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

[marmat]

If I remember correctly, maybe 10-15 years ago there was topic here about a Seller on eBay selling múltiples copies of BA Keys like SPIDERMAN 129 and Hulk 181, one every week or so

Someone proposed the idea of a small warehouse find.

Anybody else remember that?

[namisgr]

On 11/26/2023 at 7:09 AM, namisgr said:

Not as hard as you think.

Touche.  The point that they're still around stands.  I can't help or control it that my Hulk 180, Spiderman 129, or Marvel Spotlight 5 were pressed after I sold them, or what became of the thousands of other books I bought off the rack and sold unpressed, but am very aware that many received the treatment after leaving my hands.  As for the present, I've still got a few hundred books bought off the rack and unpressed that are intended for future sale, so they are still around although much fewer in number.

I totally agree with your overall premise that unpressed high grade comics have become increasingly scarce.  So much so that around 15 years ago I gave up trying to find them for my Silver Age collection, for which I strongly favored unpressed books.  It set in motion plans to sell off the existing collection and the plan was executed over the following decade.

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by namisgr

[valiantman]

This is one of the reasons I created CGCEMC.com

I believe that "overall demand" is a total dollar amount which we can estimate. Demand = Supply times Price

If a "key" book has "overall demand" for slabbed copies around $5,000,000 total, and there are 500 copies graded, then the average price is around $10,000 each.

If another 100 copies suddenly hit the market, the price would drop (plummet!) quite a bit for a while, but the overall demand was $5,000,000 before, and is probably still $5,000,000 after the market settles.  The supply goes from 500 to 600, to the average price probably settles around $8,333.  However, the average grade might increase if the 100 new books were nice warehouse copies, so that $8,333 average would be for a higher average CGC grade than the $10,000 average in the past... and that $10,000 book before the warehouse find might become $6,000 or so.

Regardless, a book which the "overall demand" was $5,000,000 total is likely to still have $5,000,000 total in demand after a warehouse find. The individual prices fall, but the demand isn't falling. In fact, if more people can "play" at a lower price, then the overall demand could even increase even while individual prices fall.

Edited November 27, 2023 by valiantman

[Mike Murdock]

On 11/23/2023 at 1:57 AM, namisgr said:

From a warehouse in Washington state in the days before CGC, with large multiples of several 1968 Marvel first and second issues, including for Submariner, Dr. Strange, Hulk, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Nick Fury, and Ironman/Submariner, plus the two Spectacular Spiderman magazines.  It had Iron Man #1 as well for sale in VF/NM, NM, and NM/M.  Most that I bought had white pages.

I agree with the view that warehouse finds large enough to bloat the census for high grade copies have somewhat lowered book value owing to the large supply, but have not cratered prices.  The few that I know about were found before CGC existed, and so were slabbed and released to market slowly over time, which probably helped keep the market for them from tanking.  I suspect this is what Greggy probably does for selling as well, after he gets back yet another sweet CGC submission with 5-10 ultra high grade copies of the same issues.

    

Did you buy these from World's Finest Comics and Collectibles?  I had several warehouse copies that I bought from them long since sold.  I don't think they had any problem selling out of these back then.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Mike Murdock

[namisgr]

On 11/27/2023 at 3:52 PM, Mike Murdock said:

Did you buy these from World's Finest Comics and Collectibles?  I had several warehouse copies that I bought from them long since sold.

Yes, back in the mid 1990s.  These, too.

    

[Mike Murdock]

Those are beautiful books - wish I would have kept them.

[namisgr]

Mine are long gone as well.

[COI]

I've said this many times, but long time collectors get overly fixated on their perceptions of supply.

Firstly, books like Hulk 181 with high value and turnover are going to have tons of ghosts on the census, so number crunching on that basis doesn't work. All that really counts is what is available on the market at any given time. 

Secondly, the availability is already factored into prices. It's not that a book as "common" as Hulk 181 sells for way too much, it's that it would sell for way more if the supply were constrained. If Hulk 181 were as scarce as Hulk 1, it would be a 7 figure book in high grade instead of being a low 5 figure book.

Edited November 27, 2023 by COI

[AJD]

On 11/28/2023 at 8:00 AM, namisgr said:

Yes, back in the mid 1990s.  These, too.

 

I seem to recall Mile High Comics giving away copies of that Spectacular Spider-man #2 free with even small purchases back in the 80s. I think those were extremely common. I also had multiple copies of Heroes Inc - someone I bought some books from used them as packing!

[namisgr]

On 11/27/2023 at 6:59 PM, AJD said:

I seem to recall Mile High Comics giving away copies of that Spectacular Spider-man #2 free with even small purchases back in the 80s. I think those were extremely common. I also had multiple copies of Heroes Inc - someone I bought some books from used them as packing!

The Spectacular Spiderman #1 is much, much less common in the CGC census in 9.8 than #2.  [goes to search the database]... with 19 in top grade compared with 105 in 9.8 and 1 in 9.9.  So your recollection may account for the disparity at least in part.

I was always pizzed at the CGC grading of my copies - I felt that, if anything, the copy of #1 was the nicer of the two, and certainly deserving of a 9.8.