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Moderns that are heating up on ebay

Started by Neurosis138,

3,099 posts in this topic

FollowTheSun-migration

FollowTheSun-migration

Posted
Posted

I'm working on X-men and Hulk runs and avoid the UPC codes whenever possible. I think the covers look nicer with spidey instead of lines, some direct covers don't have the box at all (Uncanny 214) or original non-spidey art in them, and some contain blurbs (like "the fall of the mutants is coming") where the cover just doesn't look the same to me without.

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pkveronese

pkveronese

Posted
Posted
I'm working on X-men and Hulk runs and avoid the UPC codes whenever possible. I think the covers look nicer with spidey instead of lines, some direct covers don't have the box at all (Uncanny 214) or original non-spidey art in them, and some contain blurbs (like "the fall of the mutants is coming") where the cover just doesn't look the same to me without.

 

That's fine, but logic says that the high grade issues wih the UPC code will be harder to find than the direct edition copies.

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Anfield Fox

Anfield Fox

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Posted
I'm working on X-men and Hulk runs and avoid the UPC codes whenever possible. I think the covers look nicer with spidey instead of lines, some direct covers don't have the box at all (Uncanny 214) or original non-spidey art in them, and some contain blurbs (like "the fall of the mutants is coming") where the cover just doesn't look the same to me without.

 

Me 2 thumbsup2.gif

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fastballspecial

fastballspecial

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Posted

36 has lot of potential, but those subscription comics are prone to damage is there no way to inspect them? I guess not since they are unopened. The only problem I have with 36 is there are lot of them already graded even though its print run was lower. Nostalgia as someone pointed out will allow this book to excede its current value and climb due to black cover and its meaning.

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pkveronese

pkveronese

Posted
Posted
36 has lot of potential, but those subscription comics are prone to damage is there no way to inspect them? I guess not since they are unopened. The only problem I have with 36 is there are lot of them already graded even though its print run was lower. Nostalgia as someone pointed out will allow this book to excede its current value and climb due to black cover and its meaning.

 

 

USM, not ASM.

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fastballspecial

fastballspecial

Posted
Posted
36 has lot of potential, but those subscription comics are prone to damage is there no way to inspect them? I guess not since they are unopened. The only problem I have with 36 is there are lot of them already graded even though its print run was lower. Nostalgia as someone pointed out will allow this book to excede its current value and climb due to black cover and its meaning.

 

 

USM, not ASM.

 

Oh 893censored-thumb.gif now I goofed. Lets just save this comment for the next ASM 36 poster grin.gif

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Warlord

Warlord

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If I am buying to collect I want the Spidey head if I am looking to re-sale and its high grade Ill take the bar code anyday because its harder then heck to find them in high grade.

 

I would argue that in the early years of the direct market, that the number of copies sold with a UPC greatly exceeded the number of copies without. Consider the number of locations that sold comics with UPCs in the late 70s to early 80s - convenience stores, drug stores, grocery stores, and newstands. No doubt a lot of comics shops continued to sell UPC copies as the direct market was growing. Looking at some of the comics I bought in this timeframe, I can find examples that I remember buying from a comic shop but they have a UPC, not direct market markings.

 

I would also maintain that the ratio of UPC to direct copies reached parity perhaps in the mid 80s, and then continued to swing towards direct market copies with the UPC copies dwindling down to a very, very low percentage.

 

For those of you seeking out one version or the other, what's your opinion of what years' comics are equally easy to find either version, and in what years are the UPC copies a lot scarcer to non-existent?

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pkveronese

pkveronese

Posted
Posted
If I am buying to collect I want the Spidey head if I am looking to re-sale and its high grade Ill take the bar code anyday because its harder then heck to find them in high grade.

 

I would argue that in the early years of the direct market, that the number of copies sold with a UPC greatly exceeded the number of copies without. Consider the number of locations that sold comics with UPCs in the late 70s to early 80s - convenience stores, drug stores, grocery stores, and newstands. No doubt a lot of comics shops continued to sell UPC copies as the direct market was growing. Looking at some of the comics I bought in this timeframe, I can find examples that I remember buying from a comic shop but they have a UPC, not direct market markings.

 

I would also maintain that the ratio of UPC to direct copies reached parity perhaps in the mid 80s, and then continued to swing towards direct market copies with the UPC copies dwindling down to a very, very low percentage.

 

For those of you seeking out one version or the other, what's your opinion of what years' comics are equally easy to find either version, and in what years are the UPC copies a lot scarcer to non-existent?

 

 

UPC versions (in any grade - but particularly high grade) have been pretty far to find for the past 5 or so years (once they leave the newsstand, of course). So few comics are sold on the newsstand, let alone to people who would take care of them, that there has definitely been a drop off over time.

I've seen key newsstand issues command 2-3 times the direct edition price on eBay (Uncanny 350, Amazing 430), and I could see this trend continuing.

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Warlord

Warlord

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For a quick unscientific sample I just cruised over to ebay and searched on ASM #200 from Jan 1980.

 

Out of 21 copies, the copies I checked were Direct copies over UPC by 2 to 1 -- 14 direct and 7 UPC. 66% direct copies. That's a higher ratio of direct copies at an earlier timeframe than I would have guessed. Of course there's also the survival factor I've heard mentioned, the theory that more direct copies than UPC copies would survive and/or be high grade and so be more likely to be up for sale.

 

ASM 300 was 14 to 5, UPC over direct. Almost 75% direct copies.

 

ASM 401 (couldn't tell if the #400s with the embossed cover were director or UPC, so I looked at 401s) were just a little higher, 16 to 5.

 

In all cases I didn't look at every auction or ebay store listing. I was just looking for a sense of the trend, not specific numbers. And in terms of a trend, I was surprised that the number of UPC copies for ASM 300 and 400 were as high as they were, I had really anticipated UPC copies of either issue being found only in perhaps a 10 to 1 ratio.

 

Anyway, so much for this little survey. Those of you who are collecting based on this distinction, what's been your experience for various timeframes?

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Warlord

Warlord

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Posted
If I am buying to collect I want the Spidey head if I am looking to re-sale and its high grade Ill take the bar code anyday because its harder then heck to find them in high grade.

 

I would argue that in the early years of the direct market, that the number of copies sold with a UPC greatly exceeded the number of copies without. Consider the number of locations that sold comics with UPCs in the late 70s to early 80s - convenience stores, drug stores, grocery stores, and newstands. No doubt a lot of comics shops continued to sell UPC copies as the direct market was growing. Looking at some of the comics I bought in this timeframe, I can find examples that I remember buying from a comic shop but they have a UPC, not direct market markings.

 

I would also maintain that the ratio of UPC to direct copies reached parity perhaps in the mid 80s, and then continued to swing towards direct market copies with the UPC copies dwindling down to a very, very low percentage.

 

For those of you seeking out one version or the other, what's your opinion of what years' comics are equally easy to find either version, and in what years are the UPC copies a lot scarcer to non-existent?

 

 

UPC versions (in any grade - but particularly high grade) have been pretty far to find for the past 5 or so years (once they leave the newsstand, of course). So few comics are sold on the newsstand, let alone to people who would take care of them, that there has definitely been a drop off over time.

I've seen key newsstand issues command 2-3 times the direct edition price on eBay (Uncanny 350, Amazing 430), and I could see this trend continuing.

 

This is exactly what I would have expected for very recent years -- very few UPC copies in collectible condition are going to be available. What ratio of direct to UPC do you see available for these issues you're talking about? Is it 75% direct? 80? 90? How far back do you think you could find examples where the UPC copies are proven at auction to be more valuable - maybe back through the mid-90s?

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FollowTheSun-migration

FollowTheSun-migration

Posted
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Anyway, so much for this little survey. Those of you who are collecting based on this distinction, what's been your experience for various timeframes?

 

For X-Men 200-300 I think I only ended up with one UPC issue (299) and that required very little effort to stick to Direct. I'm gonna say the UPC boxes show up more often on the early 80's issues, though I haven't tackled them head-on yet.

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