I see a correlation between hot, in-demand books between their raw prices and slabbed prices. Say a book is selling for $50 raw but you can buy a 9.6 graded for $120. It would seem the book is over valued as a raw copy, therefore wouldnt be a good investment.
Now take Strange academy #1 and its 6 first appearances together with its increasing reader buzz. I’m seeing raw copies going from $35 to $50 but 9.8 (which should be common with a new book) are going upwards of $300. This makes the raw copies look undervalued. I see them increasing in price as each successive issue is released. I looked at the preview covers for #3, #4 and #5 and was impressed with the art and excitement they build for this series. Don’t sleep on this one. Thoughts?
Oh absolutely! We’ve been sort of discussing this book at length as it was sort of unique. I personally have been all in on this book from the get go.
The very unique thing about this book is the timing of its release. It hit just before COVID. It was sort of missed by many folks. The typical hype with a new book that is cool was just lost in the shuffle of life.
If that was the only case, perhaps I’d give it a “meh”, but it’s a very cool book. A tried and true formula that while done before ad nauseum, simply works. Just a really fun comic!
This book has fresh new characters, fun art, a fun style that appeals to many. I’ve seen numerous new readers want to jump in on it.
I personally won’t overpay as I went extremely heavy on this book from day one, but if I see any copies of #1 (or its variants) even at a “fair price” I buy them still.
This is how I see it. LT longevity from true collector demand, movies, shows, etc. support prices. Some of these store variant 9.8’s starting moon prices on what … nothing more than pre-generated hype.
I think in some cases when you see modern books that are slabbed going for much higher prices than their raw counterparts is a classic case of people buying the slab and not the book.
Good luck getting a raw copy delivered to your door that’ll grade at 9.8.
I think it’s better to compare to the 9.4 and 9.6 prices as through my observations about 80% of marvel comics that hit the shelves are in that range…maybe 20% are 9.8 candidates.
Where are you seeing $300 sales? All the open order 9.8s seem to be in the range of $200-$250.
The market is so, so wacky right now, I don’t think we can truly make much of anything right now. Not until we have more data/time. However, I really like the thought process for the analysis, @Sean . It is an intriguing perspective.
I absolutely agree with the sentiment that folks are buying the slab and the grade, not necessarily the book.
I’ve come to the point that I absolutely will not buy any higher value comic (and for me this is honestly any book that costs more than say $20 bucks) ungraded if my end goal is to have a 9.8 in my collection.
I’ve found it is not worth it. Too many risks/chances/factors and in my personal experience it will be very unlikely that I’ll receive a book with a potential for 9.8.
More often than not, you’ll find yourself chasing, buying multiple copies, spending the money on the grading, when you could have just saved a ton of heartache/time/money by purchasing the 9.8 from the get go.
Even with brand new books its the same deal, and those are the ones we all are preordering at discounts. I think I ultimately ended up with 9 copies of Spawn #309. I’m thinking I have 3 with a shot at a 9.8 after a press.
The only negative thing I can think of on this book is simply the ridiculously slow releases of the issues. As I mentioned, the #1 issue hype/ability to find was impacted by COVID, and certainly the release date for issue #2…but at this point, get the book rolling. Nearly 3 months between issue #2 and #3 isn’t doing it any favors.
Having said that, perhaps the complete opposite effect will take place… once issue #3 finally comes out…it may create yet another spark for issues #1 and #2 all the varied printings.
SA is a great read with so, so much potential. I have enjoyed the first 2 issues. By issue 5 it looks like they get challenged with their first crisis. I’ll say it again… SA reminds me of a young X-Men team meets the Harry Potter world.
I bought issue 1 just because of first appearances but never thought it would do much out of the gate. With the long delay having little impact on demand and with issues 3,4,5 coming out at regular monthly intervals, I think demand will only increase. I could see issue #1 a $75 book by next year.
