|
A Word On Comic Book Pricing
By Dave Gieber
Below, you'll find
extensive information on leading comic book pricing articles and
products to
help you on your way to success.
The going worth of
individual
can range all over theboard. Some issues have
been know to bring in monetary value ofsix figures, while other issues
aren't even worth the price youpaid for them. Action Comics #1 (the
introduction of Superman)in mint condition has been quoted at being
worth $650,000. Apretty tidy piece of change. Then Weird Science, issue
#13, innear mint condition can command a respectable price tag
of$5,750. There are also multitudes of back issues purchased at
anewsstand price of around 5 bucks, that are now worth even lessthan
that.
So how does one go about
determining the actual value of theirindividual collections? This is
not an easy task or one to betaken lightly. Comic book worth is a
highly perceived value andwill vary quite greatly, depending on which
opinion you chooseto follow. By all means, if there is a reputable
comic bookdealer in your local area that you are comfortable dealing
with,get his or her opinion. But in all my research so far, it
seemsthat "The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide" is the bible ofmost
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 yourmagazines are worth, the first thing
you need to do is todetermine the physical condition of each comic
book. Is itraggady ass poor with pages missing and in need of a paper
clipto hold it together or has it never been opened since purchasedand
appears to be in mint condition? Even brand new comic booksmay not make
the grade of mint or perfect condition.
Overstreet gives a very
detailed description of all the gradesand sub-grades used in the 0.5 to
10.0 scale, generallyacceptable by all comic book aficionados. If you
follow hisphysical condition explanations and grading scale, you will
geta pretty good feel for the conditions of your own collection.
The next step
in your pricing exercise is
to then go through themyriad of pages to find your particular issues.
Along with yournow determined physical and grade conditions, you can
find yourissue's current assumed value.
This guide also has tips on
collecting, preserving and storingyour 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 wouldbe the fact that there is soo much
information to go through, itcould take you quit a while to devour the
whole book. Once youget well acquainted and comfortable with the guide
though, youcould consider yourself an expert in your own right and
helpyour friends out with their collecting and pricing questions.
I do believe this guide to
be an invaluable and inexpensiveresource to have and I don't think you
will be disappointed withit. You can visit Heritage Comics
athttp://www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/CBPG to learnmore
about the guide. While you are there, you may want to surfaround
Heritage's site. There are some very interesting subjectsthere. If you
have never seen Heritage Comics' site before andyou really enjoy it,
just remember where you heard about it at(ha, ha). Of course if you
would rather have a hard copy of theOverstreet Guide, I an sure your
local comic book store wouldhave a copy and I hope this little review
has helped you withyour pricing questions.
About the author:Dave
Gieber, a former rocket engineer, has decided to take upresidency on
the Internet. He is the owner and editor of severalwebsites, one of
which was built around one of his childhoodpassions;
www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com . You canvisit here to keep up
to date on the world of
andcomic book collecting. Feel free to sign up
for my comic bookezine
atwww.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/comic-book-ezine.html
|