Killing Joke Values 1 1

[Steve157]

Recently, it seems as though Batman: the Killing Joke has seen a slight uptick in value (at least in first printings). Other printings haven't seemed to change much, but according to recent sales on eBay, 9th printings are outrageous. Are they really that rare that some people are willing to pay upwards of $800 for a issue or do we assume those aren't legit sales? Just wanting others' thoughts.

[valiantman]

16 minutes ago, Steve157 said:

Recently, it seems as though Batman: the Killing Joke has seen a slight uptick in value (at least in first printings). Other printings haven't seemed to change much, but according to recent sales on eBay, 9th printings are outrageous. Are they really that rare that some people are willing to pay upwards of $800 for a issue or do we assume those aren't legit sales? Just wanting others' thoughts.

There's a "no price too high" mindset for some collectors who want to complete their checklists.  If you had every printing besides 9th print, and you had several of them that were very cheap when you got them... you could pay $800 for a 9th print, compete your collection (and stop searching for the book)... and the average price you paid could easily be under $100 per book for the set.

The book might not be worth $800 to the next buyer... or ever again... but the ability to finally complete the set could have been worth $800+ for some collector.

[aszumilo]

I don't think the 9th print is all that rare, as some sellers make it out to be.  I usually see several of them up for sale on E-Bay at any given time.  In my experience, the 10-13th prints are harder to find.  The 14th print is more common, as that one came with the Batman/Joker Killing Joke Action Figures.  At one point CGC also recognized the 14th print as the Direct Edition.  Took me awhile to prove them wrong and for them to correct the census, so, even though the Direct print is listed in the registry sets, you cannot add 1 to that spot.  Not sure what would happen if i were to remove mine from that spot, but, it is the same book as the 14th print.

There are 28 total graded 9th prints
12 total graded 10th print (4 in 9.8)
14 total graded 11th print (2 in 9.8)
9 total graded 12th print (2 in 9.8)
6 total graded 13th print (none in 9.8 or higher)
42 total graded 14th print (this is the same as the Direct print, as I proved to CGC, so, no data for Direct print graded books anymore on census) (1 in 10.0 / 1 in 9.9 / 17 in 9.8)

I had the number 1 set, in the census and probably the most complete set of any registry set, until someone with a 10.0 overtook me.  I've been clawing away at retaking the top spot, but, CGC won't recognize the newsstand editions.  I have a few books that are extremely rare, such as the 4th print Book of the month Club (9.6) and the 6th (9.6), 11th (9.4) , and 13th (9.0) print newsstand editions.

I have seen prices rise and fall over the last few years and have been guilty of overpaying for a book or 2 to complete my collection. 

P.S. - Just don't tell anyone that I think the 10-13th prints are harder to find until I get ones in 9.8 for my collection.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2021 by aszumilo

[Steve157]

7 hours ago, aszumilo said:

I don't think the 9th print is all that rare, as some sellers make it out to be.  I usually see several of them up for sale on E-Bay at any given time.  In my experience, the 10-13th prints are harder to find.  The 14th print is more common, as that one came with the Batman/Joker Killing Joke Action Figures.  At one point CGC also recognized the 14th print as the Direct Edition.  Took me awhile to prove them wrong and for them to correct the census, so, even though the Direct print is listed in the registry sets, you cannot add 1 to that spot.  Not sure what would happen if i were to remove mine from that spot, but, it is the same book as the 14th print.

There are 28 total graded 9th prints
12 total graded 10th print (4 in 9.8)
14 total graded 11th print (2 in 9.8)
9 total graded 12th print (2 in 9.8)
6 total graded 13th print (none in 9.8 or higher)
42 total graded 14th print (this is the same as the Direct print, as I proved to CGC, so, no data for Direct print graded books anymore on census) (1 in 10.0 / 1 in 9.9 / 17 in 9.8)

I had the number 1 set, in the census and probably the most complete set of any registry set, until someone with a 10.0 overtook me.  I've been clawing away at retaking the top spot, but, CGC won't recognize the newsstand editions.  I have a few books that are extremely rare, such as the 4th print Book of the month Club (9.6) and the 6th (9.6), 11th (9.4) , and 13th (9.0) print newsstand editions.

I have seen prices rise and fall over the last few years and have been guilty of overpaying for a book or 2 to complete my collection. 

P.S. - Just don't tell anyone that I think the 10-13th prints are harder to find until I get ones in 9.8 for my collection.

 

 

I agree, which is why I was so curious. Last I checked, there was only 1 on there listed for $1k. I picked mine up my LCS a couple years back for $30. I have the set and don't particularly want to break them up, but the possibility of a 900% profit is hard to pass on.

[aszumilo]

13 hours ago, Steve157 said:

I agree, which is why I was so curious. Last I checked, there was only 1 on there listed for $1k. I picked mine up my LCS a couple years back for $30. I have the set and don't particularly want to break them up, but the possibility of a 900% profit is hard to pass on.

No printing has sold in, 9.8 or lower, for $1000.  The last 9th print that sold, in 9.8, went for $225 back in Nov 2019.  The highest it sold for, on E-Bay, was $305 in May 2019.  I think that guy is just fishing for suckers at $1000.

Edited April 7, 2021 by aszumilo

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

52 minutes ago, aszumilo said:

No printing has sold in, 9.8 or lower, for $1000.  The last 9th print that sold, in 9.8, went for $225 back in Nov 2019.  The highest it sold for, on E-Bay, was $305 in May 2019.  I think that guy is just fishing for suckers at $1000.

I don't disagree with the 9.8 and lower  or that the two currently listed may be fishing, but the sales data is off. I watch ebay and many sites often tracking sales. Go collect and GPA both have been having issues keeping up with current prices and tracking data. Here are just a few of the most recent 9th prints sold on ebay and yes the offers were still a little lower than ask, but when filtered low to high they all still land above $350 with the highest being the most recent that a bidding war broke out and ended at $810 + $8.45 shipping for a raw. 

[gpanalysis]

7 minutes ago, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

I don't disagree with the 9.8 and lower  or that the two currently listed may be fishing, but the sales data is off. I watch ebay and many sites often tracking sales. Go collect and GPA both have been having issues keeping up with current prices and tracking data. Here are just a few of the most recent 9th prints sold on ebay and yes the offers were still a little lower than ask, but when filtered low to high they all still land above $350 with the highest being the most recent that a bidding war broke out and ended at $810 + $8.45 shipping for a raw.

We haven't been having any issues with keeping up with recording prices from all our reporting partners. We still report daily, GPA continues to be updated daily across all books.

Just to be clear and FYI, we don't do "fair market value" with predictions of where the prices are going, if that's what you mean by "keeping up with current prices". We simply report on what has happened with respect to recent sales. 

[aszumilo]

27 minutes ago, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

I don't disagree with the 9.8 and lower  or that the two currently listed may be fishing, but the sales data is off. I watch ebay and many sites often tracking sales. Go collect and GPA both have been having issues keeping up with current prices and tracking data. Here are just a few of the most recent 9th prints sold on ebay and yes the offers were still a little lower than ask, but when filtered low to high they all still land above $350 with the highest being the most recent that a bidding war broke out and ended at $810 + $8.45 shipping for a raw. 

I was referring to the 9th print, but, none of those you show have sold, in 9.8 or lower, for $1000.  I am not counting Sig Series, just Universal.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

18 minutes ago, gpanalysis said:

We haven't been having any issues with keeping up with recording prices from all our reporting partners. We still report daily, GPA continues to be updated daily across all books.

Just to be clear and FYI, we don't do "fair market value" with predictions of where the prices are going, if that's what you mean by "keeping up with current prices". We simply report on what has happened with respect to recent sales. 

My apologies. I should have been clear with my text. I definitely did not mean to infer that you were having issues with the specific service of sets of data you supply , nor did I intend to have people extrapolate that you provide or offer a prediction of fair market value .  

I know you do not track raw copies which several of these sales I posted were and as you said your reporting partners, meaning there are sales that are not part of this data. 

I do uses several sources to get some of my sales data.

Which includes your service.  (Which I still hold as one of the gold standards for any graded comic with measurable sales data) 

Thank you for the correction, information, as well as the amazing service you provide and I am sorry about the confusion.  

[aszumilo]

Someone put a 9th 9.6 up for $1500 BIN + $30 shipping.  That is one hell of a fishing expedition.  Might have to list my 9.6

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-The-Killing-Joke-9th-Print-DC-1988-Rare-Crimson-Joker-Cover-Art/124669785352?hash=item1d06e5f508&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAADYOKbVbN1Y2Y4hcsmwuMeFawsb2ANjNcllsMqBWDCOUBUEOY6dmGQ2nATV3Sq1Ky%2Bn8m4kfnq%2FVhmXFyo%2FgM8%2F5wuOOWHodeaLKBkOPdGXybB38u9zjq6Jp6cZD%2BFsCek8zKxvVueDo1i08qFWOx8dxTB3IaYNUthaQ1Dc8gRdYWHOhlgzfIPNvfB%2BJBB8LMxh9nV%2FcEu4gRrn7rUwAnKtR0qeSil9f9VKmeMcTnmgtjbQQZKpLOz7ZpblUMhY9EJwJsRiitxxWpCByh9Erq106ddtiqw31ppxXyZj0WtQbNOXjTROtEhOqojrxmYrJ6lQIi5%2BseZxchYWc6f0i4YqCmxqbmFSOgEwn9JBlkT8PJqsUf6n2AalfvE7eL5KRVEuZwfEOeT9RC%2B3QU7e6O7JR%2B9FgtkoQslxkdJ1P6kbU6j36sX%2BB9uStk04CP9OlhFlQeNe42LrX5v%2BW2KdaRwQ4pPt8gv6HwB9sa93ddoEEQOVmUZ1G4tMgkXz5zlf3DzgxvBAKvNwNbvDM4owxvDbvxSI1Usn4rPXNi43%2Fkq07yUYohG%2FXdPLmkKZ8H%2FbdDz1%2FbffOPUsVDfutPZMrBPUXg6AtZ%2FpY2PH%2F5k1CNi0YPyZJdjn3tLlsSz%2BjmHlBGQB3%2Bi%2Fzmr1wCsKPK9808kfFHY6CLgBTtd1NVll%2FXM9p8LwQvkn3I6BGLj9fg6%2Fi4Pbh9W7JVogaY1M2PYSzMjeIBxJf%2BN%2Bs6y6hmorv55AySDqedyYFuMyLQREPtmV8hc%2BDmYg80SKrmnyLL9KzBJB9LkLAdn%2BYwTzyM7dAwcirruFr97zKRMVq5dhIhF2C8T5Nh7NIYHeyD%2Bd%2BqXWvLXWu6ypr495o5BxysZs%2FrjMyCZ7jhuywt3NrsMr9InB%2FtprqMOr5Z98%2FxzqbIl0hQ%2FxAeT9An%2Bx7h1Ev2i43LaR%2Bn4ziwN%2BVOmQxsrdu%2BCrEO5R8efsz5je5rtNRw5FrFMmbZM5nRXiYLRKpgdbLDFUQ%2B%2BnTUt53T2Sj8JdusgRlN%2FOeelOFGIUbFAYgM00SeOZ8elu1CQ3SAL9KXteeAsTjHWLUaXoR%2BqSinj6c2D9o1uzrtrYboFVougMNvkQxrc4NioRmYARDwfnV6%2FSOaCY0q5%2BRf3N4%2F7g7uA4%2FWYpt8Inw%3D%3D|cksum%3A1246697853521ca9ba8d7a1d4e199fc968e77cf9860c|ampid%3APL_CLK

Edited April 7, 2021 by aszumilo

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

9 minutes ago, aszumilo said:

I was referring to the 9th print, but, none of those you show have sold, in 9.8 or lower, for $1000.  I am not counting Sig Series, just Universal.

I started with I do not disagree with those statements.  You are correct that none have sold at $1000+.

What I was referring to and what those screenshots show is that your statement 

1 hour ago, aszumilo said:

The last 9th print that sold, in 9.8, went for $225 back in Nov 2019.  The highest it sold for, on E-Bay, was $305 in May 2019. 

 

I think that guy is just fishing for suckers at $1000.

Was missing several more recent sales of the 9th print that were higher. 

January 17 2021 a CGC 9.6 sold for $300    ( offer accept from $400 bin )

March 11 2021 a CBCS 9.4 sold for $400.    ( offer accept from a $500 bin)

March 14 2021  a raw listed as NM had 6 to a final price of $810 + shipping. 

With that being the highest so far and raw.  Seeing the 1 currently listed at $1000 for a CGC 9.8 is not completely far fetched.  The $1500 that is just wishing, but crazier things have been happening recently.  

 

[aszumilo]

1 minute ago, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

I started with I do not disagree with those statements.  You are correct that none have sold at $1000+.

What I was referring to and what those screenshots show is that your statement 

Was missing several more recent sales of the 9th print that were higher. 

January 17 2021 a CGC 9.6 sold for $300    ( offer accept from $400 bin )

March 11 2021 a CBCS 9.4 sold for $400.    ( offer accept from a $500 bin)

March 14 2021  a raw listed as NM had 6 to a final price of $810 + shipping. 

With that being the highest so far and raw.  Seeing the 1 currently listed at $1000 for a CGC 9.8 is not completely far fetched.  The $1500 that is just wishing, but crazier things have been happening recently.  

 

I was only looking at the 9.8 sales, as that is what we were discussing.  I did see the 9.6 and 9.4 sales, but, didn't mention those because they were not 9.8.  I did not notice the raw sale for $810.  That is insane.  Though it is kind of hard to tell, thru the crappy bag, I don't think that book is a NM+.  Maybe a 9.2 due to what looks like a bit of a soft upper right hand corner and the back cover, along the open edge.  Whoever bought that is going to be disappointed I bet.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

10 minutes ago, aszumilo said:

I was only looking at the 9.8 sales, as that is what we were discussing.  I did see the 9.6 and 9.4 sales, but, didn't mention those because they were not 9.8.  I did not notice the raw sale for $810.  That is insane.  Though it is kind of hard to tell, thru the crappy bag, I don't think that book is a NM+.  Maybe a 9.2 due to what looks like a bit of a soft upper right hand corner and the back cover, along the open edge.  Whoever bought that is going to be disappointed I bet.

I understand those are not 9.8 , but other than the one listed there haven't been any. Which is why you see those prices become a factor as almost always a 9.8 will command a premium over the lower.  So $1,000 is not out of reach. I too agree that I do not believe that book would hit 9.8. Still I was happy last year October 12th when I snagged a copy for $25 free shipping.

After seeing these prices continue to rise I just included it in my last submission on it's way to CGC. 

[aszumilo]

The front cover looks great, but, the scuffing on the back may hold it to a 9.4/9.6.  CGC is HARD on this book.  That back cover doesn't hide defects at all.  I've submitted quite a few copies (of all different prints) and some got hammered for scuffs and fingerprints that I thought were barely noticeable.  Still, for $25 it was a great deal, especially with all those books you got with it.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

4 minutes ago, aszumilo said:

The front cover looks great, but, the scuffing on the back may hold it to a 9.4/9.6.  CGC is HARD on this book.  That back cover doesn't hide defects at all.  I've submitted quite a few copies (of all different prints) and some got hammered for scuffs and fingerprints that I thought were barely noticeable.  Still, for $25 it was a great deal, especially with all those books you got with it.

I definitely agree. It is headed for a clean and squish first,  only as like you said,  fingerprints Plus the other books going need the same treatment. 

Considering what all I have going and what I have into that book,  I would even be happy with a 9.2 as these current prices have me considering letting that one go when it makes it back.

I have had a lot of black books similar and do definitely agree the glossy black hides absolutely nothing.  

[aszumilo]

8 minutes ago, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

I definitely agree. It is headed for a clean and squish first,  only as like you said,  fingerprints Plus the other books going need the same treatment. 

Considering what all I have going and what I have into that book,  I would even be happy with a 9.2 as these current prices have me considering letting that one go when it makes it back.

I have had a lot of black books similar and do definitely agree the glossy black hides absolutely nothing.  

CCS won't press that book.  It has an embossed cover.  Don't know if any other pressers will do it of not.  I had one that I sent to CCS and they rejected it because of the embossed cover.  I think they gave me credit for a future pressing.

Little trick i use is a microfiber cloth, like you use for eye glasses and some hot breath.  Seems to get rid of fingerprints, as long as they are recent and the oils haven't seeped into the cover.

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by aszumilo

[gpanalysis]

1 hour ago, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

My apologies. I should have been clear with my text. I definitely did not mean to infer that you were having issues with the specific service of sets of data you supply , nor did I intend to have people extrapolate that you provide or offer a prediction of fair market value .  

I know you do not track raw copies which several of these sales I posted were and as you said your reporting partners, meaning there are sales that are not part of this data. 

I do uses several sources to get some of my sales data.

Which includes your service.  (Which I still hold as one of the gold standards for any graded comic with measurable sales data) 

Thank you for the correction, information, as well as the amazing service you provide and I am sorry about the confusion.  

No apology needed  I was simply clarifying how often we update

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

1 minute ago, aszumilo said:

CCS won't press that book.  It has an embossed cover.  Don't know if any other pressers will do it of not.  I had one that I sent to CCS and they rejected it because of the embossed cover.  I think they gave me credit for a future pressing.

 Joey. 

He has worked on many difficult books that included embossed, foil , etc. He worked wonders on a Superman #75 Platinum that has an embossed cover with the foil in the depression on the embossing.  

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

2 minutes ago, gpanalysis said:

No apology needed  I was simply clarifying how often we update

Thank you for being understanding.  I did need to , as I misspoke and do not want anyone to misinterpret what I said. 

Thank you for the clarification.  

I definitely enjoy your site and service. I use it often. 

[Steve157]

6 hours ago, aszumilo said:

CCS won't press that book.  It has an embossed cover.  Don't know if any other pressers will do it of not.  I had one that I sent to CCS and they rejected it because of the embossed cover.  I think they gave me credit for a future pressing.

Little trick i use is a microfiber cloth, like you use for eye glasses and some hot breath.  Seems to get rid of fingerprints, as long as they are recent and the oils haven't seeped into the cover.

 

9th prints aren’t embossed. DC stopped doing that with the later printings