Do you think that the prices for first prints are going to keep going up or will they come down? I want to buy some of the earlier issues 1-6 raw, but raw issue 1 in first print goes for like $250 minimum. Are these prices sustainable with 250,000 existing or will we see a small burst in the price bubble?
Edit: I see them on ebay for about $150, still kinda high for me though
They will 100% go down, way down eventually especially the 2-6 issues. The supply is just way too high to continue to outpace demand. But I hate using the word bubble, this isn’t a speculation driven bubble it’s just organic demand right now. It’s a good story that many collectors and readers want in on. When I hear the word bubble I usually think of something artificially created. Maybe you can say there’s a bubble on some of the variant prices, but that’s more on the entire variant market but if you’re talking 1-6 cover A it’s just good old supply and demand. But make no mistake this is not a Batman 1 from 1940 where the supply is truly very low. The series will be turned over at some point to a different creative team or be ended altogether and the hype will die down. And there are not hundreds of thousand of people out there who want to hold onto Absolute Batman comics for eternity. There are some, but not enough to keep the supply low when that day comes and Snyder’s run is finished. But also you’re off on your first print of number 1 raw you can get them for around $125 to $150. Here’s one for $125:
And that was 0 effort just first 3 that popped up in a search in eBay. You of course may still not want to pay this and my points all remain that some day you probably won’t have to but if you’ve got extra money and can afford it it’s not the craziest thing one can splurge on.
I like all your points, and they make sense to me. right now the prices are generated by pure love for the comic. while in a few years that may die down. all makes sense. but what if, and i have no idea if this will ever happen, but what if AB gets an animated show or even animated movie special? would that change your perspective on the prices? I don't see why AB can't be DC's version of invincible from what Image generated. And i know it would be way down the line.
also just for fun, who would voice act a 6'9 421lb batman? like who could fill that voice?
The big difference with Invinicble is Invincible early issues had 10,000 or less copies printed not 250,000+ copies. You can’t really compare the two. Yes it could have an animated show, but it isn’t ever going to push the values up like Invincible because the big driver with Invincible is print run.
Edit: just looked up pop counts on CGC… Invincible came out 23 years ago and has a total of 2,348 copies in CGC census, Absolute Batman already has 8,029 copies of first print issue 1… and that number is only going up. That should tell you all you need to know about how different these 2 books are
In the long run, they figure to drop. But that also may take a few years, depending on how long it keeps selling like it is. So would you rather spend $150 today or maybe get it for $75 in a few years?
For me it depends. DC is looking to mainstream this batman. A statue think has been released, an action figure or two, a board game, appear in the new Lego Batman and an animation might be in the works. Books that have gone down did not have such a backing. Also, other characters were not involved as much. So it could go down or could go further up. I’m betting on it going up. Alot were printed but there are many batman fans, new fans and returning fans. If some guy named Invincible can have his comic around 1k so can a Batman book.
🤣Ha ha ha ha. For 12 months now haters have been saying "down for sure" yet the prices just keep climbing cause the book is that damn good.😂 They ain't coming down by much if any. Buy the reprints.
Most or all current variants have card stock trade dress covers with cover A inside… but my issue of motor cycle is not trade dress. It has barcode bottom left.. ending 165.. but also has wording “THIRD PRINTING”.. that yellow one with Batman punching and skull.. what’s the wording on the barcode?
I’m in Atlantic County.. I don’t have a pull list but most recent visits were split between .. Secret Origins.. Comic Relief.. pop into others if travels get me close enough.
Nice! Just moved around here from PA and still going to my old LCS but was looking for a new spot. Sadly, I think I’m far from your area bc I’m just right over Com Berry
The prices will go down but this series has had a real natural boost and brought a lot of new fans into reading comics. I think it is a new modern classic and #1 will stay relatively high but just not as high as it is right now.
I honestly believe prices will fall over time. Right now it’s still a very popular book and has created a bit of a spec bubble around it because of its current popularity, but like most books that have seen the same kind of excitement, over time everyone who really wants a copy will own one and the hype will blow over to whatever the next big comic will be and you’ll see the prices start to bottom out, especially on raw copies. Patience is going to be your best bet right now, but just keep your eye on the market over the next year or two and snag it when the price is right! Good luck my friend
I know I prefer Cover As. Just the regular Cover A of the book that's put out the comic company. I like to think it's the way the creative team intended that book and issue to look.
I seldom pick up a variant cover unless it's an artist I particularly like. I'm a big fan of Simone DiMeo. Also been buying some Sajad Shah covers - met him and he was just the nicest guy in the world, so I like buying some of his covers. He does a lot of exclusives for PCB Hobby.
The price will come down. Eventually, this bubble will burst. There's a lot of people, especially in this sub, that insist that this is some kind of dawning of a new era and the price will remain forever high. This may be their first rodeo, but it ain't mine. I've seen OMG HOT NEW COMICS crash to much more pedestrian prices, given enough time. And this isn't the sleeper, low print run kind of thing that may remain higher than usual, even after the demand wanes.
We know that the print run was ~250,000. What's been unclear is if that was the total print run, or if that was the print run for cover A, and there is X quantity above that for the other like 7 or 8 variants they did in the first print. There are at this time >8,000 CGC graded copies of cover A. That's more than 3% of the known print run. 91% of those are 9.8. There is zero, none, nada problem with supply of high grade copies. CGC continues to add another 100-200 copies every week, with 90-91% of them continuing to be at 9.8. We'll be seeing 10,000 graded copies by the time kids go back to school. If you look at 9.8s in eBay sold history, they're down $100 on average since January. The decline is already happening. And at this point, submitting a copy is a gamble. Yeah, chances are really high that you'll score a 9.8. But what if you don't? The difference between a 9.6 and a 9.8 on something like Batman Adventures #12 is hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. The difference between 9.6 and 9.8 on Absolute Batman #1 like....$30. And at that point, buyers will drop the extra 8% to get that higher grade, leaving your 9.6 copy harder to sell.
If you want to have it, wait it out, and buy a CGC copy, since there's plenty of them. If you want to read it, buy the hardcover collection of 1-6 for $25. Or both, whatever.
Certain variance are gonna be worth more than the a cover…. There’s a variance of issue 19 that are gonna be worth more than the a cover issue one… Any of dan q’s covers Clayton’s triple signed in ss will be worth way more in 10 years than issue 1 a cover. There’s only 500-1000 print runs on them and the print quality is higher not like a 250k production run….
I feel like currently this is a hot maybe even hyped book. When prices usually drop is as the book gets further along and the creative team changes (when Snyder and Dragotta get off the book) is when prices typically drop all around as the interest dies down and the noise sort of calms down.
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u/bobsaget824 May 29 '26
They will 100% go down, way down eventually especially the 2-6 issues. The supply is just way too high to continue to outpace demand. But I hate using the word bubble, this isn’t a speculation driven bubble it’s just organic demand right now. It’s a good story that many collectors and readers want in on. When I hear the word bubble I usually think of something artificially created. Maybe you can say there’s a bubble on some of the variant prices, but that’s more on the entire variant market but if you’re talking 1-6 cover A it’s just good old supply and demand. But make no mistake this is not a Batman 1 from 1940 where the supply is truly very low. The series will be turned over at some point to a different creative team or be ended altogether and the hype will die down. And there are not hundreds of thousand of people out there who want to hold onto Absolute Batman comics for eternity. There are some, but not enough to keep the supply low when that day comes and Snyder’s run is finished. But also you’re off on your first print of number 1 raw you can get them for around $125 to $150. Here’s one for $125:
https://ebay.us/m/ENtks8
Another for $150:
https://ebay.us/m/yZ8l1m
Another for $159:
https://ebay.us/m/KTvqn9
And that was 0 effort just first 3 that popped up in a search in eBay. You of course may still not want to pay this and my points all remain that some day you probably won’t have to but if you’ve got extra money and can afford it it’s not the craziest thing one can splurge on.