What would happen if a large quantity of a key issue were found? 2 2

[stormflora]

On 11/24/2023 at 4:41 PM, shadroch said:

You have a phone, I assume. With access to the internet. You can look up any comic on ebay and see its sales for the last thirty days.  There are a number of apps that will tell you what is hot and what is not.

Right, but it wouldn't really be sensible to camp there for hours trying to look up each and every issue from an assorted box. Surely there must be some general pointers. Again, newbie to the scene.

[shadroch]

That's how you learn. You'll pick up shortcuts along the way.

[bc]

On 11/24/2023 at 4:53 PM, shadroch said:

That's how you learn. You'll pick up shortcuts along the way.

+1

There is a vast wealth of information found in the boards. The built-in search engine leaves a lot to be desired, so I use Google with the "site:cgccomics.com" in the search criteria to find stuff.

Grab a used copy of a recent Overstreet Price Guide off eBay and start at page 1. See some for between $12-$15 (plus shipping) for a 2022 softcover.

Most importantly, have fun at your own pace! There's a chunk of people here who have been collecting for several decades (I started in the early '70's). Poke around the subforums, read anything that interests you and you'll find peeps are pretty cool if you don't come out guns a blazin'.

-bc

[Ares]

I recall something like this happened recently with a Spawn book.

It was supposedly rare and then someone revealed he had hundreds of copies. 

Dropped them on the market and the issue tanked

[DougC]

I have not personally experienced this with comics but have with toys.

I inherited a generational (family) Major Matt Mason collection that I add to every so often. The "rarest" figure was named Scorpio; a pink alien often used as the bad guy even though he wasn't meant to be. This figure was so rare that in the early 80's a loose unbroken and complete example would cost $400! then multiple cases were found unopened in a warehouse which tanked the market for years (but still selling in the $250 range). The market recovered but not to the original highs.

Sometime in the 2000's a new warehouse find happened that blew the market up, multiple unopened pallets of old stock, not just cases but pallets of product. In addition to this a smaller Mexican find happened, and finally the average collector died off with no one to replace them. The market as it sits today is open and often priced competitively, even on Ebay.

My last pick-up over the summer was a 1967 carded Jeff Long for only $150... this would have been unheard of prior to the above. The seller was more than happy to get rid of it as it had been sitting in their store for at least 15 years and was more of a cool oddity than inventory.

[Chip Cataldo]

On 11/24/2023 at 4:46 PM, stormflora said:

Right, but it wouldn't really be sensible to camp there for hours trying to look up each and every issue from an assorted box. Surely there must be some general pointers. Again, newbie to the scene.

Shad is right. There are no "shortcuts" to this, really. I picked up a collection of comic magazines locally a few days ago from people that knew literally nothing about the hobby and didn't have the time or care to research everything. It was outside the scope of their "regular" life and what they had going on right now. They appreciated my knowledge and the cash offer that was made when I explained to them what they had and why certain things were important. They were also happy to have it gone immediately with little effort on their part. You have to put in the work over time to be able to evaluate on the fly.

[BigLeagueCHEW]

On 11/24/2023 at 6:04 PM, Ares said:

I recall something like this happened recently with a Spawn book.

It was supposedly rare and then someone revealed he had hundreds of copies. 

Dropped them on the market and the issue tanked

Yeah that comes to the post on the previous page, keep it secret and drop copies on the market here and there. Doing it all at once is foolish.

[BA773]

On 11/24/2023 at 12:14 AM, Gambold Vintage said:

Nah, you wouldn't be able to do that for long before people started asking - who is selling a new 9.8 IH181 every few months, with a brand new CGC ID number? My guess is after the third one the Internet would take an interest, your background and contacts would be scoured, and you would become a popular topic of conversation and investigation. 

You could create a new seller profile each time but CGC is gonna know who you are, because you are paying to get them graded. Unslabbed 9.8s of the same, super high profile key rolling into their office every 2-3 months, from the same billing address? The first thing they will consider is that you are making them somehow. So they'll get to work on verifying these aren't counterfeits, and after that, they will start asking questions. You can stonewall of course, but then another three months goes by and you send another one in...

No dont worry there is a medical secret so there is probably also a comics secret

[D2]

On 11/24/2023 at 9:04 PM, Ares said:

I recall something like this happened recently with a Spawn book.

It was supposedly rare and then someone revealed he had hundreds of copies. 

Dropped them on the market and the issue tanked

Spawn 306 Netherrealm variant. 

I am summarizing and haven’t bothered to confirm the actual numbers, but a 9.8 went for thousands and thousands. 

The rarity turned out to be a lie. 

Hundreds existed and now it sells for $300ish for a 9.8

[D2]

Confirmed prices: in 2022 (so… last year) the average sale, not one… the average sale for Spawn 306 Netherrealm 9.8 was $4,850. 

As Ares stated, the variant was not rare. 

Last sale: $500 9.8

There’s OP’s answer. 

Yes, if ample examples exist, it will effect the book

[Cat]

There was a rare Argentinean Transformers green Cliffjumper that used to sell for hundreds of dollars. There was a very small warehouse find of them, and as a result I got mine in 2014 for $40. Sometimes it doesn't take many to do the damage at all, so much as the notion that they're out there. It's still not that common a find. 

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/25/2023 at 8:06 AM, D2 said:

Spawn 306 Netherrealm variant. 

I am summarizing and haven’t bothered to confirm the actual numbers, but a 9.8 went for thousands and thousands. 

The rarity turned out to be a lie. 

Hundreds existed and now it sells for $300ish for a 9.8

[Comicdave]

On 11/24/2023 at 6:04 PM, Ares said:

I recall something like this happened recently with a Spawn book.

It was supposedly rare and then someone revealed he had hundreds of copies. 

Dropped them on the market and the issue tanked

That's a reason i can't understand why some dealers on eBay will sell certain books that may go for $100-$200 individually, in lots of 10-20 copies. I can understand wanting to get some money now, but they are doing themselves a disservice as well as others trying to sell that comic, by driving down the value of the book. It reminds me of a situation I had to deal with several years ago. My girlfriend and I used to order Snoopy/Peanuts figural items directly from a company to sell on eBay. This was before ebay had the Buy It Now option, so everything was an auction. We would buy some items for let's say $10 wholesale and put them on eBay for $19.99 starting bid. That way if it only sold for $19.99 we would at least double our money. If it went higher, all the better. Unfortunately there were several,too many, other sellers who would sell the same items I was selling, but start the bidding at $10, which is cost, or even less than cost. Inevitably they would end up going for only $10-$15, which would make it difficult for me to even get a single bid on the items I was selling. Why would someone buy something for $20 (the suggested retail price) when they coiud get it for $15 or less?

[William-James88]

Honestly, as long as demand is higher than supply, a key book will hold value. 

Warehouse finds will affect books which demand is solely based on speculation or perceived rarity. 

 

Hence why chasing a trend or wanting something just because it's "valuable" may not work out.

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by William-James88

[William-James88]

On 11/24/2023 at 3:13 PM, stormflora said:

Sadly, as a newbie collector, I have no idea what comics are considered valuable. Even if I dropped by some yard sale that had tons of vintage comics for sale, I wouldn't know which ones were valuable or not for resale. Perhaps someone could provide me with some summarized pointers for what would be must-buys if I ever encountered them.

The price guide is your friend. It will highlight which vintage comic is worth more than others by giving it its own line with its own higher pricepoints.

 

But if you are a collector, then I'd suggest just collecting instead of thinking of reselling because when it comes to reselling, the grade becomes a major factor too. As you collect, you'll learn a lot.

And buy what you love,  because even if you are simply collecting odds are that what you like is what someone else likes too. And thus the value is preserved through the demand based on your tastes.

In the end, you'll be surrounded by books you love and while they may or may not gain value, they will still be wanted by at least one person, you.

Edited November 26, 2023 by William-James88

[Gambold Vintage]

As far as market value goes, you never know what will happen, even with long-term trends. I've been collecting for almost 30 years, since the mid 1990s. So I entered at a very weird time for comics, right during a market collapse, but I was always focused on pre-code and bronze horror. Both of these have been consistent in value growth over the decades - nothing too exciting like the Silver Age Marvel boom prompted by the MCU movies, but steady and dependable. Then the values for PCH flattened out awhile back and I thought well, there it is. The inevitable plateau has arrived, as the original readers of MAD and Tales from the Crypt have all died off. 

But then sales shot up again during Covid and now everything is expensive and hard to find!  The last two Chicago cons I've been to - C2E2 and FanExpo - it's like EC horror doesn't exist anymore. Dealers were telling me they can't keep it on the shelves - and they sure didn't have any at the shows. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Gambold Vintage

[Ken Aldred]

On 11/24/2023 at 9:46 PM, stormflora said:

Right, but it wouldn't really be sensible to camp there for hours trying to look up each and every issue from an assorted box. Surely there must be some general pointers. Again, newbie to the scene.

You have easy access online to a lot of this information, far more than I had in the 70s.  That was total isolation in comparison, especially being out in the middle of nowhere in northern England, and not knowing other collectors, about fanzines, or where any outlets for old comics were, other than relying on the local newsstand.

Don’t avoid the opportunity.

[NP_Gresham]

On 11/23/2023 at 7:28 AM, D2 said:

I love these kinds of things, and I fully admit I am a total nut when it comes to chatting about this, so I thank you in advance for bringing this up. 
 

I will talk about Hulk 181, 

9.9 - 1 exists. No sales figure
9.8 - 155 exist. Average sale: 75k, Low: 66k
9.6 - 400 exist. Average sale: 22k, Low: 18k
9.4 - 630 exist. Average sale: 14k, Low: 11k
9.2 - 850 exist. Average sale: 10k, Low: 8k
9.0 - 1,190 exist. Average sale: 8k, Low: 7k

 

Census numbers are always difficult. This is probably the #1 CPR book. Most of those 9.0-9.6 books were squeezed out of existence.
And the “9.9” is an 8.5 with real soft corners , but it has that ‘dreamy’ 9.9 label. Anyone buying that should just buy a label and a raw VF and save themselves a lot money

[D2]

On 11/26/2023 at 1:01 AM, NP_Gresham said:

Census numbers are always difficult. This is probably the #1 CPR book. Most of those 9.0-9.6 books were squeezed out of existence.
And the “9.9” is an 8.5 with real soft corners , but it has that ‘dreamy’ 9.9 label. Anyone buying that should just buy a label and a raw VF and save themselves a lot money

this literally made me laugh out loud, because it hasn’t been a perspective I’ve heard often. But I can totally see it. I feel like finding a true authentic, original copy of H181 that hasn’t been pressed back to pulp would be the equivalent of finding the bones of Jimmy Hoffa… nonexistent 

[namisgr]

Not as hard as you think.