There are so many variables that are driving these conditions that I don’t even know where to start. I agree it’s a great time to be a D.C Fan but I would add in general it is also a great time to be a buyer. The market in the past 3 years was in itself an anomaly. The books should have NEVER cost that much. Great video J!
@MintHunterComics could reboot him in the new fantastic four, but I don't see it happening. I'm excited for that new lanterns show, John Stewart just got cast!
I've been picking up some great keys recently after the stupidness of COVID prices - 1st Agatha Harkness, 1st Howard the Duck, 1st MODOK, 1st Blastaar, 1st Rambeau Cap Marvel, 1st(ish) Gambit (the Annual), 1st Mr Sinister... got them all in F/VF prices for what VG prices were four years ago - amazing time to be a buyer
I love picking up VGs for my collection simply because I read everything and LOVE the classic stories! I’ll definitely be looking into the ASM 46 for the collection!!
Going from a pandemic where people were staying in and collecting popped to a downed economy where people arent flush with extra cash for hobbies has created the biggest roller coaster in the hobby's history. Crazy, great video as always James!
My greatest moment in collecting came within 15 minutes of going into my first Chicago Wizard World in 2001 I got Avengers 57 and 58 for 100 bucks total in somewhat decent shape. Vision was always my guy so that was a great moment for me.
I’m actually glad some of these first appearances are lower, because that makes people like me who are just starting out able to get some of these iconic books!
It's cause how some of these characters turned out in the MCU lol. Can't wait to see the list in a few years. I'm sure DC will be more involved in it. Also, it shows right now is a great time to buy these biggerr keys.
I was able to hunt and find a Captain America 117 3.5 for $40-something dollars on an auction in Hibid, think the total was sub $50 after premiums and shipping. Such a good find
You're Killin' me with the Avengers 57......my long and hard search continues for a NM or better. My Vision collection needs this book as the cherry on the top!!!
Maybe ASM #28(First Molten Man)? VG copies are generally under 125ish. In my experience, it is a harder book to get in higher grade due to the black cover. Prices shoot up quickly in the 5.0 and up grades.
It’s kinda wild how many of those early X-Men books really aren’t that expensive. I mean there’s definitely some expensive ones (1, 4, etc) but there’s some weirdly cheap ones that are first appearances of characters like Havok
Just picked up a 1st App of Beta Ray Bill in Nrmt for 40 so those of us who couldn't afford these keys a few years ago are able to justify their purchases a little better.
Some of these prices are shocking indeed! X-Men 14 in VG for $200? MSH #13 for $40? Actually, now that I think about it some more, hmm...maybe those are the right prices for those books lol. Great time to pick these up now while they're this reasonable!
I have Marvel Super Heroes #18 (first GOTG) and I think I paid like $80 for it. I think the only character from that book who had a notable role in the films was Yondu. Martinex and Charlie-27 get cameo appearances in GOTG Volume 2, but they did the "gingercide" thing with Charlie-27 and cast Ving Raimes in the role.
i almost got that aquaman comic the other day for $50.00 but, it went over what i was willing to pay for it and so, lost it. keep an eye out for those type of comics cause you never know when you will come across one for a really good price. #roadto40k #iwantcaptaincarrotplease
In the car world, most cars spike and reach the top of the bell curve between year 30-40. After that, a trickle back to a stable price is normal. I'm going to assume that comics will follow a similar path. It's the crossing of childhood tastes and extra income.
Wow, I never expected these SA keys to drop so low. Is it then time to sell "Fine" condition personal raws w/o any recent movie or spec announcements OR wait? Thanks 😊
I guess my main question would be this. Where were these prices pre COVID? Because my assumption was that once the COVID economy leveled off then prices would fall back in line. The recession has hit the collectors market hard and not just with raws.
to nitpick - none are grails - and, except for the over-use of the word "Key", many aren't event Keys - I guess I'm just stuck in the mud, but not every first appearance, first meet-up, first cover appearance, first time an artist worked on the character is a key... Modok being the best example, the Shocker being another... 2nd or 3rd string villains who showed up in a movie doesn't make the thousands of copies of each of the 100 or so comics that have an MCU character in them suddenly become worth hundreds of dollars.. There are tens of thousands of copies of most post 1965 comics still around - the values that people think they're worth individually would be billions, but there's not a even a tenth of that much fresh purchasing power in the collecting community. Only a tiny fraction (5%?) of the copies of keys and grails are sold in a given year - the other 95% are sitting in dealer stocks and collections. If even a small additional percentage of these comics were to come onto the market, there would be no one to buy them. It's a precarious balance of supply in the market and the number of people who are willing to part with cash to buy one, and there are very few people who want one, who don't already have one, or who are willing to part with the cash to pay the values they're supposedly worth. Unfortunately, without new entrants, prices will continue to decline.
...I'm sorry - you don't see the first Vision as a Key? the first Black Manta? the first Gwen Stacy?Falcon? This list was specially all A-list characters to avoid this comment lol
@@MintHunterComics I stated that none are grails (as in the title of your video) - I guess the one that comes closest is X-Men 14 - and even that's not a grail. Yes, there are keys in your list - the Subby #1 - but not all. Interestingly (at least I think it's interesting - lol). I think that even some of these keys should be called renamed "Temporarily Hot Comics". Modok for example was elevated to key status due to his movie appearances - and since he (and Black Manta, the Shocker, etc.. and characters like the Collector and 3 dozen like them) is not likely to be in any more movies, this means that any fomo, spec, hype from Top Ten lists, or whatever caused them to skyrockete in price, is now gone, and will never return. It's a closed universe of people who want/wanted those first appearances because of the movies and almost anyone who wanted them has one. Same with the TTAstonish / Abomination - he's about as significant as Titanium Man, The Gladiator, and dozens more like them.... except he was in a movie, and the old movies are irrelevant now. It's like the Eternals #3, 1st appearance of Sersi situation - hype led some people to bid up the values in a small number of auctions, and some buyers who saw those results (on YT comic-Tom shows) who were afraid of missing out on a wave bought in. That's over now - which is why I think values on "keys that were never really keys" will continue to drop.
The annual inflation rate in the US slowed for a sixth consecutive month to 2.4% in September 2024, the lowest since February 2021, from 2.5% in August. Unfortunately, prices are still high because big corporations have monopolies on products, so there isn't much wiggle room for lower prices. For example, there are 4 major companies that own 85% of all beef products. They are the reason why meat is so expensive. This is just one example. We need to get rid of corporate greed. Vote for Harris to make America affordable again.
Is it possible people are just Marvel’ed out? I mean, our current popular culture atmosphere is inundated with Marvel lately and maybe folks are just growing weary of it all. It wouldn’t be the first time a Disney owned property was over saturated and exhausted.
In general, DC silver age tend to hold value better, and Marvel modern beats DC. Again, in general, and that's not to say that modern isn't down across the board - or perhaps normalized from the boom. It's to the point that I have pretty much stopped selling raws as shipping eats so much of the margins as I like to do runs and the handful of keys are not enough to bring the set high enough.
Very interesting, it really seems that the entertainment connection with Marvel and the MCU has a huge impact on the comics value, but I wonder if DC will be in the same boat now after the James Gunn universe. Time will tell!
A bad portrayal on film or TV can sink a book. FALCON, MODOCK, ETC . Their portrayals have been less than appealing . Carol Danvers first appearance is honestly a direct result of the movies. It's not always this way. I mean XMEN 101 has never really dipped too much despite a ok portrayal on film and a terrible portrayal. But again 101 is an iconic book that people always need for their collections.
I always loved the minimalist color scheme of Avengers #57
Same here!
I often watch these videos and wonder where you have to live to see these prices.
There are so many variables that are driving these conditions that I don’t even know where to start. I agree it’s a great time to be a D.C Fan but I would add in general it is also a great time to be a buyer. The market in the past 3 years was in itself an anomaly. The books should have NEVER cost that much. Great video J!
It's safe to say we've WAY overcorrected at this point though lol
facts
They did Adam Warlock, so dirty in guardians man 😂😂😂
Facts
Agree 💯
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
I think we just need more. Like a LOT more
@MintHunterComics could reboot him in the new fantastic four, but I don't see it happening. I'm excited for that new lanterns show, John Stewart just got cast!
Times have definitely changed. But great news if you’re a buyer. Great video!
I've been picking up some great keys recently after the stupidness of COVID prices - 1st Agatha Harkness, 1st Howard the Duck, 1st MODOK, 1st Blastaar, 1st Rambeau Cap Marvel, 1st(ish) Gambit (the Annual), 1st Mr Sinister... got them all in F/VF prices for what VG prices were four years ago - amazing time to be a buyer
I still love raw comics. Nothing like flipping pages 😅
Amen
Great content!!! I like videos like this. Keep up the great work.
Now is definitely a good time to buy those silver age keys that were a little bit too rich for my blood. 👍🏻
Great video!
I’ve started looking at some of these books
That’s crazy that the prices have dropped
God damn MCU is killing my collection!! Lol
Comic prices are going crazy!
Nice to know I have most of these already
First Miles is my grail. Fingers crossed. Love the content.
Excellent video, James! Makes me want to l@@k for some of the books you mentioned. The hunt is on 🐶
You should!
I have got to get back on board and grab some of these keys! Avengers and X-Men, I'm coming for you!
That's right!
I love picking up VGs for my collection simply because I read everything and LOVE the classic stories! I’ll definitely be looking into the ASM 46 for the collection!!
Alls I need is a nice VG for some books! I don't need to hunt the high grades all the time
@@MintHunterComics As long as it presents well is all that matters to me! Love the deals you can get for them too lol
Going from a pandemic where people were staying in and collecting popped to a downed economy where people arent flush with extra cash for hobbies has created the biggest roller coaster in the hobby's history. Crazy, great video as always James!
It's been such a crazy ride lol
Those X-Men books have always had the eye-catching covers. Love them
very true!
This inspires me to hunt low grades. If VGs are this low there’s hope for me to get the books I want!
Dope video man, very helpful for my collection. Very unhelpful for my poor wallet, im gonna nab almost all of these.
Hahahaha
Great stuff james keep it comibg!
Boy…the villains were very scary!!!
I LOVE that king shark statue that is SO BADASS
Isn't it sick? I gotta get my Solomon Grundy up
Great video!!! Keep up the good work. 😎
TY!
My greatest moment in collecting came within 15 minutes of going into my first Chicago Wizard World in 2001 I got Avengers 57 and 58 for 100 bucks total in somewhat decent shape. Vision was always my guy so that was a great moment for me.
That's pretty spectacular
On the bright side, no better time to buy.😃😃😃
Facts
This is a cool topic. Thanks for sharing.
I’m actually glad some of these first appearances are lower, because that makes people like me who are just starting out able to get some of these iconic books!
It's cause how some of these characters turned out in the MCU lol. Can't wait to see the list in a few years. I'm sure DC will be more involved in it. Also, it shows right now is a great time to buy these biggerr keys.
I was able to hunt and find a Captain America 117 3.5 for $40-something dollars on an auction in Hibid, think the total was sub $50 after premiums and shipping. Such a good find
Pretty cool. I don't really buy many back issues now because of space but lower prices are always cool to get characters you like.
Good Job James! Awesome List!
TY!
Sounds like it's time to start grabbing my Thors pre 337. 👍
Yeppppp
It is nice to see prices come down…unless you bought some of these during the boom. Sad😢
You're Killin' me with the Avengers 57......my long and hard search continues for a NM or better. My Vision collection needs this book as the cherry on the top!!!
I've been grabbing low price keys on eBay for months. You never know what pops up in auctions
Modok prices going down doesn’t shock me at all.
lol
Time to buy 😎
I actually just grabbed Aquaman 35 for under $100. Happy to have it.😊
Oh wait, I grabbed Gwen Stacy/Harry Osborn for a bit under $150 too.😂
It's a good time to buy.
Yes
Time for me to pick up some books it seems... Acengers 57 is on the short list for ne. At those prices, might add another cap 100 too !
Great video, sad to see some of these great book's slumping.
As a buyer I don't mind it! There's always ups and downs
Good list! But dang! I don't have any of these. :(
Maybe ASM #28(First Molten Man)? VG copies are generally under 125ish. In my experience, it is a harder book to get in higher grade due to the black cover. Prices shoot up quickly in the 5.0 and up grades.
It’s kinda wild how many of those early X-Men books really aren’t that expensive. I mean there’s definitely some expensive ones (1, 4, etc) but there’s some weirdly cheap ones that are first appearances of characters like Havok
Crazy that these (in my opinion) great character are sub 200, especially ASM 31!!
That was a shocker to me as well (pun intended)
@@MintHunterComics lol I see what you did there
It would be nice to make a video about statues at some point!
Some great keys. I have a few in this list
This is definitely a buyers market!
BIG time
Top 10 Most Expensive B-Lister Books!
Maybe that'll be next!
Wish I had the money right now to pick up first appearance books. Maybe beginning next year, I can.
Keep saving!
Just picked up a 1st App of Beta Ray Bill in Nrmt for 40 so those of us who couldn't afford these keys a few years ago are able to justify their purchases a little better.
Super low
Great video
Wow. Some of those are a lot lower than I would have thought. Great video. What would be a good price for a good Batman 251?
Sorry that's still super expensive hahaha
Some of these prices are shocking indeed! X-Men 14 in VG for $200? MSH #13 for $40? Actually, now that I think about it some more, hmm...maybe those are the right prices for those books lol. Great time to pick these up now while they're this reasonable!
Yeah I was surprised too
I’ve had a ton of opportunities to buy first falcon, I’m glad I didn’t. It’s sobering to see these prices.
I feel you. All these books were up too high, they needed to come back down.
It DOES feel good to be a DC fan! Lol.
I bought an Aquaman #35 vg for $120 5 months ago. Couldnt have been happier
FANTASTIC price
love your videos minty. heres to hoping i win that give away
I have Marvel Super Heroes #18 (first GOTG) and I think I paid like $80 for it. I think the only character from that book who had a notable role in the films was Yondu. Martinex and Charlie-27 get cameo appearances in GOTG Volume 2, but they did the "gingercide" thing with Charlie-27 and cast Ving Raimes in the role.
Yondu is low-key one of the MCUs best characters to date
i didn't think Visions first appearances is that cheap he's an important character in the MCU
It is. These numbers are from recent sales
i almost got that aquaman comic the other day for $50.00 but, it went over what i was willing to pay for it and so, lost it. keep an eye out for those type of comics cause you never know when you will come across one for a really good price. #roadto40k #iwantcaptaincarrotplease
I would have dropped that in a heartbeat
Do a video for how affordable Bronze age keys are right now.
Had a nice raw copy of ultimate fallout 4 but traded it for a new mutants 98 so would love to add it back to my collection
In the car world, most cars spike and reach the top of the bell curve between year 30-40. After that, a trickle back to a stable price is normal. I'm going to assume that comics will follow a similar path. It's the crossing of childhood tastes and extra income.
Doom patrol 99 1st beast boy 1965 will probably make the list for a dc book
A lot of good keys for cheap.
I love me some VGs!
Nice list. Might be time for me to pick up ASM 31.
Oh absolutely
Prices of these especially avengers 57 are criminal
lol facts
Wow, I never expected these SA keys to drop so low. Is it then time to sell "Fine" condition personal raws w/o any recent movie or spec announcements OR wait? Thanks 😊
Wait
I'm so glad that the first Vision is down, I always wanted one for myself. I do wish Shocker didn't go down though, he's my boy 😢
I'm really surprised by the ASM 31 being that low. Those are 2 MAJOR characters appearing in 1 issue. Maybe people aren't sold on the cover?🤷♂️
The cover is very weak - perhaps that's it
I guess my main question would be this. Where were these prices pre COVID? Because my assumption was that once the COVID economy leveled off then prices would fall back in line. The recession has hit the collectors market hard and not just with raws.
Higher - everything mentioned in this video is LOWER than 2015 prices. Which is insane.
good time to buy if you can
Indeed!
Just waiting for my grail X-Men 101 to take that dip to 200 for just a brife moment in time.
I don't see that happening
I'll have to try looking for the silver age cap books on my list with these prices.
Good idea!
I might have overpaid for a few of these on retrospect 😂
Don’t stress, these JUST reached these new lows. Also I don’t expect them to stay this low
@@MintHunterComicsall good. You win some and you lose some! Hopefully they are back up again soon. 🙏
Go eagles! I used to live in Trenton, now in Fl but want to come by your shop when I get back in town.
Yeah the MCU has destroyed some of these books
Just shows how badly the market has corrected. Question is now how many years for recovery in prices.
I may have missed this but did you mention how long these books have been trending at these prices? Great video, by the way.
Can you make a video "Prices 2020 vs 2024" I would like to see that. Thank you
to nitpick - none are grails - and, except for the over-use of the word "Key", many aren't event Keys - I guess I'm just stuck in the mud, but not every first appearance, first meet-up, first cover appearance, first time an artist worked on the character is a key... Modok being the best example, the Shocker being another... 2nd or 3rd string villains who showed up in a movie doesn't make the thousands of copies of each of the 100 or so comics that have an MCU character in them suddenly become worth hundreds of dollars.. There are tens of thousands of copies of most post 1965 comics still around - the values that people think they're worth individually would be billions, but there's not a even a tenth of that much fresh purchasing power in the collecting community. Only a tiny fraction (5%?) of the copies of keys and grails are sold in a given year - the other 95% are sitting in dealer stocks and collections. If even a small additional percentage of these comics were to come onto the market, there would be no one to buy them. It's a precarious balance of supply in the market and the number of people who are willing to part with cash to buy one, and there are very few people who want one, who don't already have one, or who are willing to part with the cash to pay the values they're supposedly worth. Unfortunately, without new entrants, prices will continue to decline.
...I'm sorry - you don't see the first Vision as a Key? the first Black Manta? the first Gwen Stacy?Falcon? This list was specially all A-list characters to avoid this comment lol
@@MintHunterComics I stated that none are grails (as in the title of your video) - I guess the one that comes closest is X-Men 14 - and even that's not a grail. Yes, there are keys in your list - the Subby #1 - but not all. Interestingly (at least I think it's interesting - lol). I think that even some of these keys should be called renamed "Temporarily Hot Comics". Modok for example was elevated to key status due to his movie appearances - and since he (and Black Manta, the Shocker, etc.. and characters like the Collector and 3 dozen like them) is not likely to be in any more movies, this means that any fomo, spec, hype from Top Ten lists, or whatever caused them to skyrockete in price, is now gone, and will never return. It's a closed universe of people who want/wanted those first appearances because of the movies and almost anyone who wanted them has one. Same with the TTAstonish / Abomination - he's about as significant as Titanium Man, The Gladiator, and dozens more like them.... except he was in a movie, and the old movies are irrelevant now. It's like the Eternals #3, 1st appearance of Sersi situation - hype led some people to bid up the values in a small number of auctions, and some buyers who saw those results (on YT comic-Tom shows) who were afraid of missing out on a wave bought in. That's over now - which is why I think values on "keys that were never really keys" will continue to drop.
Absolutely brilliant example of sound reasoning and economics sir! Concepts that those "investing" in comic books are completely oblivious of.
The annual inflation rate in the US slowed for a sixth consecutive month to 2.4% in September 2024, the lowest since February 2021, from 2.5% in August. Unfortunately, prices are still high because big corporations have monopolies on products, so there isn't much wiggle room for lower prices. For example, there are 4 major companies that own 85% of all beef products. They are the reason why meat is so expensive. This is just one example. We need to get rid of corporate greed. Vote for Harris to make America affordable again.
I'm surprised by the X-Men titles.
I could have done a whole X-men vid!
I watch a lot of comic content creators. You are the best one. Bye
Thanks so much dude!
The Cinematic universes are the cause of DC keys rising and Marvel falling. It's always supported by speculation.
Well, great time to buy. Which doyou have in store B ?
I will take one of each please...
#same
Is it possible people are just Marvel’ed out? I mean, our current popular culture atmosphere is inundated with Marvel lately and maybe folks are just growing weary of it all. It wouldn’t be the first time a Disney owned property was over saturated and exhausted.
In general, DC silver age tend to hold value better, and Marvel modern beats DC. Again, in general, and that's not to say that modern isn't down across the board - or perhaps normalized from the boom. It's to the point that I have pretty much stopped selling raws as shipping eats so much of the margins as I like to do runs and the handful of keys are not enough to bring the set high enough.
ASM 31 has to be the worst ASM cover ever. (During that era)
Al Gore Rhythm.
still need captain 117
Very interesting, it really seems that the entertainment connection with Marvel and the MCU has a huge impact on the comics value, but I wonder if DC will be in the same boat now after the James Gunn universe. Time will tell!
It's mostly sales - all of these books were heavily purchased! DC was a lot less popular in the 60s
X-Men 87 Animated Series gave a huge boost to X-Men
My how the mighty have fallen.
What is that Catwoman figure"? and ruby? in your older videos and this Zatanna and Harley?
Isn't that sweet? Miss it already (sold last year)
@@MintHunterComics Do you have the name of them so i can buy them?
I just got King Shark's first appearence (Portugal print Superboy 15 here 1996 and issue 9 1994 in the US) for 3 bucks
Dang - that's VERY good
@@MintHunterComics Thank you I try I also got the emerald twighlight saga
A bad portrayal on film or TV can sink a book. FALCON, MODOCK, ETC . Their portrayals have been less than appealing . Carol Danvers first appearance is honestly a direct result of the movies.
It's not always this way. I mean XMEN 101 has never really dipped too much despite a ok portrayal on film and a terrible portrayal. But again 101 is an iconic book that people always need for their collections.