Reader Opinion Solicitation
Sigh.
Part 2 of the reviews will have to wait till the weekend; meanwhile, commenter Jason in the previous post asked a question whether Captain America #25 was worth $75 on eBay.
Well, of course it's not. Unless you're a speculator, in which case we don't really need you round these parts, mmmmmkay?
But it made me think (shaddup!). What is the highest price you would pay for a single, 22-page comic? Here are some guidelines:
1) The idea is that you're going to buy it and you're NEVER going to sell it. In other words, you're keeping it for life, so don't even think about trying to turn it around on the eBays and make a profit.
2) I'm going to assume that no one reading this is a millionaire.
(Side Note: If anyone reading this is a millionaire, then drop me a line. We have things to discuss.)
3) You can buy it anywhere you find it, and I don't care how old it is. If you say, "I'd pay $15,000 for Amazing Fantasy #15", then that's fine, if a tad unbelievable. I'd like more realistic answers.
So, how about it? What's the most you would pay for a single comic, and why?
Labels: reader opinion
18 Comments:
I'm just interested in having the stories and those are getting easier and easier to get with all the Essentials and Showcases and other reprint collections. So, I'm gonna say the most I'd pay these days for a single issue is about $20, and it would have to be something pretty obscure that I needed RIGHT NOW and didn't think would be reprinted anytime soon.
I agree with Michael, re: Essentials and Showcases. Even with the comics/characters I "collect" -- Moon Knight, Black Panther, all Epic Comics -- I can't imagine paying more than $10-15 for any single copy. More likely there'd just be a hole in my collection.
$3.50.
Reprints are easy enough to come by these days, so I don't really shop for back issues any more.
I would peg my high at $100. As for what I would spend it on, I have two examples:
A. A single issue of Starman (the 90's version). I have only read this book in trade, but it is, without a doubt, my favorite comic book ever written. Now, there are several issues of this book that have not been reprinted (various "Times Past" stories and the Shade mini) and I doubt DC will ever get around to putting out a last trade of random stories. I have most of these books, but 2. I can see, if in a few more years, I haven't found these books, I would be willing to push out a benjy to complete my collection.
B. ROM. I've never collected this series, but I've heard a lot of good things about it and the unique licensed character in the Marvel Universe situation of this book means that Marvel will probably never collect it. If such time comes that I fall in love with this book and I find that I only need one or two issues to complete the collection, I could see forking out $100 to endmy search.
Mind you, for all I know, these books are plentiful and literally fall from the sky at Cons, so this will never be an issue, but I just figured that these are good examples.
having lived thru the 90s comic implosion, and having just recently re-discovered the fun thru trades, Im hard pressed to say Id pay $2-3 for ANY book. Why pay $20 for six issues of Cap when I can wait a few months and get it in a more durable/storable form for half the price?
Jason: for $10 you can have my ROMs 46-51,54
oh... and Annual #2.
Thats right, I bought ROM.
I believe my upper limit would be $20, and the only comic I can immediately think of that I'd be willing to pay $20 an issue for is Flex Mentallo.
My "zone" for an average back issue (non key-issue, fill-in the run kind of thing) would range up to about $10. However, there are a few titles that are special to me that I've gone "above and beyond" to complete, such as my Superman (vol. 1) collection (every issue from #100 to present), so naturally those can get pretty spendy. Five years ago I paid $90 for a G copy of Superman #100, which capped off the run...and that's as much as I've ever paid (or expect to pay) for a single comic book. I can't comprehend the people who pay thousands of dollars for a comic book...but then again, there are probably people who look at me spending $90 on a comic book as equally silly.
Thanks Big Al, but as I said, I haven't taken the plunge in actually reading Rom, I just figured it was a good example of a series that's not likely to be ever collected.
It's probably just my OCD, but if I ever did get serious about finding every issue of a series, I would probably lose my mind if there was a "white whale" issue I coudn't find.
Well, I once spent $60 bucks on a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300. I don't think I'd go above $15 for a single comic these days.
Heck, I can't even bring myself to buy trades, and that's multiple issues for 15-20 bucks.
I can see spending upwards of $100 on the right issue, but that would have to be something really special. In the more everyday collecting, I've never really spent more than $15 on anything.
I'm pretty surprised by most answers here. The fact is that most collectors(of anything not just comics) are willing to go to enormous lengths to fill up those nagging holes in their collections.
For 'serious' collectors, those that some might say have a problem, the desire to fill that hole is what drives them and the object of desire looses its utilitarian meaning. Considering this is a blog about the medium of comics perhaps it's not that surprising the comments aren't more extreme.
You know, actually, the current prices are pushing my limits anyways. But then again, I still call them 'funny-paper's'. Maybe when I've been reading long enough, I will want something so much I would pay more than normal.
I can't imagine spending over 5 bucks for any single issue of anything. I just want the story/artwork, and nowadays you can get that in trades if you want to...for much greater value. I love comics but I am also working two jobs to pay for that habit partially, lol. People who spend 75 bucks on an issue of something I view with as much respect as those spending 1000 bucks for a PS3....aka a fool and his money...so on and so forth. Use the 75 to buy 7 good trades or use it to buy a friend a comic or two, spread the wealth, lol.
Thanks to the availability of trades and the like, there are few comics it would really cost a lot simply to read. For me to pay a significant amount for a comic, it would have to be special somehow - an original issue of Watchman, Gaiman's Sandman, or one of my father's original Fantastic Four comics, for example. It would have to be a comic I not only want to read, but really own -- one I feel a strong connection.
That said, my top price? Probably around $20, and I'd only pay that a few times.
All of my earthy possessions, for the "Death of Tony Stark" issue.
If it was:
1. a comic book that I really really wanted, and that
2. I knew would *never* be reprinted in any (cheaper) form
I could probably go as high as $20.
I saw a copy of 'Legion Lost' #1 in a comic shop once. I don't have it, I want it bad, and I understand it's supposed to be rare. But it was, I don't know, $35 or $50 or $100 or something like that so I gave it a pass.
I'm all about the quarter books, myself, so quantity way over "quality." I can't recollect the last time I spent more than a buck on a back issue.
That said...I would really, really like a comic autographed by Stan Lee, and may just have to bite the bullet and order one.
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