Overstreet 2023-2024 0

[JTLarsen]

Maybe it's me but I've been seeing more errors than ever in this year's Overstreet. It's not just blatantly missing books that should've been broken out years ago. It's literally screwing up the title alphabetization on multiple occasions.

And now I just hit Sonic Disruptors. Which are apparently worth $10 in near mint. Each.

It kind of kills me to see this. The way the book is formatted and the price guide is constructed is probably impenetrable to people new to the hobby. AND it's giving bad information. Sad. And with a year to put together each new edition (with the benefit of half a century beforehand) it's just really not excusable. Maybe the new digital service will yield enough community input and feedback to straighten things out for next year's edition. I hope.

[Microchip]

On 8/2/2023 at 11:21 AM, JTLarsen said:

Maybe it's me but I've been seeing more errors than ever in this year's Overstreet. It's not just blatantly missing books that should've been broken out years ago. It's literally screwing up the title alphabetization on multiple occasions.

And now I just hit Sonic Disruptors. Which are apparently worth $10 in near mint. Each.

It kind of kills me to see this. The way the book is formatted and the price guide is constructed is probably impenetrable to people new to the hobby. AND it's giving bad information. Sad. And with a year to put together each new edition (with the benefit of half a century beforehand) it's just really not excusable. Maybe the new digital service will yield enough community input and feedback to straighten things out for next year's edition. I hope.

They should have launch an online service years ago.

They left the door open for GPA and co.

[MAR1979]

They say it's better to be a has been, than a never was. I do wonder if that provides the Overstreet folks with just enough comfort that they don't even try to do better.

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by MAR1979

[Microchip]

On 8/2/2023 at 12:18 PM, MAR1979 said:

They say it's better to be a has been, than a never was. I do wonder if that provides the Overstreet folks with just enough comfort that they don't even try to do better.

 

Who knows what's going on with the company.   They might not been the digital age at all, it's hard to say.    But the opportunity to capitalise on the product, and all it's ancillary topics, and aspects is almost unlimited.

I loved the monthly magazine they produced for such a short time.   I guess it didn't make commercial sense at the time, but in an online format, the equation would be completely different.

[rlextherobot]

On 8/1/2023 at 10:28 PM, Microchip said:

They should have launch an online service years ago.

They left the door open for GPA and co.

Sadly the online service is pretty bojack even a year in. Awkward and buggy search function, an interface that requires lots of button presses to get info, it's just generally a poor user experience overall. 

[jjonahjameson11]

On 8/1/2023 at 11:00 PM, Microchip said:

Who knows what's going on with the company.   They might not been the digital age at all, it's hard to say.    But the opportunity to capitalise on the product, and all it's ancillary topics, and aspects is almost unlimited.

I loved the monthly magazine they produced for such a short time.   I guess it didn't make commercial sense at the time, but in an online format, the equation would be completely different.

Overstreet’s monthly mag was blown out of the water by Wizard mag

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

On 8/1/2023 at 11:00 PM, Microchip said:

monthly magazine

That was great. I very much enjoyed reading each issue from cover to cover. I may eventually dig them out and read them all again.

[Microchip]

On 8/2/2023 at 9:26 PM, jjonahjameson11 said:

Overstreet’s monthly mag was blown out of the water by Wizard mag

I'm trying to remember, Wizard was indeed huge, and went for quite a while, was OS monthly after that?   I have a feeling it went for like 12-14 months, and that was it.   But Wizard wasn't in the picture as much.    OS mag was great for the market reports, and auction results, something Wizard didn't do.

[musicmeta]

I've got 2-50 of the Overstreet guide and a facsimile of #1.  I quit buying it after #50 came out.  

[Kramerica]

The new OS doesn't have ASM #210 as a standalone value book despite 1st Madame Web yet had 1st Hydro Man as one even though Hydro Man should never been a big book.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/2/2023 at 8:48 PM, musicmeta said:

I've got 2-50 of the Overstreet guide and a facsimile of #1.  I quit buying it after #50 came out.  

It's the only one I bought, and I kind of figured that it would be the only one I'd ever want.

[Mmehdy]

A relic of the past, with little or no value as to determining what you comic book is worth in real time.I quit at 30 and just looked at the new one, this is sad that it really is not different than it was 20 years ago. Hopefully if you get a new editor..something can change for the better, otherwise I buy real comic books with that money I would of spent buying this reprint....very sad as early on in the 70's , they were invaluable 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Mmehdy

[Dr. Balls]

The guide has been outdated and inaccurate when it comes to pricing for decades. I remember in the 90s with the Overstreet and Wizard monthly guides, buying the OSPG was used to fill in pricing of less-than-popular books that wouldn't be included in the monthly magazine releases. At least - back then - it did serve a purpose. Now, the guide is way off valuations (GA is the worst culprit - $45 books in guide sell for $350+ on the open market). I bought one last year for reference purposes, and I'll never buy another one.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Dr. Balls

[Ken Aldred]

It did end up becoming redundant for prices.  Last one I ever bought was in the late 90s, and even then for me it wasn't for much more than referencing comic book artist and character content.

[Aman619]

to me bottom line, pricing is difficult!  no one source (Overstreet is an annually updated list) is the be all and end all in coming up with what your comic is worth. I have been using the Overstreet data for years in my database. When compounded with a "factor" based on the spread from G to NM-, I come up with pretty accurate numbers for most books in Silver and Bronze ages, as well as not hot Golden and Copper/Moderns ages. Anything trading often and at multiples I add a second factor that I manually attach to the calculation. For CGC copies I use PGA and other verified sales sources. But unless it's a commonly traded comic, it's still all guesswork: "was the last sale the future trend? Was it too high for some reason, or was it abnormally too low."  Unfortunately there's no simple method, never was one. Overstreet prices are a factor in the equation for 95% of all comics, and a baseline for the rest.  

[alecholland]

On 8/3/2023 at 1:07 PM, Dr. Balls said:

The guide has been outdated and inaccurate when it comes to pricing for decades. I remember in the 90s with the Overstreet and Wizard monthly guides, buying the OSPG was used to fill in pricing of less-than-popular books that wouldn't be included in the monthly magazine releases. At least - back then - it did serve a purpose. Now, the guide is way off valuations (GA is the worst culprit - $45 books in guide sell for $350+ on the open market). I bought one last year for reference purposes, and I'll never buy another one.

My LCS still uses OSPG to price their GA books.  

A few years ago I bought a lower grade copy (3.5 or so) of Black Knight 1 for $100 because that was what OS had it valued at. Even at the time it was worth quite a bit more.

[WolverineX]

On 8/3/2023 at 4:14 PM, alecholland said:

My LCS still uses OSPG to price their GA books.  

A few years ago I bought a lower grade copy (3.5 or so) of Black Knight 1 for $100 because that was what OS had it valued at. Even at the time it was worth quite a bit more.

Where is this magical place?   My LCS charges ebay prices +10%

[alecholland]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:44 PM, WolverineX said:

Where is this magical place?   My LCS charges ebay prices +10%

I will never tell.   (I would if you really want to know) They started out as a bookstore and then added comics in the 1990's and did better with comics than paperbacks, so they became a comic shop. They don't ever have very many GA books, maybe once or twice a year they may buy a collection with a few GA books. Most of those are usually like Walt Disney Comics & Stories or other Dell funny animal books. Last year I bought some decent looking lower grade Strange Adventures (2, 10, 23 and a few others) comics at guide.

Edited August 4, 2023 by alecholland

[aardvark88]

On 8/3/2023 at 12:04 PM, Ken Aldred said:

It did end up becoming redundant for prices.  Last one I ever bought was in the late 90s, and even then for me it wasn't for much more than referencing comic book artist and character content.

Stopped buying Overstreet when retail price for a soft cover went up to $35 US or $49.99 in Canada plus tax, of course.

[Kramerica]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:27 PM, alecholland said:

I will never tell.   (I would if you really want to know) They started out as a bookstore and then added comics in the 1990's and did better with comics than paperbacks, so they became a comic shop. They don't ever have very many GA books, maybe once or twice a year they may buy a collection with a few GA books. Most of those are usually like Walt Disney Comics & Stories or other Dell funny animal books. Last year I bought some decent looking lower grade Strange Adventures (2, 10, 23 and a few others) comics at guide.

Alright. That's it. My sole purpose is to discover where this magical place of alecholland is. Who's with me? Anyone know any good private detectives?