Why Create a Silver Age Comic Price Index?
Everybody knows that key issues of comic books have increased in value over the years. In 1982, a Fantastic Four #1 in Fine condition was valued at $550*. In 2005, the guide value was $2650 and today the book is worth $3150*.
Not bad. However, this doesn't tell the whole story. In 1987, the guide value for the book had dropped to $500. That's a 10% loss over five years from 1982 to 1987. That's a pretty long period of price stagnation. Did all comic book prices experience stagnation during this period, or was it just this issue? Was it simply a matter of mid-grade books losing favor as more collectors moved to high grade? Or, did the Fantastic Four title lose out to other titles for a time? After all, the X-Men were hot in the 80s....
Honestly, I don't know. You hear stories, dealers talking about titles being hot or cold. Or, people giving advice that this or that grade range is the "best investment." While I'm certain that many dealers and experienced collectors are more often right than wrong, I have seen very little in the way of analysis trying the capture what the overall Silver Age market is doing.
Since the advent of CGC graded books and GP Analysis the data is out there. However, it's currently very difficult to see the forest for the trees. Sure, there was just a sale of a Fantastic Four #1 in CGC 6.0 for a record-breaking $7500 in August of '07. That would seem to indicate that the market for key Silver Age books is strong indeed. How much have prices increased over the last couple of years 5%, 20%, 100%??? What are prices doing this year?
The purpose of this blog is to create and track objective metrics that represent the value of key silver age comic books. Think of the Silver Age Comic Price Index (SCPI)** as a sort of Dow Jones Industrial Average for Silver Age comic books. In case you didn't know, the DJIA is a composite of 30 stocks from the biggest companies in the USA. The companies represented in the Dow are well-known companies like IBM, GE, HP, and Boeing. The Dow is widely watched because it is thought to represent the ups and downs of the overall market. IBM could have a bad year while Boeing has a good one. However, if you want to know how the market did overall, you look at the Dow.
The SCPI is a composite index of 32 key issues of the Silver Age. While all of these books are highly-regarded key issues, some have risen rapidly in value, many have risen slowly and a few actually decreased in value. Overall, the SCAPI has risen an average of just under 10% per year from 2002 to 2006. How is the SCAPI doing in 2007? Well, from January through September it's gone up about 8.3% . If your reaction to this news is "who cares?" then thanks for reading this far and I'm sorry that this blog probably isn't for you. However, if I've whetted your appetite with these figures, read on!
Beyond the SCPI itself, I will also share the performance of the issues that make up the index. Furthermore, I am considering adding more indexes beyond the SCPI. Maybe a high-grade Silver Age index or a mid-grade index. Your suggestions are welcome!
* Overstreet Price Guide
** I pronounce it "Skippy" in my head.
Not bad. However, this doesn't tell the whole story. In 1987, the guide value for the book had dropped to $500. That's a 10% loss over five years from 1982 to 1987. That's a pretty long period of price stagnation. Did all comic book prices experience stagnation during this period, or was it just this issue? Was it simply a matter of mid-grade books losing favor as more collectors moved to high grade? Or, did the Fantastic Four title lose out to other titles for a time? After all, the X-Men were hot in the 80s....
Honestly, I don't know. You hear stories, dealers talking about titles being hot or cold. Or, people giving advice that this or that grade range is the "best investment." While I'm certain that many dealers and experienced collectors are more often right than wrong, I have seen very little in the way of analysis trying the capture what the overall Silver Age market is doing.
Since the advent of CGC graded books and GP Analysis the data is out there. However, it's currently very difficult to see the forest for the trees. Sure, there was just a sale of a Fantastic Four #1 in CGC 6.0 for a record-breaking $7500 in August of '07. That would seem to indicate that the market for key Silver Age books is strong indeed. How much have prices increased over the last couple of years 5%, 20%, 100%??? What are prices doing this year?
The purpose of this blog is to create and track objective metrics that represent the value of key silver age comic books. Think of the Silver Age Comic Price Index (SCPI)** as a sort of Dow Jones Industrial Average for Silver Age comic books. In case you didn't know, the DJIA is a composite of 30 stocks from the biggest companies in the USA. The companies represented in the Dow are well-known companies like IBM, GE, HP, and Boeing. The Dow is widely watched because it is thought to represent the ups and downs of the overall market. IBM could have a bad year while Boeing has a good one. However, if you want to know how the market did overall, you look at the Dow.
The SCPI is a composite index of 32 key issues of the Silver Age. While all of these books are highly-regarded key issues, some have risen rapidly in value, many have risen slowly and a few actually decreased in value. Overall, the SCAPI has risen an average of just under 10% per year from 2002 to 2006. How is the SCAPI doing in 2007? Well, from January through September it's gone up about 8.3% . If your reaction to this news is "who cares?" then thanks for reading this far and I'm sorry that this blog probably isn't for you. However, if I've whetted your appetite with these figures, read on!
Beyond the SCPI itself, I will also share the performance of the issues that make up the index. Furthermore, I am considering adding more indexes beyond the SCPI. Maybe a high-grade Silver Age index or a mid-grade index. Your suggestions are welcome!
* Overstreet Price Guide
** I pronounce it "Skippy" in my head.
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