Comic book prices

[Mr.Marion]

Anyone else notice how high silver and bronze age comics are these days.

I've been on a Defenders kick and it seems #1-5 plus a few other issues are out of reach. I went to a flea market and the dealer was asking $95 for Ghost Rider #2.

I'd like to continue collecting but not if prices are unreasonable.

[MRP]

You have to be patient and lucky. Keys, graded or otherwise are commanding top dollar, but midgrade and lower, especially non-keys are still very affordable and the gap between what high grade books get and what mid to lower grade books get is widening.

You mention Ghost Rider, I just got #3 and #4 in F/VF this past weekend at a con; they were marked $5 each but the dealer was selling everything at 50% off so I got the pair for $5. I also picked up a low grade reader copy of Savage Tales #1 (1st Man-Thing) for $10, a book I had wanted for a while but had been priced out of. There were lots of dealers out there with $5 Silver and Bronze boxes too. Of course there were people selling CGC copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 for an arm and a leg too, but that's the nature of the beast.

Yes prices are going up for keys and high grade books, but there are still affordable books out there if you look. Let's face it, those 70s books (like early Defenders and Ghost Rider) are 40+ years old now, older than FF #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 were when we were kids in the 70s. Their age and demand for them are going to drive prices.

-M

[Mr.Marion]

My goal is to get Defenders #1-50
#10 is a hot book right now because it's Hulk vs. Thor. #26-29 is pricey because that is Guardians of the Galaxy run.

I'd like to get Aquaman #42-56 but the deals just aren't there.

[samurainoir]

I find it's the high grade and keys that are in demand.

lately, with the collected editions and now digital as a thing, you can get lower grade "reading copies" for dirt cheap all over the place.

[WannabeMego]

Yup...Keys and High-Graded Older Books get the $$$.

If you ever question WHY a Modern Book is so much $$$, check these:

http://www.copperagecomics.com/keys.html

http://www.keyissuecomics.com/

Market should eventually correct itself for books sold in the 50,000+ Category...

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales.html

Patience is Key...You'll eventually get it at the right price...Good Luck

[Mr.Marion]

This is the kind of prices I'm talking about.
I bid $130 and was going to sell off the Killraven issues. But someone really wanted it.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5574962988&campid=5336846378&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F162405317067

[MRP]

This is the kind of prices I'm talking about.
I bid $130 and was going to sell off the Killraven issues. But someone really wanted it.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...2F162405317067

Well the first solo Beast (w/first appearance in his fuzzy form) and the first Killraven are Bronze Age keys, and the 2 of them in high grade alone would have sold for half to 2/3 of what that lot did. Any lot that includes high grade keys is going to go for good money. If the lot had been absent those 2 issues, it would have gone for considerably less, but if there's a high grade key involved, it is going to go for top dollar. Plus ebay is not the place to find back issue bargains. If you are shopping ebay, you are going to pay at least market value, anything less than market value there is going to get snapped up by dealers who will add it to their show or store stock and flip it at market value. Ebay sellers ahve to sell it at a certain price to recoup their ebay fees and paypal fees or else it becomes non-profitable for them to do so. It's why I stopped selling comics on ebay a decade ago.

If you are looking for deals, you go to cons where dealers are moving non-key and low to mid grade stock for a few dollars each or comic shops who are having event sales and selling back issues at % off anywhere form 25 to 75% depending on store and situation. If you want good prices you have to look for them. It is like any other commodity, if you just show up at a store to buy it, you are going to end up paying whatever they charge for it, but if you look for sales, shop around and go to places that are the equivalent of bargain outlets, you can get the goods at prices that are more palatable. Ebay has replaced the mall in the American shopping mindset, so you are going to pay mall prices for whatever you buy there, which means market value in most cases, and it is where you will find the greatest level of competition for the goods, which means demand will drive prices up.

It's not the prices of comics in general that is the issue here, it's where you are looking to buy them. High grade and keys are always going to get good money, but if you go to he first pale everyone looks for them, they are going to stay at those prices or go even higher because there is a larger pool of people looking for the same things you are.

The back issue market has evolved, and if you want to find what you are looking for at good prices, your methodology of shopping it has to evolve with it.

-M

-M

[Mr.Marion]

Well I did go alittle overboard the past month on my comic buying. I overpay for some books but I like to get Fine or better. The right guys will work with you at comic cons but right now I don't have a partner in crime that has time to drive with me to shows every weekend. From the trades at the library, comic podcasts, and the books I remember seeing/having as a kid I know what to look when I do go a convention.

Right now eBay is my best bet because it's worth what someone is willing to bid as opposed to an overstreet guide or some comic story sticker. I have gotten good deals in the past I got Ironman #91-100 in VF shape for $6 and Aquaman 57-63 for $12 shipped.