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The Marvel relaunches - understanding OS guide

Started by ubiquiti,

23 posts in this topic

ubiquiti

ubiquiti

Posted
Posted

Okay...

I don't know why it hit me until the convention this year - but Marvel did a bunch of relaunches in the late 60's starting with Journey into Mystery going to Thor(3/66), then Tales to astonish to Hulk 102(4/68), then Tales of Suspense to Captain America 100(4/68), Tales of Suspense to Iron Man 1(5/68), Tales to Astonish to Sub-Mariner 1(5/68), and finally(if you want to include these 2) Stange Tales to nick Fury 1 and Dr. Strange 169(6/68). But thats not what hit me...

What hit me is all the above, with the exception of Thor 126, are VERY plentiful in high grade. Yet all of them save 1 are worth the same or more than Thor 126:

Thor 126 $225 NM 12 copies NM- or better

Hulk 102 $300 NM 125 copies in NM- or better

Iron Man 1 $575 NM(the biggest joke of them all) 186 copies in NM- or better

Cap 100 $525 NM78 NM- or better graded copies

Sub Mariner 1 $225 NM 199 copies NM- or better

Dr Strange 169 $210 NM 148 copies NM- or better

Nick Fury 1 $160 NM +Agent+of+S%2EH%2EI%2EE%2EL%2ED%2E++++++++++++++++++&issue=1++++++&publisher=Marvel+Comics++++++++++++&year=1968'>242 copies NM- or better

 

This completely baffles me - not only is Thor really the first re-launch, but it is WAAY more scarce especially in high grade(only 3 graded 9.4 or better - sheesh!), and in my opinion a more significant book. I've heard the "Thor 126 would be worth more if they renumbered and started off at 1" - but look at Cap and the Hulk - they DOUBLE Thor 126 in price and they didn't start over. We have all heard the rumors of cases of NM copies of all the 68 relaunches, but I've never heard that about Thor.

Can anyone explain this inconsistency to me? I know Thor is not of the stature of Hulk - but he is on par or more popular than everyone else save Cap...

So is Thor 126 set to make a climb at some point value-wise, or are all the others destined to fall hard?

 

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Aman619

Aman619

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Thor 126 was not technically a relaunch like th e others. Thor already had his own book: Journey into Mystery. Marvel just changed the title but kept up the numbering.

 

ALL of the six other "relaunches" came about when 6 different lead characters finally got their own complete books. They all were splitting their former titles (Astonish, Strange Tales + Suspense). So they all got a "promotion", similar to DC heroes graduating from Showcase and Brave and Bold. Their first issues, whether they were a first issue (#1) or just the next number in the retitled series, were new launches and have enjoyed the usual collector interest over th eyears that #1s always get. Thor just seeme dto stay the same, it was always "Thor" - - now the title in the indicia matched the logo on the cover (big deal!)

 

And it is interesting to note that the timing of this breakout was not due to popularity or Marvel "deciding" to gamble on new comics titles. It came about becuase Marvel finally received clearance to get new mailing licenses and distributor slots so they could up their monthly lineup. They had been held at 8 or 12 a month (I forget the details) since the early 60s! And, also of note, their distributor was actually DC Comics! Before this, if they wanted to add a new comic, they literally had to cancel an existing one!!

 

Thats what I remember. I'm sure I've only got 80% of the details right. Those of you who know the story, please fill in what Ive missed or screwed up.

 

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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Posted

While I haven't much spent time analyzing the prices of the books mentioned, most of those do not even get double guide for a CGC NM copy. In other words, take guide price with a grain of salt. Just because Thor 126 doesn't guide for as much as most of them, doesn't mean it actually doesn't sell for as higher or higher than most of them.

 

While I don't expect O/S will decrease the value of those books, one shouldn't expect much increase in prices over then next decade. Normally Silver-Age Marvels get anywhere from 2-4 times guide for CGC NM copies, yet none of these books do.

 

Classic books but, TOO MUCH SUPPLY.

 

 

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Posted
what... why all the Thor haters? thor is awesome... !

 

My take is the link to religion. Thor being a god makes the dynamics of how he interacts with his enemies and the rest of the Marvel universe really weird. The typical conception/misconception of ancient gods is that they're all powerful. For the longest time as a kid, I wondered what the point of Thor fighting anybody was...why wouldn't he just call Odin to kick everybody's butt?

 

Of course, I hadn't read the comic enough to figure out that Stan had made the gods more "human" and limited in what they could do so they weren't all-powerfully omniscient. But that's why I figure a lot of people never give Thor a chance...his link to the gods turns them off for whatever reason. I always thought he should be in his own universe, separate from the other Marvel heroes, and it seemed strange that he would be just another member of the Avengers.

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

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I guess that's fair... but Thor's the only one who broke away from Asgard choosing to protect Earth over his own home many times... And given the power scale in the Marvel U, Thor is one of the most powerful characters still, but there were plenty of villians to give him a challenge.

 

Actually, the current Thor storyline where he becomes the ruler of Asgard has developed into one of the best Thor runs (although the art is inconsistent and often not that good) in recent memory... probably the best since Simonson, since they've successfully altered the character and making new and different kind of story direction.

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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I guess that's fair... but Thor's the only one who broke away from Asgard choosing to protect Earth over his own home many times... And given the power scale in the Marvel U, Thor is one of the most powerful characters still, but there were plenty of villians to give him a challenge.

 

The continuing challenge for Marvel in the presentation of their characters over the years is that what you just described above is not something most people are gonna know! That's why I love that summary page they started putting on most new comics a few years ago...that's a great place to give the overview of who Thor is and where he came from. I read a few issues from the mid-1980s and none of my misconceptions of the character were cleared up by them.

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Proverbs22_2

Proverbs22_2

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Thor sucks.*

 

Gene

 

* - except for the Walt Simonson run grin.gif

 

Shouldn't it be: Thor sucketh?

 

893Funny-thumb.gif893Funny-thumb.gif893Funny-thumb.gif

 

Verily!

 

I was always amused that he spoke in Shakespear's iembic pentameter, instead of like the Swedish Chef from "The Muppet show"...

 

-Joe

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ninanina

ninanina

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Question?

 

Are just the initial issues of these re-launches common in hi-grade, or are subsequent issues just a bit harder to find? If so, this would be a symtom of hoarding..... woudn't it?

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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That's a great question (which sorry I don't know the answer).

 

If you look at the census, in most cases there are an amazing amount of high-grade copies of the first issue. But what I really want to know; is that because the first issue is much more valuable, therefore many more copies have been submitted. Or were there really a lot less of the subsequent issues published (and less hoarded).

 

Anyone know?

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ninanina

ninanina

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...or Thor doth suck.

 

Okay, say this really fast 10 times. Betcha' can't do it.

 

Thor doth thuck. Thor doth thuck. Thor doth thuck. Thor doth thuck.Thor doththuck. Thordothuck. Thordothuk. ThordothukThordathukThordathuk.

 

Told you. grin.gif

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shadroch

shadroch

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Here is one mans opinion based on along time collecting and dealing

Caps- 102,103 not as common as 100,101

Ironman-all common

Hulk- pretty common

subby- a lot rarer than most people think,esp true mints

Thor-126 is more common than a few of the following issues. 132 seems rarer in VG than NM

Drstrange-never had enuff demand to make an opinion

Nick Fury-there seem to be alot of unbought newstand copies out there..

This is just my opions, gathered over the years.And it could vary regionnaly-I"m from NY, and rarely have done shows that were not in driving distance. Perhaps the Koch-Dolgorf-Koch warehouse finds skewed it in NY

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