eBuying Comics: Week 76

Recently I relisted some unsold items, but this time I used the ‘item specifics.’ eBay claim this increases traffic to your listings and increases the chances of selling. Below you can see the before and after results. I have come to the conclusion that what they claim is simply not true, although admittedly it is from a small sample group. I can then counter that by saying I have sold plenty of stuff in the past before without using ‘item specifics.’ So my biggest takeaway from this is I believe the 3 key elements for listing comics on eBay are the title, the issue number and the grade. All stuff that can fit into the headline. All stuff that is going to be easier to type into a search and return more results for potential buyers. You can enter 3 of those into the headline and still have room to focus on a certain creator or mention if the issue is key to movie tie-ins or key as you know a comic book! To prove a point about the headline being everything I listed two items this week for research. The other week I bought two sets of Marvel Mini Mates. Both came with mini posters, on one side was a cartoony depiction of some of Marvel’s biggest heroes. The other side showcased some of the upcoming mini mates figures. One had Walmart exclusives for the Black Widow tie in mini mates and other had Black Panther and Infinity War tie in figures. I have listed both on eBay making note of the MCU in the headline and what movies they advertise. After just 24 hours both listings had 22 views between them. The four comics I have listed only have 4 views between them! Now I am not saying these items will sell but having MCU in the headline means people are clicking.

• Amazing Spider-Man Daily Bugle #1-#2: 3 Views 0 Watchers 0 Bids — 3 Views 0 Watchers 0 Bids
• Doctor Strange #1: 16 Views 2 Watchers 0 Bids — 4 Views 0 Watchers 0 Bids
• New Mutants #100: 2 Views 0 Watchers 0 Bids — 4 Views o Watchers 0 Bids
• Robin #1: 4 Views 0 Watchers 0 Bids — 4 Views 0 Watchers 0 Bids

This week using the latest buzz around Moon Knight I wanted to take a look and some theories I have about collecting and speculation. First off I always find it strange when a character who can barely hold down his own ongoing series becomes hot property in another medium. I guess that is the world we are in now. Then again Moon Knight has always had a hardcore, passionate following even if it didn’t reflect in big sales numbers [a following that includes me – Editor Phil]. I have heard it said many times before Moon Knight was even considered to be joining the MCU that his first appearance in Werewolf by Night #32 is in fact the most desirable Bronze Age comic and not Incredible Hulk #181. Currently, those issues stand at a value of £2,929 and £9,249 for a 9.4 NM raw according to Zap Kapow. Wolverine still leads the way by some distance and you would have to think Moon Knight would have had a bump in popularity since the Disney+ show was announced.

Which brings me to my next question; When do price rises begin?

I imagine from the moment a series or movie is announced, all keys if not all issues are going to see some rise in value. This would also depend greatly on who is selling them and their condition of course. Once a series or movie is set in stone I am assuming prices will fluctuate or reach a plateau with each new piece of news like casting and possible plot points. The release of a trailer would signify the next big opportunity for speculation and therefore price rises to occur. With the reveal of a plot point, a seller could focus more on specific issues, playing up their importance and promoting them to key issue status. We saw it most recently with the hints towards the Illuminati in the Doctor Strange trailer. An example for Moon Knight would be the inclusion of the ‘Mr Knight’ persona. This first appeared in volume 7 #1 of Moon Knight in 2014. Currently, that issue has a value upwards of £35. A friend asked me if all Moon Knight comics would go up in price now? That is a really difficult question to answer. When you have a character like Moon Knight who has appeared in 100+ comics spread over multiple volumes I would say not every issue is going to register with speculators. So then it is up to each seller to determine their prices. Not every comic shop is carrying key issues so if a new series or movie brings foot traffic to their shop they are more than in their right to adjust prices as they see fit. I think a lot of it has to do with how much the final product resembles the comics from which they come.

Speaking from experience I can say I haven’t seen a great deal of increase in back issues of Master of Kung Fu since the release of the Shang Chi movie. There was some lag time between me seeing the movie and attending a convention though. Before the movie was released I was paying between £3-£5 for issues around the 6.0 to 7.5 grade. At my last con post-movie they were now like £4-£6 and grades over 7.5 were closer to the £8-£10 mark. The only issues that saw a spike around the announcement of the movie were his first two appearances in Special Marvel Edition #15-#16 and Master of Kung Fu #29 the first appearance of Razor Fist. I do believe if there had been more elements from the comics in the movie then we would have seen price rises in more specific issues. And I think that is what it all comes down to nowadays. A good example of this would be the appearance of White Vision in WandaVision. It had not been hinted at or anything in any of the trailers but as soon as it happened people were googling its first comics appearance. This saw prices for West Coast Avengers #45 skyrocket for a few weeks, whilst other WandaVision related issues had levelled off months before once the hype around the trailers died down. We are halfway through the MK series so unless something drastic happens then I can’t see any further increases in price. But like with the White Vision thing it could be what you least expect, so good luck second-guessing any future key issues.

All of this leads to my next question; How long does the speculation window last?

If I am correct about the level off between the initial announcement, trailer and the final product hitting the screen how long does that first burst of excitement actually last? Previously I was very successful cashing on the Doctor Strange trailer that revealed the Illuminati. We are now two months on from then and I am only now trying to sell the remaining four issues of the Illuminati mini-series. This will be a good indication of how long speculation lasts. I have a small window to sell them as we are now closer to the release of the movie than that trailer. So has speculation died down now until its release? Will those issues go unsold and then have sudden interest again once people actually see the movie. They have been listed for two days as I write this and they only have four views between them. Three of those are for #5, which has the added bonus of being linked to Secret Invasion another upcoming Disney+ show. This links back to what I opened up talking about. You can see the views and watchers for Doctor Strange #1 dropping between listings that were 2/3 weeks apart. Of course, the biggest benefit to all of the extra exposure these characters get in other medium is that Marvel bring classic stories back into print. On a personal level a few years back when I had completed my Wolverine back issue collecting and was nearing the end of completing my Frank Miller Daredevil run Moon Knight was a contender for who I was interested in pursuing next. For whatever reason I change my mind but I wish I had got that black and white Essentials volume 1 while it was a reasonable price! Live and learn.

Who saw the story recently of an absolutely destroyed loose back cover for Detective Comics #27 selling for $2600? Incredible, crazy stuff right? The loose back cover was graded a 0.1 by CGC and then sold at auction. Is this where collecting is at now? I could understand a good condition loose advert page being of value or even interest if it was advertising something cool. Anyway, it got me thinking about how my small collection of key issues would stand against this cover in a price battle. Now I don’t have many keys and they are all in varying conditions. The easiest way of doing it was to say they are all 7.0 F/VF-. Some are probably higher and some are definitely lower. The comics I have selected to go into battle on my behalf are:

• Daredevil #18 (first Gladiator)
• Daredevil #181 (death of Elektra)
• Marvel Premier #15 (first Iron Fist)
• Wolverine #1 (mini series)
• Wolverine #1 (ongoing)
• Wolverine #10 (first fight Sabretooth).

The combined might of these comics brought me in at $361 just $2239 short of my opponent. So I added Daredevil #9 (oldest comic on my collection) and all four issues of the Wolverine mini-series to my battalion. And I still feel well short at £479.50. A valiant effort!