Opportunity Knocks

Time really does fly. We’re getting close to year’s end and the end of Time to Collect as a weekly column. I’ll still do posts when called for under the banner but in keeping with my One Year projects for the Comic Book Daily site, I will be switching to new content come January. I’ll post what’s coming next year in the next couple of posts.

It wasn’t long ago I did a post questioning whether there are still opportunities out there for comics to make quick and substantial gains in value. I was of the mind that there still are and now that 2020 is gently leading us into 2021 I’m even more certain that opportunities and discoveries abound.

Sometimes comic values shoot up because of successful events in current pop culture like films, TV shows, video games, toys etc. I’d say this was the most active path to increases in comic demand and value these past two decades and it’s not ending any time soon. Movies were the big-ticket vehicles but in a Covid world we don’t get out much, we do watch a lot of TV though. Ahsoka Tano’s appearance in the Mandalorian TV show has lit a fire under her first comic book appearance. Cone Wars #1 from 2008 by Dark Horse was her first comic book appearance. That issue had 5 CGC 9.8 sales in 2019 for an average of $281, there have been 34 sales at CGC 9.8 over the past 90 days with the average sale being $1,837, the last sale was $2,195.

Sometimes we can still find a gem hidden in the ruff of the past. A friend of mine pointed out that he discovered that Our Army at War #88 is the first Sgt. Rock cover. He must have done some research to confirm this because CGC has just updated its label data for the book and first Sgt. Rock cover is clearly indicated. Our Army at War #88 has now gone from a good old DC war book to a very highly sought after collectible because it will now be rightly seen as a key issue. I can’t wait to see what the copy with the first new updated label will get on the markets, I’ll be it will be more than previous sales. I’m telling you there are more finds like this out there, start doing some digging.

Even new comics have been delivering good market price appreciations. Look at that TMNT Last Ronin book that came out just over a month ago, worth way more than cover and I think the book will have legs.

Yes, new releases, media-driven demand and old discoveries are still happening and for those of us who play the investment game that is good news. Happy hunting in 2021.

Walter Durajlija
Walter Durajlija

Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton Ontario.

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7 Comments

  1. The red headed fellow (presumably Rock) who appears on the cover of OAAW 88 resembles the red headed fellow on issue 83. If they are the same person, wouldn’t 83 be the first cover appearance of Rock?

    I think it’s an odd coincidence that both men happen to be red headed and look similar.

  2. Good question Klaus, I’d think that inside #83 the story has that fellow as someone else but I cannot be certain. I doo know that if you look up #88 on the CGC Census now they not #88 as 1st Cover Appearance.

  3. “Even new comics have been delivering good market price appreciations. Look at that TMNT Last Ronin book… .” Two weeks after release, slabbed and graded 9.8, highest price I found on eBay was US$326 ish. US$1000 for a limited variant cover. Pre-order for issue #2, slabbed, graded and not even out yet at that point US$350ish. Seriously?!

    “Appreciations…”, I’d say, though I’d use a different word that begins with P. It’s kind funny that pricing is all over the place, any same issue can be listed from cover price to a few times that, to a few hundred to several thousands (for the slabbed copy). Confirms my personal opinion that the plastic slab and grading chit hold the value, not the art/story merits of the comic inside. It’s the next new-shiny-gotta-have-it thing! Oh well, whatever floats a persons boat and if you can make a living off it why not.

    Since values seem so randomly arrived at, I didn’t bother buying a new Overstreet as it doesn’t seem relevant to anything more recent than maybe GA/SA. I can find more up-to-date values on CRB, eBay or the Monte Carlo auction sites like ComicLink (not that I have anything noteworthy to look up there).

  4. For all Overstreet has done right over the years, Tim, it’s sad that the guide is becoming unnecessary for some. I still use it to get a base price on items, and for lower grade, non-hot books, that may not be far off real value. Its certainly good for finding out common, low value books from the last few decades that you can barely sell. Dollar bin stuff.

    But you are so right. Guide price on Heritage auctions, in MyComicShop and for so many dealers now, its just out of touch. Is it too much work for Overstreet to get more relevant prices? You can’t touch books like Cenaturs or pre-hero DCs for guide Good price, and Atlas are all 1.5, 2x guide or more, as are more interesting pre-code horror and crime titlies from even minor companies.

    Some key covers are pointed out, but still not all those that should be. Joker covers on Gold Batman and Detective issues, for instance, have gone ballistic lately.

    It still has abundant information however. I use it for writing my descriptions on contents of DC, Marvel, and all the pre-code Archive collections, along with other details on Grand Comics Database. It still has a firm place in the hobby, given you know the caveats/dificiencies…

  5. I strictly use Overstreet as an info-guide more than a price guide. 50 years of accumulated data is hard to beat.

    Walt: I’ll see if I can find out who the guy on the cover of OAAW 83 is; if not Rock.

    Tim: What’s the ‘p’ word? I can’t imagine what it could be.

    Bud: Your misspelling of the word ‘titles’ made me read the word as ‘titties’; but that just shows the problem is more with me than you. (:

  6. Yarrrr, Klaus, me bucko, ’tis… Pirate!

    Yeah, I guess the OG would be a good paper repository of arcane comic info. I do use my now old 2018 to look up info on comics I’m considering, mostly what would be low grade, just to check for artists, # of issues, etc. and an inkling of values. I might get another a new one 2024 if I’m still alive.
    It’s interesting that the OG doesn’t cover everything like Captain Gravity or The Crimson Nun and more fun stuff from the indy publishers.

    Bud: I found you’re Canadian Whites listings on MyComicshop. They seem in reasonable shape for a reasonable asking price. Too bad I have to kick in the exchange rate on that and the shipping. If our dollars were more on par they’d probably be coming home with me.

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