Remember last summer when the market lost its collective mind over Carnage? Of course you do. Guess what? They've actually gone up. (Thanks for that, Red Goblin.) But we haven't seen the real Carnage boom just yet.
This time last year, Sony had Venom fans completely stirred up with the solo Venom movie announcements. Then word got out that Carnage would be featured in his big-screen debut, and things got out of hand fast.
Carnage's first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #361 skyrocketed practically overnight. A CGC-graded 9.6 went from being about $100-$125 until mid-May when the news broke. Suddenly, ASM #361 gained value daily. Within a month, it was averaging between $130-$160. By June 22, it had cracked $250 and was consistently selling for over $200. Another month later, ASM #361 broke $275.
Around August, things began to settle down. Prices for the 9.6 plateaued to the $150 range, and I halfway expected the averages to go back to their spring levels. That has not happened. In fact, the average so far in 2018 has actually been higher than last year thanks to the Red Goblin, which put a fresh spin on the Carnage symbiote. Here's my prediction: we haven't seen the highest sales of ASM #361 just yet. That will happen when Carnage is featured in a Venom trailer. On that day, the internet will explode.
Where does the first appearance of Carnage in a 9.6 stand right now? Glad you asked.
Since January, there have been 250 sales. What's impressive is we've already seen a $250 sale in March; last year's high was $276. The current 90-day average is already $164, and by the end of this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see it sell for over $300.
I remember buying this comic in 1992, and I loved every panel. I can't tell you how many times I read that comic, so it's got some wear. I imagine I'm not the only one with less than near-mint copies in their collections. For those of us in the same boat, where do we stand? Our comics may not bring $290, but they're not doing bad at all.
Anything below a 9.0 takes a serious drop and goes below the $100 mark. If you think about it, that makes sense. When Carnage debuted, it was a cool story with great art, so people read it several times just like I did. That translates into fewer people having those mint copies. If you've got an 8.5, your comic has averaged $78 in the past 12 months, which is an even $10 higher than its 2017 average.
An 8.0 has seen the biggest jump as far as the grades outside near mint. Back in 2016, you could have paid about $49 on average. A year later, that price inflated to $58. Last May's Carnage craze didn't affect this particular grade as much as it did the near mints; this one was hitting $60 back in April, and that's about where it stayed when the movie news broke. However, it has still been on the rise. By the end of July 2017, it was selling for $75 and $80 and consistently cracking $60.
This year, the 8.0 is seeing its highest prices yet. Out of the six sales in 2018, five have been for $90 or more. Two of those have brought at least $100. In fact, the highest sale so far was for $110 on June 16. As I mentioned earlier, this has not hit its peak, so you'll want to keep an eye on these leading up to the next round of trailers for Venom.
