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A Word on Comic Book Pricing
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 soo
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
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.
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Source by Dave Gieber
