Overstreet and Wizard. Are they enough of a guide ???????

[NoImSpartacus]

Overstreet and Wizard. Are they enough of a guide ???? Okay, maybe you all can give some imput on this as you probably have run into the same situations I have !!!

 

It seems as both I can attest too, as well as what others on this forum have said. Overstreet is behind on many of its listings for various reasons already spoken of on in this forum. Time delay between the books rising in price and the cutoff time when Overstreet goes to print is one factor previously mentioned.

 

We also have Wizard. Which I see a quasi guide built for the kids whose few guide pages in the back of the magazine is so small, its hard to get any information out of it except for the most popular of books. Many times they get behind a book and then dont even have the book listed in their guide- Ala- Ms. Marvel 18. They seem to do this all the time!!!!

 

First, here is my question. ARE THERE ANY OTHER GUIDES out there that sorta work between Overstreet and Wizard that I can check out regularly instead of looking every 6 months at Oversteet or once a month at an incomplete Wizard quasi guide?

 

I notice the coin guys have their Grey Sheets that come out every week which lists what is hot and what went up or down. Would any one agree that we could really use something like this in our hobby to bridge the gap between the two well know Overstreet and Wizard guides. So far, I am not impressed by the Overstreet COMIC RECUE. So thats out.

 

Could our market use something like a Comics Grey Sheet like they have for coins that comes out once a week. It would keep everyone on top of things.

 

Has anyone else run into the same problem?

 

I leave this post for all to comment and ponder?

[awe4one]

I'd take Wizard's prices with a grain of salt. They are WAY off of reality on some books.

 

A monthly Overstreet guide (a'la their previous attempt at a price guide) with monthly market reports similar to CBM would be great!

 

 

Jim

[MrNice-migration]

Weekly would be more like it!!! At present time, studying Ebay, Heritage, and top echelon dealers like Metropolis, PGC, JP, ComicLink, etc., and throwing out the highs and lows (like in Olympic scoring to eliminate the "rams butting heads" situations) are the only reasonably accurate and predictible way to arrive at a "suggested retail price".

 

What we really need is a weekly compendium that factors in this type of specific info and arrives at an average.

[Tomega]

I'm probably a minority here, but both Wizard and Overstreet are pretty good. A lot of people on the board do not like Wizard but the prices are nearly the same if not more accurate then Overstreet (in some cases.) No offense to anyone, but a lot of people do not know the guidelines for Wizard pricing. For modern issues and the hot titles, X-men , FF , ASM - Wizard is very good. For DC and Golden age , Overstreet is the best and Wizard does not either bother to compete in that area.

Wizard does stay on top of the latest fad comics the best simply because they put a new issue out every month.

 

Tom

[supapimp]

couldn't have said it better myself

[Smokinghawk]

I can't imagine how Overstreet is useful anymore for high-dollar books (or high-grade "sought" books); I challenge anyone to find any book that's even close to the listed value. If OS doesn't accurately reflect the real value you should expect to pay (or be paid), why is it still good? It's complete and exhaustive, but like it or not Wizard has the closest to real-life accurate values.

 

 

[fantastic_four]

Weekly would be more like it!!! At present time, studying Ebay, Heritage, and top echelon dealers like Metropolis, PGC, JP, ComicLink, etc., and throwing out the highs and lows (like in Olympic scoring to eliminate the "rams butting heads" situations) are the only reasonably accurate and predictible way to arrive at a "suggested retail price".

 

What we really need is a weekly compendium that factors in this type of specific info and arrives at an average.

 

Do you think GPA or the Comic Sheet fill that role?

[shadowolf-migration]

I can't imagine how Overstreet is useful anymore for high-dollar books (or high-grade "sought" books); I challenge anyone to find any book that's even close to the listed value.

 

 

Four Color 596

[hobbes]

I just use the forum as my guide...

[Smokinghawk]

I can't imagine how Overstreet is useful anymore for high-dollar books (or high-grade "sought" books); I challenge anyone to find any book that's even close to the listed value.

 

 

Four Color 596

 

Yeah, okay, I was being too general. I should've been more specific--some of the more COMMONLY traded high-dollar books now (ASM silvers, Hulk 181's, X-men, etc.) The fastest-moving stuff in high-CGC are nowhere near OS, so OS isn't useful.

[chrisfuccione]

I notice the coin guys have their Grey Sheets that come out every week which lists what is hot and what went up or down.

 

The Grey sheet is a great tool. They have both buy and sell prices. They are also very respected in the hobby. The two things with the Grey Sheet is they are for mostly dealers. So unless you know one that might give you an older copy the next best thing is COIN WORLD TRENDS that come out every month.

 

Also it takes them a month to put out all coins. One week it might be minor coins. next week half and dollar coins next week it is gold. So it is not a weekly guide but a monthly one. CHRIS

[blowout]

I'm probably a minority here, but both Wizard and Overstreet are pretty good. A lot of people on the board do not like Wizard but the prices are nearly the same if not more accurate then Overstreet (in some cases.) No offense to anyone, but a lot of people do not know the guidelines for Wizard pricing. For modern issues and the hot titles, X-men , FF , ASM - Wizard is very good. For DC and Golden age , Overstreet is the best and Wizard does not either bother to compete in that area.

 

I actually agree that the Wizard price guide DOES have merit. Sure it is way off on some books and does blow very hot and cold with the hype machine. But, like it or not, it DOES reflect the market for modern books. The modern market is very volatile and demand for books does go up and down very quickly, Overstreet makes NO attempt to reflect this and only records long term price averages.

 

Wizard is the best indicator for what is happening from one month to the next. Maybe not for Bronze. Silver and Gold books, but certainly for books published in the last 20 years (OK valiantman, maybe not Valiants ).

Its very easy to write Wizard off, but if you are a Modern collector, it is a valuable tool.

I also respect the fact that Wizard always offers a possitive outlook on collecting comic books.

[lou_fine]

From an investment point of view, Overstreet and Wizard takes two completely different approaches to the marketplace. Wizard seems to use the so-called "hype" approach to the marketplace and is useful for the short-term speculators who are primarily interested in trying to daytrade their comic books. This approach reuqires you to make buy and sell decisions at the right time if you want to avoid losing money in the marketplace.

 

The Overstreet approach seems to take the Warren Buffett "buy and hold" approach and has actually worked out very well for both collectors and serious investors. Bob's concern seems to be in the long-term health of the marketplace and as a result, he makes no serious attempt to adjust prices for short-term temporary fluctuations which will most likely reverse themselves in the marketplace. Overstreet does not like to see prices going down in his price guides because this will hurt the market in the long run. As a result, his price guide seems to lag the market since he bases his price more on the long-term price trends as oppossed to the latest hot prices which may only be temporary due to movie hype, hot artists, etc.

 

If you are in the comic book market for the long-term, the Overstreet approach is much better for you. If you are in the market for today and probably gone next year, the Wizard approach is better for you. I strongly believe that if Overstreet had followed the Wizard approach with all of his price guides since 1970, the value of the key Golden-Age and Silver-Age books would be nowhere near where they are in today's marketplace. I also believe that the comic book market would be nowhere near as strong or as healthy as it is right now in comparison to the other collectible fields.

[NoImSpartacus]

I dont mind either Overstreet or Wizard. Overstreet is great longterm. I just wish Wizard had more listings of books and a little more indepth explanation as to why prices on certain books or runs are going up or down.

 

Just a quick example. Two months ago. Terminator Burning Earth went up in Wizards price guide. Next month it went down. I can maybe get an Idea as to why this happened but they should explain. I feel they also need more books listed.

 

Something is needed out there that that bridges the gap between Overstreet and Wizard.

[shadowolf-migration]

I think Wizard is a joke. Do yourself a favor and ignore that publication, unless you like paying too much for books.

 

A lot of Overstreet prices are incredibly high also, especially for mid-grade Silver. At the same time, some books are undervalued and some trends are ingnored (look at the low prices for 35c variants in overstreet). Despite a few flaws, I still think overstreet is a great guide.

[backtomarvel]

I'm wondering if eBay won't offer such publications. They have sales data going back years and, since it's all digitized, could provide a weekly summary of sales prices with little problem, I imagine.

 

I know little of the ethics of auction houses, so I don't know if publishing such a price guide would be frowned upon ...

[Smokinghawk]

I think Wizard is a joke. Do yourself a favor and ignore that publication, unless you like paying too much for books.

 

 

 

Nobody WANTS to pay too much for books, but more often than not Wizard lists them at the price you'll actually see on Ebay or other online.

 

 

[valiantman]

Wizard is the best indicator for what is happening from one month to the next. Maybe not for Bronze. Silver and Gold books, but certainly for books published in the last 20 years (OK valiantman, maybe not Valiants ).

You think they'll say anything at all about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2184860612

 

Overstreet says the book's worth about $6 raw...and Wizard doesn't list it at all.

Recent auctions

[500Club]

A lot of people on the board do not like Wizard but the prices are nearly the same if not more accurate then Overstreet (in some cases.) No offense to anyone, but a lot of people do not know the guidelines for Wizard pricing. For modern issues and the hot titles, X-men , FF , ASM - Wizard is very good.

 

Tom - I'll challenge you on this one... what are these mysterious Wizard guidelines that a lot of people don't know about?

 

I'll agree that Wizard is the only option for semi-accurate modern pricing, but they are often far too reactionary in bumping prices. They also hype and raise prices on books that I can find in multiples still on local dealer's racks.

[500Club]

From an investment point of view, Overstreet and Wizard takes two completely different approaches to the marketplace. Wizard seems to use the so-called "hype" approach to the marketplace and is useful for the short-term speculators who are primarily interested in trying to daytrade their comic books. This approach reuqires you to make buy and sell decisions at the right time if you want to avoid losing money in the marketplace.

 

The Overstreet approach seems to take the Warren Buffett "buy and hold" approach and has actually worked out very well for both collectors and serious investors. Bob's concern seems to be in the long-term health of the marketplace and as a result, he makes no serious attempt to adjust prices for short-term temporary fluctuations which will most likely reverse themselves in the marketplace. Overstreet does not like to see prices going down in his price guides because this will hurt the market in the long run. As a result, his price guide seems to lag the market since he bases his price more on the long-term price trends as oppossed to the latest hot prices which may only be temporary due to movie hype, hot artists, etc.

 

If you are in the comic book market for the long-term, the Overstreet approach is much better for you. If you are in the market for today and probably gone next year, the Wizard approach is better for you. I strongly believe that if Overstreet had followed the Wizard approach with all of his price guides since 1970, the value of the key Golden-Age and Silver-Age books would be nowhere near where they are in today's marketplace. I also believe that the comic book market would be nowhere near as strong or as healthy as it is right now in comparison to the other collectible fields.

 

Ahhh, this old chestnut of an argument....

 

Is it Overstreet's place to steer the market or report it? My view is that the guide should reflect the prices being paid, and not wait several years to see if a pricing trend is firmly established.