And my dad said I never took care of anything! Comics without covers... 0

[Melicha]

I inherited a nice comic collection. I'm newly learning about this. I'm a big collector of many things. I have a question I can't find any information on the topic of comics without front covers! I'm asking because my collection is mostly silver era! Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 issue 4 is breaking my heart because it's a fairly valuable one. There's a few more. Does it hold any value at all and how do I determine this? The collection is all in great condition besides the missing cover or half cover on very few. Thanks in advance for any info at all!

[theCapraAegagrus]

There could be value. You would have to put them up at auction to see how much they're worth.

[Bob Troub]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:04 AM, Melicha said:

I inherited a nice comic collection. I'm newly learning about this. I'm a big collector of many things. I have a question I can't find any information on the topic of comics without front covers! I'm asking because my collection is mostly silver era! Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 issue 4 is breaking my heart because it's a fairly valuable one. There's a few more. Does it hold any value at all and how do I determine this? The collection is all in great condition besides the missing cover or half cover on very few. Thanks in advance for any info at all!

Your "Spidey #4" is a reprint from 1967...without a cover it's a nice reading copy, but it has no value

Edited January 19, 2022 by Bob Troub
Typo

[Melicha]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:27 AM, Bob Troub said:

Your "Spidey #4" is a reprint from 1967...without a cover it's a nice reading copy, but it has no value

Seriously?! Double heart break. How do I  find this out about if a comic is a reprint? Future referencing. Thank you!

 

[Melicha]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:22 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

There could be value. You would have to put them up at auction to see how much they're worth.

Seems is a reprint I'm finding out. I would've felt silly, huh!!?! Thank you

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/19/2022 at 1:41 PM, Melicha said:

Seriously?! Double heart break. How do I  find this out about if a comic is a reprint? Future referencing. Thank you!

 

It's actually Amazing Spider-Man annual (King Size Special):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324567181141?hash=item4b91b62755:g:RZ4AAOSw1Apgc89o

https://www.comics.org/issue/21403/

It might be that your Dad collected, or had access to unsold copies. To ensure that they were not reused, the covers were either removed in full or in part by the sellers before they were returned. 

Early Spideys will get some interest, even in this condition, so I would list them on eBay as an auction and see what happens. Or keep them to read!

Type in "remaindered" as an eBay comic search, and you'll see what I mean. 

[SOTIcollector]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:43 AM, Melicha said:

Seems is a reprint I'm finding out. I would've felt silly, huh!!?! Thank you

No cause for feeling silly.  We were all new to this at one point.  With about 99.9% of comics, you can look in the indicia inside the front cover to find the exact title and issue number. You just happen to have one of the ones where that rule isn’t true. Some of those Marvel annuals in the 1967 to 69 range or so don’t necessarily say the word “annual“ or “special“ in the indicia.

Popular characters like Spider-Man will always sell at the right price. As others have suggested, if you put these books on eBay, collectors will bid them up to market price.  Unless you have mega key books there (like ASM 1), you probably won’t get rich. But there is definitely at least some value to silver age Spider-Man books, regardless of condition.  Personally, I would rather pay a few bucks per issue for remaindered books like these than for reprints of the same stories.

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by SOTIcollector

[Melicha]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:56 AM, SOTIcollector said:

No cause for feeling silly.  We were all new to this at one point.  With about 99.9% of comics, you can look in the indicia inside the front cover to find the exact title and issue number. You just happen to have one of the ones where that rule isn’t true. Some of those Marvel annuals in the 1967 to 69 range or so don’t necessarily say the word “annual“ or “special“ in the indicia.

Popular characters like Spider-Man will always sell at the right price. As others have suggested, if you put these books on eBay, collectors will bid them up to market price.  Unless you have mega key books there (like ASM 1), you probably won’t get rich. But there is definitely at least some value to silver age Spider-Man books, regardless of condition.  Personally, I would rather pay a few bucks per issue for remaindered books like these than for reprints of the same stories.

 

Thank you so much!

[Melicha]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:56 AM, SOTIcollector said:

No cause for feeling silly.  We were all new to this at one point.  With about 99.9% of comics, you can look in the indicia inside the front cover to find the exact title and issue number. You just happen to have one of the ones where that rule isn’t true. Some of those Marvel annuals in the 1967 to 69 range or so don’t necessarily say the word “annual“ or “special“ in the indicia.

Popular characters like Spider-Man will always sell at the right price. As others have suggested, if you put these books on eBay, collectors will bid them up to market price.  Unless you have mega key books there (like ASM 1), you probably won’t get rich. But there is definitely at least some value to silver age Spider-Man books, regardless of condition.  Personally, I would rather pay a few bucks per issue for remaindered books like these than for reprints of the same stories.

 

Thank you! So much great info! "More info, more info, more info" -johnny 5........old movie quote

[awakeintheashes]

On 1/19/2022 at 9:03 AM, Melicha said:

old movie quote

That's going to make a lot of people here feel ancient. 

Edited January 19, 2022 by awakeintheashes

[comicginger1789]

Generally a comic without a cover or half a cover has very little value, even if from the 60s or 70s. Maybe $5-10 to someone wanting just a reader comic. Now for a key issue, like say ASM 50 or 129 or even an early pre-issue 10 copy of Amazing Spider-Man, you would get a bit more as someone out there again wants a more affordable reader and would spend $50-150 depending on the "key" and perhaps just print or order a reprint cover to use on the book. Generally though, most collectors want a full cover on their book and these can be a tougher sell overall. But there are buyers for them for sure. 

I would spend time researching which issues you have to determine if any fall into the slightly more valuable category. Otherwise, as mentioned before, expecting much more than five bucks out of some of them would be a pipe dream. 

[Bob Troub]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:27 AM, Bob Troub said:

Your "Spidey #4" is a reprint from 1967...without a cover it's a nice reading copy, but it has no value

I meant to say it's an Annual.....

[shadroch]

I recently sold a bunch of coverless and remaindered SA books to MCS and did okay, as I had almost nothing into them.  They may be worth more as memories than in cash.

[eastriver400]

If it makes you feel any better, my dad always bought books that were “on sale”. A 15 cent book with the “15c” crossed out and replaced with “7c” in ink or a 20c book with a huge “10c” in China marker.  It makes me cringe when I look at them, but also makes me chuckle.  He was a deal chaser for all his life. I save them for the memory. 

[William-James88]

On 1/19/2022 at 9:07 PM, eastriver31400 said:

If it makes you feel any better, my dad always bought books that were “on sale”. A 15 cent book with the “15c” crossed out and replaced with “7c” in ink or a 20c book with a huge “10c” in China marker.  It makes me cringe when I look at them, but also makes me chuckle.  He was a deal chaser for all his life. I save them for the memory. 

an Amazing Fantasy 15 with the 15 cent crossed out and replaced with 7c sounds good to me

[eastriver400]

On 1/19/2022 at 10:13 PM, William-James88 said:

an Amazing Fantasy 15 with the 15 cent crossed out and replaced with 7c sounds good to me

I wish.

[shadroch]

Years ago, I was at a garage sale and the woman running the sale had a bunch of comics on a table. They were late SA books that weren't in big demand at the time and to make it worse, they all had a big 5C on the cover in black marker.  Because of the writing on the cover, I went through the box carefully and only picked out a dozen or so  books. Without the writing I'd have taken them all.  I pay for the books and as I'm walking away I hear her tell someone to mark up another group of comics  as the box is getting low. I go back over there and see she had a box of about 75 more comics under the table and they are marking them 5C as needed. Some quick negotiating and I end up getting the whole box of unmarked comics for a nickel each. More importantly, I saved them from the crazy lady with her magic marker.  I sacrificed a few near worthless TOS trying to get the marker off the first batch I bought.  They were all well read comics that I imagine would have scored in the 3.0-5.0 range. I remember the best of them was a Tarzan 114 I called a VF, but would most likely be a 5.0-6.0 the way I grade these days.

[lostboys]

I auctioned a ASM 55 a year ago. It had a full cover but the book looked like someone used it to swat flies. I seem to remember it selling for like $20.

[CHodges]

I sold an ungraded coverless Amazing Spider-Man #6 on Ebay last fall for $153, so there is a market for some books. Fortunately, I still have an intact #6. The FMV for a graded #6 in .5 condition is $300, so you do lose quite a bit in the process.

[shadroch]

MCS buys them as 0.3s, so roughly half of 0.5