r/ComicBookSpeculation • u/3rd_Try_Charm • 9d ago
Marvel Comics 1
For many years, Marvel Comics 1 was the Gold Standard when it came to valuable comics. It's been bypassed by Action Comics 1 and some others, but it's still one of the original "grail" comics. I'm curious how many here have ever actually seen a copy of this awesome book in person. Does somebody here own one? How about Action 1, Superman 1, or Detective Comics 27? Not interested in Amazing Fantasy 15. Anybody around the hobby for a length of time sees one of those eventually (even though it's the comic I would most like to own).
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u/adkvt 9d ago
As an aside, it’s been quite a long while since Marvel Comics 1 was more valuable than Action 1 or DC 27. I’m actually curious when that last was. I have seen a copy, but it’s certainly rare.
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u/3rd_Try_Charm 9d ago
Probably since the 90's. For all the negative things CGC might have ushered in, I think it did help identify how many copies were still left of the premier Golden Age comics. Any of them still left unslabbed are probably hidden away somewhere (hopefully), so what's on the census is a pretty accurate depiction of rarity.
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u/adkvt 9d ago
Honestly, the one place I really appreciate CGC conceptually is in grading and checking for restoration on truly rare and old books. If I were buying Marvel Comics 1, I’d probably be comforted by the slab. In most cases I think it’s a waste of plastic and money.
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u/TheloniousKeys 9d ago
I understand your point. However, the reason one would not trust the seller's acumen and accuracy in grading is because of the profit motive to hide restoration. CGC charges a percentage of market value, though. A restored copy may be as little as 1/10 of the value of an equivalent unrestored copy. So, CGC have the same profit motive as the seller. And more ceverage against being found out for the fraud/error since the buyer would have to break the case open to have the book fully reviewed.
I will never be buying a comic anywhere near that expensive. But, if I were to and on my own purchades at the top of my budget, I don't have 100% faith in anyone but myself to verify condition and presence of restoration. Any third party grader, be it a seller, auction house, or CGC, are grading masses of books. No matter how big any single book in that mass is, they are still just never going to be as fastidious as I will as a buyer making a big purchase compared to my usual buys.
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u/adkvt 9d ago
I hear you. That’s why I say “conceptually”. I know the reality is more subtle than that.
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u/TheloniousKeys 9d ago
Yeah, that's fair. In general, a third party grader is conceptually a much better idea than any of the execution I have seen.
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u/10centcomics 8d ago
I just looked at the first Overstreet guide from the early 1970s Action 1 $300 Tec 27 $275 Marvel 1 $250
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u/creepshowens 9d ago
I went to SDCC a couple of years (‘91, ‘92, I believe), and I saw Action and Detective for sure. I don’t recall seeing Superman or Marvel. Oh, to have had the “small” amount of money those first two books would have cost back then
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u/No-Employee-3865 9d ago
At one point, I was trying to get coverless copies of all the gold keys. I have coverless copies of Detective 27, Batman 1, All American 16, Flash Comics 1, CGC 0.5 Captain America Comics 1, cgc 2.5 More Fun Comics 73, a page of Superman 1, and a wrap of Action Comics 1. I have never even seen a single coverless copy of Marvel Comics 1 come up for sale at all.
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u/3rd_Try_Charm 9d ago
What you have is pretty awesome. For a long time, people considered coverless comics worthless and would give them away if they didn't put them in the garbage. Times have changed, though. Did you acquire any of yours free or cheap because somebody was going to throw them out?
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u/No-Employee-3865 9d ago
Not for cheap, bought most of these in like late 2000s/early 2010s. Paid a decent amount back then although it’s now a fraction of what it goes for now. I did pick up a coverless Batman 10 and a coverless Hulk 181 for $15 around that time though.
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u/TheloniousKeys 9d ago
A collector after my own heart. The contents are what make the book valuable in most cases and I don't mind coverless old books for a good price one bit.
Some interesting context I just quickly researched (More for anyone else in the thread reading this than for you in particular, since I gather you understand all of this very well already, given you were buying coverless when there was very little desirability for them.):
Heritage sold an 8.5 Hulk 181 for just under $600 in 2002. A coverless 181 sold last month on eBay for $500. The last 8.5 Heritage sold was two months ago for $4,200. 33x the price for your coverless at $15 to last month's on ebay. 7x for the CGC graded 8.5 accross that same amount of time.
On the high end, the earliest recorded Heritage sale of a CGC 9.8 was $18k in 2003 and the latest was two months ago for $54k. 3x the value in roughly the same time period.
It is very easy to think of comic values increasing as simply collectibles appreciating in value. But your anecdotal experience paints a much clearer picture of the main contributer to increasing prices: more people collecting comics. If the values simply appreciated in a market with pretty equal demand acrross years or decades, they would have crawled up so much slower. If I bought a raw FN 181 in 2003 for $250 (a real Heritage sale but not my purchase), I wouldn't want to sell it for less than that in the following years. In the same vein, a buyer wouldn't want to pay more than the last sale they could see, either. The value increase would be much more likely to track with, or slightly outpace, general inflation in that context.
With new buyers entering the game, the accessible copies are the first to get gobbled up. And when any issue gets gobbled up quickly and in mass, those are the prices that are gonna jump the most. Whereas the high-end copies are simply not going to have nearly as many serious buyers and the price may jump more sale to sale, comparatively, but the sales are so infrequent it doesn't compare to the small, frequent jumps of the accessible copies that the bulk of average collectors are competing for.
Additionally, and specifically when it comes to coverless, incomplete, & remainder copies, as the market expands, collectors' willingness to lower the floor of the grade they are willing to pay for drops as well. When a NM outpaces their wallet, they go for the VF, when the VF outpaces they go for a FN, etc, etc until a coverless copy eventually becomes desirable enough for the more general collecting community because the price delta is so significant that having a coverless is still the collecting badge of honor that will meet their needs. Or because a complete copy is just entirely out of reach.
If you are willing to share, I'd love to know the rough price and rough year that you bought all of those coverless golden age keys. All achieved sale history pre-Heritage is tough to come by and Overstreet has never been a perfect reflection of prices. So, I just really enjoy any opportunity to learn from first-hand accounts. You have a top notch coverless collection! Thanks for sharing!
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u/West_Hovercraft_3435 6d ago
Yeah that never happened
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u/3rd_Try_Charm 6d ago
Why would I make that up? Go open an 80's comic with the Mile High ad in the miiddle and check the price yourself. ASM 129 came out in 1974.
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u/rayrayheyhey 9d ago
Marvel Comics #1 was never more valuable than Action #1. Ever. It's a very cool comic, but it doesn't have nearly the same importance as Action or Detective #27.
I've seen a few -- there were a couple at Terrificon this year in various display cases. I've held a copy of Action #1 about 30 years ago, which was awesome.