What Books Does the Guide Just Not Catch Up To?

[rjpb]

I think Nearmint would agree, Black Terror & Fighting Yank . Alot of Nedors are scarce such as Exciting # 30 , # 39 esp. undervalued, Startling Comics # 10 1st app. of Fighting Yank maybe moreso then Exciting Comics# 9 .Early Black Terror, Etc. Etc....so many issues undervalued.......Try and find them at guide. Not!!

 

Nearmint;

 

I would most definitely agree with you on the Startling #10 in comparison to the the Exciting #9. Both of these are first appearance issues and to me, the Startling #10 just does not seem to ever show up in the marketplace.

 

I still remember back in the early to mid 90's when both of these books were priced about the same in guide. A few high profile copies of Exciting #9 did make it to market and now the price is almost triple that of Startling #10.

 

A classic case that a scarce book can certainly drive prices up, but an extremely scarce book can also keep prices down. On the other hand, it could also be the chicken and egg scenario. Maybe the high prices kept the Exciting #9's coming into the marketplace for awhile, whereas the low prices just convinced the collectors to hang onto their Startling #10's.

 

 

Or maybe Black Terror just has a way cooler costume than The Fighting Yank.

[PUNYHUMAN]

That is true my friend. You have to admit the Black Terror had one of the coolest costumes in the Golden Age.

[Bronty]

 

that's a nice flip in only 1 year. Man I got to learn to pick up stuff that'll make me some cash later on

 

Certainly one hell of a turn around... although to be fair it was bought as a fine (at least according to scoop) and came back as a vf-... so I think part of the big cash win relates to having purchased an undergraded book in the first place. Either that or it was a gift grade from cgc

[tth2]

I would have to say that based on market activity for the last 2-3 years, high grade Duck Four Colors and early WDC&Ss are w-a-a-y underpriced in the Guide.

[nearmint]

I think Nearmint would agree, Black Terror & Fighting Yank . Alot of Nedors are scarce such as Exciting # 30 , # 39 esp. undervalued, Startling Comics # 10 1st app. of Fighting Yank maybe moreso then Exciting Comics# 9 .Early Black Terror, Etc. Etc....so many issues undervalued.......Try and find them at guide. Not!!

 

Nearmint;

 

I would most definitely agree with you on the Startling #10 in comparison to the the Exciting #9. Both of these are first appearance issues and to me, the Startling #10 just does not seem to ever show up in the marketplace.

 

I still remember back in the early to mid 90's when both of these books were priced about the same in guide. A few high profile copies of Exciting #9 did make it to market and now the price is almost triple that of Startling #10.

 

A classic case that a scarce book can certainly drive prices up, but an extremely scarce book can also keep prices down. On the other hand, it could also be the chicken and egg scenario. Maybe the high prices kept the Exciting #9's coming into the marketplace for awhile, whereas the low prices just convinced the collectors to hang onto their Startling #10's.

 

 

Or maybe Black Terror just has a way cooler costume than The Fighting Yank.

 

Yep, many Nedors are very undervalued. They're so scarce that they rarely trade hands. No sales = no significant rise in OS values. There's no doubt that the popularity of the character has a great influence. For example, I bought my Fighting Yank #5 well over 10 years ago, and hadn't seen another copy since. A few weeks ago, 2 copies appeared on eBay, both in Basement Comic's eBay store. The book is a Gerber 7 with a great Schomburg war cover, and neither copy has sold. Would an equally rare Black Terror have sold in that time period? Probably.

[action1kid]

Action # 1 of course. The actual sales are blowing the Overstreet guide figures away in Every grade.

Superman # 1 EVEN MORE. The sales are blowing away the Overstreet figures in 5.5 and above

[Bronty]

I would have to say that based on market activity for the last 2-3 years, high grade Duck Four Colors and early WDC&Ss are w-a-a-y underpriced in the Guide.

 

And those same books are equally overvalued in low grade.

 

The spread on something like US1 is pretty incredible right now - $50 or $100 for a good and yet $25,000 for the NM you sold? I struggle to think of other pre-silver books where a NM is worth 250-500 times the value of a good.

[tth2]

I would have to say that based on market activity for the last 2-3 years, high grade Duck Four Colors and early WDC&Ss are w-a-a-y underpriced in the Guide.

 

And those same books are equally overvalued in low grade.

 

The spread on something like US1 is pretty incredible right now - $50 or $100 for a good and yet $25,000 for the NM you sold? I struggle to think of other pre-silver books where a NM is worth 250-500 times the value of a good.

You raise a good point. The Ducks may be fairly unusual in this respect, maybe because the GA print runs were so massive so lots of copies still exist, albeit in low grade after being "loved" by the boys and girls of America. On the other hand, the number of NM copies is really low, even taking into account the file copies, precisely because so many copies were loved by the boys and girls of America.

 

This dynamic doesn't apply to every Duck book, of course. The early issues command strong prices across the board. Why, I don't know, maybe because the print runs weren't as big? Prime examples would be FC 29 and 62.

[lou_fine]

I would have to say that based on market activity for the last 2-3 years, high grade Duck Four Colors and early WDC&Ss are w-a-a-y underpriced in the Guide.

 

And those same books are equally overvalued in low grade.

 

The spread on something like US1 is pretty incredible right now - $50 or $100 for a good and yet $25,000 for the NM you sold? I struggle to think of other pre-silver books where a NM is worth 250-500 times the value of a good.

You raise a good point. The Ducks may be fairly unusual in this respect, maybe because the GA print runs were so massive so lots of copies still exist, albeit in low grade after being "loved" by the boys and girls of America. On the other hand, the number of NM copies is really low, even taking into account the file copies, precisely because so many copies were loved by the boys and girls of America.

 

This dynamic doesn't apply to every Duck book, of course. The early issues command strong prices across the board. Why, I don't know, maybe because the print runs weren't as big? Prime examples would be FC 29 and 62.

 

Tim;

 

Actually, it is an excellent point that Bronty has raised here.

 

I sort of view books that sell for multiples to guide only when they are the highest graded copy as sort of a bubble market. These types of books are subject to possible significant drops since their record prices are based more upon condition only, as opposed to the actual book itself.

 

Books that can sell for a premium to guide in all grades across the board represents a true strong and in-demand market. These books are generally not suject to any price drops in the forseeable future as thier prices are based upon real strength in the actual books themselves, as opposed to the fickle whims of the top census chasers.

[Bronty]

true enough!

 

and tim - yeah, I think fc 29 and 62 being the earliest, rarest, and strong across the board is definitely no coincidence. The later duck books like US1 are plentiful..

[lou_fine]

This dynamic doesn't apply to every Duck book, of course. The early issues command strong prices across the board. Why, I don't know, maybe because the print runs weren't as big? Prime examples would be FC 29 and 62.

 

Tim & Bronty;

 

How about March of Comics #4?

 

I have heard that this has always been a real tough book to find in grade relative to some of the other early Duck books. As a promotional comic, shouldn't it have a larger print run?

 

And no, Tim, I don't have one of these.

[ciorac]

I would have to say that based on market activity for the last 2-3 years, high grade Duck Four Colors and early WDC&Ss are w-a-a-y underpriced in the Guide.

 

And those same books are equally overvalued in low grade.

 

The spread on something like US1 is pretty incredible right now - $50 or $100 for a good and yet $25,000 for the NM you sold? I struggle to think of other pre-silver books where a NM is worth 250-500 times the value of a good.

You raise a good point. The Ducks may be fairly unusual in this respect, maybe because the GA print runs were so massive so lots of copies still exist, albeit in low grade after being "loved" by the boys and girls of America. On the other hand, the number of NM copies is really low, even taking into account the file copies, precisely because so many copies were loved by the boys and girls of America.

 

This dynamic doesn't apply to every Duck book, of course. The early issues command strong prices across the board. Why, I don't know, maybe because the print runs weren't as big? Prime examples would be FC 29 and 62.

 

Personal experience has been that there are quite a few collections out there with high grade examples of these books. Predominately in the hands of older collectors who will not slab them. Eventually they will come to maket. I brought some extremely high grade copies of them in the mid 90's that got scooped up immediately and have never come back out.

 

Add those to the file copies and you have a fairly high number of high grade copies of the early key ducks (et al), much more than I have seen of their superhero counterparts.

[shiverbones]

if you have great scans, sell worldwide and are a trusted seller you can actually get guide on low grade disneys. I have been shocked a couple times to get overguide on thngs like a VG- FC386 and GD US6-12. I thought I was going to take a bath on all of them.

[FlyingDonut]

IF you sell overseas, low grade Disneys sell very well. They all end up in Scandanavia.

[shiverbones]

yeah, I got really used to filling out really LONG addresses on those packages!

[Bronty]

 

Personal experience has been that there are quite a few collections out there with high grade examples of these books. Predominately in the hands of older collectors who will not slab them. Eventually they will come to maket. I brought some extremely high grade copies of them in the mid 90's that got scooped up immediately and have never come back out.

 

Add those to the file copies and you have a fairly high number of high grade copies of the early key ducks (et al), much more than I have seen of their superhero counterparts.

 

Sounds about right. I wasn't around at the time but I get the sense that the barks stuff was some of the first stuff collected when the hobby started to take off in the late 60s/ early 70s.... there must be lots of copies salted away in the hands of collectors who haven't even bought a comic in 5,10, or 20 years. Whether they are 9.0 or 9.4 is the only real question I guess. Either way I wouldn't want to be 25 grand deep into an uncle scrooge 1 right now.

 

I guess the ones you're talking about are your crescent city books? NM from the sounds of it?

[ciorac]

 

Personal experience has been that there are quite a few collections out there with high grade examples of these books. Predominately in the hands of older collectors who will not slab them. Eventually they will come to maket. I brought some extremely high grade copies of them in the mid 90's that got scooped up immediately and have never come back out.

 

Add those to the file copies and you have a fairly high number of high grade copies of the early key ducks (et al), much more than I have seen of their superhero counterparts.

 

Sounds about right. I wasn't around at the time but I get the sense that the barks stuff was some of the first stuff collected when the hobby started to take off in the late 60s/ early 70s.... there must be lots of copies salted away in the hands of collectors who haven't even bought a comic in 5,10, or 20 years. Whether they are 9.0 or 9.4 is the only real question I guess. Either way I wouldn't want to be 25 grand deep into an uncle scrooge 1 right now.

 

I guess the ones you're talking about are your crescent city books? NM from the sounds of it?

 

The Crescent City's, yes. But, I met with many of the collections friends and got to look through their books, and WOW! Talk about plenty of stunners! They were not willing to part with them, as Leonard was. So, they remain in their hands to the best of my knowledge.

 

But there are lots of collectors overseas for this material, so perhaps even when they hit the market, they will still find a home for good money.

[Bronty]

I wonder if those collectors you met would rethink given the information that those books are now five figure items? Might be worth another call

[ciorac]

I wonder if those collectors you met would rethink given the information that those books are now five figure items? Might be worth another call

 

Might be. They were all gillionaires though, bored with the pursuit of filthy lucre...

 

Must be nice huh?

[Bronty]

I wonder if those collectors you met would rethink given the information that those books are now five figure items? Might be worth another call

 

Might be. They were all gillionaires though, bored with the pursuit of filthy lucre...

 

Must be nice huh?

 

yeah