New Overstreet out today, haven't gotten my copy yet... 3 3

[twmjr1]

Got my copy, been studying it. These are the most dramatic price hikes in the history of the guide, no other annual adjustment has ever come close. They're still off ridiculously on most everything, but by a factor of ten, not a factor of fifty.

[dannyboy]

Would someone mind posting the list of highest valued PCH and sci-fi books?

[lou_fine]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:47 AM, dannyboy said:

Would someone mind posting the list of highest valued PCH and sci-fi books?

Well, when it comes to PCH, all you need to know is that even though Overstreet increased his valuations for both Chamber of Chills 19 and 23 by a rather massive 186% (from $7K up to $20K) and 67% (from $4K up to $10K) respectively.  

Looks like he's still got a big safety margin built in there though, with quite a few years of increases banked away for future guides since these higher guide valuations are still running at only about half of what theses two books have been selling for.  My bet is that COC 19 is going to jump into the top spot on Overstreet's Top 10 PCH chart next year after taking the big jump fromthe  #7 spot up to the #2 spot this year. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:47 AM, dannyboy said:

Would someone mind posting the list of highest valued PCH and sci-fi books?

On second thought, I wouldn't put too much weight on these Top 10 specialty genre lists from Overstreet, because unlike the Top 100 GA and Top 50 SA charts where they do at least try to bring them up-to-date (unsuccessfully at times may I add) with new entrants, they clearly seem to simply recyle through the same books every year.  

Perfect example being the Venus books which did not start out as PCH at the beginning, but if they are included, Venus 17 and 19 would be right up there as they were bumped up to $9,500 and $20K respectively from their $8,500 and $10K valuations in last year's guide.  Or how about a couple of other high flying PCH books also missing from the list like Black Cat Mystery 50 and Tomb of Terror 15 which were bumped up to $18K and $11K respectively from their $16K and $8K valuations in last year's guide.  Looks like they also never even bothered with Rawhide Kid 17 which should really be topping the Top 10 Western list at $6,200 unless there are also some other bigger dollar Westerns out here which would not surprise me at all.  Or for the Top 10 Si-Fi list, should Blue Bolt 105 qualify for the list due to its obvious si-fi related cover image, because if it does qualify, it would rocket right up to the #2 position as this L.B. Cole classic cover book has shot up to $10K from its $3,500 valuation in last year's guide.    

[lou_fine]

Was flipping through the new guide and noticed another comment by Overstreet that indicates he's a bit slow to the punch when it comes to some of these books.  

In the last paragraph of his market report after copy and pasting 4 pages of excerpts from his advisors    , he makes note of the fact that it was discovered in January of 2022 that Top Notch #22 has a one page ad with Archie that came out 5 days before Pep 22, Archie's 1st appearance.  If I remember correctly, I was quite sure this fact was already being discussed on the boards a couple of years ago when @sacentaur was still on the the boards here with us.  Wish Steve was still posting here since he's such a great collector and knowledgable boardie.  

Flipped over to theTop Notch listing to see what Overstreet did with the book's valuation and noticed that he finally broke it out from the Top Notch 21 - 30 grouping where it had been valued at only $1,450 in last year's guide and with the breakout, rocketed it all the way up to $10K in just one shot while bumping the rest of the grouping his mormal $50 up to $1,500.  Definitely a tough tough book to track down with a total of only 6 Universal copies graded to date, with the CGC 9.4 Church copy selling for some $38.4K back in 2019 and this latest mid-grade sale back in September of last year for $13.2K:    

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/top-notch-comics-22-mlj-1941-cgc-vg-fn-50-white-pages/a/7246-94105.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

[PeterPark]

On 8/4/2022 at 11:53 AM, lou_fine said:

Was flipping through the new guide and noticed another comment by Overstreet that indicates he's a bit slow to the punch when it comes to some of these books.  

In the last paragraph of his market report after copy and pasting 4 pages of excerpts from his advisors    , he makes note of the fact that it was discovered in January of 2022 that Top Notch #22 has a one page ad with Archie that came out 5 days before Pep 22, Archie's 1st appearance.  If I remember correctly, I was quite sure this fact was already being discussed on the boards a couple of years ago when @sacentaur was still on the the boards here with us.  Wish Steve was still posting here since he's such a great collector and knowledgable boardie.  

Flipped over to theTop Notch listing to see what Overstreet did with the book's valuation and noticed that he finally broke it out from the Top Notch 21 - 30 grouping where it had been valued at only $1,450 in last year's guide and with the breakout, rocketed it all the way up to $10K in just one shot while bumping the rest of the grouping his mormal $50 up to $1,500.  Definitely a tough tough book to track down with a total of only 6 Universal copies graded to date, with the CGC 9.4 Church copy selling for some $38.4K back in 2019 and this latest mid-grade sale back in September of last year for $13.2K:    

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/top-notch-comics-22-mlj-1941-cgc-vg-fn-50-white-pages/a/7246-94105.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

What about Top Notch Laugh 28 - 1st Suzie?

[damonwad]

I pick up a new guide every 2 or 3 years. Obviously not as relevant as it was but I still get decent use out of it for the books I collect and getting one gives me a little reminder of how excited I used to get when the new one came out. #11 (L.B. Cole) was my first.

What really bugs me every year is that Star Ranger #1 is listed as the "first western comic" (along with Western Picture Stories #1) but is still not listed in the Western Top 10. I'm sure adamstrange gets really irritated that his best comic doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

[adamstrange]

On 8/4/2022 at 6:28 PM, damonwad said:

I'm sure adamstrange gets really irritated that his best comic doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

I'm fit to be tied, for sure! 

[tth2]

On 8/4/2022 at 3:32 PM, szav said:

kinda hope it eventually dies, because I think it's a bit of a stain on the hobby

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel! 

[lou_fine]

On 8/4/2022 at 3:28 PM, damonwad said:

What really bugs me every year is that Star Ranger #1 is listed as the "first western comic" (along with Western Picture Stories #1) but is still not listed in the Western Top 10.

Oh, come on now.....................it's such an obvious error that it was simply NOT put in there intentionally for copyright purposes.    

Seriously though, I thought this list was limited to just the GA time period or else the first issues and origin issues of the Marvel Western trio of Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, and possibly even Two-Gun Kid should be on there.  Of course, this explanation wouldn't hold much water since half of his Top 10 Si-Fi list is made up of DC Silver Age Si-Fi books.  

[batman_fan]

On 7/23/2022 at 6:04 AM, tth2 said:

That might be the case if people actually still based their pricing decisions on Overstreet.

I honestly can't remember the last time I referred to the Guide to determine a price.

I have migrated my pricing strategy to follow what most people do, decide the highest price I could every hope to get, multiply by two but include free shipping, US only.

[lou_fine]

On 8/4/2022 at 6:54 PM, tth2 said:

On 8/4/2022 at 12:32 PM, szav said:

kinda hope it eventually dies, because I think it's a bit of a stain on the hobby

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel! 

I actually went back and re-read his post a couple of times and I really think there's a hidden message and some reverse pyschology in play here.  

I believe he might actually want the guide to be published 3 or 4 times a year like back in the mid-90's when they used to have the GA Updates.  

[lou_fine]

On 8/4/2022 at 12:32 PM, szav said:

 As far as GA goes it's still woefully inadequate and an inexcusable mess.  I want to give them credit for updating prices on some few select books, although for 99% of GA you can be assured that the OPG has things at about 1/4th to 1/3rd their real value at most.

Pretty much dead on with your two listed examples, but the one that I found funny and rather ironic was this one here as per a previous post from another thread on these boards here:  

On 7/27/2022 at 12:23 AM, lou_fine said:

............................this one popped into my mind and a bit of a surprise since it also didn't moved up by even a single dollar in amongst all of the other spectacular price increases we saw in this year's guide.  

Probably escaped Overstreet's valuation analyzer and attention span since it was such a small print run from a new niche publisher way back then at the time:  

https://comics.ha.com/itm/books/overstreet-comic-book-price-guide-1-first-printing-overstreet-publications-1970-cgc-nm-96-white-pages/a/7246-94188.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

Still locked in for the past 4 years with the exact same guide valuation of only $1,950 even though the above copy here had sold for a whopping $45,600 last year.  Although that was clearly a possible outlier in terms of both the grade and auction result, it should be noted that not only have CGC 9.2 graded copies sold for big multiples to this guide valuation, but even raw copies of this important historical book have sold for premiums to this guide valuation over the past several years.    

 

[lou_fine]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:28 AM, batman_fan said:

I have migrated my pricing strategy to follow what most people do, decide the highest price I could every hope to get, multiply by two but include free shipping, US only.

Speaking about pricing strategy and guide valuations, it's kind of funny how much my thinking has changed over the decades since I first started collecting back in the day. 

I still remember those early guides from the late 70's with the Barks Porky Pig being my first one that I purchased and pretty much torn to shreds due to constant use.  My thoughts back then was that I hoped to find some fool collector willing to pay me full guide prices when it came time for me to sell my books.  Fast forward to today and my thoughts are that I hope to find some fool dealer or for a book that I want for my personal collection to fly under the auction radar so that I can purchase it at only full guide.  

Edited August 5, 2022 by lou_fine

[Robot Man]

I remember getting the new guide every year and seeing how much my books went up. That is when I had maybe 100 books. I wouldn’t even attempt to try doing that now. My first was #2. I literally read it to bits almost every day. 

[Dr. Balls]

I bought the OSPG for research purposes - the last time I used it to sell was maybe 8-9 years ago I think. Not trying to be snarky, but what good are the valuations in this book if sellers aren’t using them? I’m guessing that the hobby is based on guesswork and previous price paid + desired seller markup?

it seems that PCH in particular has crossed the threshold of selling for whatever price due to its scarcity. Which I don’t have a problem with, but it seems to me (an admitted novice) that a price guide isn’t very “guide-ey”

[Cat-Man_America]

What we may be experiencing is mass hysteria arising from a psychological issue unique to the world of comic collecting: OSPG Guilt Syndrome.  

This disorder manifests itself in sufferers trying to rationalize their reasons for purchasing the OSPG periodically rather than internalize guilt over not purchasing it.

[sfcityduck]

On 8/5/2022 at 10:18 PM, Cat-Man_America said:

What we may be experiencing is mass hysteria arising from a psychological issue unique to the world of comic collecting: OSPG Guilt Syndrome.  

This disorder manifests itself in sufferers trying to rationalize their reasons for purchasing the OSPG periodically rather than internalize guilt over not purchasing it.

 

Who needs a rationalization?  We're comic collectors. I've got OCD completest syndrome. I only started buying the OPG with issue 9, but I got the early issues in a garage sale, and have been trying to keep up with it since.

[The humble Watcher lurking]

On 8/5/2022 at 5:10 PM, Robot Man said:

I remember getting the new guide every year and seeing how much my books went up. That is when I had maybe 100 books. I wouldn’t even attempt to try doing that now. My first was #2. I literally read it to bits almost every day. 

Got it today in living color ha ha ps. damn I old.  lol.

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by The humble Watcher lurking

[lou_fine]

On 7/26/2022 at 8:05 AM, twmjr1 said:

Got my copy, been studying it. These are the most dramatic price hikes in the history of the guide, no other annual adjustment has ever come close. They're still off ridiculously on most everything, but by a factor of ten, not a factor of fifty.

Been looking at some of the recent auction realized prices since this new Overstreet came out and I would definitely tend to agree with your point when it comes to the GA books, especially the HTF and classic cover books.  

As for some of the more recent books such as the late SA, BA and CA keys or semi-keys, all I can say is that somebody must have really bent his ear on some of these books here.  Seems that he overshot the current market on some of these books here with quite a few of them selling for less than condition guide value by a rather noticeable margin.  Although it's probably more accurate to say that prices on most of these not so HTF more recent books have dropped substantially in the marketplace from what they were selling for last year.