Your vote for worst golden age comic investment since first Overstreet guide?

[dekeuk]

What is the worst golden age comic investment you could have made in 1970 (first year Overstreet Guide was published) and held until now?

 

My vote has to go to Four Color (series 2) #10 (Flash Gordon issue).

 

According to my Overstreet #1 reprint, guide value was $125 NM in 1970 and $1325 NM in Overstreet #33 (my most recent guide). It only guides for about 10 times what it did in 1970.

 

Many comics guide for 1000 times (and more) what they did in 1970. Even the most average golden and silver comics are at least 100 times what they were in 1970.

 

By comparison, here is what else you could have purchased in 1970:

 

 

Golden Age:

 

Issue.............................. OPG #1 NM..... OPG #33 NM

 

Four Color #10................ $125................ $1325

 

Action #1....................... $300.................$400,000

Action #2......................... $70................. $42,000

Adventure #40.................. $75 ................ $58,000

All Star #1...................... $125 ................ $17,000

All Star #3...................... $135 ................ $50,000

Batman #1...................... $175 ............. $115,000

Batman #2....................... $60 ................ $18,000

Captain America #1.......... $150 .............. $115,000

Daredevil Comics #1......... $100 ............... $16,000

Detective #1.......................$125 ............... $56,000 VF

Detective #27 ....................$275 .............. $350,000

Detective #28 ......................$75 ............... $25,000

Detective #38 ......................$60 ............... $50,000

Flash #1.............................$125 ................ 92,000

Human Torch #1...................$80 .............. $40,000

Marvel Comics #1............... $250 ............ $300,000

Marvel Mystery Comics #2....$130 ............. $34,000

More Fun #1........................$100 ................ $5300 VF

More Fun #52......................$100 .............. $78,000

Submariner #1.......................$75 .............. $40,000

Superman #1....................... $250 ............ $240,000

Superman #2........................ $70 ............... $16,000

 

 

Just for fun, here is some Silver Age:

 

Amazing Fantasy #15........... $16 .............. $48,000

Amazing Spiderman #1......... $16 ............... $32,000

Brave & Bold #28.................... $5 ................. $7500

Detective #225 ............... 75 cents ................. $7000

Fantastic Four #1.................. $30 .............. $32,000

Hulk #1................................. $14 .............. $19,000

J.I.M. #83............................. $10 ................. $7000

Showcase #4......................... $12 .............. $38,000

X-men #1................................. $6 .............. $11,000

Amazing Spiderman #50........... $1 ................. $650

 

 

Yes, I now, we all wish we could have bought a lot more in 1970, if only I had been more than 2 years old. I was born 25 years too late I guess.

[Sid]

Yes because in 1970 you would've invested in those books planning on keeping it for this long to make profit.

[s-man]

Everytime people ask if I still collect "funny books" and I tell them yes, they give me a funny look until I show them a list like this one. The look on their face turns from a smirk to a frown and they say, "Now why didn't I collect comics!!??"

[evilsly]

I would have thought things like high grade action 1s and detective 27s were not particularly common even back in 1970, and the overstreet prices would have had no relation to the actual values, although obviously not as stratospheric as they have become.

[seank]

Consider also that a 1970 NM and a 2007 NM are two very different beasts. Examples of what could have passed for NM back then would probably only get VF today.

[KingOfRulers]

I think only three grades were used, right? 1.0 (Good), 1.5 (Fine) and 2.0 (NM).

[lou_fine]

I think only three grades were used, right? 1.0 (Good), 1.5 (Fine) and 2.0 (NM).

 

No, the grades were actually Good, Fine, and Mint which were in use for the longest while. The concept of NM didn't come in until much much later. And now we have NM- as the top of guide.

 

The price spreads were sort of all over the place with the most common being 1.0 for Good, 1.25 for Fine, and 1.5 for Mint. A few years after this, the standard was 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 price spreads for the longest time.

 

My, my, my.......how these mutiples have changed during the past several years with many long-time collectors figuring these spreads will only continue to become wider than they are today.

[Juswuh]

Interesting to see that FF #1 was the big silver age book back then...

[Mr. Zipper]

Interesting to see that FF #1 was the big silver age book back then...

 

You mean it's still not?

[dzminn]

What is the worst golden age comic investment you could have made in 1970 (first year Overstreet Guide was published) and held until now?

 

My vote has to go to Four Color (series 2) #10 (Flash Gordon issue).

 

According to my Overstreet #1 reprint, guide value was $125 NM in 1970 and $1325 NM in Overstreet #33 (my most recent guide). It only guides for about 10 times what it did in 1970.

 

Many comics guide for 1000 times (and more) what they did in 1970. Even the most average golden and silver comics are at least 100 times what they were in 1970.

 

By comparison, here is what else you could have purchased in 1970:

 

 

Golden Age:

 

Issue.............................. OPG #1 NM..... OPG #33 NM

 

Four Color #10................ $125................ $1325

 

Action #1....................... $300.................$400,000

Action #2......................... $70................. $42,000

Adventure #40.................. $75 ................ $58,000

All Star #1...................... $125 ................ $17,000

All Star #3...................... $135 ................ $50,000

Batman #1...................... $175 ............. $115,000

Batman #2....................... $60 ................ $18,000

Captain America #1.......... $150 .............. $115,000

Daredevil Comics #1......... $100 ............... $16,000

Detective #1.......................$125 ............... $56,000 VF

Detective #27 ....................$275 .............. $350,000

Detective #28 ......................$75 ............... $25,000

Detective #38 ......................$60 ............... $50,000

Flash #1.............................$125 ................ 92,000

Human Torch #1...................$80 .............. $40,000

Marvel Comics #1............... $250 ............ $300,000

Marvel Mystery Comics #2....$130 ............. $34,000

More Fun #1........................$100 ................ $5300 VF

More Fun #52......................$100 .............. $78,000

Submariner #1.......................$75 .............. $40,000

Superman #1....................... $250 ............ $240,000

Superman #2........................ $70 ............... $16,000

 

 

Just for fun, here is some Silver Age:

 

Amazing Fantasy #15........... $16 .............. $48,000

Amazing Spiderman #1......... $16 ............... $32,000

Brave & Bold #28.................... $5 ................. $7500

Detective #225 ............... 75 cents ................. $7000

Fantastic Four #1.................. $30 .............. $32,000

Hulk #1................................. $14 .............. $19,000

J.I.M. #83............................. $10 ................. $7000

Showcase #4......................... $12 .............. $38,000

X-men #1................................. $6 .............. $11,000

Amazing Spiderman #50........... $1 ................. $650

 

 

Yes, I now, we all wish we could have bought a lot more in 1970, if only I had been more than 2 years old. I was born 25 years too late I guess.

 

I have my doubts how many of these could really have been purchased for the prices listed and in the condition stated.

 

It does make for interesting reading however

 

[tth2]

I have my doubts how many of these could really have been purchased for the prices listed and in the condition stated.

 

It does make for interesting reading however

 

Maybe that's true, but you can't buy them today in grade at Guide either. So even if it cost 2 or 3X Guide back then for an Action 1 (and let's remember paying multiples wasn't all that common a phenomenon back then), you're only talking about $900 at the most, and we know that the Church copy of Action 1, as close to NM as we know exists, would without a doubt fetch over $1,000,000 today.

[dekeuk]

I have my doubts how many of these could really have been purchased for the prices listed and in the condition stated.

 

 

 

They could have been purchased for a lot less if you got lucky. In 1970, the golden age stuff was only 30 years old, people were selling original owner golden age comics at garage sales and estate sales as useless junk. The public had no idea comics were worth money. Proof came 7 years later in 1977 when the owners of the Mile High collection were in the process of throwing out the entire collection after Edgar Church died, before the collection was rescued from the scrap heap by Chuck.

[dekeuk]

Yes because in 1970 you would've invested in those books planning on keeping it for this long to make profit.

 

My point was just how bad an investment Four Color #10 has turned out to be, regardless of when you purchased it in the last 37 years. This was considered one of the most valuable comics in the world in 1970, topped only by comics like Action 1, Detective 27, Superman 1, Batman 1, and Marvel 1, (and a couple others by a couple dollars). So what happened to this comic? Hell, Hulk 181 is worth more than this one is now.

[garthgantu]

I have my doubts how many of these could really have been purchased for the prices listed and in the condition stated.

 

It does make for interesting reading however

 

Maybe that's true, but you can't buy them today in grade at Guide either. So even if it cost 2 or 3X Guide back then for an Action 1 (and let's remember paying multiples wasn't all that common a phenomenon back then), you're only talking about $900 at the most, and we know that the Church copy of Action 1, as close to NM as we know exists, would without a doubt fetch over $1,000,000 today.

 

My recall is undoubtedly far from precise, but in 1974 or '75 I believe you could very easily pick up books like Action 1 or 'Tec 27 at guide in grades below say, VF (or what we would consider VF today). Certainly there was no real shortage of many GA and SA keys in the GD to FN/VF range, selling at or even below guide. Many times I remember thinking "I should just spend all $30 or $40 on that FF 1 in what looks like VG/FN or so" ... then the less prophetic side of my brain would come back with "are you nuts? it's day 1 of a 3-day convention...! You can buy 150 comics that guide for $200 with that $40 if you play your cards right!" And as an 11- or 12-year old, the quantity over quality argument always won out...after all, I need something to read on the 4-hour drive home when the show was over!

[garthgantu]

I have my doubts how many of these could really have been purchased for the prices listed and in the condition stated.

 

 

 

They could have been purchased for a lot less if you got lucky. In 1970, the golden age stuff was only 30 years old, people were selling original owner golden age comics at garage sales and estate sales as useless junk. The public had no idea comics were worth money. Proof came 7 years later in 1977 when the owners of the Mile High collection were in the process of throwing out the entire collection after Edgar Church died, before the collection was rescued from the scrap heap by Chuck.

 

You've really bought into the Chuckie version of the story, haven't you? Setting that aside, your point is very valid... even many years after the Church collection discovery, "old funnybooks" were pretty easy to find for pennies on the dollar. I'd say eBay has done more to raise the average consumer's awareness of the value of vintage comic books than any single collection/pedigree discovery or sale.

[garthgantu]

Back to your original question - or at least one of them: "why would this FC #10 be so highly valued in 1970 and so 'little valued' today (at least comparatively)?"

 

I would venture to guess that in 1970, that early appearance of Flash Gordon was a highly regarded GA key of sorts, in the eyes of the deep-pocketed collectors of that time. That Flash Gordon was still viewed as being in the upper echelon of "super heroes" at that time - while Spidey and FF were both less than 10 years old and viewed to some extent as 'upstarts' or possibly even 'passing trends' in the making...

 

Today, the average 30- or 40-something collector who spends significant money on comic books views the FF and Spidey as his or her earliest heroes of note, while Flash Gordon is nearly forgotten.

 

Maybe a new film about Flash Gordon, starring George Clooney or Jim Carrey, with an edgy new look and lots of gratuitous violence, would catapult this and other Flash Gordon comics to prominence again and cause prices to jump.

[dzminn]

I have my doubts how many of these could really have been purchased for the prices listed and in the condition stated.

 

 

 

They could have been purchased for a lot less if you got lucky. In 1970, the golden age stuff was only 30 years old, people were selling original owner golden age comics at garage sales and estate sales as useless junk. The public had no idea comics were worth money.

 

I was 14 years old in the summer of 1970 and this was somewhat true in my area. I frequented sales regularly at that time and for the following 35+ years.

 

Never found anything on the GA list at the start of this thread however. The Silver Age items were available, just not in NM.

[lou_fine]

Yes because in 1970 you would've invested in those books planning on keeping it for this long to make profit.

 

My point was just how bad an investment Four Color #10 has turned out to be, regardless of when you purchased it in the last 37 years. This was considered one of the most valuable comics in the world in 1970, topped only by comics like Action 1, Detective 27, Superman 1, Batman 1, and Marvel 1, (and a couple others by a couple dollars). So what happened to this comic? Hell, Hulk 181 is worth more than this one is now.

 

The answer to your question is very simple.

 

Back in the early 70's, the hobby was just starting out and collectors simply paid a lot more attention to the origins of the comic book. As a result, the newspaper reprint books such as Famous Funnies, Feature Comics, etc. were actually quite highly valued at that point in time. If I remember correctly, Feature Comics #26 with Prince Valiant was one of the most valuable comics at the time (Top 10?) and is now still langusihing at only $1,275.

 

The hobby has now become more "matured" with collectors sharply narrowing their collecting interests. Needless to say, this focus has now moved entirely to the super-heroes, especially when it comes to the general public.

 

There does appear to be a slight movement back towards a limited number of the pre-hero books by some of the more sophisicated collectors, but definitely nothing back to the newsprint origins of the comic books.

 

That's my take on the situation and I certainly don't see anything changing anytime soon.

[dekeuk]

Maybe a new film about Flash Gordon, starring George Clooney or Jim Carrey, with an edgy new look and lots of gratuitous violence, would catapult this and other Flash Gordon comics to prominence again and cause prices to jump.

 

 

Yes, especially if they use the QUEEN song again for the theme song, only this time with 50 Cent rapping it out:

 

FLASH...... ahhhhhhh....... savior of the universe

[Bronty]

defunct publisher, forgotten character... need we say more.