This week I’d like to examine some Copper Age results. The Copper Age is loosely defined by me as comics from the mid/late 1970s to the early/mid 1980s. These comics are commonly found everyewhere. In some cases the trick seems to be getting a CGC 9.8 grade while in some other cases even that does not seem to help.
BattleStar Galactica #1 (1979) graded by CGC as 9.8 sold for $39.88 on Sept. 8th on ebay. This is a book that really is everywhere including in most people’s $2 bins. This comic is listed at $12 in the Overstreet price guide at a 9.2. Factoring in CGC costs, shipping costs and the cost of the book itself a 9.8 is the minimum grade needed to make grading this comic for resale a profitable exercise. The CGC census shows 140 Universal 9.8s at time of posting with only one CGC 9.9 out there.
Savage She-Hulk #1 (1980) graded by CGC as 9.8 sold for $73.90 on Sept. 6th on ebay. The Overstreeet price guide has the 9.2 value at $12 making it’s 9.2 value equal to the BattleStar Galactica listed above. The fact that it sold for more than Battlestar is a puzzling result since there are actually 278 Universal 9.8s of this comic and 2 at 9.9. Could it be that She-Hulk is in the Marvel continuity and thus has a larger demand, large enough to even compensate for the larger supply and still realize a higher price. If you have a nice copy then by all means send it in. The numbers on this comic show that a few extra 9.8s won’t likely drive the price down too much.
Machine Man #1 (1978) graded by CGC as 9.8 sold for $74.99 on Sept. 13th on ebay. The Overstreet price guide has the 9.2 value at $20. This book goes nicely with the two above as all three shared the curious characteristic of not wanting to leave a dealers bins for years. Thankfully CGC’d copies that score high grades have finally got these books moving. There are 110 Universal 9.8s showing on the CGC census while 1 copy exists at 9.9.
Amazing Spider-Man #224 (1982) graded by CGC as 9.8 sold for a surprisingly low $20.51 on Sept. 12th on ebay. Say What? A CGC 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man from way back in 1982 didn’t even get $21. Sad but true. The Overstreet price guide has the 9.2 value at $10. Back in 2008 a CGC 9.8 fetched over $250 and even earlier this year it was selling for well over $100. This is truly puzzling. The CGC census shows some extra copies being added recently but there are still only 30 copies graded as 9.8s with no 9.9s at all! I want to remind people that Amazing Spider-Man is probably the most collected title in comics thus 30 copies should not be enough to satisfy demand. I’d be buying them at $21 all day, all 30 of them if I have to.
Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton, Ontario.
