Amazing Spider-Man 156

A strong CGC 9.4 copy of the 30 cent price variant of Amazing Spider-Man 146 brought $450 in a recent ebay sale.  As a comparison, the last sale of a 9.4 copy of the regular edition brought $23 or about one twentieth of its price variant brother.  This is a record price for this book in this grade, but this shouldn't be surprising, as there is only one other sale of this book in this grade, back in 2004 for $173.  It is one of only three in 9.4 with only three examples graded higher in 9.6.  It may be another eight years before you see another up for sale.

X-Men 100

I have always felt that issue 100 is the toughest of the three X-Men 30 cent price variants.  Because it has a white cover and issues 98 and 99 have black covers, I think that X-Men 100 is generally found in higher grade than the other two issues.  Anyway, this is a very nice copy of the book for $455 and they don't come around very often so it is not surprising that this is a record price for this book in this grade.  The last time that this issue in this grade sold was five years ago in 2007 - so these are pretty rare.

Amazing Spider-Man 155

The price level for CGC 9.6 examples of Amazing Spider-Man 155 seems to be comfortably at $400+ with the recent sale of two books.  There are only two examples graded higher at 9.8 and only five copies graded 9.6.  Nice copies of the regular edition normally bring about $75, so this is a relative bargain as a price variant.

Iron Fist 5

A CGC 9.6 Iron Fist 5 30 cent price variant brought $250 in a recent ebay transaction.  Although advertised as the highest graded, it is actually the second highest grade behind two 9.8 copies of this book.  Iron Fist books have a large collector base and nice price variant examples always bring strong prices - don't get me started on the 35 cent books.

Doctor Strange 16

The single highest graded example the 30 cent price variant Doctor Strange 16 sold for $650 in an ebay auction.  White pages and a full starburst and a CGC grade of 9.8 make this the best Doctor Strange price variant that I have ever seen.  I am also certain that there is not a nicer one out there as this is absolutely as nice as they come.

Tomb of Darkness 21

The single highest example of one of my favorite 30 cent price variants recently traded hands for $750 on ebay.  It a beautiful copy of this black-covered, atomic bomb button cover, horror book which, like the other horror variants, is extremely hard to find, particularly in high-grade.

Logan's Run in Good sells for $200 bucks

Here is an example of a real sleeper book.  First, it is a very hard to find 35 cent variant of a minor title which makes it even tougher.  Second, it has a back-up story which just happens to be the first solo story of Thanos.  Thanos is going to be the main protagonist of the next Avengers movie so this is a very important book.  This is also why a beater copy of this book would bring $200 bucks at auction.  Watch what happens when the movie comes out.

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, DC, 35 cent price variant

I haven't spoken about them much, but there are a couple of interesting DC price variant books.  I don't know many collectors of the Amethyst title, but there are several collectors of the price variant books which is a very short series.  Recently, a CGC 9.4 copy brought $225 in an ebay auction.

Ghost Rider 24

A very nice copy of Ghost Rider 24 found by the best variant hunter of them all was recently auctioned on ebay for $282. 

Conan 75 in CGC 9.4 brings strong coin

A very nice Conan 75 brought $315 in a recent ebay auction.  It is one of only two books certified at the 9.4 level with only one book certified higher at 9.6.  This is a record price for the issue and for comparison, a 9.8 of the issue would normally fetch $50.

A very nice "raw" Captain America 214 on the "bay"

A very nice example of the 35 cent variant edition of Captain America 214 brought $585 in a spirited ebay auction.  It is always difficult to tell from the scan but the book appears to be the nicest that I have seen particularly since the highest certified by CGC is 8.5.  This book is almost certainly nicer.

GPA's Analysis of Certified Sales of Variants for September 2012

Here is a screenshot of GPA's analysis of sales of certified price variants books.  I highly recommend their service for any serious collector of high grade books.  You will notice the $2225 sale for a CGC 9.6 X-Men 98 30 cent price variant.  What an incredible book! 

I also regularly get people asking me about Star Wars 1 price variants.  As you can see, nice mid-grade copies trade for $2000 so it is unreasonable to expect that you are going to land one of the NM- or better copies cheaply.  In fact, there is enough demand that these books are on the rise again.