Any comics worth more than 'cover'?

[Zippo]

Home alone for the week, and since I have all this time on my hands I was given a few assignments. One of those was to remove my stuff from the garage and put it into my storage shed -- the problem with that is that the shed is full :)

I came across my Transformers comic collection - Dreamwave until they folded and then IDW until late 2008 when I stopped as it was just getting too expensive.

I have started sorting them out into series and covers (generally if there was a second/third/fourth non exclusive cover I got it as well) and im wondering how I price them to move. I found my original emails from the comic store I brought them from and have the price I paid .. but are single issues worth that much anymore or are they worth much less ..

And are there any that stand out there as 'collectable' (read - expensive)

Your thoughts to help me?

[Paulbot]

I'd say Dreamwave's G1 More Than Meets The Eye series are worth more than their original price, which for 64 pages (IIRC) and no ads were high priced to begin with. They were hard to find towards the end [but have been reprinted since...]

The unreprinted DW books are also worth a few more dollars (the last few issues of Energon, the last few of Generation One ongoing, the few issues of War Within 3).

Something like the DW Summer Special (the one with the RID/BW stories) would also be hard to come by, so you could ask a bit more for that (if you've got it).

The whole of the first series of War Within (which has had poor quality reprints in trades) is also something to ask more for IMO.

[Hursticon]

Something like the DW Summer Special (the one with the RID/BW stories) would also be hard to come by, so you could ask a bit more for that (if you've got it).

I didn't think that actually saw a release? :eek:
I'd be interested in anything DW Beast Wars. :D

Sorry I can't be of any real help Zippo :o, I really know bugger all when it comes to the comic world beyond a few industry names, stories and characters that I like. ;)

[Paulbot]

I didn't think that actually saw a release? :eek:
I'd be interested in anything DW Beast Wars. :D

There was a Summer special (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/20th_Anniversary_Transformers_Summer_Special) that had the first (and only) Beast Wars story by Dreamwave.

There was another special "Generation One 2004 Datatracks Annual" that was cancelled but I recall it was supposed to have MTMTE profiles for Sunstorm, Bumper and the Female Autobots.

[UltraMarginal]

I spent a bit of time completing the third series of G1 off eBay a couple years ago, and I didn't think it was particularly expensive then, postage added up a bit but I was surprised and happy that they didnt' seem to have gone up much in value.

I haven't looked in a while though so things may have changed. especially for a full set. there were a few that I had a real hard time finding, I cant remember the numbers off the top of my head though. definitely the last few issues of the DW G1 were harder to come by.

[Hursticon]

There was a Summer special (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/20th_Anniversary_Transformers_Summer_Special) that had the first (and only) Beast Wars story by Dreamwave.

There was another special "Generation One 2004 Datatracks Annual" that was cancelled but I recall it was supposed to have MTMTE profiles for Sunstorm, Bumper and the Female Autobots.

Ah! - Cheers Paulbot, it was the Miniseries that I was thinking of that never made it to fruition :(; so with that in mind it makes me all the more curious of acquiring a copy this DW Summer Special, being that it is a taste of what might of been but will never be. ;):)

[GoktimusPrime]

Something like the DW Summer Special (the one with the RID/BW stories) would also be hard to come by, so you could ask a bit more for that (if you've got it).

Wow really?? I got my copy autographed by Neil Kaplan earlier this year... I wonder if that makes it any more (or less) valuable. :p :p I have no intention of ever selling it, but I'd be curious to know. ;)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Conventions/SupaNova%202011/supanova2011_29.jpg

[Zippo]

Well, I have sorted them all out.
I ended my comic collecting days in the middle of Reign of Starscream (IDW).

Now, do I bother sorting out bundles in order to sell or do I leave them as.
I have the digital versions but print is so much easier to read

[i_amtrunks]

Keep the ones you like.

Most of the IDW stuff is not worth more than the paper it is printed on, due to the high volume of collections, plus the online versions (apps and otherwise).

You might get a little more from bundling earlier IDW run comics (stormbringer, Hearts of Steel) together into complete sets. It could all change on if there is some renewed interest/new interest when IDw goes into their 2 series run for their older stuff, but since the furmanverse comics bear so little relation to the current issues, who knows!

I think it will all come down to luck, as in who is looking at the time you put them up for sale.

[Mechbiter]

When people ask me what a comic is worth I point them at Mile High Comics (http://milehighcomics.com).

You should be able to look them up and tell what they are approximatly worth from there. Although has most of these guys have already siad, it really comes down to what someone is willing to pay you for them. That might keep you from being ripped off though.

[Cat]

Wow really?? I got my copy autographed by Neil Kaplan earlier this year... I wonder if that makes it any more (or less) valuable. :p :p I have no intention of ever selling it, but I'd be curious to know. ;)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Conventions/SupaNova%202011/supanova2011_29.jpg

In all likelihood - less valuable.

But in cases like that, it's more than worth it for sentimental value.

[GoktimusPrime]

That's cool. It's not like I buy toys and comics as a form of investment anyway -- purely for pleasure. :) Obviously I'd be chuffed if anything appreciates in value, but if it doesn't (or if it depreciates) then I'm not fussed either. As you said, it's the sentimental value that's priceless anyway. :cool:

[llamatron]

I had at one point pretty much the entire DW run of comics... even priced at $1 per issue they barely move...

[reillyd]

There are (some) variant covers of dream wave that hold value, but not all of them. I would see which are variants, which are not, and use a site like milehighcomics.com or mycomicshop.com to confirm any hunches. I would personally buy many of the dw variants, but you also have to remember some of the early ones eg holographic covers were so overprinted. The later ones much less so.

A full set of more than meets the eye profiles would also fetch a pretty penny.

[reillyd]

While we are on the subject, if you have any of the mini comics that dreamve a d then IDW have done, or if anyone else has sitting somewhere away, I would also be prepared to make a good offer on them. These are über rare, and I don't have a complete set,. Think DVD and game release exclusives mini comics.

[Zippo]

So, without actually doing any further reasearch .. it seems that the majority of comics are worth less than cover price and could be really hard to even give away yet alone sell for any sort of profit.

Couple I have may be worth the dollars.
However -- with these I think its all or nothing as I wouldn't want to part with some and be left with others.

Oh well. I shall find a home for them somewhere :p

[GoktimusPrime]

So, without actually doing any further reasearch .. it seems that the majority of comics are worth less than cover price and could be really hard to even give away yet alone sell for any sort of profit.
This should come as no surprise to any comic collector.

Comic books - on the whole - appreciate really poorly (if at all - some may even depreciate) ever since the collapse of the comic book market in 1992. A lot of people blame the Death of Superman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Superman#Audience_and_media_response) for this, and I'm inclined to agree. I remember when Death of Superman came out, it was HUGE news (even regular evening TV news (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O34eASFp_KM) were covering it for a while). People were racing to comic book stores to buy the first printing of that book. A friend of mine, who'd never been into Superman before then (although he was a fan of Batman) went and bought the first printing of Death of Superman and kept it sealed. He bought a second printing late to open and read (so between the first and second printing he would just stare at his sealed comic but with no idea of what was inside it!). He did the same thing with the entire Funeral For A Friend series and many issues later with Superman -- always buying the first print to keep sealed and second print to read... I think he did it for about a year or two (maybe more, can't remember) -- but eventually he did stop when it finally dawned on him that all these comics he was collecting wasn't really worth what he'd hoped they would be.

Chuck Rozanski published an essay in Comic Buyer's Guide which explains how the Death of Superman caused the comic market collapse in the 1990s This web site (http://zine375.eserver.org/issue2/zine3.html) gives a good concise explanation.

I think collecting comics should be like collecting toys -- do it because you like it, and not because you're expecting a high return later.

Now I'm not suggesting that you've collected comics as "investment", Zippo... but this is just a heads up for anyone who may not be a comic collector and may be thinking about starting a comic collection -- just like with starting a toy collection, I think it's best to do it out of passion for the hobby rather than for a monetary return; because as Randy Herkowitz of Comic Book Bin (http://www.comicbookbin.com/Carded_vs_Loose001.html) says, "Collecting action figures solely for monetary gain is a risky business and perhaps not the greatest way to invest your money as no one can predict the future and what collectors will desire ten to twenty years from now. .....you are most likely better off playing the stock market or something perhaps more stable." (while this quote only mentions action figures, the same could be said for comic books too :)).

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u267/dankster32828/capeflag.jpg
The Death of Comic Collecting