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

[Comicdave]

I don't believe Overstreet is very accurate in the pricing of most modern comics and even some gold and silver books. And when it comes to CGC graded comics, you can almost throw the book out the window. That being said, I think Overstreet is useful as a price GUIDE. It's useful for looking up when certain titles began and ended, and to get a general idea of what certain books sell for. If a friend says to you, that his uncle just gave him a box of old comics, you can use Overstreet to get an idea of what they are worth. If someone who knew nothing about comics was selling some old issues that belonged to their son, without the Overstreet guide, they may be inclined to sell Hulk 180-182 for the same price as Hulk 171-179, 183-190. But if they look at the guide, they will be able to note that those 3 issues should sell for more than the surrounding issues.

 

Wizard is good for noting and tracking what's hot, mainly because I believe they are instrumental in driving the prices up on most hot books. Take for example 30 days of night. I work in a comic book store and we didn't even order the first 2 issues, mainly because there was nothing in the Previews solicitation to indicate the this comic was any different then the hoardes of other independent titles vying for shelf space. Then one day I start getting a few customers asking about it, because they read in Wizard that this was a hot comic and they already had signed a movie deal. Keep in mind, before the Wizard article, not a single customer asked me about 30 days of night. Suddenly one article appears in Wizard and now the comic is selling for $80-$150.

 

This is just a theory of mine, and I have no proof, but I can't help but imagine that some of the bigwigs at Wizard choose a comic or title that they will pick as the next hot thing, but before they hype it in their magazine, they go out and buy up all the copies they can find cheaply. After they've accumulated a sufficient supply, they then hype it to death in their magazine and drive up the value of the comic, since all the fanboys and speculators use Wizard as their bible of what's hot and what to buy. They then sell these comics at their inflated prices and make a hefty profit.

 

Then there are the cases where they either try to drive prices up and fail or a comic was once hot and they still have a lot of copies to sell, so they don't want to lower the price just yet. Take a look in the Wizard and check out the price for Transformers Armada #1 holofoil cover. This comic has a cover price of $5.95 and could be ordered by retailers in any amount they choose. It's not an incentive or shortprinted comic. However, Wizard lists it at $34. I have copies on my shelf at cover price and I'm lucky to sell one a month. Check on ebay and you'll find most don't sell period and if they do, it's at about 50% of cover.