Are prices still climbing or have they eased up a bit??? 43 43

[Bookery]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:27 AM, 1Cool said:

I thought about it a bit more and I think it really comes down to if you sell online vs in store.  Online sellers did great when everything shut down for obvious reasons and stores must have had it rough for the same reasons.  Now that shipping prices seem to be going up every few months it must be bringing buyers back into the store big time which I guess would push 2022 as a great year for them.

That's probably right.  Both those years were decent for us, but 2020 took a hit because we were forced to close down for 7 weeks... couldn't sell, couldn't buy.  2021 was one of our better years, though as prices skyrocket, you also have to keep paying more for them.  We also had a lot of stuff come through the doors in 2022.  No one big collection that would make waves, but just week after week of solid material coming in.  We purchased here in the shop (I don't do shows) an average of 3-4 collections per week (record high prices brought them out for sale).  By contrast, in the first 3 weeks of this year, we've purchased almost nothing.  It's January, so it might not mean much (folks don't like loading up the car with boxes when it's cold and nasty)... but also this year might be tougher... if you missed out on selling in 2022, unless you have to, you aren't going to like selling at current 2023 prices.

[1Cool]

On 1/19/2023 at 1:22 PM, Bookery said:

That's probably right.  Both those years were decent for us, but 2020 took a hit because we were forced to close down for 7 weeks... couldn't sell, couldn't buy.  2021 was one of our better years, though as prices skyrocket, you also have to keep paying more for them.  We also had a lot of stuff come through the doors in 2022.  No one big collection that would make waves, but just week after week of solid material coming in.  We purchased here in the shop (I don't do shows) an average of 3-4 collections per week (record high prices brought them out for sale).  By contrast, in the first 3 weeks of this year, we've purchased almost nothing.  It's January, so it might not mean much (folks don't like loading up the car with boxes when it's cold and nasty)... but also this year might be tougher... if you missed out on selling in 2022, unless you have to, you aren't going to like selling at current 2023 prices.

Yea - it must be tough for people to sell right now especially if their friends sold in 2020 - 2022 and bragged about all the cash they got.  I think 2023 will be a great time to be buying if you can find people hard up for cash and need to sell at a loss (or much less then was available over the last few years).  I'm curious how prices will look the first few Cons of the year and if the general public will be still buying in droves.

[VintageComics]

On 1/17/2023 at 10:47 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

On 1/17/2023 at 9:41 PM, VintageComics said:

It's more hype and a mindworm for the OCD crowd than anything else.

Kinda like.....paying multiples for a 9.8 over a 9.6?

Mods notified. 

[VintageComics]

These are some of my Clnk results. I erased one book which I wanted to keep private. 

But the rest of results are all in a ballpark where they should be with some going a bit cheap, some in the middle and a few even breaking records..

The FF #74 went nuts and set a record. I couldn't sell it at 2/3 the price in a fixed price format. 

The FF #58 went about 10% cheap, as did the Nick Fury #1 but they had OWW to pages so I expected that. 

The ASM #1 GRR went just a hair under the last GPA (it also had OWW pages)

Had they been White pagers they would have gone nuts I'm sure. 

The IF #14 was White pager but a book was ready to discount thinking the market was dropping a few months ago. Had a boardie I was talking to about and he ended up not pulling the trigger. Glad he didn't. It went for a crazy price on Clink. Ditto to the FF #74, couldn't move this book for the life of me and it goes nuts at auction. 

The DD #7 went really cheap. Someone got a steal on that book as it looked like a NM copy. 

The X-men 9.8s went a bit cheap compared to GPA but all in the $3000 range where I expect mid 1960's X-men to be.

So that's my snap shot in time. 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by VintageComics

[Sweet Lou 14]

Serious question, why does Nick Fury #1 fetch such low prices compared to the other 1968 #1s?  It's never made much sense to me.  For that matter, Strange Tales #135 doesn't get that much love either.

Can it really be because they cast Samuel L. Jackson in the MCU instead of a white dude?

[Sweet Lou 14]

Just for the heck of it, here are the census numbers and GoCollect FMVs for the six #1s that emerged from the classic monster titles in 1968, ranked by census count:

• Sub-Mariner #1:  77 in 9.8 ($12,000), 160 in 9.6 ($2,500)
• Nick Fury #1:  59 in 9.8 ($3,500), 129 in 9.6 ($1,250)
• Captain America #100:  45 in 9.8 ($9,500), 60 in 9.6 ($6,750) -- the 9.6 FMV seems suspect, likely distorted by a recent sale of a 9.4 for over $4K
• Doctor Strange #169:  40 in 9.8 ($9,750), 79 in 9.6 ($3,700)
• Iron Man #1:  35 in 9.8 ($30,000), 92 in 9.6 ($7,750)
• Incredible Hulk #102:  25 in 9.8 ($10,500), 96 in 9.6 ($4,300)

So yes, Nick Fury #1 is near the top of the list in terms of supply, but I don't think that alone could explain how badly it lags behind the others on price.

[MAR1979]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:16 AM, 1Cool said:

I heard this from another seller that 2022 was one of their best years in terms of profits.  I just don't understand how 2022 could come close to 2020 & 2021 in terms of profits since everything was selling and the prices were going up daily on a ton of books.  2020 and 2021 was so good that I just can't see how those years wasn't everyone's best years ever (I know it was mine by far).

Most of first half of 2022 was final days of bubble. Smart sellers  adjusted to the market and lowered prices in the fall and did nice in effect on sort of similar to a dead cat bounce.

As Ive mentioned those with true business accumen will be fine.

As for me in past 4 weeks Ive purchased a slew of 9.8 books for $300 or less, which a year ago this week commanded $1k-$2k each. Some of these books were lower than 2019 price. Smart buys on my part i dont know, but i collect and dont sell.

There are many sectors of comic market thus no one health statement covers all. Still as with any business sellers/dealers who lack the skills to adapt to a non bull or bubble market will be in for very lean times.

Edited January 20, 2023 by MAR1979

[1Cool]

On 1/20/2023 at 8:36 AM, MAR1979 said:

Most of first half of 2022 was final days of bubble. Smart sellers  adjusted to the market and lowered prices and in effect did nice on effect sort of similar to a dead cat bounce.

As Ive mentioned those with true business accumen will be fine.

As for me in past 4 weeks Ive purchased a slew of 9.8 books for $300 or less, which a year ago this week commanded $1k-$2k each. Some of these books were lower than 2019 price. Smart buys on my part i dont know, but i collect and dont sell.

There are many sectors of comic market thus no one health statement covers all. Still as with any business sellers/dealers who lack the skills to adapt to a non bull or bubble market will be in for very lean times.

Being able to buy CGC 9.8s for $300 that were selling for 3x - 6x a year ago highlights the current market.  People can find rare examples of books that have not crashed over the last 3 months but the list of ones that have crashed far, far exceeds the list of books that are holding up.

[Superman2006]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:06 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Just for the heck of it, here are the census numbers and GoCollect FMVs for the six #1s that emerged from the classic monster titles in 1968, ranked by census count:

• Sub-Mariner #1:  77 in 9.8 ($12,000), 160 in 9.6 ($2,500)
• Nick Fury #1:  59 in 9.8 ($3,500), 129 in 9.6 ($1,250)
• Captain America #100:  45 in 9.8 ($9,500), 60 in 9.6 ($6,750) -- the 9.6 FMV seems suspect, likely distorted by a recent sale of a 9.4 for over $4K
• Doctor Strange #169:  40 in 9.8 ($9,750), 79 in 9.6 ($3,700)
• Iron Man #1:  35 in 9.8 ($30,000), 92 in 9.6 ($7,750)
• Incredible Hulk #102:  25 in 9.8 ($10,500), 96 in 9.6 ($4,300)

So yes, Nick Fury #1 is near the top of the list in terms of supply, but I don't think that alone could explain how badly it lags behind the others on price.

The first appearances for each of the characters above not named Fury are worth more than the first appearance of Sgt. Fury, and have been going back many years before Samuel L. Jackson got involved, so I think it's simply due to popularity of the various characters, right?

Looking at the 9.8 prices you shared above, I don't understand why Iron Man #1 in 9.8 is worth so much more than Hulk #102 in 9.8, other than the fact that Iron Man is a #1, and not a #102.

[Sweet Lou 14]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:16 AM, Superman2006 said:

The first appearances for each of the characters above not named Fury are worth more than the first appearance of Sgt. Fury, and have been going back many years before Samuel L. Jackson got involved, so I think it's simply due to popularity of the various characters, right?

Looking at the 9.8 prices you shared above, I don't understand why Iron Man #1 in 9.8 is worth so much more than Hulk #102 in 9.8, other than the fact that Iron Man is a #1, and not a #102.

Yes, I agree that all of the other characters are significantly more popular (and their books in much higher demand) than Sgt. Fury -- and that's easy to understand since Sgt. Fury is a war comic and therefore many superhero collectors will not collect that title.  Speaking for myself, I know that for the longest time the only issue of Sgt. Fury that interested me was #13, which features Captain America.

That said, Nick Fury (Agent of SHIELD) is placed (at least a bit more) firmly within the world of the superheroes, so he's a different case.  Strange Tales #135 suffers from being not "really" a first appearance by the strict definition, but it still surprises me how affordable it is relative to other keys of the period or even other dubious "keys" in the Strange Tales run like the first appearances of various third-tier supporting characters in the Doctor Strange series.

Nick Fury #1 boasts an all-time classic Steranko cover -- arguably, the best cover among the six books I listed above -- so I would expect it to be more in demand than it seems to be.  Just idle curiosity on my part, as I have no specific interest in hyping the book.  I already have my copy and I'm happy. 

Edited January 20, 2023 by Sweet Lou 14

[dikran]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:49 AM, joeypost said:

I bid on two Hulk books on clink last night. Hulk 164 and 166. Nothing special about them other than being 9.8’s. 
 

one went for over $1,000 the other not far behind. 

Guess I was lucky, picked up 124 9.6 and 175 9.8 for far below last few copies 

[Bookery]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:06 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

So yes, Nick Fury #1 is near the top of the list in terms of supply, but I don't think that alone could explain how badly it lags behind the others on price.

In my area, getting customers to consider any character who doesn't have a cape or fly through the air is a tough sell.

[MAR1979]

On 1/20/2023 at 4:23 PM, Bookery said:

In my area, getting customers to consider any character who doesn't have a cape or fly through the air is a tough sell.

Of course Fury 1 is only on the list I have a raw 9.8 candidate.  This ensures it will never reach half the heights of the other books mentioned.

[Beastfeast]

Excuse me for being an insufficiently_thoughtful_person but why aren't we comparing current prices to pre-pandemic?  Seems like ignoring (or at least giving less weight to) the once in a lifetime price runup might be wise for trying to sus out the strength of the market 

I get the historical importance of the comparisons - especially if your business is literally selling comics - but I keep seeing all manner of comparisons of now to '20-'22 and they just don't make sense in any way if you care about long term analysis.  

I'm picking Hulk 181 just 'cuz and any random grade will do...let's say 6.0.  Looks like there has been 3 sales this year (GPA - I know it has its limitations) for $4750, $4800, and $4600.  Compare that to the 1st 3 sales of 2020 and you get $2300, $1976, and $2426.  We're in a much stronger market than what was happening then.  Granted, we might still be on the downward slope of the bubble and next year we'll see prices back down to 2020 levels.  I doubt it, though.  

There's so much doom and gloom about current numbers in every market because people keep comparing them to the absolute anomaly that was the Covid Economy.  What am I missing? 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Beastfeast

[Microchip]

On 1/21/2023 at 2:28 AM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Nick Fury #1 boasts an all-time classic Steranko cover -- arguably, the best cover among the six books I listed above -- so I would expect it to be more in demand than it seems to be.  Just idle curiosity on my part, as I have no specific interest in hyping the book.  I already have my copy and I'm happy. 

The whole series has climbed strongly in value, sales of 9.8 copies of issues 4, and 5 can exceed #1 sometimes.   People love the series, there's no question there.   The series only comes second to Silver Surfer's first series, with issues 3, and 4 getting strong results for the right copies.

No one touches any of the issues for Submariner, or Ironman after issue 1.  

If you ranked the 68's by series collectibility, and desirability across the run, it probably looks like this,

1. Silver Surfer

2. Nick Fury

3.Captain America

4.Incredible Hulk

5. Doctor Strange

Also ran... Ironman, Sub-mariner.

Who know's what next.   Fury 1 does look cheap right now, there's a lot of room for appreciation.  Let's see what happens with the next movie .    Also the Sub-mariner series could see a reverse of fortunes, anything is possible these days. 

[Rob]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:42 PM, Beastfeast said:

Excuse me for being an insufficiently_thoughtful_person but why aren't we comparing current prices to pre-pandemic?  Seems like ignoring (or at least giving less weight to) the once in a lifetime price runup might be wise for trying to sus out the strength of the market 

I get the historical importance of the comparisons - especially if your business is literally selling comics - but I keep seeing all manner of comparisons of now to '20-'22 and they just don't make sense in any way if you care about long term analysis.  

I'm picking Hulk 181 just 'cuz and any random grade will do...let's say 6.0.  Looks like there has been 3 sales this year (GPA - I know it has its limitations) for $4750, $4800, and $4600.  Compare that to the 1st 3 sales of 2020 and you get $2300, $1976, and $2426.  We're in a much stronger market than what was happening then.  Granted, we might still be on the downward slope of the bubble and next year we'll see prices back down to 2020 levels.  I doubt it, though.  

There's so much doom and gloom about current numbers in every market because people keep comparing them to the absolute anomaly that was the Covid Economy.  What am I missing? 

Some of us even predicted this drop.  The conversation below was about X-Men #1 in 2.0.  People called me crazy for thinking the price would drop.  It peaked over $10k, and this month the low was $6200.  I'm thinking we haven't seen the bottom yet.  (Same applies to all grades of this book.)

Edited January 21, 2023 by Rob

[Beastfeast]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:09 PM, Rob said:

Some of us even predicted this drop.  The conversation below was about X-Men #1 in 2.0.  People called me crazy for thinking the price would drop.  It peaked over $10k, and this month the low was $6200.  I'm thinking we haven't seen the bottom yet.  (Same applies to all grades of this book.)

For most of 2020, that book was in the low to mid 3000s.  So ignoring the insanity of that books run-up in 2021, it's still sitting at what?  75ish% increase from that time?  That's huge! 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Beastfeast

[Motor City Rob]

On 1/21/2023 at 1:15 AM, Beastfeast said:

For most of 2020, that book was in the low to mid 3000s.  So ignoring the insanity of that books run-up in 2021, it's still sitting at what?  75ish% increase from that time?  That's huge! 

Agreed. Only a few keys have actually gone back to pre covid prices. Most are still significantly higher. Important to realize both the current correction and the fact that prices are still stronger than 2020.

[Motor City Rob]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:55 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Serious question, why does Nick Fury #1 fetch such low prices compared to the other 1968 #1s?  It's never made much sense to me.  For that matter, Strange Tales #135 doesn't get that much love either.

Can it really be because they cast Samuel L. Jackson in the MCU instead of a white dude?

Not the race card again.   Nick Fury has always been considered an uninteresting, boring character by the general comic book fan. Looking at CGC prices prior to his casting (and after) will tell you that skin color isn't the problem. If anything, casting a dynamic personality like Smauel L Jackson only helped make the character more interesting. 

[MAR1979]

On 1/21/2023 at 1:05 AM, Microchip said:

The whole series has climbed strongly in value, sales of 9.8 copies of issues 4, and 5 can exceed #1 sometimes.   People love the series, there's no question there.   The series only comes second to Silver Surfer's first series, with issues 3, and 4 getting strong results for the right copies.

No one touches any of the issues for Submariner, or Ironman after issue 1.  

If you ranked the 68's by series collectibility, and desirability across the run, it probably looks like this,

1. Silver Surfer

2. Nick Fury

3.Captain America

4.Incredible Hulk

5. Doctor Strange

Also ran... Ironman, Sub-mariner.

Who know's what next.   Fury 1 does look cheap right now, there's a lot of room for appreciation.  Let's see what happens with the next movie .    Also the Sub-mariner series could see a reverse of fortunes, anything is possible these days. 

Great point. While issue 1 lags way behind IM1, Subby1, the Stersnko covers keep interest high on 2,3,4,5,7 .

Almost no one seeks IM3 or Subby 4 its 1st issue only.  Subby 8 of course is a  FF112ish situation

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by MAR1979