Another Black Friday has passed and today is Cyber Monday. Christmas is just around the corner. Everyone is scurrying around with their shopping lists, “to do” lists, making out Christmas lists, whew! No more lists! Well we have time for one more list. My Christmas Overstreet Wish List.
I could write about all of the things that I wish Overstreet would change in their next (48th) Overstreet Price Guide but I will confine my wishes today to one of my favourite areas of the book, the Top Comics section. This section contains lists of all of the highest valued comics, ranked in order. The Top 100 Golden Age, Top 50 Silver Age, Top 10 Bronze, Copper, and Platinum Age books. Five genres are also featured – Top 10 Crime, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi, and Western comics. War comics have their own separate breakdown and very detailed write-up of that genre with prices. The lists make for an interesting read and I like comparing them to older Overstreet guides.
Overstreet does view its guide as an investment tool, and addresses this in a paragraph just before the table of Top Lists begin. It is written below.
“The following tables are meant as a guide to the investor. However, it should be pointed out that trends may change at anytime and that some books may meet market resistance with a slowdown in price increases, while others can develop in to real comers from a presently dormant state. In the long run, if the investor sticks to the books that are appreciating steadily each year, he shouldn’t go very far wrong”
47th Overstreet Price guide
I was waiting for them to mention “battling headwinds” and the jargon for the paragraph would have been complete. I often wonder who Overstreet thinks they are talking to when they write this statement or why they write it at all. I am however, often surprised how very little financial planners know about comics so maybe it is for them. For me it is just fun.
Let’s get to my wish list, which is small containing a couple proposed changes and a little bit of housekeeping for the lists. It is Christmas and you can’t ask for too much from Santa!
- As a dispenser of investment advice Overstreet needs to start noting comic books that have been depreciating in the market if it wishes to remain or become a credible source of said investment advice. How hard would it be to compile a Top Ten List of these books? Overstreet has over 160 advisors to draw on to obtain this type of information, the cream of the industry. Knowing what not to buy is often just as valuable information as what to buy. By not providing this sort of information Overstreet takes on the appearance of spokesperson for special interest (high-end collectors) and comic retailers, instead of an impartial observer and supporter of the comic industry and back-issue market as a whole.
- My second wish should not be as hard to fulfill as my first one, and I am certain many comic retailers would and have requested this already. I’ll add to the pile. Please make a list of the most valuable Top 10 Modern Age comics. The Modern Age of comics by Overstreet’s definition began in 1992 so we are into 25 years of books, surely, we can make a list of 10 books for collectors of this age to follow. It can only help to spur/keep interest in modern comics. If it is a question of space in the guide perhaps the Platinum age list could be jettisoned, or put in with its own section like war comics. There were no changes to this list last year price wise up or down for the top ten books. I suspect prices for these books are like most antiques these days, dropping faster than a cowboy’s pants in a whore house.
- Sugar and Spike #1 needs to be on a list. I know some folks have been clamouring for a top ten humour list and would certainly be a fit there with a value of $8000 for the 9.2 grade. If that list is not forthcoming it would have tied for 42nd place in the Silver Age list. It meets Overstreet’s own definition of a silver age book (books published between 1956-1970), in fact it is part of a quintessential run of silver-age books publishing from April 1956 thru November 1971. I think this book was lost to the silver age many years ago when Overstreet defined the silver age as beginning with the date Showcase #4 was published in the fall of 1956, putting early Sugar & Spike in sort of a comic age void. Sugar & Spike as a title has a loyal fan base. I don’t know it well enough to make a real comment on it. I read two copies and they were cute and clever. I think Overstreet should put it in the Silver Age Top 50 where it belongs.
- And lastly one more error of omission. Tales of Suspense #1 belongs in the Top 10 Horror comics along with Strange Tales #1 and its twin Tales to Astonish #1 all tied for 3rd place in that genre with a 9.2 value of $11000. Not sure why but Tales of Suspense #1 has never been on that list, although Tales to Astonish #1 and it share the same value.
Please feel free to add anything you would like to see changed or added to Overstreet Lists. We can submit them to our Overstreet advisors here amongst our authors at Comic Book Daily. They’ll get it cleared up at Overstreet 😊!
i thought all comics always went up in price?
Well they all seem to at Overstreet. Good one Nestor.
Mike, how can an Overstreet Advisor tell a client that a comic is worth owning or not? it’s a complete conflict of interest. Look at what’s happened at the following examples, Green Lantern 76, Tomb of Dracula 1, X-Men 94 at the 9.8, 9.6, 9.4 levels. I think it’s hard. Say someone like a Greg Reece has a rare comic, and is pushing it on a client. (don’t know Greg, just first guy that came to mind). he makes big money. what happens if he tells his client, no.. no don’t buy that GL 76 9.8 at $37,000 …. it’s going to drop in value.. don’t buy that 9.6 at $30,000 it’s going to drop in value to $6,000.. don’t buy that 9.4 at $11,000 it’s going to $2,000
thankfully, GPA, Nostomania, GoCollect..etc.. gather prices, and let the individual decide. i think all the advisors can say is this comic is hot, this comic is not. can’t sell at the current price.
Overstreet, maybe can print prices in three colours.. Green, up from last year, Black same as last year, and Red, down from last year. i’m not sure they can do much more.
OSPG should provide a web based method for all their Advisors to enter sales in real time as part of their job as Advisors.
That way OSPG can automatically provide real time data to compare with those other aggregate sites.
That’s a gateway to an online version of OSPG that would lead to a real time subscription based version that catches up to the rest of the world.
Making Advisors accountable seems to be the biggest hurtle that Mr. Overstreet has in putting out a more accurate Guide.
that’s actually an awesome idea.
As usual, Nestor is confused. Overstreet only goes up to 9.2 and CGC prices can greater differ from book value. Try and try sellers may… I don’t pay CGC prices on RAW books or vice versa. Also, we do have real time data. It’s called eBay.
I would think it would stabilize the OSPG prices based on their selling prices ,not their buying prices which is probably the reason why the OSPG prices are so scattershot.
If another Top 10 list is needed, with detailed write-up a la the bang-up job that Mick Rabin and co do with war comics, it is for GGA books. Surely there is similar group of these collectors who could take that on?
Great comments all-around here guys. I agree with Jim that one thing that has caught up to OSPG the most is time, or better timeliness. No one works with data that is up to a year old to make purchasing decisions any more. The guide will need to evolve from it’s present form or perish.
Readcomix – I love those Top Ten Lists and a good girl art one would be a great idea. There is plenty of room in the book. If you do need cutting, an editor of almost any kind would have field day on the Market Report section of the book, and save multiple pages..