Action #2.

 

[Hepcat]

It occurred to me some twenty years ago that if it hadn't been for the revival of interest in superhero comics in the 1960's prompted by editors such as Stan Lee, interest in Golden Age comics would have died off as the kids who bought them in the 1940's sailed off into the sunset. But the baby boomers who had been captivated by Silver Age superhero comics acquired an interest in the predecessors of their childhood heroes and gave the demand for Golden Age comics a tremendous boost.

 

 

[Tri-Color Brian]

I also noticed the run-up after I got back into collecting GA in 1993.  I was inspired by the photojournals which I picked up that summer.  It was a veritable shopping list... But by 1996 prices had really escalated on scarce stuff, L.B. Cole covers, Timely's, etc.  Probably due to the articles in those Marketplace magazines.  Monkey see, monkey want...

[Tri-Color Brian]

31 minutes ago, Hepcat said:

It occurred to me some twenty years ago that if it hadn't been for the revival of interest in superhero comics in the 1960's prompted by editors such as Stan Lee, interest in Golden Age comics would have died off as the kids who bought them in the 1940's sailed off into the sunset. But the baby boomers who had been captivated by Silver Age superhero comics acquired an interest in the predecessors of their childhood heroes and gave the demand for Golden Age comics a tremendous boost.

 

 

good to see you here in the "true" forum Hep...

[G.A.tor]

I think the photo journals had a huge impact on demand and prices in the early 90s

[rjpb]

There was a big jump in classic covers in the early-mid 90s, particularly PCH, and certain esoteric publishers and titles got hot, like Chesler, Continental and Catman and Speed. L.B. Cole stuff from the 1940s was on fire in the mid 90s. Things started to cool by the end of the decade, and some books actually got a little cheaper, but even at their highs, it all looks like a bargain compared to the prices now. 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I can tell you I started buying Golden Age super hero books in the early nineties. Some examples include this Action for $200. at the first San Diego Con I attended from Lee's Comics. There was a wall of these Superman books out of Palo Alto and I only had enough money for one; it was a tough choice and I regret not having more money but I chose Action 34.

Then a year or two later this Ohio pedigree Wonder Woman 21 cost all of $250 as I recall.

At an LA show in this same time period for about $450. I managed to score Cap #11.

By the mid to late nineties the party was over; prices started to rocket up and it seemed inventory started to get real thin for awhile.Glad I managed to get into some of these at the right time but I wish I had picked up a few more along the way.

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

As an adjunct to this; at the same time DC had the Vertigo line going which was doing some innovative work with heroes and other material. It reinvigorated my interest in current comics and got me going to comic shops again; I wonder if any of that had anything to do with the run up. The Image / Valiant thing never did a thing for me but it sure boosted traffic in the comic shops and at the cons.

[MrBedrock]

Bedrock City opened in April 1990. Shortly after that golden age prices started steadily rising. 

[Westy Steve]

My recollection of it was selling things in the CBG and seeing golden age selling for multiples of guide.  Me and a buddy of mine would list cool covers and multiples of guide and they would sell and we thought those people are fools for paying so much for those LB Cole covers.   I remember a dealer at one of the local shows buying a couple golden age books from me because “he wanted to get in the golden age game”. Can I also seem to remember the old catch issues of higher grade Timely going absolutely ballistic.  I didn’t have the money to participate in it, but I was shocked how much books were selling for compared to the guide.

FWIW, I Do you remember the photo journals coming out about that time. 

Edited December 2, 2019 by Westy Steve

[N e r V]

On 11/28/2019 at 12:00 AM, Crowzilla said:

I think one of my favorite examples of this phenomena during that time was that we actually had a year or so where Showcase #8 was valued higher in the guide than Action #2.

 

A decades long debate...

 

[N e r V]

I remember some price corrections occurring with GA material playing some catch up during that decade as mentioned but I think as we moved into the 2000’s and graded books in slabs started catching on the real moves began. The cover obsessions really started taking hold of collectors on a level not experienced prior in any other decade.