GL 76 -- HG Prices Still Going Up

[VintageComics]

 

It's a matter of confidence. And trends. And the fact that the internet age allows instant gratification over anything else.

 

Why buy a great book (Tec #33) when you can have a great cover (Tec #31)

 

Why buy an important, rare book (Whiz #1 or Marvel #1) when you can have a much more common book with a popular character who has a movie made about him.

 

You're right, it does strike into the heart of the collector/investor debate and investors are generally shorter term.

 

(thumbs u

 

I disagree with the investors being short term point. Speculators are short term buyers and sellers, but just like other assets investors tend to take a longer term approach. Personally, I am a blend of both - I will speculate on movie related books to flip while holding a small core group of books for the longer run.

 

I meant that investors are (or traditionally) have been short term in relation to collectors which used to be life long.

 

(thumbs u

[OveraboundingMint]

If I could have one comic in my collection it would be my AF 15. I would have much rather have a NM FF 1. So much harder to find than a NM AF 15.[/

 

To my knowledge and experience, these silver age keys in pristine NM can be gotten from dealers or in conventions as late as until towards the later half of the 80s as long as one has the big cash.

 

But, today, after all these decades of almost half a century, most of thesebooks are deteriorating or have deteriorated upon display from exposure to light and heat, unless you keep them in totally well covered, dry, dark places with perpetual cold climate.

[chrisco37]

I've never seen the AF#15 9.6 in person.

 

The FF#1 9.6 is a beauty. Doug brought it to a Philly dinner one year.

[paperheart]

this thread has faded quicker than the price of HG copies. the 9.4 on ebay closed for $3985; i believe this was the same book that sold on Pedigree for $3,333 last month.

[Stevenrams]

Just a year ago, I sold my GL 76 CGC 9.4 with OW/W pages for $11,700 via a C-link auction. How did prices drop so quickly on such a key book?

 

SLR

[oakman29]

Just a year ago, I sold my GL 76 CGC 9.4 with OW/W pages for $11,700 via a C-link auction. How did prices drop so quickly on such a key book?

 

SLR

Did you ever sell at the right time.

[paperheart]

Just a year ago, I sold my GL 76 CGC 9.4 with OW/W pages for $11,700 via a C-link auction. How did prices drop so quickly on such a key book?

 

SLR

 

parabolic price rise followed by the inevitable decline as every HG book was squished until they cried uncle

[tth2]

this thread has faded quicker than the price of HG copies. the 9.4 on ebay closed for $3985; i believe this was the same book that sold on Pedigree for $3,333 last month.

That's almost a 20% gain in one month! That means this book is once again *HOT*!!!!

[tth2]

Just a year ago, I sold my GL 76 CGC 9.4 with OW/W pages for $11,700 via a C-link auction. How did prices drop so quickly on such a key book?

 

SLR

The decline was inevitable once more 9.6 and 9.8 copies appeared. The allure of owning a 9.4 copy vanished after that.

[Hawkman23]

gotcha.

[chrisco37]

Sad to see this thread "die". I guess it was time though.

 

One of the best threads we've ever had on the boards. It's been pretty cool to follow the "evolution" of this particular book.

 

It's probably myopic of me to think/say, but I think the boards (and this thread in particular) must have contibuted to the mythos and "value lunacy" in the market.

[Foolkiller]

Started this thread in 2006. I honestly can't believe it stuck around for five years. Pretty unbelievable.

 

I also think prices for 9.4s are coming back to earth, in similar fashion to the way Hulk 181 has cycled and GSX 1 and many other bronze age keys. Of course, this didn't start out as quite the "mega key" that the others already were when CGC grading came about.

 

Also, prices are still strong for 8.0s, 9.0s etc. The drop off comes from the highs that 9.2s, 9.4s and 9.6s once brought.

 

In the end, Tim's exactly right. The books came out of the closet.

[jimjum12]

Started this thread in 2006. I honestly can't believe it stuck around for five years. Pretty unbelievable.

 

I also think prices for 9.4s are coming back to earth, in similar fashion to the way Hulk 181 has cycled and GSX 1 and many other bronze age keys. Of course, this didn't start out as quite the "mega key" that the others already were when CGC grading came about.

 

Also, prices are still strong for 8.0s, 9.0s etc. The drop off comes from the highs that 9.2s, 9.4s and 9.6s once brought.

 

In the end, Tim's exactly right. The books came out of the closet.

 

....Tim is ALWAYS right. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[tth2]

Sad to see this thread "die". I guess it was time though.

 

One of the best threads we've ever had on the boards. It's been pretty cool to follow the "evolution" of this particular book.

 

It's probably myopic of me to think/say, but I think the boards (and this thread in particular) must have contibuted to the mythos and "value lunacy" in the market.

I was just saying to Gene the other day at lunch that even I, the ultimate BA skeptic, started to drink the kool-aid on this book, even though I never actually bought a copy myself.

 

I think my own perceptions do kind of match the parabola that this book has experienced. I remember when Ewert auctioned off the first 9.6 copy on eBay many years ago, which was the first public sale of a CGC`d NM copy of this book that I can recall, and I was stunned that people would pay that much for a BA book that wasn`t Hulk 181, GSX 1 or X-Men 94. But lots of people said the book was really hard to find in NM.

 

I remained a skeptic, but in the ensuing years, the book kept climbing higher and higher in 9.4 until it became a 5-figure book (ie, "real money"), with repeated sales at that level, and yet the population remained amazingly low and there still continued to be only 1 9.6 copy. I started to think that maybe it really WAS that hard to find in NM, because if those kinds of prices weren`t enough to drive out NM copies, then maybe they really didn`t exist.

 

As it turned out, maybe $10-12K wasn`t enough to bring copies out of collections and get the presses churning, but $30K for the 9.6 copy definitely was. That sale, combined with the $18K sale of a 9.4 copy shortly afterwards, was definitely the high water mark for this book. The floodgates opened up after that, and once more 9.6 copies started to appear, and then a 9.8 copy, you had a textbook example of how a market that was based on perceived scarcity will implode once that perception is shown to be a myth.

[tth2]

Started this thread in 2006. I honestly can't believe it stuck around for five years. Pretty unbelievable.

 

I also think prices for 9.4s are coming back to earth, in similar fashion to the way Hulk 181 has cycled and GSX 1 and many other bronze age keys. Of course, this didn't start out as quite the "mega key" that the others already were when CGC grading came about.

 

Also, prices are still strong for 8.0s, 9.0s etc. The drop off comes from the highs that 9.2s, 9.4s and 9.6s once brought.

 

In the end, Tim's exactly right. The books came out of the closet.

 

....Tim is ALWAYS right. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

Best post EVER!

 

[oakman29]

2 9.8s and 10 9.6s isn't exactly opening the floodgates.

[paperheart]

2 9.8s and 10 9.6s isn't exactly opening the floodgates.

 

coupled with the fact that there are at least several of these that are badly miswrapped or just plain ugly examples of the grade. unfortunately, those copies can't seem to find a permanent home and are for sale in seemingly every other auction leading to the perception that the book is abundant in high grade. obviously, it's way more prevalent than was believed 100 pages ago in this thread but it isn't remotely as common as other bronze keys. the other stigma is that GL sucks.

[tth2]

2 9.8s and 10 9.6s isn't exactly opening the floodgates.

For the valuation levels of this book, it is. This book was priced for perfection in terms of scarcity, and it`s now clear that it is not that scarce.

 

All discussion of valuation on this book is always relative, of course. I`m not saying that the book is going to plunge below $1000 in 9.4 anytime soon. It`s still a desirable book and still more valuable on a per grade basis than almost any other BA book. But the days of 9.6 copies selling for $30K, and 9.4 copies selling for over $10K or even in the high 4-figures, are long gone.

 

The fact that the GL movie was a dud of epic proportions probably didn`t help either.

[tth2]

coupled with the fact that there are at least several of these that are badly miswrapped or just plain ugly examples of the grade. unfortunately, those copies can't seem to find a permanent home

Do you really think the miswrapping is that much of a stigma with this book? I see so many folks on these boards proudly parading their 9.6 and 9.8 miswrapped monstrosities of various books, completely oblivious to the fugly fat white stripes or even worse, crooked white stripe, running down the spine, that I find it hard to believe that miswrapping factors that much into most collectors` minds.

[supapimp]

the honest truth is that the book was overrated and over inflated. 'nuff said