Which VEI Comic Will Start Going For Over Cover First?

[CallMeBloodshot]

It happens still. Hawkeye #1 is going for $25-$30 consistently on ebay.

Yeah, are people really buying it for that? I see people on eBay sell and buy everything way overpriced sometimes. Also I could be wrong, but it seems there's always an early scuffle like this among collectors as they think a comic (in this case Hawkeye) will have this massive price jump, but no one else is going to want it in 20 years. Why would the demand grow for a Hawkeye issue? He's like the most made fun of character from Avengers.

I see your point, I guess I just think its silly.

Yes they are I just sold a First Print #1 at a show in Sacramento a few months ago for $40

Hawkeye is hot as a title

-Brian

Yeah Aja an Fraction and all that, Eisner talk, etc.

But I wonder if you would have sold that if you expected the price to continue to go up the way it did. My guess is you cashed in at the right time.

Also, everyone's a collector these days so its not like we can expect comics to every reach golden or silver age prices in the future. Back then basically everyone threw them away or didn't care for them. Hence why action comics and stuff were SO rare and along with the increase in collectors years later. But with everyone bagging and boarding, collecting seems like a crap shoot if you're trying to make an investment out of it. There's always going to be another, better copy.

[Savant]

The way I understand it comic prices never increase significantly anymore. The most expensive modern book is like Invincible #1, and that's a rarity, and its not even that crazy expensive. But I guess Valiant could experience what Image did with Walking Dead and Invincible. But it's going to take a movie to drive the popularity far beyond what it could be with just comics. Hold onto your Shadowman and Bloodshot issues I guess.

Like the others have said, it still happens. It's just not as cut & dry as some believe it to be......Think 90s comic book boom/bust prospectors who went with the fallacy that #1 issues would all become super-valuable. It's similar to people who thought Star Wars: The Phantom Menace action figures would become gold mines.

Nowadays, it's comics which become unexpectedly popular which rise in value. In part because of the original print runs being lower, so there's a bit of a scarcity factor. Aside from earlier Walking Dead issues and Invincible #1, very recent comics such as Saga, Manhattan Projects, and East Of West are going for ridiculously high prices.

I didn't think DC's New52 line would become valuable. Those had huge print runs, and seemed to be a gimmick ala the Heroes Reborn stuff by Marvel back around the late 90s.........Yet some of the titles (Especially Snyder's Batman) sell for quite a bit.

Another unexpectedly high selling comic is Birds Of Prey #8, which was released back around 1999. It likely had a low print run, due to it being released during the comic bust, but it's of interest to collectors because it showcases Dick Grayson & Barbara Gordon's past with one another......This issue sells for around $150-$200, I believe.

Of course, there are loads and loads of comics from the past 10-15 years you'd be lucky to sell at half, or even 25% of, cover price. Many comics from the comic boom (late 80s/early 90s) are practically worthless.

As for the current Valiant titles, they don't seem to be rising in price all that much. Most seem to sell for around cover price. Some less, some more. If the company becomes more popular, over time, then the comics may justifiably rise in value. It makes no difference to me, though. I collect comics to enjoy the stories & art. I predominantly only sell comics, which become valuable, if I didn't like the issue(s).

However, if the question is being asked with the intention of speculating, I'd say forget it. Buy what you enjoy, and if it goes up in price and you're not adamant about owning a physical copy, sell it and it's a bonus. Trying to make modern comics an investment vehicle is a losing proposition. Most of them won't go up in value, and for those that do, the increase in price probably won't be enough to offset the time you put into selling and shipping them. If you're looking for an investment with a potentially big payoff I'd look into volatile small cap stocks. They're a much more liquid asset and you don't have to buy big boxes to store them. I've made far more by big swings in INO recently that I ever would have hoped for if I was speculating on comics.

Agreed. Unless you have extraordinary luck with your speculating skills (Bought multiple early issues of Saga, Walking Dead, and Manhattan Projects), you'll lose money in the long run and become disgruntled because you'll have bought too many titles which don't become investments at all, which offsets titles which do become valuable.

It's really more based on luck than "speculation"......It's far too difficult to gauge, and there are more worthwhile types of investments to go for.

Just thinking about this reminds me of people who would buy cases (Yes, cases, as in something like 15-40 sealed boxes) of football cards and such back in the early to mid-90s. I can't imagine having wasted money on all that and having them be practically worthless 20+ years later.

True but I'd argue these cases of getting an issue over cover at this stage is so rare, you lose in the end with all the variants and other gimmicks you buy into. So what if X-O #1 even reached 100. People spent how much on all those other comics that are now worth less than thy were. Also, I think Batman Snyder issues is ridiculous. That thing had a huge print run. I just maintain that it's a small percentage of people selling them and conversely believing thy should buy then for such high prices. But I guess if some people are willing to buy them for it Ican see your point. It's just so rare. Everyone is always buying up Image #1s now because they want to e on oars for the next Walking Dead type situation. But no one could have foreseen that. That comic had such a small run and to predict it would have become a hit TV show would have been impossible. Basically all the stars had to align for that to happen.

It's not that rare, although it's not common.....And If people are willing to buy certain comics at certain prices, then you might as well sell them if they're not issues you like all that much. On Ebay, all you have to do to make sure it sells (Well, it has to be a "hot" comic), is butter up the auction page you make. I'm not saying lie about the item, but just give it a little hype.

As for variants, I didn't even get into that. Variants are a crap-shoot. I've seen some end up going for far less than what they originally sold for, while some remain stable in price, and a few increase. Variants predominantly seem to sell for a high amount the first 1-3 months after they're released.

So what if X-O #1 reached $100? I'd sell my copy before the demand decreases, that's what. It's possible it could raise further in value, but there's also the possibility, like a lot of newer comics out there, that there's a high demand for it at one point, then the selling price dramatically decreases over a short period of time.

An example would be Batgirl #1 from the New52.....I didn't care for the comic, so I sold it on Ebay the first month it was out. I think I sold it for $12 plus shipping (Whereas I bought it at cover price). Granted, that doesn't inflate my bank account (Unless I did such with 50-100 copies), but I didn't lose money on it. The comic actually increased in value at one point, which I totally didn't expect. I think it was selling for $20-$25 & up, but now it seems to have stabilized at $15 or so......I figured it was one of those "hot" items which would plummet in value a few months later. During that point where it raised to a $20-$25 value, I could've bought more mint copies at cover price from my LCS and sell them on Ebay, but I didn't care enough to. *shrug*

[nutflush76]

It happens still. Hawkeye #1 is going for $25-$30 consistently on ebay.

Yeah, are people really buying it for that? I see people on eBay sell and buy everything way overpriced sometimes. Also I could be wrong, but it seems there's always an early scuffle like this among collectors as they think a comic (in this case Hawkeye) will have this massive price jump, but no one else is going to want it in 20 years. Why would the demand grow for a Hawkeye issue? He's like the most made fun of character from Avengers.

I see your point, I guess I just think its silly.

Yes they are I just sold a First Print #1 at a show in Sacramento a few months ago for $40

Hawkeye is hot as a title

-Brian

Yeah Aja an Fraction and all that, Eisner talk, etc.

But I wonder if you would have sold that if you expected the price to continue to go up the way it did. My guess is you cashed in at the right time.

Also, everyone's a collector these days so its not like we can expect comics to every reach golden or silver age prices in the future. Back then basically everyone threw them away or didn't care for them. Hence why action comics and stuff were SO rare and along with the increase in collectors years later. But with everyone bagging and boarding, collecting seems like a crap shoot if you're trying to make an investment out of it. There's always going to be another, better copy.

Collectors or not, most books these days have lower print runs than copies available of some of those late Golden age books. Books like captain Marvel and Action Comics were routinely reaching print runs of a million or more.

All of the kids who are growing up and watching Batman, Superman, and Iron Man on the big screen are one day going to become adults who want the comics of their youth. Those are today's books. They won't have to ask their parents to buy them, they will just buy them for themselves and price won't matter as much.

I remember being a kid and you could get books like Batman 232 for $5.00. Now, you couldn't even get a VG copy for that. There is no way to know what is going to be a $200.00 book 30 years from now. But, if there is still a comic industry, a lot of these books are going to be worth a lot of money.

You know what the most valuable books are going to be? The same ones that it always is. Batman, Superman, Spider-man, etc. All of the big names.

As for the Valiant books, I think that the first 4 #1s, X-O, Harbinger, A&A, and Bloodshot will be the most sought after in the future. I don't think that the re-introductions of characters like Dr. Mirage or Ninjak are going to be too valuable. I think that collectors will covet their first appearances in VH1 more than the re-introductions. (although I am second guessing Dr. Mirage since she is not really the same character but time will tell.)

What will really take off in value for VEI is their first new creation that is popular enough to get its own book. Especially if it can draw some mainstream attention.

But this is all speculation. Ask me again in 25 years.

[bygranddesign]

Correct me if i'm wrong ... but I think the print runs for the current Valiant titles are lower than Pre-Unity Valiant

and Pre-Unity Valiant is pretty sought after still

So I think there is definitely a chance that these regular issues (not just variants) can see big jumps in price

But good press and word of mouth is not going to move these titles in terms of price

That might have worked in the comic explosion of the early-mid 90's ... but now you need movie and tv show speculation

(even though there is some valiant movie speculation ... i think it is confusing to collectors/speculators because 1) speculation has been ongoing for a long time and no clue on its progress 2) most importantly its unknown whether any movie would be based on the original characters or the re-imagined ones)

The good news is that movies and tv shows based on comics are hugely popular and usually are easy money makers for the studios. Some are bigger hits than others .. but for the most part they are very successful as a whole.

I just looked at kick *SQUEE* comics and 2 guns comics on ebay ... and raw copies are selling well above cover price. These are two comics i'm not really interested in but there are going to be people who become fans of those movies who are then going to want to own a physical copy of the actual comic (issue #1) to show what a big fan they are - hence the jump in price.

Mind MGMT movie rights were bought by a major studio (with Ridly Scott's name attached) and the 1st issue is going for 30-40 bucks NM raw already

So I think its not a bad time to be a collector

- print runs are not huge (not anywhere close to the mid-90's)

- Movies and TV shows based on Comics are very popular .. and they will take chances on indy/low print run comics

- a lot of people are buying only the TPB's or buying digital which is worthless. If these comics become popular TV shows or movies those same people will want to own a physical copy of their favorite comic.

In regards to Hawkeye, its a good comic and well respected

Disney which owns Marvel and ABC television I think could easily turn that comic into a hit TV show

and then that $40 Hawkeye #1 comic could double or triple in price easy

i actually missed out on Hawkeye and just got the TPB's so I would be one of those people interested in getting the 1st issue at least and probably would pay 20-30 bucks for it.

[dave]

First prints of Thief of Thieves are going for $100 on Amazon and that book came out about a year ago.

[tchalla8]

First prints of Thief of Thieves are going for $100 on Amazon and that book came out about a year ago.

being sold for or actually sold for? Big difference...

[dave]

Well...they are all listed for that price, so I assumed some were selling. There are several 3rd prints that are all listed for $30.

[ckb]

My picks:

Harbinger 1 pullbox
Shadowman 1 pullbox

[drmirage]

My picks:

Harbinger 1 pullbox
Shadowman 1 pullbox

I agree with the Shadowman 1 Pullbox.

If I am not mistaken, XO #1 2nd, 3rd print and AA #1 2nd Print are going for more than cover price.

[bygranddesign]

First prints of Thief of Thieves are going for $100 on Amazon and that book came out about a year ago.

being sold for or actually sold for? Big difference...

this one sold for 43 bucks

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thief-of-Thieve ... 43be59a3dd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this one sold for 57

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thief-of-Thieve ... 4611bb9826" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

pretty impressive I think ... and probably will go up even more once the TV show starts

and if its a hit show? .... then everyone will wish they bought issue #1 at 40-50 bucks

[CallMeBloodshot]

It happens still. Hawkeye #1 is going for $25-$30 consistently on ebay.

Yeah, are people really buying it for that? I see people on eBay sell and buy everything way overpriced sometimes. Also I could be wrong, but it seems there's always an early scuffle like this among collectors as they think a comic (in this case Hawkeye) will have this massive price jump, but no one else is going to want it in 20 years. Why would the demand grow for a Hawkeye issue? He's like the most made fun of character from Avengers.

I see your point, I guess I just think its silly.

Yes they are I just sold a First Print #1 at a show in Sacramento a few months ago for $40

Hawkeye is hot as a title

-Brian

Yeah Aja an Fraction and all that, Eisner talk, etc.

But I wonder if you would have sold that if you expected the price to continue to go up the way it did. My guess is you cashed in at the right time.

Also, everyone's a collector these days so its not like we can expect comics to every reach golden or silver age prices in the future. Back then basically everyone threw them away or didn't care for them. Hence why action comics and stuff were SO rare and along with the increase in collectors years later. But with everyone bagging and boarding, collecting seems like a crap shoot if you're trying to make an investment out of it. There's always going to be another, better copy.

Collectors or not, most books these days have lower print runs than copies available of some of those late Golden age books. Books like captain Marvel and Action Comics were routinely reaching print runs of a million or more.

All of the kids who are growing up and watching Batman, Superman, and Iron Man on the big screen are one day going to become adults who want the comics of their youth. Those are today's books. They won't have to ask their parents to buy them, they will just buy them for themselves and price won't matter as much.

I remember being a kid and you could get books like Batman 232 for $5.00. Now, you couldn't even get a VG copy for that. There is no way to know what is going to be a $200.00 book 30 years from now. But, if there is still a comic industry, a lot of these books are going to be worth a lot of money.

You know what the most valuable books are going to be? The same ones that it always is. Batman, Superman, Spider-man, etc. All of the big names.

As for the Valiant books, I think that the first 4 #1s, X-O, Harbinger, A&A, and Bloodshot will be the most sought after in the future. I don't think that the re-introductions of characters like Dr. Mirage or Ninjak are going to be too valuable. I think that collectors will covet their first appearances in VH1 more than the re-introductions. (although I am second guessing Dr. Mirage since she is not really the same character but time will tell.)

What will really take off in value for VEI is their first new creation that is popular enough to get its own book. Especially if it can draw some mainstream attention.

But this is all speculation. Ask me again in 25 years.

Even if the print runs are smaller, way more are being kept in pristine condition, because everyone and their grandmother bags and boards. Not the case 50 years ago.

[lorddunlow]

Even if the print runs are smaller, way more are being kept in pristine condition, because everyone and their grandmother bags and boards. Not the case 50 years ago.

Not the ones a lot of the ones that end up in the dollar bins. I think that's why key VH1 cgc 9.8s fetch good money. Tons of the comics exist, but very few in mint condition.

[CallMeBloodshot]

Even if the print runs are smaller, way more are being kept in pristine condition, because everyone and their grandmother bags and boards. Not the case 50 years ago.

Not the ones a lot of the ones that end up in the dollar bins. I think that's why key VH1 cgc 9.8s fetch good money. Tons of the comics exist, but very few in mint condition.

Hmm I actually think theyre fairly easy to find. There's tons of VF/NM Valiant stuff on eBay, and for fairy cheap.

Any who my point is comics won't ever experience a similar rate of increase in price as the old stuff because of a few reasons, one of them being they weren't cared for. Most people discarded them. Probably a comparable amount of people who took care of their comics then as people who don't now.

[lorddunlow]

Even if the print runs are smaller, way more are being kept in pristine condition, because everyone and their grandmother bags and boards. Not the case 50 years ago.

Not the ones a lot of the ones that end up in the dollar bins. I think that's why key VH1 cgc 9.8s fetch good money. Tons of the comics exist, but very few in mint condition.

Hmm I actually think theyre fairly easy to find. There's tons of VF/NM Valiant stuff on eBay, and for fairy cheap.

Now, are these comics you actually received and verified as VF/NM on eBay, or they are listed as such? Because in my experience there are no actual NM comics on eBay unless they are CGC.

My point, however, was that there are smaller print runs today, plus a lot of these comics do end up in dollar bins (due to retailer overordering to get variants), and that those comics will not be cared for, making the existing 9.8 candidates very hard to find (especially if you consider the paper quality for the early issues).

I really expect ckb's master set to be very valuable in the future.

[CallMeBloodshot]

Even if the print runs are smaller, way more are being kept in pristine condition, because everyone and their grandmother bags and boards. Not the case 50 years ago.

Not the ones a lot of the ones that end up in the dollar bins. I think that's why key VH1 cgc 9.8s fetch good money. Tons of the comics exist, but very few in mint condition.

Hmm I actually think theyre fairly easy to find. There's tons of VF/NM Valiant stuff on eBay, and for fairy cheap.

Now, are these comics you actually received and verified as VF/NM on eBay, or they are listed as such? Because in my experience there are no actual NM comics on eBay unless they are CGC.

My point, however, was that there are smaller print runs today, plus a lot of these comics do end up in dollar bins (due to retailer overordering to get variants), and that those comics will not be cared for, making the existing 9.8 candidates very hard to find (especially if you consider the paper quality for the early issues).

I really expect ckb's master set to be very valuable in the future.

It doesn't matter the size of the print run, what really matters is what is kept whole and maintained, and you're failing to acknowledge the amount of bagging and boarding going on. And dollar bins? My comic store bags everything now and they don't stamp *SQUEE* anymore which used to lower the price. And the history speaks from itself. You're entitled to believe what you want, but the fact remains what happened with golden age and even silver age comics isn't goin to happen again. Comics are too well maintained. Doesn't mean prices won't go up, but as my point is, it's not going to increase like they used to.

[nycjadie]

I find tons of 9.4 NM on eBay. True 9.8 M, not so much.

[kjjohanson]

Considering the numbers in the recent sales thread show that A&A dropped under 10,000, and that the new issue (#12, out today) is being compared to Rai #0, I think we have a good candidate.

[tchalla8]

I don't sense the buzz about Valiant as it was in the '90s. The quality is there, but I wouldn't say they've taken the industry by storm where it will get the attention of speculators. For whatever reason they haven't been able to create the same speculator buzz as a company like Image has.

[FormerReader]

I don't sense the buzz about Valiant as it was in the '90s. The quality is there, but I wouldn't say they've taken the industry by storm where it will get the attention of speculators. For whatever reason they haven't been able to create the same speculator buzz as a company like Image has.

How long did it take Image.

[tchalla8]

I don't sense the buzz about Valiant as it was in the '90s. The quality is there, but I wouldn't say they've taken the industry by storm where it will get the attention of speculators. For whatever reason they haven't been able to create the same speculator buzz as a company like Image has.

How long did it take Image.

Took well less than a year for Saga #1 to go off the charts.

[FormerReader]

I don't sense the buzz about Valiant as it was in the '90s. The quality is there, but I wouldn't say they've taken the industry by storm where it will get the attention of speculators. For whatever reason they haven't been able to create the same speculator buzz as a company like Image has.

How long did it take Image.

Took well less than a year for Saga #1 to go off the charts.

Yes, but how long did it take before speculators started to flock to Image. I agree now every new number one by Image has a stream of speculators.

[kjjohanson]

I don't sense the buzz about Valiant as it was in the '90s. The quality is there, but I wouldn't say they've taken the industry by storm where it will get the attention of speculators. For whatever reason they haven't been able to create the same speculator buzz as a company like Image has.

How long did it take Image.

Took well less than a year for Saga #1 to go off the charts.

Yes, but how long did it take before speculators started to flock to Image. I agree now every new number one by Image has a stream of speculators.

It's probably due to Walking Dead prices.

[greg]

Put A&A #12 in the list of possible books to sell over cover.
There isn't a ratio incentive on the book, so either "regular" cover is (currently) the best version of what is clearly an important book.

[kjjohanson]

Put A&A #12 in the list of possible books to sell over cover.
There isn't a ratio incentive on the book, so either "regular" cover is (currently) the best version of what is clearly an important book.

Crap, I missed the variant (or as has been the case a few times recently, perhaps my store didn't have it yet).

[Chiclo]

Put A&A #12 in the list of possible books to sell over cover.
There isn't a ratio incentive on the book, so either "regular" cover is (currently) the best version of what is clearly an important book.

Let's hope that A&A 12 isn't the last good issue this time around.