A Word on Comic Book Pricing
Dave Gieber
The going worth of individual comic books can range all over the
board. Some issues have been know to bring in monetary value of
six figures, while other issues aren't even worth the price you
paid for them. Action Comics #1 (the introduction of Superman) in
mint condition has been quoted at being worth $650,000. A pretty
tidy piece of change. Then Weird Science, issue #13, in near mint
condition can command a respectable price tag of $5,750. There
are also multitudes of back issues purchased at a newsstand price
of around 5 bucks, that are now worth even less than that.
So how does one go about determining the actual value of their
individual collections? This is not an easy task or one to be
taken lightly. Comic book worth is a highly perceived value and
will vary quite greatly, depending on which opinion you choose to
follow. By all means, if there is a reputable comic book dealer
in your local area that you are comfortable dealing with, get his
or her opinion. But in all my research so far, it seems that "The
Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide" is the bible of most active
comic book collectors.
I have my copy in electronic format, reachable from my desktop.
It is very handy. If you truly want to understand what your
magazines are worth, the first thing you need to do is to
determine the physical condition of each comic book. Is it
raggady ass poor with pages missing and in need of a paper clip
to hold it together or has it never been opened since purchased
and appears to be in mint condition? Even brand new comic books
may not make the grade of mint or perfect condition.
Overstreet gives a very detailed description of all the grades
and sub-grades used in the 0.5 to 10.0 scale, generally
acceptable by all comic book aficionados. If you follow his
physical condition explanations and grading scale, you will get a
pretty good feel for the conditions of your own collection.
The next step in your pricing exercise is to then go through the
myriad of pages to find your particular issues. Along with your
now determined physical and grade conditions, you can find your
issue's current assumed value.
This guide also has tips on collecting, preserving and storing
your comic books. And it defines the various ages (Golden Age,
Silver Age, etc.) that comic book history has moved through.
I guess if I had to mention a drawback to this guide, it would be
the fact that there is so much information to go through, it
could take you quit a while to devour the whole book. Once you
get well acquainted and comfortable with the guide though, you
could consider yourself an expert in your own right and help your
friends out with their collecting and pricing questions.
I do believe this guide to be an invaluable and inexpensive
resource to have and I don't think you will be disappointed with
it. You can visit Heritage Comics at
http://www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/CBPG to learn more
about the guide. While you are there, you may want to surf around
Heritage's site. There are some very interesting subjects there.
If you have never seen Heritage Comics' site before and you
really enjoy it, just remember where you heard about it at (ha,
ha). Of course if you would rather have a hard copy of the
Overstreet Guide, I an sure your local comic book store would
have a copy and I hope this little review has helped you with
your pricing questions.
Dave Gieber, a former rocket engineer, has decided to take up
residency on the Internet. He is the owner and editor of several
websites, one of which was built around one of his childhood
passions;
www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com . You can visit
here to keep up to date on the world of comic books and comic
book collecting. Feel free to sign up for my comic book ezine
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