MARKET REPORT for #38(2008) Overstreet Annual Comic Book Price Guide by Douglas W. Sulipa;

[Two Sections were DELETED in the Published Overstreet Version & are Marked as such below]

INTRO;

We bought & Sold a lot of comics in the last Year. There was the usual relentless demand for Popular KEY issues, in almost all grades. High Grade Marvel & DC comics were the MOST requested, but we were only able to supply about 20% of the issues requested in these Grades. [Most of the 9.0 thru 9.8 graded RAW comics we SOLD were from the 1975 thru 1987 era]; If we had more 9.0 Up Copies from 1974 & Older, we would have sold a lot of them. We also had a lot of requests for G to VF Comics from the 1960 thru 2006 Era from ALL Publishers and were able to fill about 90% of Those Orders [About 50% of 1960's Comics we did not have in VF or Better, otherwise we would have fulfilled about 95% of Want Lists]; We sold a lot of 1950's Comics, but especially DELL comics. I specialize in trying to carry all comics printed from 1960 to 2006 in the $100 and Under Price Range; [Although we do have a decent selection of Over $100 comics & Probably 50,000 comics from the 1950's & perhaps 2,000 comics from the 1940's ]; The great majority of Collector's buy only the more affordable under $100 comics. If at one point in their lives, they have more disposable income, collectors might graduate to the More Expensive items they have always dreamed about. In the late 1980's i was still dealing in a lot of High End items, but made the decision to instead try to stock EVERYTHING (in the under $100 price range) from ALL publishers. I have never regretted the decision & have since handled almost everything Printed in North American Comics Related items from the last 50 Years, most items many many times. In addition I got into everything COMICS Related & also into all types of Non-Comic Magazines, Books, Records & Posters. I have a very loyal group of buyers who constantly thank me for carrying 1000's of items almost no one else can be bothered with. It was & still is, an amazing experience. For me, Sad Sack & Jughead comics outsell both Wolverine & X-Men comics, mainly because the latter are carried by almost every back issue dealer nationwide, so why bother ordering by mail. How many dealers have a decent selection of Harvey & Archie comics? Superhero Comic Sales have been Strong in the last year (to Investors, in part because of all the Films, but also to buyers wanting to fill in runs & get a lot of books all in one place, with Good Grading). But the Oddball comics that most dealers do not carry are much more notable, because they tend to sell well in ALL grades, at higher percentages of Guide & at a much better turnover rate. As in any collectible field, dealers who specialize & excel in one area of collecting, obtain better prices & have a strong repete clientele & that has been our aim. eBay sellers will usually tell you, that it is hard to convert one-time buyers, into new longterm clients. The presence of the Overstreet Price Guide since 1970, has done a superior job of stabilizing prices, far beyond what we see in most other hobbies. Many would say it has over-inflated Superhero comics, but that is not so, because if you take into account STRICT GRADING, you will find the majority of items that sell are within the 50% of Guide to 150% of Guide Price Range, which it relatively stable for a Collectibles Hobby. Without the Guide, we would see wildly erratic pricing (as with the Used paperback market, where books that should sell for $2 can bring $50, & books that should sell for $50 can he had for $10); For example, RICHIE RICH DIGEST MAGAZINE (10/1986-10/1994) #11-42 are near impossible to find for collectors who need them, and low GUIDE prices make them sell instantly when they do show up. Demand is 5-10 Times Bigger than supply, & in another marketplace one would expect them to sell for $25-$50 each range, but they simply remain SOLD OUT everywhere in the $5 each & under range. Just a few Lesser Known items that consistently sell for 200% or More include; Josie #45, 106, Transformers #80, Savage Sword #235, Katy Keene Digests, Creepshow, Betty & Veronica #320, many Giveaway comics, Dennis & the Bible Kids, Masters of the Universe #12, 13, Moebius Graphic Novels, Hunger Dogs GN, Squadron Supreme Death of a Universe GN, Conan GN's, Charlton Comic Digests, & many More; Many investors try hard to make money in comics & do not succeed, while many Collectors who do not follow the trend & buy what they like, do make good money when selling their collections. It is always recommended that you go after the items that you enjoy, once there learn about them & use that knowledge to guide your buying decisions.

ALTERNATIVE / Independant Comics;

We have managed to sell to Book Reading Crowd (normally Non-Comic Collectors), quite a lot of ALTERNATE COMICS from POPULAR MEDIA, at a much faster Rate than to Comic Collectors, including; (Doc Savage, Shadow, MOST HORROR, Aliens, Predator, Star Wars, Crow, Vampires, Werewolf, Zombies, Anne Rice, H.P. Lovecraft, Adult, Underground, Planet of the Apes, Green Hornet, Westerns, Vietnam War, WW2, Animated Cartoons, Bone, Buffy, Classics, Religious, all EC Reprints, Indiana Jones, Elric, Phantom, Sherlock Holmes, 1990's Robotech, James Bond, Personality, Simpsons,

Top Comic Artists, much TV related, Tarzan, Robert E Howard, Movie adaptions, SF & Other Author Book adaptions, Comic Strips, Dick Tracy, etc); These buyers appreciate them for what they are, Good Reading & are not particularly concerned about condition.

Comic Collector's are fascinated with all 1980 and Older Comics, including; Ground-Level Comics, Underground comics, Ditto-Zines & Fanzines. Most of these have small Print Runs & are never seen by the average collector. When you add to that the challenge of Locating these scarce & Cool items, & at still reasonable Price Levels, it is easy to see why many fans get hooked. These sell in any & all grades, with most attempts at Price Guides being futile, as pure Supply & Demand is the rule. Record Prices & demand continue for the best known of the Investment Alternate comics (at 150-300% Guide), including; Albedo #1,2, Cerebus #1-21, Elflord (Nightwind; 1980-82) #1-15, Orb #1, TMNT #1, etc.

We have over 50,000 Different Independent Comics from the 1980-2006 Era in stock, surely the biggest selection anywhere, with well over 1/3 Not listed in the Overstreet GUIDE. Probably only about 10% of them were Overprinted, biving the False impression that they are all Common & Worthless. Millions of these COMICS were DUMPED in BARGAIN BINS & many are no longer common in HIGH GRADE, because of Over Handling. Many had small Print Runs of only 1000-5000 Copies, making them among the Scarcest comics of the last 30 Years. Yet about 95% can be had for under $5.00;

So if you want an affordable area to collect, with endless Variety & lots of Surprises, this is for you.

Some of the Bestsellers (at 120-175% GUIDE), include; Alien Encounters, Aliens (1988 mini), Alien Worlds, all Alan Moore titles, Armour, Army of Darkness($20 ea), Berni Wrightson Master of Macabre, Big Apple, Blackthorne, 3-D Zone & other 3-D comics (GI Joe, Star Wars, Transformers, Harvey, TV etc), Blazing Combat (apple), Blood of Dracula(Wrightson issues), Bone, Cody Starbuck(1978), 1980's Continuity Comics (Adams, etc), Cobalt Blue(1977), Crow #1-3, Critters #1-5, 48-50(Scarce), Crow(1st series), Crusaders #1(Southern Knights), Deadworld, Dick Tracy (Blackthorne) #71-99, Dick Tracy Ruben Award series, Echo of Futurepast, Eddie Campbell's Bacchus, Eightball, Elfquest, Fantasy Quarterly #1, Faust, Femforce, Flaming Carrot #1-5, Galaxia, Gasm, Gobbledygook (1984), Grendel (comico), Hate, Hobbit, Hot Stuf (Sal Q), How to Draw series (Transformers & GI Joe), Imagine(Star Reach), John Byrn'e Next Men #21, Judge Dredd, Justice Machine (Noble) #1-3 & Annual #1, Leather & Lace, Lone Wolf & Cub #1,41-45; Love & Rockets #1-20, Macross #1(1984), Mage (1984) #1-7, Magnus #1-12, Magazine #1-4, Mr. A series (Ditko), Miracleman #11-24 (Red Hot), Nexus (Capital) #1-3, Ninja High School (1986/87), Nucleus, Oktoberfest, Omaha Cat Dancer, Omen (Vigil), ORB , all Paragon Pub (Pre-1982 titles, Femzine etc), Phantacea, Planet of the Apes(all), Power Comics(1970's), Primer (Comico), Quadrant, Quack(Star Reach), Rai #1-10, Rock Comics (Adams-a), Solar 1-10, Spirit, Star Reach, Tales to Terrible to Tell(Hot & Scarce), Tank Girl, Tarzan(all), Tick, Transit, Twisted Tales, Uncensored Mouse, Untamed Love, Usagi Yojimbo 1-5, Vortex, Wally Wood's Thunder Agents, Weird Romance, World of Wood, Xenozoic Tales, Yummy Fur, Zen (1987), Zot & more;;

ARCHIE comics;

We have a Giant selection of 35,000 Archie Comics & 10,000 Digests, thus they are a specialty & one of our bestsellers. Since there are so many to choose from, collectors have seemed focused on their favorite characters, and/or anything that could be considered a KEY issue. (Including; Giants, #100's, LAST issues, X-Over's, Monster covers, Origin's, all 1980's appearances of Cheryl Blossom/Josie/Sabrina, etc); The High Grade collector's mainly seem interested in Betty & Veronica, Red Circle Horror and KEY issues, but as most of these are scarce in better than VF, so we mainly had & sold only 1980's & Newer issues in 9.0 or Better; The only exception was the Archie DIGESTS of the 1974-1985 Era, as we bought & sold over 100 High Grade 9.0-9.6 copies from the MANITOBA Collection at 125-300% Guide; Most buyers were just happy to find someone who had what they needed in ANY grade, thus we sold mainly G thru FN copies all thru the year. Archie's Betty & Veronica was by far the best seller, with #1-30, 320-347 being HOT sellers & very hard to keep in stock. B&V #320(1st Cheryl Blossom) is the #1 most requested Archie & when we can locate it at all it is worth, 200% Guide; 1950 and Older Golden Age Archie's are in very Low Supply & have Big Demand, bringing 120-150% Guide; 1951-1960 Archie's are even getting Scarcer as more disappear into permanent collections. It is getting more commonplace for overgraded Scarce & KEY issue Archies to sell on EBAY for 150-300% Guide in actual Grade, especially on Lower Graded & more affordable copies. All DAN DeCARLO art comics are in high demand, including all his Non-Archie comics & even his Adult Cartoon Digests.

With the last TMNT movie came an Unexpected demand for the Archie comics, but NOT the the Mirage Pub. ones. Presumably it is because the Archie editions had widespread newsstand distribution. The 1988-1990 Titles are mostly stiil relatively common, but the 1991 up issues are Scarce. TMNT Adventures #50-72, Specials #6-10 & Digests, all had Low print runs & are now quite scarce, are suddenly in BIG demand bringing 200-400% guide, with virtually every dealers everywhere sold out (#72 in VF/NM brings $30); The Mighty Mutant Animals in TMNT Adventures are extra Hot (1st app in #19, and #51-54); The Mighty Mutant Animals (4/1992-6/1993) is a HOT title (Current VF/NM values are = #1=$6; #2-4=$4; #5-7=$6; #8=$8; #9=$12); TMNT Adventures Special (1992-1994) is a HOT title (Current VF/NM values are = #12,4-6=$6; #7-9=$12; #10=$20); TMNT MUTANT UNIVERSE SOURCEBOOK is a HOT title (Current VF/NM values are = #1,2=$10; Update=$15);

>>> This Years Bestsellers include (with Percentage of Guide they sell at in brackets); ARCHIE Comics #1-100(120-150%), 300,322,326,400,429(125-150%), ARCHIE ALL-STAR SPECIAL - SERIES; (Winter/1975; 164 Pages, 4 different = 200%), Archie as Pureheart(120%), Archie at Riverdale High (Early Appearances of CHERYL BLOSSOM = 89,90,92,96,99,103 = 150%), 113(200%), Archie Giant #26, 32(150%), Archie Giant series (B&V, Josie & Sabrina issues = 125-150%), Archie's Girls Betty & Veronica #1-30(125-150%), 31-200(120-135%), (#320-322,327,328 Cheryl Blossom = 200%), Archie & Big Ethyl(150%), Archie & Mr Weatherbee(150%), Archie's Circus(200%), Archie's Date Book(150%), Archie's Festival(150%), Archie's Roller Coaster(200%), Archie's Roller Sports Scene (200%), Christmas with Archie (Giant; Spire Edition 250%), Archie's Jokebook #44-48(Neal Adams = 125-135%), 288(200%), Archie's Madhouse [ #22(150%), Sabrina issues(125-135%)], Archie's Mechanics(135%), Archie's Pal Jughead #79(Creature-c 150%), #77,78,80-82,85,86,88(125-135%), Archie's Pals N Gals #1-20(125%), #23(1st Josie = 200%), #29(Beatles 150%), #161(1st Cheryl Blossom Solo 200%), Archie's Ten Issue Collectors Set #1-10(Giveaway 125-150%), Archie's TV Laughout #1-23(125%), 91(200%), 92-106(120-150%), Betty & Me #1-10(125%), 16(200%), 23(150%), 40(125%), 79-86(125%), 200(150%), Black Hood(1983 = 150%), Cartoon Network presents SPACE GHOST #1(200%), Cheryl Blossom Mini-Series (13 issues total from 1995-1996 = 150-200%), Chilling Adv in Sorcery(150%), Christmas with Archie Treasury(200%), Cosmo the Merry Martian(125%), Flintstones #1-10(150%), 11-22(200%), FLY (1983-84 = 150%), HORROR /Science Fiction Covers issues (Circa 1962 = 125-135%), Ginger(120-135%), Hanna-Barbera All Stars(200%), Hanna-Barbera Presents(200%), Jetsons(200%), Josie #1(150%), 2-20(125%), 45(150%), 46-74(125-150%), 100-106(150%), JCP Presents Thunder Agents (200%), Jughead #325(Cheryl Blossom = 300%), 352(200%), Jughead as Capt Hero(125%), Jughead's Folly #1(1st ELVIS in comics 125%), Jughead Soul Food(150%), Katy Keene(1983-1990 = 150%), Laugh Comics #20-168(120-150%), Life with Archie #1-20, 45-66(125%), Little Archie #1-66(125%), Madhouse #95-97(Horror 150%), Mighty Crusaders(1983-85 = 150%), Pep Comics #22-180(120-135%), Red Circel Sorcery(150%), Riverdale Rambling (Archie Fanzine = $5-12 ea), Sabrina #1-17, 71-77 (135-150%), Scooby Doo(200%), SHEILD (1983-84 = 150%); SONIC the Hedgehog #1-50(120-150%), Suzie(120-135%), Tales Calculated to Drive you BATS(120%), That Wilkin Boy(150%), Thunder Agents (Archie; 150%), WHIZ KIDS (Archie & Radio Shack $5 ea), Wilbur (Katy Keene #5-56,58-69 & DeCarlo art in later issues = 120%);

ATLAS / Marvel;

We had a lot of requests for the Pre-Marvel Horror / SF Prototype issues & have virtually Sold Out (120-135% Guide); Millie the Model #18-93(Dan DeCarlo) were in huge demand & we nearly sold out (125-150% Guide); All the Western Titles sold well, but especially those that became Marvel (Gunsmoke Western, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid, Ringo Kid, Two Gun Kid) at 110-125% Guide; We sold every $50 & Under Atlas in stock that had Dan DeCarlo art (120-135% Guide); The most popular Genre & Bestseller this year was all the Teenage Titles at 125-150% Guide, including; Cindy, Frankie, Georgie, Hedy DeVine, Jeannie, Kathy, Linda Carter, Millie the Model (all Titles), Miss America, Mitzi, My Friend Irma, Nellie the Nurse, Patsy Walker (all Titles), Tessie the Typist, Teen & Wendy Parker; All Horror / SF & War Titles were steady sellers (115-125% Guide); The other Genres sold slower (but still better than many other publishers of same vintage) thru the year, (at 100-120% Guide), including; Crime/Mystery, Funny Animal, Humor /Parody, Romance, Sports, Spy Titles.

ATLAS / Seaboard;

We sold more 9.0 & up High Grade copies this year, than any other, mainly from the Manitoba collection (125-200%+ Guide); There are 61 different Color Comics from this publisher & they are one of the most sought of all publishers for Bronze Age Completionists, as the number is so finite & they are historically interesting. VICKI is by far the toughest of the Color Comics to find, especially the low print #3,4. The titles with Art by Adams, Chaykin, Ditko, Toth, Wood, & Wrightson sold fastest as usual. We sold a lot of G-FN copies also (125-150% Guide); Most also pick of the 6 Comics Related mags; DEVILINA, THRILLING ADVENTURE & WEIRD TALES OF THE MACABRE sold in all grades, with the scarcer #2's at 150% Guide, and #1's at 125% Guide; Getting a complete set of the 7 Non-Comic B&W Magazines is a great Challenge; MY SECRETS #1(2/1975) is very rare, we sold a G/VG copy for $50; Sea Monsters #1(1976) is Rare(VG $50); MOVIE MONSTERS are harder to find #1(VF$30; FN$20; VG$14); #2-4(VF=$40; FN$30; VG$20); Gothic Romances #1 is rare in any Grade & sells instantly in the 300% Guide range;

BRITISH / UK Comics; >>> [This section was DELETED / Edited OUT of the Published Overstreet #38];

WARRIOR (1982-85; Bolland, Bolton, Alan Davis, Gibbons Alan Moore, Morrison, with Marvelman / Miracleman) are in demand at $8-25 each; The classic 2000 AD weekly (Bisley, Bolland, Dan Dare, Dillon, Alan Davis, Fabry, Gibbons, Grant, Alan Moore, Nemesis, JUDGE DREDD, Robo-Hunter, Rogue Trooper, Slaine, Stronium Dog, Stainless Steel Rat, Bryan Talbot, & more) is a must for UK collectors, but little known in the USA; (#2 features the 1st app of Judge Dredd & sells for $200-1000); We sold several 100 UK War comic digests (Battle Picture Library, Commando, & War Picture Library, etc) contain all original UK material (excellent reading & art for WAR Comic Fans) at; (1950's/60's = $6-$20 and 1970's-1980's = $2-$6 each) The HORROR comics by Alan Class, Miller & others, are among our bestsellers. They are B&W Squarebound giants (60-100 pages featuring Vintage USA Horror & SF titles from; Atlas/Marvel, Archie, ACG, Charlton, DC,etc); Alan Class 1950's-1980's sell for $7-$12, with early issues higher. Miller issues from 1960's sell at $12-$30 each ; The Vinatge All-British New material weekly comics (Beano, Dandy, etc) of the 1937-1950's, are totally Alien products to American's, yet they set World Record prices each year in the UK (With #1's often over $5000 each). The British Hardcover Annuals of 1950's thru 1990's are scarce in the USA; They have many Major characters of the period, including USA & UK; Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Cartoons, Hanna-Barbera, Walt Disney, TV Series, Cowboys & Westerns, Music Stars. They are packed with Great covers, Comics, Art, Text stories, photo's, puzzles & Games, much of it is new material not seen in USA. (1976-1990 at $12-$25 ea; 1950-1975 at $20-$50 each); The 1950's DC & Superman Annuals are Scarce to RARE & can command $50 to $200+; We have one of the World's biggest selections of UK Marvel, with over 10,000 in stock (1966-1990; $3-$12 ea); Plus we have about 1000 Marvel "POCKET BOOK" comics DIGESTS from the 1980-1982 era ($5-$10 ea); We have 1000+ British DC Realted Comics. The Bestselling Characters & Artists include; Action Force (GI JOE), Avengers, Batman, Captain Britian, Dr Who, Hulk, Planet of the Apes, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Superman, Transformers, Wonder Woman, X-Men, Adams, Bolland, Byrne, Grant, Kirby, Miller, Alan Moore, Perez, Starlin, Bryan Talbot, & others; Terry Austin, Alam Moore, Barry Windsor-Smith, Jim Starlin & did original work in the 1970's UK Marvel never seen in the USA.

CANADIAN Comics; >>> [This section was DELETED / Edited OUT of the Published Overstreet #38];

The rare Golden Age Original Material "Canadian White" Comics were basically non existant on the market this year & in Huge Demand. When they do appear the Average Current Value for NON-Key issue is; (FN=$150; VG=$100; G=$65); The Pre-1947 Canadian Whites of Fawcett (Capt Marvel, Grand Slam, Three Aces, Wow, etc) were re-drawn be Canadian artists, are Still in High demand (Average Value for NON Key issues is; FN=$100; VG=$75 and G=$50); Thiumph (Nelvana of the Northern Lights), Doc Stearne / Mr Monster, Johnny Canuck, & Men of the Mounted issues bring 200% or More of the Above Prices, with KEY issue even higher. Vintage Canadian Variant Editions of 1940's & early 1950's USA comics, are 10-50 Times Scarcer than the USA editions. (Issues with same page counts bring 80-100% the Value of USA Editions.. Those with less pages than their US counterparts sell for about 60% of their USA equivalents.) Canadian Variant's (mostly 1946-1954) include these Publishers; Archie, Atlas, Avon, Classics, DC, Dell, EC, Fawcett, Fiction House, Lev Gleason, Quality, Timely, Toby, & others. The Canadian CLASSICS illustrated Variants are the most collected & bring the biggest premiums, at 150-300% Guide; Classics #17-20 with BLANK inside covers are Canadian Editions & are perhaps the rarest of all the Variants. (VG copies are worth in the $100-200 each range); The Canadian EC Comics brig about 60% of USA Values, due to poor Printing. the rare EC Variants Weird Suspenstories in FN copies bring $1000+ each; I once owned a Captain America Annual (1942) that was a Canadian Printing, if it surfaced again it would likely be the single most Valuable Canadian Comic (estimated at $10,000+ in VG); We have 3000 Canadian French Language comics in Stock (Archie, DC & Marvel from the late 1966-1990) = they had small print runs of 2000-10,000 each, & smaller survival rates, making these desirable & Collectible (Most at $3-$10 each) The New material French language Comic Digests (1950-1970's, Adventure, Jungle, Romance, Western, War) sell at $3-$7 each. & the well known Character Titles bring $5-$12 each; The 1970-1982 Era French HORROR Comic Digests (Italian Reprints & New French Material) are RARE & are the best sellers of them all ate $10-$25 each (These are full of NUDITY, Violence, Bondage, Torture & more, and most have great Covers); Many Canadian Comic Completionists interested in getting one each of everything printed from 1961-2006. (1/3 or more of what exists in this Era were Giveaways ). EXISTING EARTH #1 is Hot (1987; 1500 Copies Printed; Art by BRENT L. BUTT, of TV's Corner Gas); Canadian artist Owen McCarron is a CULT figure among collectors (Puzzle Books; Marvel Fun & Games comic, Fireside Marvel Fun & Game books, Marvel Tempo puzzles books, Binkly and Doinkel, Spidey Super Stories #29,42,43, Ghost Rider #28 & Super Villian Teamup #8);

. Captain Canuck #1(7/1975) Has one CGC graded copy in 10.0 and one in 9.9; (seller of 10.0 copy wants $5000); I sold several copies of the original oversized #4 (2/1977; 1st Print) in the VG-VF range at $50-$100 each; I still have never seen in person a rare #4 (2/1977; 2nd Print), but seen it sell at 400-600% Guide. Captain Canuck has appeared Twice on the cover of TIME magazine ($10 ea) . >> Comely confirmed Small print Runs for Captain Canuck Re-Born (1993/1994); #0(English = 90,000 Copies), #0(French = 6000), #1(47,000 Newsstand GREEN-c); #1(40,000 bagged gold-c); #1(French = 6000); #2(30,000), #3(8,000 Copies = $25+), All are in big demand & very hard to restock; 99% of all Capt Canuck 1975-81 Original Art was donated to Canada's National Archives, thus the few left command high prices. CAPT. CANUCK #15 is already impossible to find & brings $75-100; (a Limited 2nd Printing might get published one day);

CHARLTON;

With our 35,000 Charlton Comics, we have the world's biggest selection, thus we always do well with them. These comics sell well in all grades, but easily 85% of sales are in the G to FN/VF condition ranges, mainly because most are tough in VF or better. We sold over 100 issues from the MANITOBA collection (Almost entirely Horror & SF) in 9.0-9.6 Grades at 125-200%+ Guide; In addition we sold a lot of Horro/SF & Superher/Hero comics in VF or Better; The other Genre's actually sell better in FN or Lower. The Hanna-Barbera titles were easily the bestsellers in Mid to Lower grades, followed by the TV Realted titles. All 1960 and Older Titles were way up in demand, but especially the more Obscure titles. By far the most popular HERO title was the PHANTOM, especially #67-74(Don Newton art issues); Hercules & other titles with Jim APARO art are up in demand. This year was notable in that we had far more buyers filling in sets, rather than KEY issue Buyers. Collectors who enjoy the hard to find & unusual, love the Charlton Magazines & Oddd related items, including; Adult Cartoon Titles(Cartoon Carnival, Comedy Capers, Good Humor, 150 Cartoons), Charlton Bullseye, Charlton / Xerox Comic Digests(12+ Different), CPL (Fanzine), Horror Monsters, Mad Monsters, Monsters Attack, SICK mag, & other Non-Comic Mags by Charlton(True Western, Romance, Movie/TV, Puzzle, etc);

Our Bestsellers (at 120% to 150% GUIDE) included; Most 1950-1970 WAR Comics, Abbott & Costello, Barney & Betty, Beetle Bailey, Beyond the Grave, Bionic Woman, Blondie, Blue Beetle, Bobby Sherman, Bugaloos, Bullwinkle, Capt Atom, Charlton Bullseye (Comic & Mag), Charlton Premiere, Cheyenne Kid, Cowboy Western, David Cassidy, Dino, Doomsday + 1 (Byrne), Dudley Do-Right, EH, E-Man, Emergency, Flash Gordon, Flintstones, Ghostly Haunts, Ghostly Tales, Ghost Manor, Go-Go, Gorgo, Great Gazoo, Gunfighters, Hanna Barbera Parade, Haunted, Haunted Love, Hercules(Hot), Hong Hong Phooey, Huckleberry Hound, Jetsons, Judo Master, Jungle Jim, Jungle Tales of Tarzan, Kid Montana, Konga, Korg, Magilla Gorilla, Many Ghosts of Dr Graves, Masked raider, Midnight Tales, Monster Hunters, Mysterious Suspense, Outer Space, Outlaws of the West, Partridge Family, Pebbles, Phantom, Ponytail, Popeye, Primus, Ronald McDonald, Quick Draw McGraw, Reptisaurus, Ronald McDonald, Sarge Steel, Scary Tales, Scooby Doo, Six Million Dollar Man, Soap Opera Love/Romances, Son of Vulcan, Space Adv, Space 1999, Space War, Speed Buggy, Static, Strange Suspense, Thane, Thunderbolt, Top Cat, Underdog, Unusual Tales, Valley of Dinosaurs, Vengeance Squad, War, Wheelie & Chopper Bunch, Wyatt Earp, Yang, Yogi Bear.

CHRISTIAN & RELIGIOUS Comics;

We sell a lot of Religious comics, because we have the biggest selection around; The SPIRE titles are by far the most collected of the Genre. The 19 Archie Titles & they are always in the Highest demand at 125-150% Guide. SCARCE Archie Spires titles (200% + Guide) include; Archie & Mr. Weatherbee, Archie's Circus, Archie's Date Book, Archie's Festival, Archie's Roller Coaster, Archie's Sports Scene & Christmas with Archie. There are about 38 Non-Archie Spire titles & many completionists that want them all (at 125-150% Guide). Spire comics are typically found in G or VG condition, with FN copies being uncommon & VF or better copies being scarce. The Bestsellers (at 150-200% guide) are; HANSI the Girl who loved the Swastika, Hello I'm Johnny Cash, & Tom Landy & Dallas Cowboys. The Barney Bear Series (9 diff) is acually quite hard to put together; Sunday Pix (David C Cook) are good sellers, 1955 Up are uncommon; 1949-1954 are Scarce, the low prices make them sell fast. With over 700 issues in this series (one of the biggest titles in comics history), the set is nearly impossible to complete. The David C Cook Comics Mass Market Paperback SERIES (1970's) are in demand, (at $6-$12 each) including; Picture Bible, Jesus & Early Church, Christian Familt Classics, Tullus in Ancient Roman Empire; TOPIX (Catechetical Guild, thus related to Classics) had over 150 different issues, yet ther are almost ZERO copies for sale on the market & sell fast at 150% Guide. BOY'S LIFE Magazine is Classics illustrated related, has Boy Scout & Christian Theme's & Includes COMICS. The 5 issue Gilberton Pub series Best from Boys Life collects some of these stories. CRUSADERS #1-17 art by Jack T. Chic, feature superb art, along with in your face, fire & brimstone type messages, loaded with religious propaganda(125% Guide). Jack T. Chic "Tracks" mini comics (over 75 dfferent, not listed in guide) sell $1-$3 each, with Scarce titles at $10-25+; Treasure Chest is also one of the biggest titles in comics history (500+ Issues). Many fans come to us to fill holes in their sets, most in G-FN copies; Volume 1-10 (1946-1955) and Volume 26-27(1971-1972) are the best sellers at 125-150% Guide, (others 110-125% Guide); Many fans are trying to complete their favorite serialized stories & we try to help. Life of POPE John Paul-II #1 is the bestselling of all Christian comics at 200-300% Guide; Other consistant DC & Marvel sellers include Easter Story, Francis Brother of the Universe #1, Life of Christ, Limited Collectors Edition C-36 (Bible), Mother Theresa & Life of Christ, Pilgrims Progress, Screwtape Letters.

CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED & Related;
This year was the Opposite of Last year, as we sold mostly G-FN Ranges Cheaper editions in the $5-$50 each Price Range. We helped fill in some reading copy runs, with the Scarce issues & issues with Less Printings still being the Usual obstacles. First appearance of New Art & New cover issues were in even higher demand, as they are a different type of Original. Many collectors are just as satisfied with any printings, but want both the Old & New cover & Art editions. Canadian Variant Editions (NOT in Guide) of #1-74 are in high demand, especially those with new illustrated Text stories that do not appear in US editions (150-400% of Equivalent USA Ed); ** The Scarcer CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED JUNIOR issues are; #506, 514, 525-529, 532-534, 537,540,542,543,547,553,555, 556,558-565,568,571-573,575-577 (FA-VG = 200-300% Guide; FN-VF = 150-200% Guide); ** In constant demand are all the Scarcer issues of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED (in any printing & in all Grades = 120-150% Guide) #8,14,20,21,33,40,43,44,53,66,71,73,74,84,110,113-118,129,161-169. ** Once they finish their main sets, many Buyers then go out to complete; World Around Us, Classics Special Issue, Classics Junior, Famous Authors, Picture Progress, Boys Life, etc. I do well with & Carry a Large Selection of Non-Gilberton CLASSICS Related Items, including; Berklet/First Classics #1-27(#14up = Low Print & Scarcer), Marvel Classics 1-36, MOBY Books BLB Classics (36 Diff), Pocket Classics (72 diff), Clasicos Infantiles (Mexican Juniors), Jack Lake (30+ Diff, Modern Junior-r), King Classics, Golden Legacy, Golden Picture Classics, Power Records, Tele-Guide, Marvel-UK Digests, Acclaim Classics, & More; The UK Classics Illustrated with All-New Stories & Covers never seen in USA are in very high demand in the $25-$150 each range (#158A James Bond Dr No brings $500 in High Grade & became DC's Showcase #43);

COMIC DIGESTS;

We have about 15,000 Comic Digests in stock, thus are the #1 destination for fans who want to complete sets. Over 85% of what we sold this year were in the G to FN/VF conditions ranges, going to fans trying to complete various sets. Most of the Pre-1994 Comics Digests were never bagged, as nothing was commonly available to collected, thus Rubbing & Handling Wear is present on almost all still existing copies. High Grade begins at VF 8.0 on Pre-1995 Comic Digests. Most sets are Tough to assemble in even VF, never mind VF/NM 9.0 or Better. Most Digests have zero copies graded by CGC, with even the most popular issues have on 1-3 copies each slabbed. In the last 5 Years, we managed to buy several collections, especially those from the Manitoba Collection & we have sold over 300 in strict 9.0 or Better. But now all thje sources have dried up & we will again find it tough to stock even VF or better copies.

The rare Rare Charlton / Xerox Comic Digests Bring 200-300% Guide, including; Barney & Betty, Bugs Bunny, Dino, Flinstones, Jetsons, Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm, Road Runner, Scooby Doo, Space: 1999, Tweety & Slyvester, Woody Woodpecker & Yogi Bear; The Marvel Digests are often requested in High Grade, but sell in all grades (135-175% Guide) including; Alf, Dennis, GI Joe, Haunt of Horror, Spider-Man, Star & Transformers. The DC Digests are MOST requested in High Grade, but sell in all grades (125-150% Guide) including; Adventure #491-503, Best of DC #1-71(with 41-71 low print), DC Special Blue Ribbon #1-24, DC Special Series #18,19,23,24, Jonah Hex & other Western Tales 1-3, Tarzan Digest #1; The 1979 Skylark Digests of Doc Savage & Stories from the Twilight Zone are scarce & sell instantly at 200% Guide; Dennis the Menace Pocket Full of Fun #1-50 & Dennis & His Friends #38-46 Digests are undervalued & getting scarcer (150-200% Guide); The Gold Key Comic Digests started it all, with the 1960's issues being the most desirable of all Digests (Golden, Mystery, Walt Disney, plus the even scarcer Story Digests of Boris Karloff, Dark Shadows, Ripleys, Tarzan), they are always regular Bestsellers (at 125%-150% Guide in ANY grade). High Grade 9.0 & Better GK digests are nearly Non-Existant. .

The Harvey Digests were in big demand; (1977-1985 = 120-135% Guide; 1986-1993= 150-500% Guide); ** These Harvey Digests had Low Print Runs, are Extra Scarce, Dealers are Sold out everywhere & on are on most wantlists (Bring 200-500% Guide in ANY grade); Casper Adventure Digest #6-8, Casper Digest (10/1986-1991) #11-18, Casper Digest (V2; 9/1991-11/1994) #6-14, Casper Enchanted Tales #6-10, Harvey Wiseguys #3,4, Hot Stuff Digest #2-5, Million Dollar Digest(11/1986-11/1994) #11-34, New Kids on the Block Digest #1-5, Richie Rich Adventure Digest #4-7, Richie Rich Digest (10/1986-10/1994) #11-42, Richie Rich Digest Stories #11-17, Richie Rich Digest Winners #11-16, Richie Rich Gold Nuggets #1-4, Richie Rich Million Dollar Digest #6-10, Richie Rich Money World Digest #1-8, Richie Rich Digest (11/1977-8/1982) #7-9, Wendy Digest #2-5;

DC COMICS;
For the Silver, Bronze Age & on, BATMAN is seen as the main character to buy from DC. Perhaps only in the Golden Age does Superman become more important to collectors. Especially in the Bronze Age, we see 2-3 Times the demand for Batman over Superman. Wonder Woman is hands down the most important female superhero of all-time. JLA & JSA are incredibly popular teams, & along with the 3 previous character, they form the backbone of collectible DC Comics. It is hard to recall that in the 1981-1985 period, that all the above were all slower sellers & had smaller print runs, because Marvel dominated the marketplace. If you check around, you will find no one is heavily stocked on the above in the 1981-1986 era. Perhaps inspired by the success of the New X-Men, Perez's New Teen Titans hit the market in late 1980 & became a bestseller. CRISIS hit the market in 1986 to Re-Vamp the entire roster at DC comics, perhaps the best move they ever made. The Man of Steel 6 issue Mini series in 1986 turned Superman back into the Top Seller it should have always been. Frank Miller blew away fans & breathed new life into BATMAN in Dark Knight Returns in 1986; The 1987 Justice League series, was the starting point for entrenching their popularity near the top. Perez's 1987 Wonder Woman series finally restored her to Glory. The 1986 Secret Origins series, features all-new Post-Crisis Origins for most of the main characters. The 1989 Batman Movie blew it into the Stratosphere. [Most 1989-1990 Batman comics are overprinted] All these 1985 & Newer comics form most of the important DC comics that started the COPPER AGE of comics. [the Oversteet Guide Glossary now officially defines the Bronze Age as 1970-1984]; The above 1985-1989 Era are good long-term investments in STRICT 9.0 or Better. But take note, that the lower Print Run 1981-1985 era books might outperform them.

Many fans are assembling sets of DC's with Neal Adams covers. The TOMAHAWK's with Adams covers remain the most elusive in high grades. If you check the CGC Census, you will see only 1-3 copies each exist in 9.0 or better. CGC 9.4 copies would easily bring $500 each, with #116 (the 1st & most wanted issue) probably worth closer to $1000; Up in demand are the classic 1960's by NICK CARDY, thus Aquaman & Batlash are a bit up in demand. But the most requested Cardy covers are the Teen Titans issues & Romance comics. [High Grade CGC copies are still rare];

DC Comics seem to attract more Readers than Marvel, thus they sell well in all grades. Perhaps it is simply because there are usually more than double the Marvel Comics in Dealer Inventories as compared to DC. There most certainly is a lot of demand for High Grade copies, but Lower Grades are perhaps even more popular, as most buyers seemed to be filling in runs this year, rather than just chasing KEY issues. Silver & Bronze Age DC have far LESS copies, and are also much Scarcer in High Grades, as compared to their Marvel counterparts, yet on average, the Marvels are far more expensive. The sales of NEW Comics from DC often Rival & Surpass the new Marvel's, thus the 1960's-1970's DC seem to be a relative bargain. This year we sold over 700 Raw High Grade "MANITOBA collection" comics in the 9.0 to 9.8 range from the 1975-1985 Era at 125-300% GUIDE. DC War Comics were the most requested & Bestsellers in High Grade (DC Horror would have rivaled them, if we had not previously sold most of the HG Manitoba copies); High Grade collectors have started realizing that 1960's DC Comics are quite scarce in even VF & i have noticed a sharp increase in sales of VF range copies. Oddball comics sold better than the last 3 years at 120-135% guide, (Mostly in G-FN grades), including; Amazing World of DC, Cartoon/Humor, Digests, Fanzines, Fireside Books, Giveaways, Magazines, Paperbacks, Posters, Promo items, Romance, Teenage, Treasuries, TV, War & Western. All DC Horror title war again Top Sellers in all grades, especially 1968-1974 era, Giants, Neal Adams & Wrightson art issues. DC Horror & War comics have been getting harder to re-stock, as supplies continue to dry up.

The Bestsellers for us this year (at 110% to 135% GUIDE) included; Action #252-300, 347, 360, 373(Giants), 377-392(Legion), 401-440, Adventure #267-320, 381-400, 428-440, 459-467, 461-466, 491-503, All American Men of War #82-117, All New Collectors Edition C-54-56,58, All-Out War, All Star Comics 58-74, Aquaman #50-52, All-Star Comics #59-74, All-Star Western #1-11, Amazing World of DC #1-4, 9,1 4-17, Bat Lash, Batman #121-429, Batman Family 11-20; Best of DC Digest 1-71, Black Magic, Blitzkreig, Brave & Bold #59-200, Challengers 74, Crisis #1-12, Dark Mansion 1-4, DC Comics Presents #1,2,26,47, 56, 77, 78, 85-88, 94, 97 & Annual #1, DC 100 Page Super Spectacular #4-22, DC Special #2-4,6,11,28,29, DC Special Series #1,3-13,15,16,18-24,27, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest 1-24, DC Superstars #17, Detective #311, 318, 325, 327,328,355,359,362-364,369-372,385,387, 389,391,392, 394-495, Doorway to Nightmare, 1st Issue Special #1,3,5,7-9,12,13, Flash #105-130, 201-250, 275-313, 340- 350, Flex Mentallo, Fox & Crow, Freedom Fighters, Ghosts #1-40, GI Combat #66-68,83,87-154,200-210, Girls Love #84-180, Girls Romances #81-160, Green Lantern (1960-1986) #40,45,59,61,76-123, 181-200, Heart Throbs #75-146, Hot Wheels, House of Mystery #174-259, 291-300,321, House of Secrets #81-154, Isis 1-8, Joker 1-9, Jonah Hex #1-20, 81-92 & Digest 1-3, Justice League of America #91-261, Kamandi #50-59, Legion #259-300, Limited Collectors Edition C#23-25,32-34,37,39,41,43-46,48-52,57, Men of War, Our Army at War #83-301, Our Fighting Forces 123-162, Plop 1-5, 21-24, New Teen Titans #1-20, Real Screen, Our Army at War #83-250, Our Fighting Forces #123-181, Phantom Stranger #1-41, Rima #1-7, Secret Society of Super-Villians 1-15, Secrets of Haunted House 1-20,41,44, Sgt Rock #302-350, 400-422, Shazam #1,8,12-17, 25-35, Showcase #55,57,60,61,64,70,79-81,83,84, 97-99, Sinister House #1-4, Spectre 1-5, 9, Star Spangled War #84-183, Strange Adv #205-236, Superboy #80-100, 197-245, Super DC Giant #S-13 thru S-26, Super Friends #1-20, Supergirl (1972) #1-10, Superman #150-200, 233-300, 400-423, Superman's GF Lois Lane #79-137, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #100-150, Superman Family #164-190, Swamp Thing (1982) #20-40, Tales of New Teen Titans #42-44 & Annual #3, Tarzan #207-258, Tarzan Family, Teen Titans (1966) #1-25, 46-53, Time Masters #1-8, Time Warp, Tomahawk #116-119,121,123-130, Unexpected #105-162, Unknown Soldier #205-219,248-268, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Warlord #1-10, 37-50, Weird Mystery #1-10, Weird War #1-30, 64, 68, 93-101, Weird Western #12-39, Weird Worlds, Witching Hour #1-85, Wonder Woman (1942-86) #51-130, 171-220, 267-329, Wonder Woman (1987-Date) #51-63, 85-96, 120-200, World's Finest #81-120, 169,173-179, 198-212, 244-282, 320-323, Young Love #39-126, Young Romance #125-208;

DELL;

We have a large selection of 20,000+ Dell comics, thus they always do very well for us. Tarzan comics were the #1 Dell/GK seller of the year, followed not far behind by TUROK. TV Comics & Western Comics were the next most requested this time around. Those with PHOTO covers sell fastest. Next most popular were Animated Titles from TV Cartoons, especially those from Hanna-Barbera. After a period of being moderate to slow, the Movie Classics have again picked up in demand, especially those with PHOTO's Covers, Horror/SF theme's, Good Art (Manning, Toth, etc), or John Wayne appearances. Newspaper Strip Reprint Titles have slowed again in sales. Over 90% of Dell Buyers purchased G-FN copies; FN/VF and Better copies were Slow sellers. The GUIDE is low on G-FN copies, and at the same time high on VF to NM- copies. The wide Condition/Price Spread that works for superhero comics, just does not work as well on other Comic Genre's & especially with Dell.

Most investor's do not think of Dell, when looking for their High Grade investments, except perhaps the KEY issues. Easily over 50% of the Pre-1970 Comics we sell to Overseas customers, are Dell Comics.

>> The Bestselling Titles (115-135% guide for G- FN copies) included; Annie Oakley, Bat Masterson, Beetle Bailey, Ben Bowie, Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, Big Valley, Brain Boy,

Brave Eagle, Bugs Bunny, Bullwinkle, Cheyenne, Chilly Willy, Cisco Kid, Colt 45, Combat, Creature, Dick Tracy, Dracula, Felix the Cat, Flintstones, Flying Nun, Flying Saucers, Four Color(Most PHOTO-c), Frankenstein, Fritzi Ritz (with Peanuts), F-Troop, Gene Autry, Get Smart, Ghost Stories, Have Gun Will Travel, Hogans Heroes, Howdy Doody, Huckleberry Hound, I Love Lucy, Indian Cheif, Jetsons,

John Wayne(all), King of Royal Mounted, Kookie, Laramie, Lawman, Leave it to Beaver, Little Lulu, Lone Ranger, Looney Tunes, Maverick, Melvin Monster, Mighty Mouse, Monkees, Movie Classics (Western, SF & Horror), Mummy, Nancy (Stanley-a), Outer Limits, Peanuts, Ponytail, Popeye, Rawhide, Real McCoys, Red Ryder, Ricky Nelson, Rifleman, Roy Rogers, Sea Hunt, Sgt Preston, Smokey Stover, Sugarfoot, Tales of Wells Fargo, TARZAN, Thirteen, Tonto, TUROK, Twilight Zone, Voyage to Bottom of Sea, Western Roundup, Wolfman, Wyatt Earp, Woody Woodpecker, Yogi Bear.

FANZINES, Misc Comic & Cartoon Magazines;
We have a giant selection of 10,000 Different (NON-Marvel/DC), Assorted COMIC & CARTOON Related Magazines, Fanzines & related items. This includes; Adult Cartoon mags, Adult Fantasy mags, Hot Rod & CARToons, Comic Strip Reprints, Comic News Mags, Comics Review Mags, Interview Mags, Publisher & Dealer catalogs, 1960's Ditto (Mimeograph) early Fanzines, Comic Art Mags, Joke Mags, Underground mags, Older Softcover Trade Paperbacks & Graphic Novels, UK/British comics, Small Press Amateur mags, Canadian Mags, Promo mags, Animation mags, Artist profiles, Humor/Satire/Parody Comic Mags, Convention Mags & Books, ADzines, Manga, Promo/Giveaway, Kids/Children's mags, Walt Disney Mags, Comic Newspapers & Tabloids, Comic Price Guide mags, and MORE; I have Bought & Sold literally 100's of items that i have only seen once in the last 40 Years. I really enjoy dealing in ODDBALL items, & they certainly abound among these. These are loaded with early & obscure works of now famous artists, & writers (much never reprinted), plus have in-depth articles pinups covers and art on all the popular characters, thru all the way to totally Obscure & the Very Bad. These can be exciting to collect, as you run across endless things of interest, that most collectors will never see in a lifetime. The majority of these items sell in the $5 to $25 each price Range. Most customers are not overly concerned about condition, most are focused on finding ANY copy of the item of interest.

GIVEAWAY & PROMO Comics;

Giveaway comics are fascinating. Less than 25% of those existing are listed in the GUIDE, but most of the important ones are in fact listed. The Marvel, DC, Popular Character & Popular Artist issues, are just an extension to the collecting the regular series of those titles. Some Promo comics are so rare, that it is not unusual to see them sell for 2 time to 100 times GUIDE prices at auction. Most of those that go for the highest multiples, are the ones NOT listed in the guide & usually involve a highly collectible character, most especially Spider-Man. When you take into account Regional Giveaways, Pamphlets, Flyers, Marvel Shareholder items & Titles with 10 or more Variant Printings, Spider-Man collectors will tell you take under 25% are listed in the guide. If you collect Promo items with Spider-Man on the cover, the number suddenly explodes Ten-Fold into 100's & perhaps 1000's of items. MARVEL & DC related Promo & Ephemera items are in the biggest demand by the fans who love scarcer & oddball items, including these titles; Marvel Age, Marvel Comics Preview (Distributor Ashcan Promo), Marvel Monthly Catalog, Marvel Quarterly Report, Marvel Requirer, Marvel Spotlight (Retailer Promo Giveaway from Marvel, on Slick Paper), Marvel Spotlight (Retailer Promo Giveaway on Newsprint), Mega Marvel & Sales to Astonish, handouts, flyers, displays, posters, advance news items, distributor books, shareholder items, Preview items, insert items, sendaway items, Toy items, Direct Currents(DC), Store & Restaraunt Promo's, & More; Most of these items sell in the $3 to $20 each price ranges, to very active buyers. Supergear Comics (Superman) & Boston Pops’ Biff Bam Pops (Spider-Man) are $500-$1000 items in High Grade, but impossible to find.

There are over 35 Titles of He-Man / Masters of the Universe & over 12 Titles of She-Ra/ Princess of Power mini comics that came with the action figures, if you include variants it might be double that. These are among the most collected Giveaways, (Common titles=$5-$7; Uncommon=$8-$10; Scarce=$12-$18 ea); The DC Comic Booklets from Atari Video Games are in High Demand; Atari Force, Centipede, Swordquest. Super Power Collection (Kenner Color Gum card size Mini Comic; 2-3/4" x 4-1/4") #1-25 are fast sellers (VF $10 ea); March of Comics are top sellers, but can be extremely elusive, I have many customers who have searched for many years for select issues (125-200% Guide);

Literally 1000’s of Non character giveaways, especially Post-1980 titles remain unlisted. Many of these are regional items, which makes them even scarcer. Most collectors collect by; (1) Age; (2) Scarcest; (3) THEME; The most commonly collected themes are; Unknown Superheroes, Politics, Health, Restaurants, Christmas, by Country, Job Related, Environmental, Educational, Substance abuse, Sex Related, Institutional, Cartoon, Science, etc. Our #1 best sellers, are any & all titles published in Canada, as we have many Canadian Comic Completionists, The majority of Promo Comics in the $5-$15 price range, with Scarce & Desirable titles widely varied from $20 to $100 each;

GOLD KEY (NON Disney);

TARZAN was our #1 Bestselling GK (and Dell) this year, with VF or better copies the Most requested, then Reading copies next most requested, finally even Mid-Grade copies moved well, as many people seemed to want to complete their runs. The Scarce Photo Back Cover Variants are selling in all grades (at 125-150% Guide) Including; Avengers(TV) #1, Star Trek 1-3, & Wild Wild West 1-2; Demand for Dark Shadows virtually doubled this year, presumably due to the 40th Anniversary & the release of seasons on DVD. Demand for Dark Shadows paperbacks was even higher.

Whitman Variants of the Gold Key Comics & Digests published from 11/1971 thru 3/1980 sell moderately well at 125-200% of GK issue values. 1968 Canadian Newsstand Variant cover price issues that are still selling to Completionists & Variant collectors (at 115-125% Guide); The 1972-1974 era Gold Key's with 16 Page Bonus Fun Catalogs (Advertising), make the standard 36 page comics into 52 pages ones, with almost none listed in the Guide. These 52pg Fun Catalog issues seem to have a slightly smaller survival rate & tend to be about a grade lower than surrounding issues. it is perhaps time they got identified & had a premium of about 20% added in the Guide.

Demand for High Grade copies was up by almost 50%, with these titles bringing 125-150% Guide (forVF or better copies) including; Boris Karloff, Dark Shadows, Dr Solar, Grimm's Ghost, Korak, John Carter, Magnus Robot Fighter, Mars Patrol, Mighty Samson, Munsters, Occult Files of Dr Spector, Phantom, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Scooby Doo, Space Family Robinson, Spine Tingling Tales, Star Trek 1-10, Tarzan, Turok & Twilight Zone, Wild Wild West & all Hanna-Barbera #1 & Key issues.

>> These issues are among the Bestsellers (selling in ALL grades at 115-135% Guide), including; Adam-12, Addams Family, Amazing Chan, Auggie Doggie, Banana Splits, Battle of the Planets, Beatles Yellow Submarine, Beetle Bailey, Beneath Planet of Apes, Bullwinkle, Close Shaves of Pauline Peril, Dagar, Dan Curtis (Giveaways) #1-9, Family Affair, Fat Albert, Flash Gordon, Flintstones, Fun-In, Funky Phantom, George of the Jungle, Gold Key Spotlight, Gomer Pyle, Hair Bear Bunch, Hanna-Barbera Bandwagon, Happy Days, H.R. Pufnstuf, Huckleberry Hound, Inspector, Jetsons, Kroft Supershow, Lancelot Link, Land of Giants, Laredo, Lidsville, Little Lulu, Little Monsters, Lone Ranger, Looney Tunes, Lucy Show, Magilla Gorilla, Mighty Mouse, Milton Monster, Mr Ed, Mr & Mrs J Evil Scientist, My Favorite Martian, Nancy & Sluggo, Peanuts, Peter Potomus, Phantom, Pink Panther, Popeye, Quick Draw McGraw, Rifleman, Smokey Bear, Snagglepuss, Snooper & Blabber, Space Ghost, Super TV Heroes, Three Stooges, UFO Flying Saucers, Underdog, Wacky Races, Wacky Witch, Wagon Train, Yakkey Doodle, & Zody the Mod Rob.

HARVEY;

1950's & 1960's Harvey Cartoon comics are among our best sellers in ANY grade, with the biggest problem being trying to re-stock them once sold. The Only Harvey comics that are seem a bit more plentiful are the Richie Rich, Sad Sack & Casper issues from the 1977-1984 Period, otherwise everything else is uncommon to scarce. These comics were Traditionally Not saved by Collectors, thus most copies on the market are "Used" copies from from Childhood days & Readers, so High Grade copies are Scarce to Rare. Most of the Harvey Cartoons have been around longer than the Marvel Superheroes & those generations remembers them well. Completing any of the 50+ issues runs can actually be very difficult, as most dealers have only tiny selections. We have 30,000 Harvey's,

so we help many fans fill in gaps in their sets. High Grade copies are hard to find & continue to bring record prices. We managed to get in a batch of about 75 Sad Sack File Copies from the 1960's in 9.0 to 9.4 and sold over 50% of them within the first week at 150-250% Guide; We also sold over 50 more 1976-1984 Richie Rich comics from the MANITOBA Collection (9.0-9.6 at 150-300% Guide);

The 1988-1994 Hanna-Barbera & Other Harvey Cartoon Titles had Low Print Runs, but at least can be more easily found in VF, they remain undervalued; (VF copies bring $4-$8 ea); The Non-Cartoon Harvey's are actually good solid sellers & often get forgotten. All 1960's comics with a Richie Rich Backup story are more sought, as Collectors with near complete Richie sets, are now moving on to these, thus titles like Mutt & Jeff are up in demand. Scooby Doo is hot from all publishers & the Harvey ones are getting scarcer (Bringing 200% Guide); All Richie Rich issue #1-10's (over 50 Titles of Comics & Digests) sell 50-150% Faster than Later issues. Richie Rich is by far the most important & collected character from this publisher & should be a grat long-term investment for decades to come.

>>> Bestselling titles (at 130-160% Guide) Include; Baby Huey, Blondie (undervalued), Caspers Ghostland, Casper & Nightmare, Dagwood, Devil Kids, Flintstones, Fruitman, Hanna-Barbera Giant Size, Harvey Hits, Hot Stuff, Jetsons, Little Dot, Little Dot's Uncles & Aunts, Little Lotta, Playful Little Audrey, Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm, Richie Rich (all 1975 & Older), Sad Sack (all Pre-1965), Spooky, & Stumbo Tinytown, Tuff Ghosts, TV Casper & Co, Underdog, Unearthly Spectacular, Wendy, Yogi Bear. Other Good Sellers (at 115-125% Guide) include; Alarming Tales, Alarming Adv, Astro Comics (Giveaway with 15+ Variations), Black Cat, Blast-Off, Casper the Friendy Ghost, Dick Tracy, Felix the Cat, First Love, First Romance, Friendy Ghost Casper, Joe Palooka, Kerry Drake, Little Max, Man in Black, Mazie, Mutt & Jeff, Richie Rich (all 1976 up), Sad Sack(all 1965 up), Warfront.

IW & SUPER Reprints;

There are a lot of Completionists for these publishers, thus they all sell. About 1/3 are Common, 1/3 are Uncommon, with 1/3 being Scarce to Rare. Our minimum prices is; (G=$4; VG=$7; FN=$10; VF=$18), with better titles sell for about 50-100% Higher. Those who like old cheap books usually buy Reading Copies. Completionists usually prefer the Higher Graded copies. Scarcer titles sell instantly when listed, with many still undervalued in the guide. Many have Pre-Code reprints at much lower prices than the slightly earlier vintage Originals. None of these comics carry the Comics Code, but should have. Superhero, Jungle, Horror/SF, & War titles being the bestsellers Western, Teenage, Humor, Funny Animal & Cartoon & Romance titles are are all moderate sellers. Top Artists including; Cole, Crandall, Davis, DeCarlo, Fine, Frazetta, Heath, Kinstler, Kirby, Krigstein, Powell, Severin, Ward, Wood, & Orhers. Most of these books are 40-50+ Years old, yet Reading copies are only in the $5-$10 range.

LIQUIDITY & Beyond;

The backbone of the Comics Back Issue market is the SUPERHERO comic. In the pre 1970 years it was Golden Age superheroes that transformed Readers into Collectors. From the 1970's to date, it has become the Marvel & DC Silver Age superheroes that dominate the market. Many of us started as younger readers with Cartoon, Archie or other comics & drifted into reading Superheroes. But it is the MARVEL superheroes of the Silver Age in particular & beyond, that have driven the Market to the lofty heights we know today. The growing legends & Universe was a world most of us got hooked on, usually in our pre-teen to teenage years. The quest to read & enjoy more of these classic tales, has made many Readers into lifetime Collectors. As we delve more into the world of comics, many of us tried out other genre's of comics; Horror, SF, Western, War, TV, Cartoon, etc. A very large portion stayed with Superheroes, but perhaps moved to to try & enjoy those of other publishers too. Naturally the GA superheros are the rarest, most valuable & are extremely important. But likley over 90% of today's collectors will never purchase a single GA back issue. MOST of the Comics currently available for sale in DEALER Inventories are MARVEL comics. Well over 50% of the Comics currently available for sale are 1981-2007, about 1/3 are Silver thru Bronze Age, about 15% are Comic Related items & only about 3% are Golden Age. The vast majority of existing back issues are in collections. In my 36 Years as a Dealer i estimate i purchased 6 Million comics & Sold 5 Million of them, thus my remaining current stock of just over 1 million comics. When collectors buy these items, few of them worry about future LIQUIDITY. If you are buying them to enjoy, this is NOT a concern. If you are spending large amounts, or a substantial portion of your income, this should be a concern. Currently the biggest GLUT in the Market are the 1981-1995 MARVEL and DC superhero comics in STRICT 8.5 Very Fine+ or LOWER Grades. (Especially those from 1988-1995) MANY dealer inventories are Loaded with these SLOW sellers (including about 40% of my own inventory); [It needs to be duly noted that for us, 1981-1987 MARVEL and DC superhero comics in STRICT 9.0 or Better (especially 9.4 up) are currently among our HOTTEST sellers]. MOST of the collections we have been offered in the last few years are heavily loaded with average graded 1981-1995 MARVEL and DC superhero comics, thus would be yet more overstock for us & of no value (in fact they would take up more valuable Space & Cost more for Labor to process them). Collections like these, if one is able to find a dealer-buyer at all, typically garner offers of 5% to 15% of Guide value (Often only 10 cents per book). Meanwhile, the TNC comics (Traditionally Non-Collected) from the 1981-1995 period are Uncommon to Scarce, including; Archie, Harvey, Cartoon, Charlton, Gold Key/Whitman, Western, War, Horror, Digests, Magazines, Fanzines, Mad & Cracked. These TNC comics are low in stock in most dealer inventories & tend to have a higher wholesale value per unit, as they are harder to re-stock. YES, most dealers do not care about Harvey & Archie comics. BUT how many dealers have a decent stock of these collectible items? TNC comics tend to sell well in ALL grades, for us with a turnover rate of 300% to 1000% better then average graded Superhero comics of the 1981-1995 period. This is the year that i have finally decided to begin CLEARANCE Sales on our Overstock of 1981-1995 MARVEL and DC superhero comics, with most being sold in lots of 25-100 comics each in the 50 cents to $1 each wholesale price range. Some sell to dealers, but most sell to fans who just want to READ THEM {Gasp!}. So far they have sold quite well & we hope to clear out 300,000+ Comics out of our Warehouse in the next few years. We added in some TNC comic Sets to the mix & on average we have yielded about DOUBLE the average prices as compared to Superhero comics of the period.

SUPPLY & DEMAND plays a large role in the market. If you buy all the same comics as everybody else, you might end up with common & thus SLOW selling material. If you buy items that are SCARCE in ANY condition, you will find a lot more buyers & at better percentages of retail. If you decide to collect the most popular & common Characters, & want them SALEABLE at a good price in the future, you will need to buy HIGH GRADE items that are SCARCE in CONDITION. These High Grade comics NEED to be able to withstand the strict Grading Standards of CGC and not just wishful thinking. HIGH GRADE comics (even those from the 1980's) can be sold successfully in many ways; (1) CGC Grade them & Auction them; (2) to a knowledgeable High Grade dealer; (3) to fellow collectors; (4) RAW on eBay with LARGE Scans to show you know how to grade; (5) on the CGC Chat Boards; On the Flip Side, older comics in LOW Grade sell quite well to READERS on eBay & for a decent percentage of Guide. >> Many collectors bought a lot of Comics in the 1980's, only to realize today that; They did not Hand-Select them by today's CGC standards, they did NOT Bag & Board Them on day of Release & they made the mistake of Reading Them, thus the collection they thought was "Pristine Mint" is now in fact only a bunch of common Very Fine average comics & thus hard to sell.

MARVEL Comics;

Marvel Superhero comics from the 1961-1964 Era are by far the most wanted comics of the Silver Age Comics. Yes we all dream about those rare Golden Age comics, but as most collectors today grew up on Marvel Comics, they have become the HOLY GRAIL's of the Hobby for many or even most fans. This explains the staggering prices received on High Grade issues & since most of them are still issued today as new comics, it seems there is no end in sight. Thus the 1961-1964 Marvel Superhero comics sell in every grade. For the 1965-1969 Era, Low Grade & High Grade copies sell the fastest, but because even 9.0 copies are getting expensive, I have seen increased demand for nice VF copies. The 1970-1974 era Marvels had small print runs & are scarcer than most the 1965-1969 issues & are more affordable, so sell about 2-3 Times Faster & moving well in all grades. The 1975-1980 Era are in high demand, mainly in VF or better. The 1981-1987 Late Bronze to Copper Age comics

were in VERY HIGH demand, but mainly only in STRICT VF/NM 9.0 or Better Grades. 1981-1995 Marvel Superhero issues in VG to VF are perhaps the most Overstocked Comics of all-time, & mainly sell in investment grades & as reading copies. Most 1996-2007 Marvel's had lower print runs & fetch better prices than 1988-1995 era comics, they might even be good long term investments. All good Bronze Age KEY issues were selling in all grades, but non-key issues of lesser titles were slower. We had a lot of Bronze & Copper Age issues in 9.0 and Better from the Manitoba collection & they sold about 3 times faster than the more common VG-VF grades. As usual, I sold a lot of ODDBALL Comics & other Format items, mainly because of our huge selection, including; Cartoon, Humor & Parody, TV/Movie, Romance, Teenage, Toy Related, TV, War, Western, etc, at 125-200% Guide; I also sold more than usual ODDBALL Format items, including; Digests, Fanzines, Giveaway/Promo items, Memorabilia, Paperbacks, Posters, Treasury's, Slurpee Cups, Calendar's, Portfolios, etc; Many of these odd items are getting harder to restock once sold out.

All Marvel Horror Comics & all Pre-1985 Marvel Magazines (all types) were TOP sellers in all grades, with high grade the most wanted. Reading copies are always in high demand & in fact i have sold out on lower graded copies (G, VG) on many many issues & often have only FN or even VF as my cheapest copies. We have more people trying to fill out the Marvel magazine runs than anything else from this publisher this year. Savage Sword of Conan is a set everyone wanted to complete this year, with the biggest obstacle being the Low Print #200-235 for most buyers. [Print #200-235 are hard to keep in stock even at 150-250% GUIDE]; This year Savage Sword #235 was our bestselling marvel & constantly selling out (NM=$125; VF/NM=$60; VF=$45; FN=$30; VG=$20; G=$12);;

If you check out the CGC Census, you will see that the 1970's Marvel Magazines are much 2-10 Times Scarcer in High Grade than their color comic counterparts. From the "Manitoba" Collection, we had another great year, selling over 900+ Raw 1976-1985 Era High Grade 9.0 to 9.8 Marvel Comics, Magazines & Treasuries at 125-300% of Guide. The most undervalued comic of the SA is probably Strange Tales Annual #2(7/1973; 4th app Spider-Man) which precdes Amazing Spider-Man #3 yet lists at 25% of the Value; Tales Of Suspense #49(1st X-Men X-Over) is undervalued too.

The Bestsellers for us this year (at 115%-150% GUIDE) included; Amazing Adventures #1,5-8,11-18, Amazing Spider-Man #1-30, 101-150, 252, 298-300, Astonishing Tales #1-6, 12,13, 21-25, Avengers #1-11, 47-250, Beware, Bizarre Adv, Capt America #100, 109-113, 131-300, Capt Marvel #1,14, 21-36, Cat, Chamber of Chills, Champions,Chili, Conan #1, 25-50, 261-275, Conan the King #51-55, Creatures on the Loose #10-16, 21, 22, 30-37, Crypt of Shadows, Daredevil #1-7, 50-168, Dazzler #6-7(Hulk) & Mystique/Rogue issues, Dead of Night, Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu, Defenders #1-11, Dos Savage Mag, Dr Strange(1974) #1,2 14, 48-53(Rogers-a), 58-62(Dracula), Dracula Lives, Electric Company Mag (with Spider-Man), Fear #1-31, Fantastic Four #1-30, 110-200, Foom #1-15, 22, Frankenstein, Ghost Rider #1-20, Giant Size X-Men #1, GI Joe #1-21, 91-100, 138-155, G.I. Joe Digest, Godzilla 1-3, 25, Gothic Tales of Love #1-3, Haunt of Horror, Hero For Hire #1-10, HULK mag, Incredible Hulk #121-250; Invaders 1-20, 31-33, Iron Fist , Iron Man 1, 21-150, John Carter, Journey into Mystery #83-112, Journey into Mystery (1972-75 all), Jungle Action #5-23, Lil Kids, Lil Pals, KULL and the Barbarians, Kull (1971) #1-5, Man-Thing, Marvel Comics Presents 72-84(Weapon X), Marvel Comics Super Special #1,2,4,5,9, M.Fanfare #45(all Pinup), M. Feature(1971) #1-4,11,12, M.Feature (1975) #1-7, Marvel Novel series #1-11, M. Premeire #1,3,7,8,15,45-50, M. Preview #1-10, Marvel Spotlight #1-12, 26-32, MSH Contest of Chanpions, MSH Secret Wars #8, Marvel Team-Up #1-15 & John Byrne issues, M. Treasury 1-28, M.Two-in-One #1-10 & all Byrne/Perez/Miller art issues, Master of Kung Fu 15-50, Masters of the Universe #12-13, Micronauts 1-10(Golden-a), Mighty Marvel Western 1-15, Monsters of the Prowl, Monsters Unleashed, Moon Knight #29,30, Ms Marvel #1,16-18, My Love 1-39, Nick Fury 1-7, Night Nurse, Night Rider, Nova 1,12,25, Our Love Story #1-38(esp #5), Pete the Pest, Planet of the Apes mag #21-29, Powerman 17-50, Prototypes (Atlas 1961 & Older), Punisher (1986 Mini), Pussycat #1, Rampaging Hulk, Red Wolf, Savage Sword of Conan #1-30, 200-235, Savage Tales #1, Savage She-Hulk #1,6,8,25, Sgt Fury #1-13, Shanna, Silver Surfer(1968) #1,3,4,12, Spidey Super Stories 1-30, Spider-Man Digest, Spider-Woman #6, 19, 32, Star Digest, Strange Tales 101-115, 169-181, Sub-Mariner #1, 8, 14, 34-50, 59, 69, Superman vs Spider-Man #1, Supernatural Thrillers, Super Villian Teamup, Tales of the Zombie, Tales of Suspense #39-60, Tales to Astonish #27, 35-60, Thor #181-250, 332,333,337, Tomb of Darkness, Tomb of Dracula #1-30, Transformers 1-10, 61-80, Transformers Digest, Uncanny Tales, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, Vampire Tales, Vault of Evil, War is Hell , Werewolf by Night #1-20,32,33, Western Gunfighters #1-15, Western Kid, What If (1977) #1-20, Worlds Unknown, X-Men #1-20, 50-66, 94-121;

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National Lampoon;

National Lampoon are loaded with great material that is unknown or forgotten. In the 1950's & 1960's MAD was arguable the Greatest Parody Mag of them all, but in the 1970's NAT LAMP took that Position. 90% of the issues we sell are in the G-FN range. We had about 100+ High Grade 1970's issues from the MANITOBA collection & sold about 50% of them at 150-200%+ Our normal VF range Prices. 1970-1973 Issues are SCARCE in VF or better, with 1974-1979 Issues are SCARCE in VF/NM or better. As of 8/2007 only 12 Different issues have been CGC graded, with only 7 in 9.2 or Better. With their Superb Roster of Artists, one would think many more would be slabbed,. Included in the series is great art by; Adams, Bode, Frazetta, Jeff Jones, Kaluta, Morrow, Romita, Arnold Roth, Barry Windsor-Smith, Gahan Wilson, Berni Wrightson & many others. >> The 10 different issues published in 1993-1998 had Very Small Print runs & rarely show up even on eBay, they bring $15-$40 each, if you can find them at all. Price Ranges for the Classic issues in VG-VF are; #1($100-200); #2-10(1970; $35-$60 each); #10-21(1971 $20-$40); #22-33(1972; $12-30); >>> Recent Sales; #1(VG $100); #20(Adams & Frazetta; VF=$60; VG=$30); #22(1/1971; 1st Son of God by ADAMS; VF=$60; VG=$22); #26(Conan parody by Barry Smith; FN $20); #34(Death issue; Red Hot Classic; “Buy this Magazine, or we will shoot this Dog!” Photo Cover; DEADMAN Comics by ADAMS; PLAYDEAD parody; VF $50); #55(10/1974; Red Hot Pubescence issue; VD COMICS by ADAMS; VF $45);

There are 40+ different Squarebound Special's, they are uncommon in ANY grade, with many now scarce to rare. The stiff cardboard covers on the specials make them scarce in VF or better. (Most we sell at; G=$5; VG=$9; FN=$14; VF=$20; with Scarce & Rare issues bring 50-150% Higher); The 3 higest demand isues are; COMICS [ Special #7; 1974; Morrow-a; Jeff Jones-a; Bode-a; Mad Beatles & Blackhawk Parodies; DEADMAN by ADAMS; ZIMMERMAN by ADAMS; VF=$25 ]; Encyclopedia of Humor [1973; WRIGHTSON-c; FRAZETTA Back-c; Lesbian comics by Heath; Jones-a; BODE-a; FOLDOUT MAP Insert {often missing} is INTACT; Ted Kennedy Volkswagen page 29 {often missing} is INTACT; VF $25 ]; Very Large Book of Comical Funnies [ 1975; Tarzan Parody; ADAMS & Continuity studios-a; NEGRO Comics = Kaluta, Chaykin & Simonson-a; Ploog & Evans-a; LOST EC Comics = Simonson, Heath, WRIGHTSON, Chaykin & Reese-a; VF $20]; 1964 High School Yearbook (VF = $50);

TREASURY Editions;

Treasury Editions are steady Good Sellers, with the Marvel & DC Titles the best sellers. The majority sell best in affordable G to FN/VF grades. We sold about 75 Manitoba collection High Grade 9.0-9.6 range copies (120-300% Guide) All are now Scarce in STRICT 9.0 or better. Bestsellers (at 120-135% Guide) included; All New Collector's Edition C-54(Superman vs. Wonder Woman), C-55(Legion), C-56(Superman vs. Muhammad Ali), Captain America's BiCentennial Battles (Kirby/Smith-a), DC Special Series #27( Batman vs. Hulk), Funtastic World of Hanna Barbera #1-3(New-s), Limited Collectors Edition C-23 (House of Mystery), (Batman issues = C-25, C-37, C-44, C-51), C-32 - Ghosts(New-s/a), C-34 (Christmas w SuperHeroes), C-46(JLA), C-48( Superman vs Flash), Marvel Treasury #24-28(with New Material), 1-10(Reprints), Superman vs Spider-Man #1. ** The Annie, G.I. Joe & Smurfs Treasuries all had small Print Runs & are Scarcer (150% Guide); ** RUDOLPH #NN(1972) is one of the Rarest Bronze Age comics & Christmas & Archie Treasury is Rare too (Both bring 200% Guide); Amazing World of Superman is getting scarcer, but especially in High Grade (due to Black-c); The Oddball Titles are Scarce & Bring 125% Guide, including; Golden Picture Story Book (1961) ST#1-4, Modern Promotions (1972/73; Beetle Baily, Flash Gordon, Katzenjammer Kids, Mandrake) & Walt Disney Paint Book series (6 different circa 1975); A forgotten rarity was uncovered this year; Famous First Edition (Silver Stone Graphics Pub) C-61 Signature Edition (1979; Superman #1 Softcover in Portfolio type Slipcase; Serial Numbered Edition of 250 Copies; Signed by Jerry Seigel & Joe Shuster; Rare; NM- value estimated at $500)

TOWER comics;

Dynamo, Fight the Enemy, Go-Go, Noman, Thunder Agents, Tippy Teen, & Undersea Agents, were all great sellers all thru the year, selling mostly to Readers & fans filling out sets in G-FN Grades (at 110-125% Guide); We did fill a few want lists for VF or better copies, but these are becoming tougher to find in higher grades & very few exist in CGC 9.0 or Better. These gems remain undervalued in High Grades, considering they contain the talents of; Crandall, Ditko, Kane, Wood, etc; They published Good Old Days magazine (1964-1981; $5-$20 ea); Tower was also a vintage paperback Publisher (related to Belmont & Midwood books) with many highly collectible titles ($5-$50 ea);

Variants & Premium Editions;
The Marvel's 30 & 35 cent Variants are the Ones that Started the VARIANT CRAZE. These are some of the highest demand comics of the entire Bronze Age. GUIDE Values are still well below market & even wholesale values, but are finally beginning to creep up. The 30 cent Variants are about 50-200 Times Scarcer than regular 25 cent printings & should guide at a MINIMUM of 300% of the 25 cent edition prices (better & Scarcer titles bring 500-1000%); The 35 cent Variants are about 200-1000 Times Scarcer than regular 30 cent printings & should guide at a MINIMUM of 600% the 30 cent edition prices (better & Scarcer titles at 800-2000%); Iron Fist #14(35 cent Variant) is the most desirable of the Marvel variants. The Western, War, Horror & Reprint title issues turn out to be some of the rares, with RAW copies sometimes Bring; (30 Cent Variants $50-$200 in MID Grades) (35 Cent Variants $100-$800 in MID Grades) Spider-Man titles bring top premiums & should be priced at about 50-100% Higher than other Superhero titles. Star Wars #1(35 cent Variant) still brings top premiums, although it is one of the most common variants, it has gone unfilled on 100's of Marvel Want lists for up to 25 Years. [Which is STRANGE because regular printings of Star Wars #1 are slow to DEAD sellers)

We found more buyers for the UK British PENCE cover Price VARIANT Editions, (mainly selling to Marvel Completionists); These Marvel's were printed in USA & originally ONLY for sale in UK. They appeared periodically from 1961 thru to the 1980's, with many interruptions. The 1960's UK Price Variants were printed simultaneously with the US Editions & are to be considred Originals. [ But when it comes to UK edtions of expensive books like Amazing Spider-Man #1 and TTA #27 buyers become afraid, as they lack the knowledge to realize they are perhaps 20 to 100 Times Scarcer than the original US printings]; I sold a Amazing Spider-Man #1 UK Variant in G/VG for 120% GUIDE. There were many "ND" (Not Distributed) periods in UK, where NO copies (USA Printings or UK Printings) were DISTRIBUTED & thus those issues are scarcer overseas. (best Referanced in the 1997-98 McAlpine guide); For us the bestselling of these Variants are those with the "MARVEL ALL-COLOUR COMICS" Banner across the top of the front cover, mostly in the 1974-1980 era. Because Bronze Age is Hot & as are Variants, these have been our the bestselling UK variants, at 120-135% GUIDE.

Limited Edition Modern Variants (mainly 1990-2007) including GOLD editions, Multiple Cover Variants, Convention editions, Dynamic Forces, r Signed Copies, Hologram covers, Platinum, Polybagged specials, Signed & Numbered, are often red hot upon release. But most do not perform well in the long-term, because as soon the the newest HOT Limited Edition Variant gets released, the previous one tend to get forgotten. Unfortunately this is what happened to Limited Edition Sports Cards, one can always make MORE new limited editions & the old ones get more & more diluted in value. The ones that seem to hold value & demand, are those in which there is constant demand for the Regular editions.

Canadian Newsstand VARIANT Cover Price editions to their Collection, sold better than ever before, as awareness spreads. There are FAR too many of them (5000++) to EVER be listed in the main part of the GUIDE. Many times this year i saw them Both intentionally & mistakenly Sold as "Rare Price Variants, NOT listed in Overstreet. [Just 2 examples of Many; a FA/G Transformers #1 and a GI Joe #21 in VG, both sold for over $50 on eBay]; Most want the comics of their Favorite Character or Artist, but some just like Variants & will ask for more Obscure Titles. In General these are about 50 to 100 Tmes Scarcer than a USA Direct Edition Printing. To make matters more difficult, about 90% of them are only FA/G thru FN/VF, with about 9% in VF or VF+, and perhaps 1% are in VF/NM or better. ** DATES for Canadian Newsstand Cover Price Variants Existing include; ARCHIE Comics & Digests (1/1984-12/1997), CHARLTON (2/1983-8/1984), DC(all Newstand Comics, Magazines & Digests from 10/1982-9/1988), DELL (random 1960-1962, plus Back Cover variants & assorted 1950's Cover Price variants = Regular issues with 15 Cents Covers & Giants with 30 cents covers), GOLD KEY(5-8/1968, and 4/1972-4/1973), HARVEY(1960's Giants with 35 Cent cover prices), MAD (some 1964 & 7/1978-7/1979), MARVEL (all Newstand Comics, Magazines & Digests from 10/1982-8/1986), WARREN (3/1977-3/1983), WHITMAN (Mainly Early 1981, & 1983-1984); We sell these Variants at 135-200% Guide; High Grade copies have been known to change hands at 300% or More Guide. Very few of these Variants have been graded by CGC. For example, Secret Wars #8 has 1885 Copies Graded, but only ONE Canadain Variant (in FN) on their Census. One day i expect that VARIANT Collectors will regret not buying these sooner.

Early 1977-1979 MARVEL DIRECT Editions were Both intentionally & mistakenly Sold as "WHITMAN Variants of MARVEL" comics, all thru the year; Only a few Treasuries were actusl WHITMAN editions; Otherwise only the Plastic Bags were actually "Whitman"; (See Guide #36 on page 125 for full details, or email me); ** I have witnessed sellers who know they are early Marvel Direct Edition, intentionally sell them as "rare Whitman Variants" in a quest for more money & often indeed getting rewarded with 200%-1000% selling prices for their efforts. ** Early MARVEL DIRECT Editions (with Black Diamond on cover, with NO "cc" on cover, with NO UPC or obscured UPC Codes etc). The 1977 issues are most desirable & sell at 120-150% Guide to Variant Collector's; For 7/1978, 3-4/1979 there were only Newsstand editions printed. (with the exceptions of Micronauts & Shogun Warriors, which are often mistaken as reprints, but are actually uncommon Direct 1st printings). Strangely enough, i am told by Variant Completionists, a few 1978-1979 DIRECT issues are very elusive & Scarce, but is too early to ID & price these in this newer segment of the collecting market.

A new trend in VARIANTS is the quest for Scarce 2nd, 3rd & beyond Printings (Mostly from Marvel & DC comics in the 1980's to early 1990's); Batman the Killing Joke (1988) had at least 11 Printings, of which typically 65% of the copies on the for sale market are First Printings, thus gathering a complete set of 11 Printings is a very difficult Task. ** Batman #397-399, 401-403, 408-416, 421-425, 430-432 all had at least 2 printings, with some issues having 6 or More Printings. About 50% have the Printings noted in the indicia inside. The other printings, one can only tell apart by comparing the AD's on the BACK Cover. At least 75 different printings exist for these 23 different issues, but most likely the actual number exceeds 100 different. This BATMAN Variants set would be extremely difficult to assemble, as no one knows what exists & many are rare. Other early 1990's & older second printings include; X-Men #248,270,275,282, New Mutants #87, 100, New Warriors #1, G.I. Joe #1-30, Amazing Spider-man #361, Silver Surfer #34, many assorted other marvel & DC comics. The strange part is, that most later printing are scarcer than First Printings & it would not suprise me to see Variant Collecters pay multiples to complete their sets.

WARREN, Skywald, Eerie/Stanley & other Horror Comic Mags;
WARREN Mags are one of the bestselling & fastest turnover items in my entire inventory. They sell in every grade, but the Reading Copies (VG and Lower) are the toughest grades to keep in stock.

When Warren folded circa 1983, their back issue department copies got dumped on the market in quantitles of about 1000-5000 Copies each (More of the Low Numberes & Less of the High Numbers);

By about 2002 over 95% finally got absored by the market, as most of the final copies got dumped on eBay. Suddenly, Horror comics became HOT, & literally 1000's of collectors found themselves having 25%, 50% and 75% Completed sets of Creepy, Eerie & Vampirella, so they all decided to start filling in these sets, these are by far the most collected titles. This resulted in dramatic Price increases & Constant demand. Most of our buyers buy groups of 20, 50 or even 100 mags at a time. We have discovered some issues seem to be MUCH scarcer than others, so the theory is that Some issues were SOLD OUT, & others only available in LOW Quantities, from Warren Warehouse. It is only the Warehouse, that has held back the values of these amazing mags, otherwise under regular market conditions they would be 200% to 600% Higher in Price. Blazing Combat #1 & the Anthology(Mail Order Only) are Scarce in ANY grade, but Rare in 9.0 or better & sells instantly at 200% Guide; The scarcity of Eerie #17 is now Legendary (90% of existing copies have Chipped interior upper & lower right Corners, caused by a Dull Blade at factory), with most copies bringing 300%-500% Guide on eBay; [Just yesterday a raw FN/VF copy sold for $548.99]; I sold the best copy i ever owned 3 years ago for $500; This book need to TRIPLE in the Guide & would still be low. We sold a 100's of High Grade copies of Warren mags in the 1975-1983 Era from the Manitoba Collection (9.0 to 9.6 copies at 125-300% Guide);

>>> The Scarce and/or High Demand WARREN Mags Include; After Hours #1(1957; 1st Warren mag; Betty Page; VF = $500+), 2,3(VF = $200+ ea), #4(Ackerman; Monster article, pre-FM; VF=$700+), Blazing Combat #1 & Anthology(200%), Comix International #1(200%), CREEPY #9,32,146(150%), CREEPY #10,14,17-19,29, 32,34, 39, 50, 70,71,76,78,91,113,132-145(125%); Best of Creepy Paperback(VF $30), Dracula (TPB; 150%), Dracula (UK New English Library mag editions 1-12; VF = $12 ea); Edgar Allan Poe's Fall of the House of Usher HC(125%); Eerie #9(150%), 17(400%), 23(200%), 135(150%); Eerie #5, 18, 24,25,28,38-41,45, 48, 60,81,94,95,98,108,125,128, 130-134,136-139(125%); Famous Monsters #1(VF $2000), 2-30(VF = $200-$900 ea), Famous Monsters (Dynacomm) #200(1993), 205(VF $35 ea); #211-213,219,221,223,224(VF $22 ea); FM Convention Books (1974, 1975; VF = $75+ ea), FM Paperbacks(VF = $75-100 ea), Flintstones at New York World's Fair 1964(150%), HELP #1(VF $75+); #2-5,9, 13,15,21-26(VF=$30-$50) ; Heidi Saha (500 Printed? Very RARE; VF = $1000+); Monsters & Heroes (Warren Related; Pub by Larry Ivie; 1967-1969; VF = $30-$50); MONSTERLAND / Forrest J. Ackerman's Monsterland (1984-1987) #1-17(VF= $12-20); Monster World (replaces Famous Monsters #70-79) #3(VF $60+); #4(VF $35+); Odd World of Richard Corben,(200%), ON THE SCENE PRESENTS FREAK-OUT, USA #NN (#1; Fall 1967 = 125%); Screen Thrills (1962-1965) #1,10(VF $75+); 2-4(VF $50); Spacemen #1,3(VF=$200+); #2,4-8 & Annual(VF=$50-$75); Spirit Special (Mail Only Approx 1500 printed = 150%), Teen Love Stories 1-3 (115-125%), Tiny Tim(125%); VAMPIRELLA #1-8,12,16,19,33,36, 41,45,46,48, 52,61,63,64, 77,78,89, 101-113(115-125% Guide), Annual #1(125%), Special #1(Softcover 125%) Special #1(Hardcover 200%), Vampirella Paperbacks #1-3(VF $30), 4-6(VF $50); Vampirella UK mags #1-4(VF $50 ea); Warren Presents #13, 14(150%); Wildest Westerns/Favorite Westerns of Filmland #1(VF $200); #2(VF $100); #3-6(VF = $60+ ea)

** The Comics Horror mags by Eerie Pub, Globe, Hamilton, Major, Modern Day, Stanley, Tempest Pub, & World Famous, never hot, but always consistant sellers. Reading copies are in Higest Demand & we have started to sell out of everything in less than FN Condition; The Eerie & Stanley Titles glorious colorful Violent Torture, Bondage & Gore Covers & Contents, this is what everyone remembers & why they want then. Weird Vampire Tales & Terrors of Dracula are Uncommon to Scarce & bring 135-150% Guide; The rest sold in all grades in the 120-135% Guide Price Range, including; Chilling Tales of Horror, Horror Tales, Murder Tales, Shock, Strange Galaxy, Tales from the Tomb, Tales of Killers, Tales of Voodoo, Terror Tales, Web of Horror, Weird, Weird Worlds, & Witches Tales;

** The SKYWALD Mags (Nightmare, Psycho & Scream) are about 3-6 Times Scarcer than the Average Warren Mag, with the last 4 issues of each title being the Scarcest issues; They sell in ALL Grades bringing at 140-160% Guide; They are very hard to restock once sold & VF or better copies are getting Very Hard to find all the time. "KING" mags (3-7/1971; Boris-a) are Rare [#1(VF)=$75; #2(VF)=$50]; Crime-Machine & Hell-Rider are also decent sellers (#1's = 150%; #2's = 120%);

WHITMAN comics;

The Whitman comics (former Gold Key) 8-12/1980 issues are finally understood to SCARCE & still bring 150-500% GUIDE prices. The Whitman comics (former Gold Key) 1983-1984 issues are uncommon & bring 120-200% GUIDE prices. The Whitman Variant's (NOT listed in the Guide) of Gold Key's published from 11/1971 thru 2/1980 are uncommon to Scarce, with some Rare, depending of the Popularity of the Character bring 125-200% of GK issue values. The better Non-Cartoon Titles (Star Trek, Tarzan, Twilight Zone etc) near the High End; We got the most requests ever for the WHITMAN Variants of DC comics, with most buyers wanting FN or better (But we sold VG & lower to a few buyers completing runs); We sell most DC Whitman's from this price range (and up) = VF/NM=$16; VF=$12; FN=$9; VG=$6; G=$4; >> MARVEL Whitman's DO NOT exist (see Variant's in this report)

MARKET REPORT for #37(2007) Overstreet Annual Comic Book Price Guide by Douglas W. Sulipa (Written & Submitted in 10/2006); (UN-EDITED & Complete Original Version)

[Several Sections were DELETED in the Published Overstreet Version & are Marked as such below]

Doug Sulipa's COMIC WORLD
BOX 21986
STEINBACH, MANITOBA
CANADA R5G 1B5

Website; www.dougcomicworld.com

Email; cworld@mts.net

(Ph; 1-204-346-3674)(Fax; 1-204-346-1632)

INTRO & Overview;

For us, the Comics Marketplace was Business as Usual all year long. Yes, everyone still wanted the top 100 "Must Have" comics, that has not changed much in the last 3 years. DC & Marvel had events happen in new comics, that had roots in older back issues & the fans loved it, scooping up many of these related back issues, beyond these, not much other older items would be considered "Hot". Since buyers have not been distracted by must have HOT items, many have decided to go back to buying comics that they really like, & that is never a bad thing. The question on many collectors minds is; Since New Comic Sales are low compared to previous Era's, will values hold & will the market continue to be strong in the future? To answer this we need just realize that there have been consistent Boom & Bust Collecting Fad Era's, which expand back to the Roots of comic collecting in the 1960's & Earlier. Comics as a viable avenue of collecting, is in the neighborhood of 50 Years & still going strong. Unlike other Hobbies, COMICS have the huge advantage that fans like to both Read Them & appreciate them for their Artwork. Just as BOOKS will never stop being read & collected, i expect that there will always be plenty of buyers for Comics. Now with the internet, we have more & more collectors from around the world, buying up back issues, which often disappear permanently from our back issue pools. European Disney Comic sales in Europe & Japanese Manga Comic sales in Japan, make the American new comics market seem small. If these Overseas buyers graduate to buying American comics, there is no end in site to the future of our collectibles. In my experience, Collectors of older Back-Issue Comics are usually a different Group of Buyers than those who usually buy New Comics. (Although there are Crossover collectors & Long Time collectors who buy both; Typically buyers usually focus most of their hobby budget on one or the other). Thus Print Runs & even survival of New Comics, are not imperially tied to & of paramount importance to the survival of our hobby. In fact all Print Media are in lower demand as we move forward into the computer age. Events in New comics do however affect back issues prices in the books in which they began.

In the early 1990's there was a boom (Image Comics, Death of Superman & Valiant comics) followed by a bust in part caused by overprinting, & aggravated by fear of Marvel folding when they were in Chapter-11 protection. Soon after this happened, collectors in droves started using the internet & a strong recovery set in. Then, we had the Oddball & Scarce Comics Rage spread thru the industry as never before & price rose dramatically. Next we saw eBay grow faster & faster, each year becoming a more important factor in our industry. One of the things that collectors least anticipated was next to come, as CGC entered the Marketplace. CGC revolutionized the industry & made it "Safer" to collect, with the bonus advantage of making our treasured collectibles more Liquid in the marketplace. The CGC Age of collecting ushered in the huge Growth in Comic Auctions at both eBay & at Private Auction houses. Comics boomed for several years on end, with seemingly no end in sight. But as all these factors became an integral & normal part of our marketplace, things started to cool & hit more realistic levels. Just as we wondered what would happen NEXT, the Comic Book Movies in the Theatre's hit unprecedented levels of success. Interest in comics once again hit very high levels & many collectors came back into the marketplace. We experienced a Mini-Boom in 1968-1985 Era Horror Comics in the last few years, but many dealers do not carry a decent selection of these comics & missed out on these sales. The marketplace seems to have leveled off again this year, with collectors once again asking; what's next? I have been selling comics since 1971 & one trend that always holds true; as values of back issues continue to rise, at one point in time collectors en-masse will move from one Era of Collecting up to the next & newer Era, mainly due to afford ability. This usually happens about once every 10 Years or so. Comics that are 20-25 Years old are already from a previous Generation & collectors begin to get nostalgic for them. These 20-25 Years old comics become less common in higher grades & they start disappearing from Dealer inventories. In 1996 it was still believed that BRONZE AGE comics were Ultra-Common & that they were all COMMON in NM, & even the price guide even used to state they were common in NM. In the last decade BRONZE AGE comics have skyrocketed in price, just compare the Top-50 Bronze Age prices in the 2006 Guide to the 1996 Prices. [500% to 2000% price increases are commonplace]; Today we still often hear that 1980's comics are plentiful & that they are all common in NM. Just as it was not true for Bronze Age in 1996, it is again not true for 1980's Comics Today. STRICTLY Graded (Using the CGC Standard as a Guideline) 1980's Comics in INVESTMENT GRADES (Typically VF/NM, 9.0 or Better) are nowhere near as common as is commonly believed. Although in Gross Dollars we still sell more in Pre-1980 Bronze Age & Older Comics, the quantiles of 1980's comics we sold this year saw a dramatic rise. I fully expect that a decade from now, we will look back & find it hard to believe that 1980's comics were so low priced in 2007. Since collecting by it's very nature is the repetition of collective & individual learned behavior, it seems a very strong probability these trends will continue.

The BRONZE AGE has been our consistent Best Seller for the last 5 years. There is not yet a definitive consensus of where the Bronze Age begins & ends, so most people go by the eBay definition of 1970-1979. These artificial cutoffs by date seem a little absurd, since GA & SA are more clearly defined. Based on Customer Interest & Buying habits, it seems more logical that the Bronze Age ends with Secret Wars-1 (1984-85), and CRISIS on Infinite Earths (1985-1986) at DC. Most of our Bronze Age collectors now seem to be extending their sets to include all the issues thru approx the 1985 Era, depending on the title. The completely Re-Vamped DC Universe of Post-Crisis seems to be a much more Logical Place to start the Copper Age. Spider-Man in Black Costume, the Coming of Venom & other changes, seem to be Logical for Marvel. Regardless of if we call them late Bronze Age or early Copper age, the comics of the 1980-1986 Era are way up in demand for us.

ACG Comics; This year we sold mostly the Superhero issues of Adv into Unknown, Forbidden Worlds, Unknown Worlds mostly in average grades of G thru FN at 110-120% Guide. HERBIE by many is considered the most important title by this publisher & they were by far the bestseller of the year, with all from Low to High grade moving at a fast pace. The Horror/SF, & Cartoon, Humor, Romance & Misc titles moved moderately well in G-FN. Once issues we quoted in FNVF or better showed resistance by buyers. Dizzy Dames is a much asked for title & they usually sell as fast as we can find them at 135-150% Guide levels.

ALTERNATIVE / Independent Comics;

Independent Comics because a notable force in the World of Collecting in 1982 with Pacific, Eclipse & a few other Pioneering Publishers, thus by the time this Guide is released, it will be the 25th Anniversary. Seagate, Bud Plant & others were Distributing to a Small Degree to the Tiny DIRECT market from 1976-1979, but the DIRECT Market do not Truly get rolling until other Distributors were allowed to compete with Seagate in 1980. In 1980 the first Comic published to be sold ONLY thru this young DIRECT Market was Superboy Spectacular. In 3/1981 Marvel followed suit with the release of the Direct Only DAZZLER #1, which had record sales. (I remember that i ordered 6000 Copies for my shop); By 1/1982 Marvel converted 3 Titles to DIRECT Only; Ka-Zar the Savage, Moon Knight & Micronauts. The 1980-1981 Experiments made Independent creators take notice & by 1982 Pacific, Eclipse & others entered the market with a BOOM. Most of the 1982-1983 issues were overprinted & remain common today (but not in STRICT NM condition ranges); The Initial BOOM continued but with modified Print Runs from 1984-1986. By 1987 there were so very many Independent comics on the market, that there was a BUST. Publishers, & Titles were Folding everywhere & Print Runs Plummeted. Most Alternative comics of the 1987-1991 Period had smaller print runs. VALIANT comics Revived Magnus & Solar in 1991, based on the classic Gold Key Characters, to moderate initial good sales. Then in 1992 Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Jim Lee & other Left Marvel to form IMAGE Comics & the 2nd Independent comics BOOM had Arrived. Valiant added several titles in 1992 & started the UNITY Crossover between all the titles. Because Image was setting Record Sales, the excellent comics by Valiant got caught in the wave & sales soared to Huge Print Runs. The Big Print runs continued thru the Death of Superman Era, but started to subside by the Batman/Azreal/Bane Era & a CRASH started to set in ny the time the Batman Knightfall Era was finishing (Summer 1993); The comics of 1992-1993 Remain some of the Most overprinted Comics of all time. The 1994-1996 Print Runs kept on the decline & leveled off to Low Levels by the late 1990's. It was an exciting Era, that much of existing Fandom lived thru.

There are Untold Treasures Hidden thru the entire 1982-1996 Era & Beyond. The Overprinted issues might take a while to gain any value above Cover Prices, but the 1000's of Low Print Run items should fair much better. We have probably the World's Biggest Selection of INDY's with about 200,000 in stock.(Perhaps 50,000 Different??); People are always checking my Website & Finding Rare Oddball items than NO one else has in stock. Sometimes it even surprises me on some of the items we have in stock, that i have long forgotten. Perhaps as much as 35-50% of the Independent Comics we have in stock, are not listed in Overstreet, Many of the Greatest Creators of the Modern Era got their start in the pages of these books. Pre-Unity, Promo & Low Print Valiant comics are again booming. [For Current values, Print Runs, Rarities & Action results go to = www.valiantcomics.com/valiant.asp ]; We have witnessed World Record Prices on CEREBUS, TMNT, ALBEDO & other Classics. After 2 Major Boom & Bust periods, Literally Millions of these COMICS were DUMPED in BARGAIN BINS & many are no longer common in HIGH GRADE, dues to careless & Over Handling.

There are a Large number of Fans buying up PRE-1982 Independand Comics (In that period they were considered Ground-Level Comics, Underground comics, & Fanzines) and extends back to a prehistoric era of 1960's DITTO ZINES (Mimeographed with Tiny Print Runs of 100-1000 copies etc), many with very crude stories & art; These historic Independent Comics are becoming more sought each & every year. [Especially in CANADA with Canadian-Made Comics, as the output was so much smaller]; Most Buyers of these early issues are not too concerned about Condition & will take whatever they can find. Among the most sought are the RARE 1970's Paragon comics (Macabre Western, Starfems, etc) by Bill Black (VF copies bring $20-$50 each); Other Pre-1982 Comics that are UP in Demand (at 125-150% Guide) include; Astral Comics (1977), Badtime Stories (Wrightson), Captain Al Cohol #1-3(1973; $50-100 ea) ; Cazco (Phil Yeh), Cerebus, Cobalt Blue(1977), Elflord (Nightwind; 1980-82) #1-15, Elfquest (1st Prints) #1-10, Fantasy Quarterly #1, Great Society Comic Book (1966), Hot Stuf (Sal Q), Imagine, Kosher Comics(1966), Mr. A series (Ditko), Nexus (Capital) #1-3, Oktoberfest, ORB, Phantacea, Power Comics, Quack(Star Reach), Rock Comics (Adams-a), Star Reach, & Others; >>> But Even Scarcer are the Low Print Run Independent comics of the 1960's (at $20-$50+ each) including; Alter Ego, Batfink & Rubin, Kosher Comics, Larry Ivie’s Monsters & Heroes, Star Studded, Witzend, & Others.

ARCHIE comics;

Many Dealers say that old Archie's do not sell, but that is because they do not have a good selection. With 35,000 Archie Comics & 10,000 Digests, no one can touch our selection. We had one buyer alone, over a period of about a year, buy one of each of every different issue we had in stock from 1970-2005, Literally 1000's of issues. He now owns about 95% of all the issues printed in that period, something no other dealer could hope to accomplish for a client. This is one of the big advantages of selection & buyers really appreciate our efforts.

A new trend has begun this year, namely the collecting of "KEY" issues within the many series, as collectors from other Genre's have decided to expand their horizons The early 1960's Horror/Monsters/SF cover issues were the most requested issues bringing 125% guide, especially Jughead #79 with the Creature from Black Lagoon-c at 135% Guide; Also in high demand was the very tough Pals N Gals #23 with the first Josie in the 150% Guide range. Rare items sold well including; Jughead's Folly #1(1st ELVIS in comics), Archie's Mechanics & others. Beatles parody issues are in constant demand. All early & Key issues with Josie & Sabrina are once again up in demand. Josie #45-50 are very tough to keep in stock, as are the tough high numbers #100-106 in the 135-150% Guide range. Sabrina #1-17 & the Low print #71-77 bring 135-150% Guide. Cosmo the Merry Martian is an overlooked classic Cult favorite & a must have title for humor fans, selling fast in the 120% guide range. The early 1960's Laugh & Pep with Superheroes are in consistent demand, but forget about finding FN or better copies, they are hard to keep in stock in G/VG. The demand for early CHERYL BLOSSOM comics seems to never subside, once Identified, everything Pre Love-Showdown (1994) sells 200-400% Faster than other issues. There are 4 different Cheryl Blossom Mini-Series (13 issues total) from 1995-1996 & these are becoming more & More popular, with investors also requesting 9.0 or better copies. Demand for Archie Giant #26, 32 has tripled since they were broken out as B&V All-Pinup issues by Dan DeCarlo bringing 125% guide. All the 1960's Squarebound Giants are Popular, selling at 110-125% Guide. Anything & Everything with Dan DeCarlo art sells well (including Millie the Model & his many other Non-Archie comics); DeCarlo's Adults Digest Cartoon's also have a good following & are rather uncommon. We even had a fan buying up all the DeCarlo covers on a few Digest titles, as they are New material that does not appear elsewhere. The Red Circle Sorcery, & Madhouse HORROR issues are in High Demand, in all grades, but with High Grades selling fastest.

TMNT Adventures #61-72, Specials #6-10 & Digests, all had Low print runs & are now quite scarce bringing 200-400% guide. The 4 Huge Trade Paperback Archie All-Star Specials (1975) are SCARCE in any grade, but Rare in FN or better; The Christmas with Archie Treasury is Rarte in any Grade & is a fast seller at 200% Guide. Tales Calculated to Drive you BATS is a Popular title, but tough in better than FN, (One collector has tried for years to put together a VF or better set, with little luck)

There were only a finite number of Pre-1950 Golden Age age Archie's & these are in constant High Demand in all grades, with most dealers being consistently sold out. The early issues & all Key issues bring good premiums with Archie #1 and Pep #22 now being among the most desirable of all GA comics. There are about 5 different magazine size GA B&W Canadian Archie Comics, these are quite RARE and VG range copies typically bring $400-600 each, but the issue with the 1st Archie story from Pep #22 brings $1000+ in VG;

It is amazing that with all the recent Comic Movies, that Hollywood has not caught on the the eternal Popularity of Archie, Betty, Veronica & Friends has huge appeal. I was told by someone has done work at Archie, that the management really does not understand the properties they hold. There is not aggressive efforts to understand & properly merchandise their products. Due to the widespread distribution of Archie Digests in Supermarkets, Chain Stores & other newsstand locations, one could ague that Archie is the most Popular Character still selling to the non-collecting General Public.

If a great Live Action Theatrical Movie or TV series ever hits, back issue would soar & values on Key issues would follow in no time. In general about 75% of Buyers are satisfied with ordinary G-FN grades, which is a good thing, as most issues Pre-1988 are TOUGH to find in even VF, much less VF/NM or better. NM 9.4 Copes are Non-Existent for most Pre-1980 issues. For example, only 7 different issues of Betty & Veronica 1-347 have been CGC graded in 9.4 or better & indeed even 9.0 copies are rare. So High Grade in Archie means VF 8.0 or better. Betty & Veronica has been the #1 most consistently collected set for over 5 Years straight. It would very a monumental task to put together a STRICT Very Fine or better condition set. B&V #320 is a Instant Seller Double Guide book any time it is found.

>>> Other Notable items still in demand; 1960's Archie Gang as Superhero's, Spies & the Archie Music-Band issues (TV related), Spire Christian comics, SONIC the Hedgehog , Katy Keene, Wilbur, Ginger, Suzie, Riverdale Rambling (Archie Fanzine), Red Circle & Archie Adventure titles. The 5 issue WHIZ KIDS (Archie & Radio Shack) Promo series, have been selling to a few curious buyers. Many people have forgotten or never knew that Archie published Hanna Barbera comics in the Mid-1990's, these are already getting hard to find & VF+ range copies bring $5 each.

ATLAS/Marvel;

All the Teen-Age Titles were very Popular this year, with the Millie the Model by Dan DeCarlo bing the most requested. The Many Western titles with Kirby, Williamson, Maneely, Severin & other good artists were great sellers, as affordable in ordinary G-FN grades. I ran across 2 more issues destined to be Key issues; KATHY #24(8/1963; Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Ed Sullivan & Liz Taylor-c; >> Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Fred Astaire & Many Celebrities cameo inside; 5 pages of Paper Dolls) and #26(12/1963; Kathy becomes a Model; Millie the Model app); War comics were in higher demand also, especially Artist issues. Pre-Code issues sold better than later issues. The exception was any title that went on to become a Marvel Title, they are always in higher demand, as many Marvel fans eventually decide to extend their sets backwards. All the Horror Title Prototype issues & all Horror with Kirby or Ditko sold about twice as fast as surrounding issues at 115-135% Guide.

Misc Genres sold steady thru the year, (at 100-120% Guide), in GD thru FN grades, including; Crime/Mystery, Funny Animal, Humor /Parody, Sports, Spy, Romance & titles.

ATLAS/Seaboard;

We always sell a lot of VG-FN/VF copies of all titles, as this publisher had a small output & there are many many completionists. We got in a lot of nice copies from the MANITOBA Collection, all in VF/NM or better & these sold FAST at 125-200% Guide ranges. Horror Titles & issues with Art by Adams, Chaykin, Ditko, Toth, Wood, & Wrightson sold twice as fast & at higher premiums. These books are now over 3 Decades OLD and becoming uncommon in even VF, as most copies sitting in dealer inventories have been handled too many times, thus VG/FN copies are the most common. Vicki #1-4 are Scarce in Strict VF or better, with the Low Print #3,4 tough in ANY grade. . But by far the best sellers in ordinary grades of G-VF were all the Magazines; DEVILINA, MOVIE MONSTERS , THRILLING ADVENTURE & WEIRD TALES OF THE MACABRE at 125-150% Guide; Gothic Romances #1 remains impossible to find, bringing 250-400% Guide in ANY grade. >> BUT just when we though that was tough, i uncovered a new One-Shot RARITY to drive completionists Insane (Only known copy so far in comic collecting circles); MY SECRETS (Atlas/Seaboard Pub; B&W Magazine; Text-s & Photo's; 68 pages) Volume-1 #1 (2/1975; Sex Junkies; Baby that even God forgot; I Stripped in the Confessional to win the Priest i Loved; Honeymoon of Hate; I won't have Sex that disgusting way; Maybe they'll Love me if i Kill myself);

BRITISH-UK Items; >>> [This section was DELETED / Edited OUT of the Published Overstreet #37];

We continue to sell a Lot of UK British Comics & Annuals, as we have certainly have the biggest selection in North America. In fact we have a bigger selection than most UK dealers & we have a lot of British customer buying from us too. We sols a good amount of "MARVEL ALL-COLOUR COMICS" with the Banner across the top of the front cover (1974-1980 era). Note that Amazing Spider-Man #1, Tales to Astonish #27 and other 1960's comics exist with BRITISH Cover Prices. These were all actually Printed in the USA for UK Distribution (NOT to be sold in USA) & thus are true Marvel VARIANTS from America, they are all Same Vintage Simultaneous ORIGINALS. They are MUCH Scarcer than USA editions, so at the worst should have same value & at best, should have solid Premium Values.

The Less expensive Variants we typically sell at 150-200% of the USA Edition values. There are also OTHER UK British PENCE cover Price VARIANT Editions, as the number of Variant collectors continues to grow. These Marvel's appeared periodically from 1961 thru to the 1980's, with many interruptions. There were many "ND" (Not Distributed) periods in UK, where NO copies (USA or UK) were DISTRIBUTED & thus those issues are scarcer overseas. (Referenced in the 1997-98 McAlpine guide);

The Vintage All-British New material weekly comics (Beano, Dandy, etc) of the 1937-1950's, are totally Alien products to American's, yet they set World Record prices each year in the UK.

WARRIOR (1982-85; Bolland, Bolton, Alan Davis, Gibbons Alan Moore, Morrison, with Marvelman / Miracleman) are in demand at $8-25 each; The classic 2000 AD weekly (Bisley, Bolland, Dan Dare, Dillon, Alan Davis, Fabry, Gibbons, Grant, Alan Moore, Nemesis, JUDGE DREDD, Robo-Hunter, Rogue Trooper, Slaine, Stronium Dog, Stainless Steel Rat, Bryan Talbot, & more) is a must for UK collectors, but little known in the USA; (#2 features the 1st app of Judge Dredd & sells for $200-1000); We sold several 100 UK War comic digests (Battle Picture Library, Commando, & War Picture Library, etc) contain all original UK material (excellent reading & art for WAR Comic Fans) at; (1950's/60's = $6-$20 and 1970's-1980's = $2-$6 each) The HORROR comics by Alan Class, Miller & others, are among our bestsellers. They are B&W Squarebound giants (60-100 pages featuring Vintage USA Horror & SF titles from; Atlas/Marvel, Archie, ACG, Charlton, DC,etc); Alan Class 1950's-1980's sell for $7-$12, with early issues higher. Miller issues from 1960's sell at $12-$30 each ;

The British Hardcover Annuals of 1950's thru 1990's are scarce in the USA & most America collectors have not seen them. They Licensed many of the Major characters of the period, including USA & UK; Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Cartoons, Hanna-Barbera, Walt Disney, TV Series, Cowboys & Westerns,