Any Comic Books Collectors Here?

[revo]

I collected comics as a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, but then left them in a box which was rarely opened for a good 20 years. Sometime in the early 00s, I decided to buy a bunch of silver age Spider Man and X-Men comics off eBay, but soon got disinterested once again.

Then one day I saw our old friend NakedRicci post on Facebook some of his comics he had graded by CGC, and decided to look to see what I had. I asked him if I could send him pics to see what books I should get graded, if any, and we came up with a solid bunch to submit, so I joined CGC last year and sent them off. I had only shown him the comics I thought would be worth something (i.e. the old ones, not the ones I bought from the newsstand). Most were the eBay books, but one was Spiderman 252, the 1st appearance of the black costume in the series, which 14-year old Revo bought from the local comic shop in 1984.

I didn't realize that "Silver Age" comics (pre-1975) would take over a year to be returned, but the Spiderman 252 came back after only a few months and graded out as an 8.5, which sells for $150-$200. Not a bad investment for 50 cents 38 years ago.

The other Silver Age Spiderman and X-Men I submitted finally came back last month, over a year after sending them, with grades ranging from 3.5 to 6.5, valuing them at anywhere from $125 to as high as $400 apiece. I had bought all these for around $25 apiece circa 2003.

After receiving them, my interest was stirred again, and so I re-checked my collection and saw that a lot of these other comics I bought as a kid were in fantastic shape, as they hadn't left their box home since the mid 1980s. Then a couple of weeks ago I went to a local flea market and found a guy who had a few boxes of mainly comics from 2000+, but I discovered Spawn 1-20 which were in amazing condition, and the guy only wanted $2 apiece for them.

I fired off a bunch of pics to NakedRicci again, and we narrowed it down to a solid 30-40 that should probably be graded, and so I'm off again today to ship out another 10. Included in those 10 are 4 I got from the flea market guy (2 Spawn #1 and 2 Spawn #9).


Steve, I believe you once owned a comic shop, right? Any tips?

[heyelander]

I've got that one (the first black suit). Bought it on Beach Week after graduating HS. It kicked off about 5+ years of collecting Marvel. I have a bunch of titles spanning the new 5-10 years.

I'm a bit of a careless person, so most are probably not in great shape. THey are in bags and boxes in my closet now, but they probably weren't too great when they went into the bags.

[ironfist]

I used to collect a lot when I was a kid and still have tons of them (in the 1000s likely) - a lot of Marvel, including that Spider-Man you mentioned, old X-Men, Avengers, Star Wars, Batman, etc. Some are in better condition than others but no doubt there is probably a lot of value there. How much did it cost to have them graded? I'm kind of nervous to ship them off like that and wouldn't even know where to sell them when it came down to that.

[revo]

I used to collect a lot when I was a kid and still have tons of them (in the 1000s likely) - a lot of Marvel, including that Spider-Man you mentioned, old X-Men, Avengers, Star Wars, Batman, etc. Some are in better condition than others but no doubt there is probably a lot of value there. How much did it cost to have them graded? I'm kind of nervous to ship them off like that and wouldn't even know where to sell them when it came down to that.

A 1-year membership to CGC is $150, which includes 6 free submissions. Silver Age comics are $35/apiece, post-1975 comics are $24 apiece. Then you can either buy the CGC shipping kit for $15 or do it yourself, and then shipping is $20-$25 each way. So the 10 I sent today cost me $150 membership + $96 for the remaining 4 submissions + $45 shipping roundtrip = $291 for 10.

I'll probably do another 10 in a couple of months, so that would run 10x$24 = $240 + $45 shipping, for $285. So figure $28-$29 per comic for post-1975, and $40 per comic for Silver Age.

So yeah, they have to be worth your while to grade. NakedRicci told me the Silver Age comics, any grade would be fine, but for most of the modern comics, you should only grade if it will get a 9.4+ if it isn't a "key" book.

[ironfist]

I have a lot of early issue X-men but they are not in very good shape (some minor rips and creases) so not sure if it's worth it. That is kind of a lot of money so I'd have to do some research into it if I ever have time.

[revo]

I have a lot of early issue X-men but they are not in very good shape (some minor rips and creases) so not sure if it's worth it. That is kind of a lot of money so I'd have to do some research into it if I ever have time.

Yeah.Those early XMen aren’t worth all that much in bad condition, but depends on the issue.

[Hornsby]

I wouldn't put too much into any issues of Spawn...they printed literally millions of these things. And many still exist because people thought that they had paper gold on their hands.

[revo]

I wouldn't put too much into any issues of Spawn...they printed literally millions of these things. And many still exist because people thought that they had paper gold on their hands.

That's true. But 9.8 graded Spawn #1's sell on eBay for $150-$200, and 9.6's for $75-$100, so it's definitely taking a gamble with the grade. Anything less than 9.4 and it wasn't worth it.

[Hornsby]

That's true. But 9.8 graded Spawn #1's sell on eBay for $150-$200, and 9.6's for $75-$100, so it's definitely taking a gamble with the grade. Anything less than 9.4 and it wasn't worth it.

Are they selling for that? Or is that just the asking price? You are a savvy investor, you can do much better than speculating on comics. If you really want to go that route, spend up on Gold and Silver age books...

[revo]

Are they selling for that? Or is that just the asking price? You are a savvy investor, you can do much better than speculating on comics. If you really want to go that route, spend up on Gold and Silver age books...

Yes, those are the most recent sold items - not the "Buy Now" price -- on eBay.

To wit, these sold this week:
Spawn #1 9.8: $202.50, $225.99, $225.00, $225.00
Spawn #1 9.6: $75.00, $84.00, $85.99, $93.00
Spawn #9 9.8: $139.00, $149.00, $143.99, $134.10
Spawn #9 9.6: $71.00, $56.00, $32.00, $43.00, $39.00

I'm not buying those types of comics, they were just at the flea market and the seller didn't realize what he was selling. I have been buying Silver Age comics, but getting them graded takes almost a year and a half. And the only place to buy them is eBay, where you're bidding against experts, or the local comic shop, but *if* they have them (they've told me those old comics just sit there and take up space), they're full market price without being graded. I've been going to some of the antique malls here in search of them, but not many have cards/comics.

And actually, graded Silver Age and/or key issues have continued to appreciate in value. But buying those books, such as Hulk #181 or Giant Size X-Men #1, would already cost thousands and my wife would flip a lid if I asked her permission to spend that kind of cash, lol.

[Steve 2.0]

I collected comics as a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, but then left them in a box which was rarely opened for a good 20 years. Sometime in the early 00s, I decided to buy a bunch of silver age Spider Man and X-Men comics off eBay, but soon got disinterested once again.

Then one day I saw our old friend NakedRicci post on Facebook some of his comics he had graded by CGC, and decided to look to see what I had. I asked him if I could send him pics to see what books I should get graded, if any, and we came up with a solid bunch to submit, so I joined CGC last year and sent them off. I had only shown him the comics I thought would be worth something (i.e. the old ones, not the ones I bought from the newsstand). Most were the eBay books, but one was Spiderman 252, the 1st appearance of the black costume in the series, which 14-year old Revo bought from the local comic shop in 1984.

I didn't realize that "Silver Age" comics (pre-1975) would take over a year to be returned, but the Spiderman 252 came back after only a few months and graded out as an 8.5, which sells for $150-$200. Not a bad investment for 50 cents 38 years ago.

The other Silver Age Spiderman and X-Men I submitted finally came back last month, over a year after sending them, with grades ranging from 3.5 to 6.5, valuing them at anywhere from $125 to as high as $400 apiece. I had bought all these for around $25 apiece circa 2003.

After receiving them, my interest was stirred again, and so I re-checked my collection and saw that a lot of these other comics I bought as a kid were in fantastic shape, as they hadn't left their box home since the mid 1980s. Then a couple of weeks ago I went to a local flea market and found a guy who had a few boxes of mainly comics from 2000+, but I discovered Spawn 1-20 which were in amazing condition, and the guy only wanted $2 apiece for them.

I fired off a bunch of pics to NakedRicci again, and we narrowed it down to a solid 30-40 that should probably be graded, and so I'm off again today to ship out another 10. Included in those 10 are 4 I got from the flea market guy (2 Spawn #1 and 2 Spawn #9).


Steve, I believe you once owned a comic shop, right? Any tips?

I did once own a comic shop. I really just got into graded comics and MOSTLY just get ones graded for my own collection. My biggest issue with grading books is the wait (as you mentioned). It's entirely possible the price for the book you send in could drop before it gets back to you. I tend to look at things from a collector's point of view than an investor's these days.

[Sour Masher]

I wouldn't put too much into any issues of Spawn...they printed literally millions of these things. And many still exist because people thought that they had paper gold on their hands.

That was me. I got into Spawn for awhile, have the first 20 issues somewhere, but I doubt any of them would grade out to be worth much of anything.

[Ken]

What's Spawn

[revo]

What's Spawn

It's a series that came out in the early 1990s from Todd McFarlane's independent line, Image Comics.