COIN COLLECTOR WITH A QUESTION....

[bohica-migration]

As a coin collector I understand rarity, at least as it pertains to coins, being either low mintage numbers, low survival rates and/or low populations in grade. Does the same apply to comics?

 

Can you cite examples of rare comics both in total printing and grade? I'm just a DumbAzz asking to satisfy my own curiosity so if you could list printer, a full title with issue #, total # printed (if known) and a general idea of population in the highest grades I'd appreciate it. What do the lowest print/pop books retail for?

 

Finally, can you suggest a book that might shed some light on comic book collecting? Is there a "Comic Book Collecting for Dummies"?

[murph0]

It's not possible to tell except for on some of the really older stuff. There's a "Gerber Scale" for some where like a "7" means there's only 10-20 copies in existance or something of that sort.

 

Brian

[COI]

For most comics from the Silver Age onward(1956), the print runs on mainstream books were massive, in the hundreds of thousands. So for these comics, the scarcity isn't a question of how many exist, but how many have survived in very high grade, since paper is very fragile and any number of defects can be inflicted on a comic quite easily.

 

Golden Age (1939-1955) is another story. There are some books that are estimated to have only a few exist in ANY grade.

 

But like Murph said, getting ahold of actual numbers for any comic is nearly impossible.

[joe_collector]

Comics are quite different than coins, in that scarcity and "mintage numbers" (in and of themselves) have very little effect on prices. These are comic characters that can be influenced by anything from a movie, cartoon or a revamped comic book.

 

Go check the census on Hulk 181 and then see what it's going for on EBay. It outsells many Golden Age books where only 1-50 copies might even exist.

 

Comics are analogous to sports cards and their reliance on athlete performance and popularity, and are a totally different animal than coins..... unless of course that 1921 Silver Dollar is headlining a major motion picture.

[ninanina]

If (in coins) rarity has a lot to do about what a coin is worth, not so with comics. I do realize I am going off on a bit of a tangent, but only because you asked for a "comic book collecting" for dummies book.

 

1) Incredible Hulk # 181-thousands of copies out there that sell very well in the $1500 - $2000 range and up.

 

2) Eerie 17 is far rarer but can't break the $1000.00 barrier even in NM condition on e-bay. Don't think anyone knows what a NM would sell for, 'cause the only one that has shown up over the last few years I believe had a minimum bid for about $1000.00 and there were no takers. It's worth less even though there are far fewer copies 'only because more people want the Hulk 181.

 

 

[buena_vista]

I can try to help you but in as far as numbers are concerned I'm sure it's different than coins. While most coins are minted by a government (that keeps public records as to minitngs) comic companies never published any records per issue.

 

There are mandatory annual reports reagrding average print runs, copies distributed and copies returned unsold.

 

Bottom line is, it's all guess work as to how many copies are really out there, but these is more or less a maximum number. That's not saying much.

 

The host of this board, CGC, takes comics and grades them. After doing so they add it to its population report. This helps get a better idea as to what books are in what grade but many see this method as a selling tool so that's not the definitive anwser either.

 

Probably the only books collectors know for sure how many are out there are limited editions or incentive books. These were given away to dealers for pre-ordering a certain number of regular books to thier stores. They normally range from 1K-20K etc. Those books are a very small minority.

 

Now for the real tricky part - the age & rarity of a book does not always dictate its

value. Here we're talking about "key" books -- those are normally the most valuable.

 

I would say the most important factors in a comic's value are:

1. Historic Events (mainly 1st apperances but also death of characters etc...)

2. First (#1) Issues ( I've met collectors who only collect #1s)

3. Age/Condition

4. Rarity (normally does NOT play a factor except for some pre-1960 comics)

5. Artist who draws the book

 

"Is there a "Comic Book Collecting for Dummies"?" - not that I know of. Can anyone else pitch in here?

 

Now that you know all that, my opinion is don't collect comics for investment purposes only. If you like the medium and collect as a hobby and want to know

how much your books are worth, that's one thing. Go buy the latest copy of the Overstreet price guide and get an IDEA of what they're going for, how to grade etc.

But for pure investment reasons, don't do it.

 

Many investors entered the market back in the the late 80's and early 90's. Most of them got burned big time. Many lost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. The smart ones kept away from that whole picture and just enjoyed comics

for what they are.

 

Now that you know all that, let me ask you ---does it hurt when I do this?

[bohica-migration]

Do you find the pop reports to be inaccurate because of crack-outs and resubmissions? Coin collectors often resubmit coins in the hope of a better grade but don't do anything to keep the pop reports accurate, like returning certification labels. Are comic collectors just as bad?

[murph0]

Yes, they're already currently a little off on high submission books and I'm sure they're quite off on newer books b/c a .2 difference means whether or not you're going to make money or lose money with the new ones.

 

Brian