Old comic books

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Racingduster

Racingduster

Certified Welder
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So, I went to my grandmas last weekend. She's getting old so she was giving me alot of here things that she has been hoarding for years. She told me that I can sell the stuff or hold on to them. Alot of the stuff is glassware and the such, but she gave me 6 GIANT boxes of old comic books, most from the 60's and some from the early 70's. She told me that she used to go to garage sales and buy them all there and put them in a closet(she liked the art work). So now I have a small collection. I stopped at a comic book store and bought a price guide for them, WOW I THOUGHT MOPARS WERE EXPENSIVE. I already sold one to the guy that worked there for $700.

Now I dont know what I should do. should I sell them all or hold on to them and hope that they are worth more later.........
 
As an old comic collector, Id advise you to go and buy a value guide before taking them into shops. Alot are worthless, but if someone in a shop paid you 700. You have some good ones Im sure.
 
hosehead said:
As an old comic collector, Id advise you to go and buy a value guide before taking them into shops. Alot are worthless, but if someone in a shop paid you 700. You have some good ones Im sure.
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X2. An appraisel, in conjunction with your own value guide, might not be a bad idea, either. For instance, if the value guide says you have a comic worth $700 and now after taking a look and you have a dozen issues within this range, having an appraisal done on them might not be a bad idea. Especially when it comes down to condition. Sometimes it can be hard to tell mint from near mint (did you see that page 12 has a tiny tear in one of the corners? or that some kid drew nipples on Spidey's girl friend on page 14? etc...). I'm not sure where the market stands on comics from the '60s and '70s stand right now, (mine from the late '70s through the '80s and early '90s are pretty much worthless at the moment) but just like cars, the more informed you are the better off you'll be.
 
Get an appraisal for sure. If a shop owner/employee paid $700 right away, it could have been worth alot more.
 
Sell or hold is a gamble. If you can find a pricing guide from 3 to 5 years back it might provide a clue.
If you hold them you will need to insure them. Paper goods have lots of enemies.
 
All good suggestions from the previous posters. As an old paper collector myself, condition is most important. As you will see in the guide, some values are also determined by the artist that drew a particular story and/or the first appearance of a specific character which can boost demand of certain issues. Just like our beloved musclecars, the market is affected by the economic climate but scarce and significant books continue to change hands at a steady level.

If you decide to keep them, I suggest you purchase some high quality mylar sleeves and acid free backing boards for long term preservation, at least for any significant books. There are also special size comic book boxes for storage. You can also have a book "slabbed" like some coins are. An individual book is catalogued, condition is certified, then it is sealed in an flat, clear air-tight plastic casing. Because slabbing is an extreme long term option and costs more to do, it is generally reserved for the more unique, high value books. Mylar sleeves are less expensive and work fine for general preservation.
 
RedFish said:
Sell or hold is a gamble. If you can find a pricing guide from 3 to 5 years back it might provide a clue.
If you hold them you will need to insure them. Paper goods have lots of enemies.
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ramenth said:
X2. An appraisel, in conjunction with your own value guide, might not be a bad idea, either. For instance, if the value guide says you have a comic worth $700 and now after taking a look and you have a dozen issues within this range, having an appraisal done on them might not be a bad idea. Especially when it comes down to condition. Sometimes it can be hard to tell mint from near mint (did you see that page 12 has a tiny tear in one of the corners? or that some kid drew nipples on Spidey's girl friend on page 14? etc...). I'm not sure where the market stands on comics from the '60s and '70s stand right now, (mine from the late '70s through the '80s and early '90s are pretty much worthless at the moment) but just like cars, the more informed you are the better off you'll be.
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Thanks for all the good ideas. The one that I sold to the guy was one that he really liked, and he showed me what it was worth(if I sent it out and paid $100 to get it professionally graded), He said he could get about 1,000 for it(it was The Incredible Hulk 181, if anyone wants to know). And the guy was VERY VERY helpful. He gave me a price to buy all that I had brought in, He said that I could make more if I sold them individually on EBAY. I've never been a comic book guy, I dont know much about them. Not all of them are in the best condition, I made a box of about 250-300 that are real nice, and a box of junk. There is even a comic called "Dragracer" thats kinda cool.

If any of you collect these, drop me a line maybe I have something your looking for.
 
do your research, in my personal opinoin sell things while they're in demand, right now comics are making a huge comeback in the mainstream which make them worth more. i have close to 3000 baseball cards from when i was kid, they range from the mid 80's to early 90's. since then cards havent been a popular collectable item so im waiting for them to come back around again and see what they're worth. But talk to people who know about comics and get professional opinoins.
 
Racingduster said:
Thanks for all the good ideas. The one that I sold to the guy was one that he really liked, and he showed me what it was worth(if I sent it out and paid $100 to get it professionally graded), He said he could get about 1,000 for it(it was The Incredible Hulk 181, if anyone wants to know). And the guy was VERY VERY helpful. He gave me a price to buy all that I had brought in, He said that I could make more if I sold them individually on EBAY. I've never been a comic book guy, I dont know much about them. Not all of them are in the best condition, I made a box of about 250-300 that are real nice, and a box of junk. There is even a comic called "Dragracer" thats kinda cool.

If any of you collect these, drop me a line maybe I have something your looking for.
Click to expand...


Be careful with eBay on attempting to sell comics. A lot of hobby shops are on there looking for the best deal they can find for a specific issues to be able to mark up for the highest price and usually try to prey on the unsuspecting...so make sure you do your homework before you post them on there. The last time I looked at posting some of mine, eBay even had a page regarding this manner and warned you may not get the best price. Good luck!
 
Incredible Hulk 181 for $700. I'm sure he did jump on that. I would have too. That book was worth $900 N/M 15 years ago. I had one stolen from me at a card and book show me and my brother did about 15 years ago in a mall.
Slabbing a book is not something I personally like, but to each his own.
At the very least, buy the mylar bags and acid boards and board and bag all of your books. While your at it, buy a book box to properly store the books.
 
I have a related story.When my brothers and I were growing up we would go to my folks cottage every weekend.So that we didn't get too bored Dad would throw us some change and tell us to go buy a comic.We bought comics as much as we could for about 5-7 years so there were a few down at the cottage.Well we stopped going down and so did my folks but one of my brothers went down there from time to time with his family.After many years,about35,i asked my brother where the comics were?He threw them out!:angry7:

Now let me tell you when we started buying comics.It was around 1957.We had all of the first issues of : Spiderman,Fantastic Four,Incredible Hulk,Silver Surfer,Iron Man,Doctor Strange,Green Lantern,Aquaman,Wonder Woman,and I don't have to tell but some early early Batman and Superman.:angry7:

Well,I let my brother live,cause,well he's my brother.8)
 
I saw a story on a talk show one day about 8 years ago about a family that had recently just moved into and old farm house. After moving in one of the family members took a stroll around the property and walked into one of the barns, low and behold laying on a bail of hay they found a 1st edition of the first Superman comic printed and it was in farely good condition. In the end the family sold the comic for $1,000,000.
 
I have a 1st edition print of The Death of Superman that has all of the comics leading up to his death in one comic that my mom gave me for Chistmas back in 1993, I'm waiting for that to become a money ticket lol. about 12 years ago it was in the $250 range. I also have a 2nd edition print of the single comic when Superman dies and an 11th print of the comic right after he dies.
 
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