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Is there a Bronze X-MEN thread?

Started by grail_raider,

1,202 posts in this topic

Arcade

Arcade

Posted
Posted

It seems one thread has totally taken over the Bronze age books section.

So in an attempt to bring this poor thread back to life.... :idea:

 

GL 76 -- HG Prices Still Going Up? :blahblah:

 

X-Men 56 -- HG Prices Still Going Up? :headbang:

 

Compare and Contrast.

Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves. lol

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Karma23

Karma23

Posted
Posted

I'm in the process of upgrading my raw Byrne X-Men run. My original copies, all bought off the rack are well read to say the least.

 

I found these three at a 50% off at my LCS. Less that $40 after tax for the three. Good memories in these books. :cloud9:

Xmen1-109.jpg

Xmen1-111.jpg

Xmen1-114.jpg

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mrlatko

mrlatko

Posted
Posted
I only won one book on the CLink auction and guess what it was.

Hint Hint, see below. lol

 

X-Men128cgc98.jpg

 

Awesome book! I switched comic priorities over the last few years, but need to go back to completing the bronze X-Men run in 9.8. That gem is my first X-Men memory, purchased off the 7-11 spinner rack for me by my dad back in '79. I was hypmotised by the Byrne art back then and was hooked on comics. I wish they would bring Proteus back somehow, heck everyone else gets to come back after dying. Always thought he had great potential as a cool mutant villain.

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Arcade

Arcade

Posted
Posted

Cool.

I got lucky with my first X-Men purchase off the racks.

It was Giant Size X-Men #1.

Of course I read the heck out of it as a kid, so when I sent it in as my first CGC submission it came back a 5.0.

I have learned a lot since then.

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realitytrip

realitytrip

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Posted

Hi guys. I recently got my first Byrne X-men 9.8s (scroll back a page or two if you are curious) and that, combined with the new census and the drop in pricing of (some) of these issues made me doublecheck the census data on these books as a group. It made for an interesting search and while a lot of it made sense (both in the prices the books realize and the tendency for these books to be more and more hoarded as the run continued) there were a few interesting tidbits and observations. I have collected my little list (along with my comments) below.

 

First the last few reprint books:

91: 1 9.8 (out of 54 graded)

92: 2 9.8 (out of 92 graded)

93: 2 9.8 (out of 78 graded)

 

I did the last few reprint books as a barometer for the first new issues and to show that even now, there is relatively little interest in these books, outside of diehard fans. This saddens me a bit, as I do love the bronze age covers for this era, but its understandable.

 

Giant Size X-men 1

27 9.8 (out of 3126 graded)

 

First appearance/1st issue, its not surprising this was probably snapped up and had several copies kept for future investment and its high value/key status accounts for the high submission rates, even for lower grade copies.

 

94: 3 9.8 (out of 2663 graded)

 

First regular issue of new X-men/key status/high value again accounts for high number of graded copies, even in lower grade. What is surprising is only 3 9.8s. Was this book ignored at first in favor of the Giant-Size? Is it the dark cover? It seems crazy this marvel key has only 3 9.8s?

 

95: 10 9.8 (out of 964 graded)

96: 8 9.8 (out of 866 graded)

97: 9 9.8 (out of 655 graded)

98: 7 9.8 (out of 599 graded)

99: 4 9.8 (out of 663 graded)

Pretty consistent group here, both in number of copies graded and number of 9.8s. 99 is a bit of an outlier and I am not really sure why. Its (in my opinion) a great, eye-catching cover (and should have sold off the shelves) and while it is black, 98 and 97 were pretty dark as well.

 

100: 17 9.8 (out of 1041 graded)

Anniversary issue, hoarded at the time I am sure, white cover. By the way, this cover image is now on a baseball cap....

 

101: 15 9.8 (out of 1081 graded)

102: 15 9.8 (out of 516 graded)

103: 15 9.8 (out of 437 graded)

104: 16 9.8 (out of 517 graded)

105: 24 9.8 (out of 572 graded)

106: 18 9.8 (out of 491 graded)

107: 9 9.8 (out of 367 graded)

 

Again, a pretty consistent group. X-men 101 does have twice as many submissions, but I figure the value and popularity of the book caused more low grade submissions and the book in of itself is not harder to find in high grade than its neighbors. I could be wrong. 107 is also a bit low, not sure why. Less submissions, but still I don't know of any reason why this book would be hard to find in high grade.

 

108: 30 9.8 (out of 761 graded) First Byrne issue

109: 22 9.8 (out of 658 graded)

110: 24 9.8 (out of 480 graded)

111: 45 9.8 (out of 486 graded) Wow. Not sure why this book has so many high grade copies

112: 30 9.8 (out of 533 graded)

113: 19 9.8 1 9.9 (out of 422 graded)

114: 16 9.8 (out of 466 graded) Still a little low, but the call for 9.8s on this issue obviously dug up better (and pressed?) copies Pesky dark cover....

115: 15 9.8 (out of 447 graded)

116: 12 9.8 (out of 434 graded) another tough dark cover...

117: 33 9.8 (out of 589 graded) And now the hoarding really began..

118: 43 9.8 (out of 638 graded)

119: 64 9.8 (out of 770 graded) GPA dropping like a rock....

120: 11 9.8 (out of 627 graded) surprisingly low. Guess that black cover does it in in the really high grades? Last time we will see a number this low...

121: 52 9.8 (out of 978 graded) ah yes, and back to many, many high grade copies

122: 28 9.8 (out of 447 graded) Dark cover keeps this issue relatively low...

123: 39 9.8 (out of 503 graded)

124: 46 9.8 (out of 527 graded)

125: 60 9.8 (out of 645 graded) hoarded because of "return of phoenix"?

126: 29 9.8 (out of 590 graded) I'm guessing the dark cover on this one too...

127: 70 9.8 (out of 631 graded) pretty high number, not sure why?

128: 33 9.8 (out of 549 graded)

129: 43 9.8 (out of 851 graded) 1st Kitty Pryde/Emma Frost, Dark Phoenix Saga Begins..lots of graded copies

130: 41 9.8 (out of 692 graded)

131: 22 9.8 (out of 537 graded)

132: 31 9.8 (out of 573 graded)

133: 47 9.8 (out of 588 graded)

134: 48 9.8 (out of 660 graded)

135: 91 9.8 1 9.9 (out of 781 graded) I am thinking people were buying many multiples by this point....

136: 75 9.8 (out of 748 graded)

137: 185 9.8 1 9.9 (out of 1628 graded) ....and we jump headlong into triple digits...

138: 125 9.8 (out of 834 graded)

139: 39 9.8 (out of 819 graded) except for this weird outlier, again probably dark cover?

140: 121 9.8 (out of 1116 graded)

141: 147 9.8 1 9.9 (out of 1379 graded)

142: 125 9.8 (out of 1379 graded)

143: 120 9.8 1 9.9 (out of 790 graded)

 

Hope you enjoyed this little survey. Overall, its exactly what you would expect. 94-99 relatively rare in 9.8, and then the book becomes easier and easier to find in high grade as the numbers and the book's popularity climb. By the end of the run, the book was obviously being massively hoarded. As time goes by, it is becoming easier and easier to get most of the run in 9.8 (outside of 94 and 99). I do love the weird quirks like 111 though. Anyone have stories/theories about the outlier issues?

 

 

 

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worldsbestcomics

worldsbestcomics

Posted
Posted

Thank you very much for the info realitytrip. I do some census digging from time to time on runs that interest me and I was overdue for a review of this one.

 

I do think it is interesting that out of over 40,000 books graded, there are only five mint copies.

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mrlatko

mrlatko

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Thanks for those stats. Excellent post! :applause: I'm also pretty sure that the print runs of Byrne X-Men dramatically increased as the popularity grew and Marvel knew they had a hit on their hands. That would explain the later issues having much higher population numbers. It is also true that some print runs are just plain flawed and don't produce many 9.8 worthy copies right off the presses, dark cover or not.

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