A couple of lower grade 35 cent price variant books to illustrate a point.

There is a tremendous amount of collector interest in the Marvel Price Variant issues.  Collectors looking to complete specific titles and collectors trying to complete the entire series create a healthy competition for any fresh material that hits the market.  In addition to the Rawhide Kid 141 in CGC 4.5 that I mentioned in an earlier post, there were two other sales of nice CGC certified 4.5 books that illustrate the true rarity of these books and offer a perspective on the pricing for the books.

On ComicLink, a CGC 4.5 copy of Amazing Spider-Man 173 sold for $205.  This is the seventh highest graded copy out of eight graded copies.  The key term is that there are only eight graded copies and there are certainly more than eight Spider-Man collectors looking for these books.  Comparisons to sales of the regular issue are really difficult, because with 17 copies graded in 9.8, there just aren't that many collectors looking for a CGC 4.5 regular edition.  Honestly, a 4.5 copy of the regular edition is not worth slabbing.  The closest comparison I could find is a CGC 8.0 regular edition that sold in December 2012 for $10 (or 1/2 of the CGC encapsulation fees).  A CGC 4.5 Spider-Man price variant is worth twenty times a CGC 8.0 of the regular issue.

GPA reports the sale in May of 2013 of an Iron Fist 15 graded in CGC 4.5 for $180.  The statistics are similar to the Spidey 173.  There are 21 total books graded of the price variant issue while there are 21 9.8s graded of the regular issue.  The closest comparison is again a CGC 8.0 regular edition that sold for $19 in September of 2012.  A CGC 4.5 Iron Fist price variant is worth ten times a CGC 8.0 of the regular issue.

It bears repeating.  35 Cent Price Variants regularly trade at ten to twenty times the price of the regular issues.  For the rarest of the rare books like the HB's, horror, war and western price variants the multiple is 100 times, i.e. Scooby Doo 1 in CGC 8.5 at $3500 versus $35 for the regular issue.  Or try Star Wars 1 in CGC 9.6 for $26,000 versus $190 for the regular issue.

Ultra-Rare Spiderman 184 All Detergent Sets New Record

Ebay stalwart seller zillaf4 auctioned off the extremely rare Amazing Spider-Man 184 All Detergent Promotional Giveaway Variant copy with the sticker attached.  With 3 or 4 known copies, this is an extremely rare book.  Given the huge number of Spider-Man completionist collectors, this auction was bound to bring a trainwreck.  Twenty-seven bids later, a hammer price of $1525 won the book.  This result has to be a record for a VG to Finish bronze-age Spider-Man comic book.  Here are the details on the listing and the book.  You may not ever see another.

Two things make the book special (and by special, I mean compared to a regular issue 184 in the same condition which would be lucky to sell in a quarter bin).  The first is that the All Detergent sticker is still attached to the front.  You can see it in the bottom left of the cover.  The second is that this is a price variant book.  Note that there is a blank white box next to the issue number in the upper left corner.  The regular issue is printed with the usual 35 cent price.

Amazing spider-man 157 in CGC 9.8 sets record in Comiclink feature auction

A beautiful copy of Amazing Spider-man 157 in CGC white sold for $1628 in the May 2011 Comiclink Feature auction. This is one of two highest graded copies of this variant issue and the first to come up at auction. The is the first sale of a certified spider 30 cent price variant to break the $1000 dollar barrier but it is also the first sale of a 9.8 graded spidey book to close at auction. 9.8 copies of issue 155 have sold in private treaty sales for near four-figure amounts.

This price is approximately fifteen times the amount of a regular issue 9.8.  The previous high sales price for a price variant copy of this issue was $510 for a 9.6 copy.

Price Comparison between 30 cent Variant Issues and Regular Issues

For buyers and sellers of high-grade certified comic books, I highly recommend a subcription to GPAnalysis.  GPAnalysis tracks and records the sales of CGC certified books and publishes them in an online-searchable database.  GPAnalysis also provides some useful monthly summary reports including a very useful report each month which details the sale of certified price variants.  (For the only comprehensive sales report that includes "raw" price variants, check this blog monthly.)  One of the interesting things that this report does is compare the sales price of variants to their regular edition issues.

Here are some high grade examples.

Amazing Spider-Man 171 9.2  $800  (40x the last regular edition sale of $20)
Iron Fist 15                       8.0  $785  (37x the last regular edition sale of $21)
Amazing Spider-Man 173 8.5  $612  (23x the last regular edition sale of $26)
Star Wars 3                       8.5  $600  (30x the last regular edition sale of $15)
Daredevil 146                   9.2  $375  (22x the last regular edition sale of $17)
X-Men 106                        7.5  $375  (22x the last regular edition sale of $17)
Spectacular Spider-Man 9 9.0 $220   (27x the last regular edition sale of $8)
Tarzan 1                             9.2 $205   (29x the last regular edition sales of $7)


I have written several times about what might happen if a high-grade Spidey or X-Men price variant book ever showed up at auction.  Consider this recent book in the November 2010 ComicLink Feature Auction.

Yes, that is correct.  One of the eight current CGC 9.8 copies of Amazing Spider-Man issue 156 brought a hammer price of $650 in the auction.  In case you think that price is unusual, there was only one sale of a 9.8 issue 156 last year and it was for $550.  Highest graded Spider-Man issues are always in demand.  Figure this.  20 times $650 is $13,000 and 30 times $650 is $19,500.  I am not saying that if a 9.8 Spider-Man 156 30 cent price variant shows up at an auction that it will bring $13,000 to $19,500.  We may never know since one has not been graded yet (there are only two price variant 9.6s and two price variant 9.4s on the census.)  I never thought I would see a 9.6 Star Wars 1 price variant sell for over $25,000 either.  Interesting to think about, yes?

High-Grade Amazing Spider-Man 35 centers - Updated Price Information

There is nothing like a well-followed auction with fresh, never-seen material to check the real price levels on great 35 cent variant books.  Long-time variant collector Darthdiesel auctioned off several top-census 35 cent books on ebay recently, including two very high grade Amazing Spider-Man 35 cent books.

Spider-Man 173 in CGC 8.5 Off-White to White (tied for highest graded, and only six books on the census) brought a hammer price of $612.  Eight bidders were recorded with fifteen bids and three bidders registered bids in excess of $500.  There was definately at least one additional bidder as I really wanted that book (my copy is a 4.5) but didn't snipe high enough and my bid was never entered.  I suspect that there were other bidders/snipers as well.  This result is now the only recorded sale of this issue in GPA.  By the way, assuming that you could sell a CGC 8.5 regular issue 173 for the cost of the slab, this price is forty times the price of the regular issue.

The other high grade Spidey 35 center that Darth auctioned was a beautiful CGC 9.2 Off-White to White 171.  This auction registered five bidders and 10 bids before the Buy It Now option was utilized for $800.  Since the 8.5 173 went for over $600, this might have been a smart move, but until another comes up for auction, we will never know.  The problem is that currently there is just one additional 9.2 and a lone 9.6 that are locked up in collections, so it may be awhile before we find out.  The BIN price of $800 is about twenty-five times the price of a regular issue CGC 9.2 171.  Twenty-five times the price of of a regular issue 9.6 would value the CGC 9.6 35 center at over $2000.

Amazing Spider-Man Mid-Grades Part 2

The third CGC certified Amazing Spider-Man 35 cent mid-grade has sold in an ebay auction this month.   Issue 171 in CGC 6.5 Off-White closed at $172.55.  It is hard to believe but there are still only 12 examples of this book certified by CGC.  This sale along with the sale of a similarly graded 170 and 172 for slightly over $200 each gives a good idea of the current price point for FN to FN+ Amazing Spider-Man 35 centers.

Here is something to think about (yes, hypothetical as they rarely, if ever, come up for sale).  Typically Overstreet values FN+ (6.5) books at 1/3 of the value of NM- (9.2) books.  I am thinking that if a set of NM- Spidey books hit ebay, they would easily fetch $600 a copy.  9.4 and higher books would bring even higher multiples.

Amazing Spider-Man 129 (first appearance of the Punisher) is an easily tracked and similarly priced book in FN+ 6.5 at around $225.   In the last 12 months, there have been 33 sales of CGC 9.2 graded copies at an average selling price of $701 each.  In the last 12 months there have been 7 sales of CGC 9.8 copies at an average selling price of $8464 each.  WOW.  Unfortunately, as of yet, there is not a single certified 9.8 35 cent Amazing Spider-Man issue.  A single 9.6 171 and a single 9.4 169 are the only NM or better issues certified so far.  In fact, two 8.5s are tied as the highest graded 35 cent variant of issue 173.

Spidey 35 cent Mid-grades

Two recent ebay auction sales of Amazing Spider-Man mid-grades eclipsed the $200 mark.  This CGC 6.5 copy of Spidey 170 closed at 202.51 in an ebay auction.  What is amazing is that this is the only sale of certified copy of this issue in the GPA database (which goes back over eight years), so it is nice to get a price point on the book.

This copy of Amazing Spider-Man 172 brought a hammer price of $202.50 in an ebay auction.  It is the sixth sale noted in GPA of a certified copy of this book but the first in over two years.

ComicLink June Auction highlighted by Iron Fist 5 CGC 9.8 for $1037

To make a long story short, it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted.  I upgraded my computer but between traveling and trying to get the new computer reloaded and back up to speed, it seems like I have taken a two week sabbatical.

Speaking of long stories, as opposed to short ones, Charles Dickens" A Tale of Two Cities opens with the line 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".  That kind of describes the June ComicLink auction.

There were three nice thirty cent price variants in the auction. 

Amazing Spider-Man 157 in CGC 9.4 sold for $103.  That price is a bargain for a 2nd highest graded Spider-Man issue with only 5 higher graded copies.  In fact, in the last three years, GPA only records one other sale of a 9.4 book.  $675 in March of this year.  I suspect that the Cream to Off-White page quality affected the price. but I also think that many times price variants get lost in the focused ComicLink auctions.  Unless a collector looks closely, the price variant books can get lost in sea of 9.8 graded bronze.  Anyway, CGC Registry set points don't distinguish on page quality and page quality is the most inconsistent CGC metric.  Still, I like my bronze-age books to have Off-White to White or better page quality but I will settle for less on price variants.  In fact, I would take a brittle Flintstones 1 35 cent price variant in a second.

The next price variant in the auction was an old label Howard the Duck 3 which has been passed around more than a bottle of Mescal Tequila (yes, the one with the worm) at a frat party.  I think this book has changed hands at least three times in the past twelve months.  It is commonly believed that the old label books are more conservatively graded than more recently graded books.  I have not found this to be particularly true and I am guessing that maybe this book is getting passed around in hopes that someone will crack it out and resubmit it to try and get that elusive 9.8.  There have been twelve HTD 3s that have been graded 9.6 but no 9.8s.  Howard the Duck 3 and Eternals 1 are the most common 30 cent variants, particularly in high grade.  However, if a 9.8 ever shows up at auction, it is going to go real high.  Alas, this copy of an apparently unimprovable 9.6 went for 9.4 money and sold for an absolute bargain price of $43. 

The highlight of the auction, or any auction for that matter, was the sale of a CGC 9.8 Iron Fist 5 with white pages and a full starburst.  The series ran for only 15 issues but there are six price variant issues.   Price variants don't come much nicer than this one and there are more than a few bronze age Iron Fist collectors, so when a book like this one comes up at auction you can throw the price guides in the trash. This book brought a hammer price of $1037 and joins the growing list of price variant issues to achieve a four figure price. 

Amazing Spider-Man 159

Issue 159 is the last of the 30 cent price variant issues. It is also one of my least favorite Spidey issues of all time. Except for a couple of interesting story interuptions, the issue is kind of weak. The first interlude gives us the answer to what has happened to Spidey's sunken car. Some mysterious hands are modifying it and we learn that, "Once I put this machine in action, Spider-Man will never bother anyone again!" The second interlude is another peek at J. Jonah and his exhasparation with his temporary secretaries. Forget what I said about Michael Turner drawing these ladies - Mrs. Plumm is very large and I don't think Turner could make her hot. But this is the only issue for Mrs. Plumm as she quits on J. Jonah, who is left to opine that "you just can't find good help anymore". Two issues since Betty Brant's marriage and two secretaries gone.

The story picks up where issue 158 left off. Hammerhead has been brought back to life. Spider-Man and Doc Ock attack Hammerhead and somehow Hammerhead survives this one-sided match-up when the three bang heads together and all three fall to the ground like Rocky and Appollo Creed.

At which point, Aunt May screams and then the SWAT team commences its assault with anasthetic bullets. Anasthetic bullets? Don't ask me. Dirty Harry is still laughing about this issue. At the same time another squad of commandos drops in from the roof. You can tell the commandos aren't part of the swat team because of the ridiculous costumes that they are wearing.

Spidey is the first to wake up, but he can't tie up Doc Ock and Hammerhead because he is attacked by the commandos and then the SWAT team attacks the commandos. Everyone is fighting everyone and Doc Ock huries to rescue Aunt May, which should be the job of Spidey or the SWAT team. But alas, Hammerhead captures her first with a gun pointed at her head and he and his goons escape in a helicopter.

For some reason, Hammerhead and his men return to their old but well-known hangout. Don't ask me why. But returning to his old hangout makes Hammerhead easy to find for Spidey and Doc Ock who attack the hangout. Dispatching the guards, the two sneak into the kitchen where Doc Ock takes out the cooks by pinning them to the wall with a bunch of precisely aimed knives. Spidey takes out two more guards with frying pans, which is symbolic of this cooked-up story.

Inside his office Hammerhead is offering Aunt May a shot of whiskey. Maybe he figures if he can get Aunt May looped, he could get lucky, which makes me really want to take back my comment about wishing that Michael Turner had drawn these issues. But I digress. Back to the office, Aunt May refuses the free drink offer from Hammerhead and is about to get rewarded with a slap across her face, when he is stopped by a serving cart loaded with two of his knocked out guards. Hammerhead sees Spidey and Doc Ock entering his square office and presses a button which opens up the walls to reveal more guards. But the guards skipped marksmanship class and Doc Ock dispatches the guards while Spidey hides Aunt May in a hole in the floor.

Hammerhead hits another hidden switch and the office starts spinning like it is on a giant record player. As the room spins a single window lines up with a hole in the outer brick wall and Hammerhead escapes on the first pass. The room is spinning faster which makes it more difficult for Doc Ock to time his jump and escape the room to chase after Hammerhead. Spider-Man starts throwing furniture into the hole in the floor to jam up the giant gears that propel the room. He manages to stop the room which allows the remaining guards to regain their weapons, but Spidey easily takes them out. Unfortunately, the turntable stopps spinning when the window didn't match up with the hole in the outer brick, which is pretty similar to my experience in Las Vegas.

The story resumes with Doc Ock finding Hammerhead. Hammerhead escapes in a weird helicopter. Doc Ock begins throwing trash cans at the helicopter and manages to find the range with the third one which brings the helicopter down in an explosion in the Hudson River.

Spider-Man rescues the unconscious Aunt May to the roof. Doc Ock demands that Spidey hand over Aunt May which of course Spidey refuses to do. The police arrive and Doc Ock retreats. Spider-Man lays Aunt May near a fire truck to be rescued and makes his escape.


CGC has certifed one 9.6, two 9.4s, three 9.2s and two 9.0s. They have certified a total of 23 issues in all grades. As usual, becuase high-grade sales are so infrequent, price information for high-grade copies is sketchy. GPA records only two sales of 9.0 or higher specimens in the last five years. Further clouding the issue is the fact that both sales were for the exact same 9.0 copy, first in August 2009 for $90 and again in February of this year for $159. The last sales record of a 9.4 was in 2005 for $300. The only sales record of a 9.2 was in 2004 for $150.

Amazing Spider-Man 158

If Amazing Spider-Man 157 is the easiest of the Amazing Spider-Man Bronze-Age Price Variants to find in high-grade, its successor, issue 158 is one of the hardest. The Comics Guaranty Corporation (CGC) has certified five issues in 9.4, five issues in 9.2and one in 9.0.

CGC is the third-party grading house most accepted by comic book collectors. CGC provides a really neat feature for collectors which is their comics registry. The comics registry is a database which allows collectors to enter information about their certified collections and compete on who has the best set. To measure how popular the Spidey is, there are currently 461 registry sets for the complete Amazing Spider-Man set. There are an additional 176 collectors with registry sets of issues 100 to 200 which include the price variant issues and eighty collectors with registry sets in the complete Amazing Spider-Man set plus variants category. You can see the problem with the marvel price variants, in a sea of competitive collectors, there is only a thimble full of certified copies of the price variant issues - 21 total of this issue. The competition for high-grade examples is fierce when one shows up at auction. There have been three high-grade copies sold in the past three years - yes, one per year. In October of 2008, a 9.4 sold for $420 which would be a bargain today. In August of 2008, a 9.2 sold for $190 which would also be a bargain today. The last high-grade book to sell was a 9.0 which sold in March of this year for $300.

Issue 158 picks up where 157 left off. Spider-man is falling from a mile in the sky after Doc Ock snipped his web-lines. Spider-man could use his web-shooters to make a parachute and glide to the ground, but this is the 1970's and he quickly fashions a hangglider out of webbing and manages to land in a dumpster after misjudging his flight path.

So we next meet Petey in his apartment where he is repairing his spidey costume and he is visited by Glory Grant - a good stripper name if ever there was one. Then Mary Jane comes in and tells Peter that Aunt May's place has been trashed. Peter gets a call from Robbie Robertson about an emergency assignment, so Peter slips on his costume beneath his clothes.

When he gets to work, he learns that J. Jonah is not happy with the hapless new temp who is replacing Betty Brant while she is on her honeymoon. He also learns from Robbie that the Daily Globe is raiding the Bugle for employees. He also hears that Doc Ock is holding at Aunt May at Brookhaven Labs.

Spidey rushes to the Labs where he finds Doc Ock working on some equipment and a SWAT team (1970s, remember) gathering for a hostage rescue. Spidey fights Doc Ock which breaks the equipment and then Hammerhead appears and Spidey helps Doc Ock put the equipment back together which Doc Ock thinks will destroy Hammerhead once and for all but Hammerhead knows will put him back in phase and give him his material body back and Spidey realizes what Hammerhead knows but is unable to stop Doc Ock from hitting the button and the issues ends with Hammerhead material again. Whew...We will have to wait for the conclusion in issue 159.

I love this bronze age stuff - but am left wondering what the parade of hapless secretaries would look like if these issues were drawn by Michael Turner - not to mention Glory Grant...

Amazing Spider-Man 157

Amazing Spider-Man 157 is the easiest of the Amazing Spider-Man Bronze-Age Price Variants to find in high-grade. Of course, using "easiest to find" and Bronze-age Price Variant in the same sentence is oxymoronic. CGC has certified 42 copies of this issue which is more than twice as many as issue 156. Five copies are currently tied for the highest grade at 9.6 with 12 more in 9.4, and six in 9.2. The last high grade copy to sell was a CGC 9.4 that sold in March 2010 for $675.

Issue 157 continues some of the sub-plots from the previous issues and begins a three issue story-arc. In fact, this issue finishes with Spidey plunging from a helicopter a mile in the air after Doc Ock clips his webbing. The issue begins with
Spider-Man diving into the Hudson River to try and recover his Spider-Mobile, a continuing story plot that begins in issue 126. Spidey orginally thought he would get rich with a license deal from Corona motors (great name, but drinking and driving don't mix) but now is worried about getting sued instead. Spidey only finds the side-view mirror and realizes the car is gone. Returning to the surface he has to elude two cops and then he returns home.

Peter arrives at Aunt May's house with a tub of chicken and is shocked that Aunt May has helped Dr. Octopus with a shower and some new clothes. Doc Ock tells them how he survived the explosion on a nuclear reactor on an island that Aunt May owned but is now haunted by the ghost of Hammerhead who set off the explosion. This apparently is the cue for the ghost of Hammerhead to appear, causing Aunt May to faint and Doc Oct to flee with her in his arms. Peter becomes Spider-man and chases them. Doc Ock uses a crowd of people encouraged by a bounty from the Bugle to capture Spidey to elude Spidey and escape to a helicopter. Spider-Man snags the helicopter with his webs, but when Doc Ock notices that Spidey is hitching a ride on the helicopter, he snips the webs and we will have to wait until issue 158 to find out what happens to Spidey.

Amazing Spider-Man 156

The second of the five Amazing Spider-Man 30 cent price variants is issue 156.

Returning to his apartment early in the morning from his battle with the WHO computer (issue 155), Spider-Man is trying to catch some sleep before he has to be at Ned Leeds and Betty Brant's wedding. As he lands on the roof of his building, he is attacked with a broom by his landlady Mrs. Muggins, who suspects the intruder is a pervert.

Mary Jane ties his bow tie and the two arrive at the beginning of the marriage service of Ned and Betty. Then the wedding is crashed, not by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, but by a villain named Mirage who has the power to appear several places at once. Mirage is there to rob all the guests (pun- I am called Mirage, and I've come to rob you blind.) but Peter finds a way to change into Spider-man and defeat Mirage by crashing a chandelier into the wedding crasher. Spider-Man finds a way to change back to Peter Parker and explain his disappearance and the priest concludes the marriage of Ned and Betty.

Aunt May catches the Betty's bouquet and returns to her apartment where she finds a Bowery Derelict waiting for her inside. The bum exposes himself to her and surprise, it is Dr. Octopus, whom she almost married back in issue 131. Otto Octavius asks her for help and the issue ends.

CGC has certified only 18 price variant copies of this issue. The highest grades on the CGC census are one 9.6, two 9.4s, and six 9.2s. This issue is extremely tough and price information, particularly for high-grade copies is practically non-existant. GPA records only one sale of a 9.4 graded copy and that was back in October of 2004 for $173. That book would sell for much more today. GPA does not have a record of a VF or higher book selling in the last three years.




A great site to find reviews of each Amazing Spider-Man issue is here http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider-ManB/amazing_spiderman_156.htm

Amazing Spider-Man 155

I think it is safe to say that there are two Marvel Bronze-Age titles that attract more collectors than any other bronze-age titles - the Amazing Spider-Man and the Uncanny X-Men. There are five 30 cent variant titles for the Amazing Spider-Man issues and we are going to look at them in order.

You want a challenge? Find all five Spidey 30 center in VF/NM or better.

Issue 155 begins with District Attorney Blake Tower holding a press conference to unveil the new Worldwide Habitual Offendor (note the initials, they are important) Computer. The door to the computer room is locked and when it is finally opened, Dr Armstrong Smith, the developer of the computer is found dead in the room. Peter Parker is part of the press contingent and comes back to investigate the crime scene. He uses the computer to determine Smith's murderer, and the computer offers up three candidates. You have to remember that this book was written a few years before the advent of personal computers, when computers had kind of an aura of infallibility.

Anyway, after tracking down the three candidates (the last has been dead for years), Peter realizes that he has been tricked by the computer. Apparently Armstrong discovered that the computer had gained artificial intelligence and was killed by the computer when he tried to delete the program. After confessing to Spider-Man, the computer attacks Spidey with a laser beam. Spidey squirts his webbing to plug the cooling vents, which causes the computer to overheat and explode. Now that I think about it, Spider-Man must have jacked with my first computer too. As usual, Spidey makes his getaway before the police arrive on the scene.

And did you get it? All this work on a story to deliver the pun - WHO dunnit. Ouch, Ouch, Ouch!




There are plenty of high-grade Amazing Spider-Man collectors. Unfortunately, there are not plenty of high-grade Amazing Spider-Man 30 cent variants. In fact, issue 155 is the only one of the 30 cent price variant issues with a copy to be CGC graded in 9.8 - and there are two 9.8 copies of this issue.

CGC has certified 31 copies of the price variant issue including two 9.8s, two 9.6s and three 9.4s. There are just not enough high grade copies to go around and high grade copies are rarely offered for sale. GPA does not have a record of a sale of a 9.8 price variant of this issue. In September of 2007, a 9.6 sold for $660. There are three recorded sales of a 9.4, the last in July 2006 for $500.


One of the most entertaining reviews of each Amazing Spider-Man issue is Samuel Smith's which can be found here
http://www.spidervillain.com/SpiderManCovers/Amazing/ASM155/ASM155.htm

Another great resource for comics book information can be found here
http://www.comicvine.com/the-amazing-spider-man-whodunit/37-16243

And the Marvel Wikia site for this issue can be found here
http://marvel.wikia.com/Comics:Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_155