Are comics from the 70's/80's worth anything?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by The Panda, Nov 26, 2018.

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  1. razerx

    razerx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sonoma California
    I had a huge collection of 70's and 80's comic all in mint condition perfect spines in archival clear bags/acid free boards etc etc. I gave them all away when I moved 30 years ago. I am sure they are worth a pretty penny now. I had the first printing of the Frank Miller Dark Knight series to name one. Original black and white printings of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first issues. First appearance of the X-Men. First appearance of the Punisher. All gone. I only kept a few for reading - the Avengers series with Captain Marvel against Thanos.
     
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  2. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Dayum. That's some good stuff. Hope whoever got them appreciated it; even 30 years ago, stuff like Giant-Size X-Men #1 or that Punisher appearance were worth a chunk of change (more than I was willing to pay, ha ha!). Fortunately, a lot of that stuff has been reprinted, so at least we can read it whenever we want (should we want to), whether we sold our old issues or never bought them in the first place.

    Not like the old days when you had to buy back issues just to read Star-Lord's origin story or the Defenders/Guardians of the Galaxy crossover... Kids today, spoiled rotten, ha ha...
     
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  3. razerx

    razerx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sonoma California
    At that time the books weren't worth very much but I am sure the movies propelled their value. Seriously I don't want to know! For pure reading l liked the paperback reprints.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2018
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  4. badfinger54

    badfinger54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Victoria, TX USA
    Easy to look up completed/SOLD issues in similar shape on eBay. Obviously if you have no idea what MIGHT be good that can be time-consuming. But, characters that are hot now (because of films or TV shows) may have comics or appearances in them that have gone up in value. I was a comic book artist (and am a collector) and even I let a first appearance of Sabretooth go cheap in the 90's because I had it in my 'show' box and had not looked up stuff later on to see if anything had gone up in value. AAAAGGGHHH!!! BUT, I have gotten bargains and good deals and we had no home computer back then. Was too busy making deadlines to keep up with every comic that was hot. And I have gotten lots of free copies of stuff from DC, so I can't really complain.

    I learned my lesson and try to eyeball the older stuff I didn't work on that I take to shows. Some books I have/had and learned too late that they were/HAD been hot. eBay is the true barometer of what people are paying. I sell some comics in Facebook groups. Save yourself eBay fees. etc.
     
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  5. There is basically a small list of highly prized, collectible issues from the 1970s and 1980s, such as Amazing Spider-Man #129 with the first appearance of the Punisher. Or the first full appearance of Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #300. Everything else only commands real money if they are full runs and in perfect condition.
     
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  6. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    That person was talking out of his ****. See this article The Comic Book Price Guide For Great Britain - Cents Or Pence?

    "British editions of American comics were printed at the same time, on the same paper using the same machinery. The proportion of British copies was generally somewhere up to 5% of the print run but was probably much lower in the early days of Marvel and DC UK distribution, nearer 2-3%.

    At the end of a print run, in the case of the early Marvels, a 9d (ninepence) cover price plate was substituted in place of the American 10 cents. For DCs, the cover was hand-stamped. The stamping varies - some can be quite light, others quite heavy and some can be stamped twice when the person concerned missed the first time!

    Early Marvels have additional distributor information in the indicia - a single line saying Sole Distributors in the United Kingdom - Thorpe & Porter Ltd. But this needs comprehensive checking. There are also a few instances on 60s Marvel comics where the British cover paper seems to be fractionally thinner than on the US edition (eg Fantastic Four #56) but this again needs comprehensive checking.

    Rather than call all these comics UK editions, it would perhaps be more accurate to call them 'pence copies' or 'British priced variants'. Overall they cannot be said to be a reprint of the US edition or, as such, inferior .

    In fact it could be argued that in this day and age of variants and alternative covers offered as retailer incentives, British pence copies of American comics are much rarer and have an attraction all of their own. In very high grades or for key issues, one could argue that British pence copies offer value for money.

    Some UK collectors prefer UK pence editions of American comics as that 's what they remember as children.

    Other collectors prefer the purism of the cents copy, that an American comic should have an American cover price.

    What it comes down to is condition, personal preference and spending power.

    An early copy of Amazing Spider-Man in FN cents condition currently may be priced the same as a VFN/NM pence copy. If, for example, you have always wanted an Avengers #1 but see a cents copy is over a thousand pounds in VG condition, would you rather opt for a higher grade, better-looking pence copy for the same amount of money?

    Sometimes, though, a cents copy just looks better . For example, some 9d and 10d cover stamps on early Marvels and especially DCs can be very heavy and randomly splattered on a character's face. Many 1970s Marvel comics were ND or Non Distributed in the UK and thus were always cover priced in cents. There may have been the odd issue or small run in a series which was distributed and have a British cover price before becoming ND again. Some collectors may feel that for a consistent looking run, all the copies should be cents."


    I expect that dealer was either stupid or trying to get them cheap.
     
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  7. Jimi Bat

    Jimi Bat Forum Resident

    Location:
    tx usa
    Another thing to look for is price variations on the books themselves. For example 90% or more of a run of an issue might be printed with 25 cents as the price on the cover. But in a limited part of the country some copies of the same issue are distributed with a 30 cent price on the cover. These are rare and desirable for some collectors. If both books are in the same condition the 25 cent version might be worth say 15 dollars while the book with the 30 cent cover might be worth 65 or more dollars.

    Marvel did this a lot in the 70s. I think it had something to do with testing the market because they knew they were going to have raise prices soon anyway but I'm really not sure why it occurred.
     
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  8. Andy Smith

    Andy Smith .....Like a good pinch of snuff......

    Maybe, but thanks for the double-check. Appreciate the nod.
     
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