What Silver Age book would you invest in??

[sfilosa]

Dan

I have to agree with you. ASM's nobody really wants them unless they are 9.4+ I know I don't really want a 9.0/9.2 AS unless it's #11,other than that,I'll do without.

 

Kevin:

 

Tons of people want ASM in less than NM, just look at the sales on eBay and Heritage.

 

ANY INVESTMENT GAIN IS BASED ON:

 

1) What you pay for it

2) What you sell it for

 

 

I agree with Dan that as time goes on, More and More people will look at the Eye Appeal of the book in ADDITION to the grade assigned by CGC.

 

I showed in another tread that a Tales to Astonish in VF just sold on Heritage for less than $1,500 (which is about 60%) of guide. The problem was not that it was a VF, but that it had terrible eye appeal and really didn't look like a VF. If this had been a strong, clean, bright VF with only spine stress and minimal wear, this book would have sold for $400-500 more (I would have bought it).

 

Remember, CGC assigns a grade to a book, but they DO NOT determine the VALUE of the book. And the more expensive books get, collectors will get more and more picky about what defects they will accept in a book (regardless of the grade assigned).

[COI]

have to agree with you. ASM's nobody really wants them unless they are 9.4+

 

Wha? That's news to me. 9.0-9.2's are EASIER to sell, especially on the early stuff. ASM is the most demanded title, and not many people have the ability or the desire to pick up 9.4+ copies of every issue, especially the frst 20, #28 etc...

 

As for the original quesiton, most of the solid books have been covered. People mentioned issue #'s and price, but one thing no one has mentioned is the quality of the actual copy you are buying. There is no bigger bargain than picking up a strictly(or under graded) 9.2, and there's nothing worse than paying multiples for a 9.4/9.6 book that has been loosely graded. So it's not enough to just aquire a CGC 9.4 DD #7, but if you want a decent chance of keeping(or possibly growing) your money, you have to make sure that the copy you bought is a soid 9.4. Some call that being picky, but I don't. If you're spending thousands of $$$ on a comic, it isn't being picky to make sure you're getting your money's worth.

 

So look for early key/classic/high demand books that are not seen everyday, but don't just dismiss anything that isn't labeled 9.4, or jump on board either. I would hope that the person who ends up buying that X-Men #1 CGC 9.4 gets a very good look at it. I don't care how big of a key it is, or how rare it is in grade. If you plan on holding a book for years and years, you will inevitably lose buying an over-graded copy, regardless of what the label says.

 

[Verbow]

I have to agree with you. ASM's nobody really wants them unless they are 9.4+ I know I don't really want a 9.0/9.2 AS unless it's #11,other than that,I'll do without.

 

I'll third the last two posts. Assuming that 9.4 early Spideys are selling for around 3x Overstreet, one would need $164,100 to pick up the first 10 issues. What a bargain!

 

I was talking with Bob Storms at Wizard World Chicago and he said it's much easier to unload 8.5 Spideys than 9.4s. Why? Cause there's a lot of Spidey completionists out there who can't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars completing a 9.4 run.

 

 

[Kevin76]

I have to agree with you. ASM's nobody really wants them unless they are 9.4+ I know I don't really want a 9.0/9.2 AS unless it's #11,other than that,I'll do without.

 

I'll third the last two posts. Assuming that 9.4 early Spideys are selling for around 3x Overstreet, one would need $164,100 to pick up the first 10 issues. What a bargain!

 

I was talking with Bob Storms at Wizard World Chicago and he said it's much easier to unload 8.5 Spideys than 9.4s. Why? Cause there's a lot of Spidey completionists out there who can't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars completing a 9.4 run.

 

 

I'm my own experaince,9.0/9.2 are easy to sell,what i meant was they are hard to make money on.Unless you bought the book raw and it came back a 9.2 on a spidey 36 for example,it's hard to make $ on it, maybe a 50 or a hundred bucks or something,but nothing to brag or write home about.9.4's for me can move quickly and can make a decent and good chunk of change. Kevin

[drdonaldblake]

bob storms had a xmen 1 cgc 9.2 double cover that was on his site for $25k, it was off his site with a coupla weeks so im assuming it sold

 

a 9.4 xmen 1 would prob go for $40-47k

[Kevin76]

bob storms had a xmen 1 cgc 9.2 double cover that was on his site for $25k, it was off his site with a coupla weeks so im assuming it sold

 

a 9.4 xmen 1 would prob go for $40-47k

 

Yea he sold it at the MSG show...I guess the guy who bought it has it on layaway for like a year..He said something to the effect like "in this economy you have to" unquote about being ask how would someone pay for that so to speak. Kevin

[comicartfan]

Kevin I think this is a good topic for a thread. My investment pick would be Daredevil #7 in 9.2-9.4 There are hardly any copies out there and Daredevil is becoming a popular character thanks to the movie and Bendis. With a guide price of only $350 I think this book in high grade has room to move. And lets face it can't get much cooler than the first red Daredevil costume.

 

Hope this helps,

Ericc123

 

 

Good choice Eric ! --

 

Michael

[sfilosa]

Quote:

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Kevin I think this is a good topic for a thread. My investment pick would be Daredevil #7 in 9.2-9.4 There are hardly any copies out there and Daredevil is becoming a popular character thanks to the movie and Bendis. With a guide price of only $350 I think this book in high grade has room to move. And lets face it can't get much cooler than the first red Daredevil costume.

 

Hope this helps,

Ericc123

 

 

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Good choice Eric ! --

 

 

 

While I don't disagree that this is a HOT book and hard to find (I know I need a copy), you probably are going to pay 4-5 times the NM guide price for a CGC NM- (9.2) copy. Therefore, a CGC NM copy will probably be 7-10 times guide.

 

So there is no question the book is terribly undervalued in the guide, but that DOESN'T mean the MARKET PLACE is undervaluing the book. So if you do buy a copy for $3,500 in NM today, is this really going to be worth $28,000 in 27 years (which assumes an 8% return). I don't know?

 

 

[comicartfan]

I've been reading these posts and feel compelled to throw my two cents in. I agree with alot of what was said here, but there are some things that need to be cleared up. First, I think that a HUGE part of the collectors' market is being unrepresented here...mainly DC collectors. Now,my brother thinks that DC sucks, but he also thinks there is an easter bunny, so we know where is mind is

 

The Dc market is smaller than Marvel in terms of key Silver Age stuff and that the rules of this thread was no Golden Age..So i will stick with those eras. The DC market is also extremely undervalued for major Key books. I have listed a few although not all of them , that I think have growth potienal...with being relatively undervalued in the OS guide.

 

Silver Age

 

 

Batman 155, 171 & 189

Brave and Bold 28, 34, 57

Justice League 1, 9

Flash 105, 137 & 175

Superman 199

Brave and Bold 54

Detective 359, 370 & 371

Green Lantern 40, 59

 

Bronze Age

 

Superman 233

Batman 244, 251

Detective 400

Green Lantern 76

WW 159,178,199 & 200

 

Modern Age

 

Dark Knight Returns 1-4

Batman 400

Flash 350

Superman 75 -Platnium edition

Crisis on Infinte Earth 7 & 8

 

Now, this is just not the end all to be all, it's just a list of DC books that I feel have potential to see growth from the current status.- as more collectors realize how rare high grade DC books really are, then maybe the value will reflect that.

[FlyingDonut]

At the risk of sounding like Gene - why in the hell would you "invest" in already slabbed Silver Age? Your target demographic is aging, the price is already factored into the book, and you're chasing a shrinking target.

 

If you must "invest" in Silver Age, buy ungraded mid-grade Fantastic Four, Superman and Spider-Man, which you can get for almost nothing and spin it. If you can buy a destroyed ASM 50 for $1 and sell it for $5, you're doing well. I don't see how anybody buying slabbed Silver is going to get a return on their investment that will be equivalent to anything you can get elsewhere. If you're "investing" in comics, this is a very bad time to be buying Silver.

[Foolkiller]

Actually... I'm surprised you left Batman 232 off your list. Of all the books you listed, that's the book that has a tremendous amount of room for growth. OS lists it at $135 I think... and even though a CGC 9.4 or 9.6 (DAM might know about this beauty's real value) I think this book is far undervalued. It's the 1st Ra's and some tremendous Neal Adams art (great cover). Brave and the Bold 28 is a good pick too, as I think the first Justice League is an undervalued key. Plus, not a book that turns up in high grade too often. How about GL 76 going up? Another Adams book, that's also on a lot of Marvel collectors (including me) lists. Like the Tec 359 pick too.

 

I'm not real high on the rest of those books increasing in value that much. They're all great books, but I just don't see books like GL 40 (groundwork for Crisis, GA GL crossover) and 59 (1st guy gardner) seeing all that much increase in value... there's just not a huge demand for most GL books, or a lot of DC books in general.

 

From pure comic business perspective, I totally agree with Donut... but I think that there's an implication in the question that there's a consideration for the same individuals to be collectors at the same time, and are looking not just to make money in small increments over high dollar sales, but rather one key book that they hold as a long term investment and then hope that one day they tire of the book, but it will have appreciated significantly.

[dam60]

Actually... I'm surprised you left Batman 232 off your list. Of all the books you listed, that's the book that has a tremendous amount of room for growth. OS lists it at $135 I think... and even though a CGC 9.4 or 9.6 (DAM might know about this beauty's real value) I think this book is far undervalued. It's the 1st Ra's and some tremendous Neal Adams art (great cover). Brave and the Bold 28 is a good pick too, as I think the first Justice League is an undervalued key. Plus, not a book that turns up in high grade too often. How about GL 76 going up? Another Adams book, that's also on a lot of Marvel collectors (including me) lists. Like the Tec 359 pick too.

 

Well, since you asked

I think that a Batman 232 has the most significance to the title in the last 40 years easily. Ras was not only introduced in this series, but he has become a major player in the Batman lore.

 

My only other comment would be the Batman 155, first SA penguin. This book has had it's day in the sun and unless you have an uber HG copy, I can't see this being the book to bet the ranch on.

 

My top 3 Batman picks are:

Batman 232

Batman 227 (one of the classic NA covers and impossible in grade)

Batman 171 (Riddler)

and personally I think that Batman 251 is the BEST NA cover ever and will always be in high demand, although this is more abundant than any of the other three (at least IMO, but I don't aggressively shop for any of these books less the 171).

 

DAM

 

EDIT - I am sure that there are some good Detective books out there, but my area of specialty is just the Batman title.

[comicartfan]

Brian and Dave and future DC collectors,

 

Sorry I missed the 232.....and 234....Just an oversight. I was doing this off the top of my head, and knew I would forget something. I disagree about the GLs though.....I think those are great books that don't appear in HG that often- ...but that's cool if you guys disagree.....

 

And as far as Flying Donut's comments about not investing in the Silver Age stuff, I think it's getting harder and harder to find ungraded Silver ASm & FFs that are even worth grading...and to spend the money and the time (my time is worth something , as is most people's) , then I better make more than $20 on a book in order to make it worth the hassle. I am not saying that spending $150,000 on an AF 15 is the way to go either...as was allready debated....

 

Michael

[brian1227]

Gentlemen....

 

What do you think about collecting books in 8.0 to 9.0? It seems many of you are after HG books, but some of us (ahem) can't step up to the plate in that fashion, so I am looking to collect some keys in the midrange 8.0 to 8.5 range. Obviously, these won't appreciate over time as much, but do you think there is a market for these books?

 

BTW, after losing out on that ASM #14 auction, I did not hesitate to hit the BIN on an 8.5 ASM # 50. I think that's one of the nicest covers out there, certainly the best Spidey cover (although I do have a soft spot for ASM #39, which Raimi tried to recreate in Spider-Man).

 

Be interested in hearing your thoughts....thanks.

[rob_react]

I love books in that 8.0-9.2 range, and as long as they have good eye appeal I think they are great buys in today's market. Most of the Silver Age CGC books I buy are in that grade range. They are very nice looking books and they generally don't go for extreme prices.

 

[tod09]

I think ASM 40 is one of the best covers pre-100. I'm not crazy about ASM 50 and i think a lot of people are just swayed by the fact that it's the 1st app of the Kingpin. Actually, ASM 51 is also a better cover and you get to see him on the cover!

 

Tod

[Kevin76]

Tod,

I think Spidey 12 and 39 have the best covers pre 100,as well as 50 and 51,but I seem to like the 51 a bit more than 50,I don't think Spidey 39, 50 and 51 are going to make you rich in the future cause of how common they are but they are cool books

[sfilosa]

Gentlemen....

 

What do you think about collecting books in 8.0 to 9.0? It seems many of you are after HG books, but some of us (ahem) can't step up to the plate in that fashion, so I am looking to collect some keys in the midrange 8.0 to 8.5 range. Obviously, these won't appreciate over time as much, but do you think there is a market for these books?

 

There is a thread about VF books on the Comic General Forum.

 

I am of the belief that VF to NM- books have the potential to increase in value at a higher percentage rate than NM books over the next ten years. To clarify, I am not talking about O/S guide price but in actual market value price.

 

My argument is simply that a lot of times, a CGC NM- book will go for half of what a CGC NM copy does. I think, all the premium has been factored into NM books, while that might not be the case for HIGH-GRADE books that are not NM.

 

And think of it this way.

 

1) Say you have a NM book that has three light stress lines.

2) Now the same book gets one more light stress line.

3) Now CGC gives that book a NM- grade instead.

 

Should the value of that book actually drop in half because of that ONE OTHER LIGHT STRESS LINE.

 

NO.

 

And prior to CGC, that wouldn't have been the case either. But because of CGC a focus has come on that difference between 9.2 and 9.4 which I believe will become less of a factor over the next decade.

 

Hey, I could be Wrong.

 

 

 

 

[Drummy]

"Midhigh" grade books (6.5 to 8.5) are awesome, and certainly worth collecting with value appreciation in mind. The key is the eye appeal, as others have mentioned. Besides, with key books, it may be the only way to afford a beautiful copy. I recently bought an early Avengers and an early FF in "CGC 8.5" that looked better to me. These are the affordable copies that might have room to appreciate over many years rather than being stuck on a museum website with a price tag of $20K+.

 

Dan

[Foolkiller]

I totally agree with the above statement, and I think that these books are a good bargain raw too. Some of these books have very nice eye appeal and can be some really, really good bargains. It's a way to collect a wide variety of books in a number of different titles, and pick them up in nice shape as well. I like both DC and Marvel books (although I lean Marvel) so I can't afford, or don't want to buy just one 9.6 book... i prefer multiple 8.0s to 9.0s that can be had cheaply.