• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

ASM #1 or X-Men #1
3 3

ASM #1 or X-Men #1  

104 members have voted

  1. 1. Which one do you buy all things being equal (grade, page quality..etc.)?

    • ASM #1
      54
    • X-Men #1
      50


43 posts in this topic

On 7/16/2022 at 4:46 PM, KPR Comics said:

ASM 1 is the poor man's AF15 though.  I said both because it is an "And" not an "Or" world if you make it so.  But given the constraints of the question, it's X-Men 1 for me.

Given the choice between the two, I went for more story, instead of 8 pages...in 2.0, ASM 1 was about $1000 when AF15 was about $1500. I didn't really have enough for either, but ASM 1 came across my lap and I jumped on it for $660. 

History has not been kind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/23/2022 at 11:30 AM, alexgross.com said:

several people have made this argument. for me as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s reading the claremont/byrne/austin x-men, i worshipped the original team and the iconic cover of xmen1. they also incorporated all of the original characters into much of those storylines- beast and angel were both involved extensively. you are also forgetting jean grey/marvel girl/phoenix - an original character around whom the best story in comics at the time and for years after revolved.

you dont have to be into sandy koufax and don newcombe to be a dodger fan. x-men are timeless. 

Each of the original Xmen characters you mentioned in the Claremont/Byrne storyline had to go through a major revamp in order to be relevant.  The one exception being Cyclops.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I owned both and bought them in the early 80's when in high school.  ASM 1 was a monster book at the time of purchase and I would still choose it today over X-men 1.  I mean, it's 2nd appearance of Spidey and his 1st book in the series that has lasted 59 years.  X-men 1 was an easy pickup at the time and about 1/5th the price.  Sadly I sold both about 10 years ago. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/23/2022 at 6:04 PM, lou_fine said:

Well, if they really do wake up to Spidey's significance, then they will be going after AF 15 and not ASM 1.  :gossip:

+1. if this was af15 vs xmen1, then no contest. but asm1 is not a first appearance, and xmen1 is a very significant first appearance. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/25/2022 at 10:09 AM, Batmanis#1 said:

No one said that we said it is not his 1st appearance AF15 is and that means a whole lot.

No one should be comparing it to AF 15. My statement was only in regards to people saying the book was not a key. 

1st solo Spider-Man comic and 2nd appearance. 

It has been dramatically overlooked in recent years but its importance is paramount.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made a similar decision when I did my most recent sell off. I sold my AF15 and my X-Men 1, and kept Amazing Spider-Man 1. I needed the AF15 money, but I had a choice to keep ASM1, TOS 39, or X-Men 1. 

I have never regretted keeping the Spidey. A major part of my thinking was which would be the biggest “hole” in my collection. 

Edited by KirbyJack
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/25/2022 at 7:42 AM, PeterPark said:

No one should be comparing it to AF 15. My statement was only in regards to people saying the book was not a key. 

1st solo Spider-Man comic and 2nd appearance. 

It has been dramatically overlooked in recent years but its importance is paramount.

sure we should compare it to af15, as has been done for all time. in this context, it is being compared with xmen1, a major first appearance. asm1 is not a first appearance. most people would agree it's a big book, and has grown in popularity considerably the last 5 years. but where it is on the list of SA keys is a subject for endless debate. i think it will always remain below x1, as overstreet has shown it to be currently. of course i still badly want a copy of asm1! but it was behind af15, x1, tos39, jim83, and hulk1 for me. therefore i own those other books, but not an asm1. to each his own. it seems to be winning this particular poll. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/24/2022 at 5:21 PM, Batmanis#1 said:

Just watch and see when X-Men join the MCU the 1st issue will explode in value (it has already in the last 1-2 years and they have yet to make that major leap). You can bet on that.

Just to verify your statement, I looked at GPA. I found eleven grades that show a decrease in the 90-day average, and only five grades (5.5, 3.5, 1.8, 1.0, and 0.5) that show an increase in the 90-day average. It shot up drastically in early-mid 2020, but it has been drifting back downward since then. In regard to my copy, which is a CGC 3.0, the highest sale was for $16,800 on 05/30/2021. If I sold my copy at that time, I could buy a CGC 4.5 copy today. Granted, when I bought it (May, 2019), I only paid $4,575, so I have no real room to complain.

I hope you are right about this book going up in value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think both books will continue to sell for around in the same price range as each other, at least in lower grade to  upper mid grade. 

In high grade 9.0 and up I would think ASM 1 would pull ahead, but XM 1 9.2's sold for 204k 6/2022, and 250k 9/2021. While ASM 1 9.2 sold for 168k on both 6/2022 and 11/2021.

For me I would go with X-Men 1 because of the 1st apps. The main cast plus the main villain in one issue is what does it for me. Like if FF 1 also had Mr. Doom in it. 

ASM 1 to me is no big deal. Just like Green Lantern 1 and Flash 105 are nothing special to me. Think I'd rather have a high grade ASM #3 over a mid grade #1.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/31/2022 at 3:04 PM, Batmanis#1 said:

The 204k sale was for a copy with some weird stains on the cover or worse (we talked about that already in the X-Men 1 thread) maybe hence the sale price. The one before that went for 276k and before that 250k. So the high sale was 276k for X-Men 1 in CGC 9.2 a few months back. There is a nice 9.2 coming up for auction over at Heritage may break 300k.

Someone here had mentioned a private sale of a 9.2 for over 300k. I think they said 325k I could be wrong but it was for sure over 300k.

I didn't know any of that. I follow sales but the memory fades with all the nice books we've seen these past few years. There is a 9.0 up now on HA as I'm sure you know, and yeah can't wait to see what the upcoming 9.2 goes for. If I had to guess I think I'd go the other way and say around 250K. But who knows. 

I have a 9.2 GSX 1 coming to Comiclink on their next auction along with a 9.4 X-Men 101 and and a 8.5 49. Hoping to use the funds to finance a 4.0 X-Men 1 by years end. I wish I hadn't waited on that one. 

When it comes to ASM 1 and X-Men 1 in similar grades I think the phrase "collect what you like" is very fitting. "Get Both" even more so :peace:.

Edited by Professor K
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned a lot this weekend at C2E2 from lot of old school dealers who were kind of enough to enlighten me and take their time to teach me about the comics and its history. I was there to purchase and spend money and funny thing is I’ve had more than one old school dealers who are fairly well known in this industry? (now this is my pure assumption since I’ve seen these dealers being mentioned on this board several times) these old knowledgeable gentleman all steered me away from ASM #1 and all directed me towards either FF1 or X-Men 1 over ASM #1.

Their reasoning were fairly similar and they also crushed some key books that are hot now and actually prevented me from spending/wasting five figure plus on books which they believed were not worthy of the price tag and won’t hold its value (I was actually shocked to hear some of the remarks lol) 

Having said all this I still have a deal in line to pick up ASM #1 today so.. 😂

Edited by nDemik
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/7/2022 at 8:30 AM, nDemik said:

I learned a lot this weekend at C2E2 from lot of old school dealers who were kind of enough to enlighten me and take their time to teach me about the comics and its history. I was there to purchase and spend money and funny thing is I’ve had more than one old school dealers who are fairly well known in this industry? (now this is my pure assumption since I’ve seen these dealers being mentioned on this board several times) these old knowledgeable gentleman all steered me away from ASM #1 and all directed me towards either FF1 or X-Men 1 over ASM #1.

Their reasoning were fairly similar and they also crushed some key books that are hot now and actually prevented me from spending/wasting five figure plus on books which they believed were not worthy of the price tag and won’t hold its value (I was actually shocked to hear some of the remarks lol) 

Having said all this I still have a deal in line to pick up ASM #1 today so.. 😂

We were at the same show and had a lot of the exact same conversations with multiple dealers.  At the end of the day I didn't get either of these books lol and instead bought the FF#1 (CGC 1.8) over a higher grade of either of the other books in this survey that I started.   I honestly think this is an absolute coin flip and I'm hoping to someday own ALL of these books.  

 Congrats on securing your ASM #1 and post pic's when you get it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Old school dealers have a bias towards “historical” books over hot character based books 

Spiderman way hotter than non Bronze X-men characters. Too many break points for X-Men collectors  where they don’t go into SA. Plus X-men SA line  1-66 is nowhere near ASM 1-50ish. 
 

compare ASM 2 vs X-men 2 and that’s a compatible 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
3 3