Popular Post namisgr Posted January 30, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) Marvel zombie here. Starting my reading and collecting/saving journey as a teenager in 1972, I was enthralled with Marvel comics and the Marvel universe. The DC Universe felt like it targeted a younger readership and was a bit of a cheat, with pretend stories and alternate worlds negating the permanence of some main story lines. But there were a few DC titles with great creators to dabble in as well. Only much later, when I had the resources and passion to become a collector of back issue Silver Age books did I discover an enjoyment not only of the Batman and Superman titles, but the DC sciency-fiction stuff like Adam Strange/Mystery In Space and Green Lantern. It didn't hurt that most had sweet Gil Kane interior art. And the early Superman stories in the ten cent cover price era were filled with clean, beautiful art and imaginative story lines and characters important for the origins and history of Supes and the other reoccurring characters. Beyond that was the more thrilling collecting hunt experience finding the tough early SA copies in nice shape. As for the collecting markets, now as always there are legions of collectors ( ) who focus on the titles and characters they love the most. When it just so happens that some of them (the DCs) can be collected for a fraction of the cost of the beloved Marvels, all the better. Edited January 30, 2022 by namisgr silverseeker, Terry E. Gibbs, flashlites and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post namisgr Posted January 30, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) The SA high grade collection has been sold off for a few years now. A fun part of building it was putting together a near complete run of Adam Strange Mystery In Space issues. It was sold to a single collector who also likes the DC era of the late fifties/early sixties. The cover and interior art of Kane and Infantino was consistently enjoyable, readable from the softcover Adam Strange compilation. Edited January 30, 2022 by namisgr Microchip, flashlites, silverseeker and 15 others 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCOComics Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 On 1/29/2022 at 1:21 PM, Brett Barrett said: I think you are a Brilliant Man. DC SA Keys are in my opinion the final frontier, the last hoorah in the hobby, as far as unrealized value is concerned. In my honest opinion DC SA Key books are so extremely undervalued it’s Insane. The scarcity far exceeds that of Marvel Keys and sooner or later, whichever comes first the market will catch up with the hobby. Some books I will let go maybe but the Big Guns 💪 I’m keeping in the barrel for a very long time. Long Live DC 🍻🍻😀 Quick question - why are they more scarce than marvel keys? I thought DC print counts are higher until the late 60s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post namisgr Posted January 30, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) One main reason is they were published in the late fifties to early sixties, when few comics were saved. Another is the average age of the readership of the times, with the especially young DC, Archie, and Harvey readers of the earlier time rarely paying attention to reading and storing them to preserve condition. Like sports cards of the time, comics tended to be treated roughly and stored poorly if not more commonly thrown away. As an eight year old reading comics for the first time in 1962, I did so with my buddies Tommy and Rich - we passed them around to one another, and read them by folding over the front cover and parts already read, so they could be held with one hand. They were disposables, after all. Eventually, they were pitched, but even if saved would have been vulnerable to being pitched by clean-conscious mothers years later, and even when that didn't happen stored in less than ideal conditions in the era before widespread air conditioning. It astounds me to see a high grade copy of a ten cent DC, Archie, or Harvey comic book, as common as white elephants. It's even more freakish to find a high grade copy with white pages. Edited January 30, 2022 by namisgr silverseeker, archiecomicscollector, Jaylam and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skypinkblu Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 On 1/30/2022 at 8:25 AM, namisgr said: One main reason is they were published in the late fifties to early sixties, when few comics were saved. Another is the average age of the readership of the times, with the especially young DC, Archie, and Harvey readers of the earlier time rarely paying attention to reading and storing them to preserve condition. Like sports cards of the time, comics tended to be treated roughly and stored poorly if not more commonly thrown away. As an eight year old reading comics for the first time in 1962, I did so with my buddies Tommy and Rich - we passed them around to one another, and read them by folding over the front cover and parts already read, so they could be held with one hand. They were disposables, after all. Eventually, they were pitched, but even if saved would have been vulnerable to being pitched by clean-conscious mothers years later, and even when that didn't happen stored in less than ideal conditions in the era before widespread air conditioning. It astounds me to see a high grade copy of a ten cent DC, Archie, or Harvey comic book, as common as white elephants. It's even more freakish to find a high grade copy with white pages. Also, incinerators were available...no paper recycling, if you lived in NYC and upset your mom, they would just fly down the shute..never to be seen again. Lots of NY comic collectors lost their collections that way;) silverseeker, flashlites, steveinthecity and 4 others 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaylam Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 On 1/30/2022 at 8:25 AM, namisgr said: One main reason is they were published in the late fifties to early sixties, when few comics were saved. Another is the average age of the readership of the times, with the especially young DC, Archie, and Harvey readers of the earlier time rarely paying attention to reading and storing them to preserve condition. Like sports cards of the time, they tended to be treated roughly and stored poorly if not more commonly thrown away. As an eight year old reading comics for the first time in 1962, I did so with my buddies Tommy and Rich - we passed them around to one another, and read them by folding over the front cover and parts already read, so they could be held with one hand. They were disposables, after all. Eventually, they were pitched, but even if saved would have been vulnerable to being pitched by clean-conscious mothers years later, and even when that didn't happen stored in less than ideal conditions in the era before widespread air conditioning. It astounds me to see a high grade copy of a ten cent DC, Archie, or Harvey comic book, as common as white elephants. It's even more freakish to find a high grade copy with white pages. My brother related a story about how a certain neighbor invited the kids to come pick out some baseball cards as they were getting ready to burn the ones the kids didn't want. The cards were from the 50's and early 60's. He said after everyone was done, they still had enough cards to fill a 55 gallon drum that were subsequently torched. He said some comic books met the same fate. This was in 1962 or 1963 he said, can you image the value that was lost that day? frozentundraguy, namisgr, flashlites and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namisgr Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) On 1/30/2022 at 10:51 AM, Jaylam said: My brother related a story about how a certain neighbor invited the kids to come pick out some baseball cards as they were getting ready to burn the ones the kids didn't want. The cards were from the 50's and early 60's. He said after everyone was done, they still had enough cards to fill a 55 gallon drum that were subsequently torched. He said some comic books met the same fate. This was in 1962 or 1963 he said, can you image the value that was lost that day? Of course I can. My brother was 5 years older, and he started collecting baseball cards probably in '57 or '58. Several shoeboxes were filled with them and stored in the attic. At least they were for a few years, until my Mom threw them away to clear space. It's a common story from back in the day. Edited January 30, 2022 by namisgr Jaylam, aardvark88 and flashlites 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusterMark Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 On 1/29/2022 at 11:49 AM, Bugfarm said: What grades! Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tth2 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 On 1/31/2022 at 12:51 AM, namisgr said: Of course I can. My brother was 5 years older, and he started collecting baseball cards probably in '57 or '58. Several shoeboxes were filled with them and stored in the attic. At least they were for a few years, until my Mom threw them away to clear space. It's a common story from back in the day. If it wasn’t a common story from back in the day, SA and GA books would be worth no more today than Coppers and Moderns. Terry E. Gibbs and Jaylam 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Straw-Man Posted January 31, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 31, 2022 my most recent d.c. grab. innocuous, hchill25, Frederic9494 and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAY1979 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) On 1/29/2022 at 1:02 PM, Brett Barrett said: I sold off a lot of my Marvel Heavy Hitters. I reinvested into as may of the DC Silver Age Big Keys as I could get my hands on. I gave up a lot. But I now have probably one of the best Silver Age DC Signature Series Collections in the hobby and I don’t regret a single second of it. My Collection is Unique and I have always loved DC since I was a child. I still have some really Big Marvel Keys, which are easy to obtain if you have the Coin, but with SA DC, it often doesn’t matter if you have the money or not, locating High Grade SA DC Keys is more than challenging, they’re just not readily available and the CGC Census is an indicator of that. Just saying. Agreed but with supply an demand it takes both to tango. In my youth during the 90's I primarily purchased Silver Age DC in high grade thinking it would be huge. While it has appreciated its nowhere near a Marvel Silver Age % increase. If I had made mine Marvel in the 90's, I'd be able to retire now. Edited February 1, 2022 by MAR1979 Terry E. Gibbs, tth2 and silverseeker 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William-James88 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 On 7/28/2021 at 11:44 PM, johnenock said: Bargain shoppers! man I freaken wished. Was bidding on Green Lantern 87 the other day, man that book is HOOOOOOT. Crazy prices for mid grade copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse-Lee Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Still one of my favorite books, and still way cheap, even in higher grades than this one. Not a mega key, but in my opinion it's a cool book to own and another example of the "DC Discount" compared to Marvel: jas1vans, johnenock and Terry E. Gibbs 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnenock Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Spec book. Let's hope DC movies and programming keep garnering little attention compared to Marvels books...at least until I get all the books I need. We know we are in trouble if the first appearance of Terra-man becomes a 2000 dollar book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnenock Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 On 1/31/2022 at 8:56 PM, Jesse-Lee said: Still one of my favorite books, and still way cheap, even in higher grades than this one. Not a mega key, but in my opinion it's a cool book to own and another example of the "DC Discount" compared to Marvel: Agreed! Love early Justice league books! Jesse-Lee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Straw-Man Posted February 1, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 1, 2022 can't say i'm fond of the tree-transforming-glowing-meteor cover, but your collection ain't complete without at least a couple jla books! hchill25, davidtere, silverseeker and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MAY1979 Posted February 1, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) Picked this raw in the early 90's. Back then in my youth had enough for no more than $40-50 in total purchases at show/con then that was it, might as well go home. I decided to go with this over books like ASM50 in similar grade. DC's were much more rare in high grade and Marvel in higher grades seemed to be everywhere. I figured how many more chances would i get at 1968 Batgirl cover in high grade. I was wrong the correct answer was it does not matter how many there are the smart money purchases Marvel. Once again with Supply and Demand takes two to tango. Throughout the 90's I repeated that mistake over and over and over. So yeah perhaps I'm bitter but when I see folks say DC is undervalued I know they are wrong. DC is appropriately valued for the subset of Comics demand it has compared to Marvel Note: much of my Silver Age is un-scanned with nearly all DC still being raw. Raw most of my DC will remain. Other than Keys and Batman at current CGC rates it pays to submit the Silver Age Marvel I do have. Edited February 2, 2022 by MAR1979 tth2, silverseeker, Terry E. Gibbs and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innocuous Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 On 1/29/2022 at 10:42 AM, shadroch said: When the herd is buying, it's time to sell. When they are selling, it is time to buy. It doesn't matter if it is stocks, real estate, buggy whips or comics. Your mileage may vary when it comes to Marvel SA keys MAY1979 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post innocuous Posted February 2, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 2, 2022 Speaking of undervalued DC keys... silverseeker, JJ-4, tth2 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaylam Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 On 2/1/2022 at 8:51 PM, innocuous said: Speaking of undervalued DC keys... What's so special about that rag? Looks like something I'd line my cat's litter box with! adampasz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...