• For the purposes of financial investment, a generic “it will go up” is not good enough.  It is necessary to know how much and when.  Here we will present actionable information for a lower risk investment strategy.
  • Call of the Day:  Amazing Spider-Man #101 (1971) at a CGC 9.0
  • Price target of $1,600 by July 31, 2020

 

BACKGROUND

In a previous article “Maturation Cycle – Comic Book Movie”, we observed how the movie Venom (2018) affected the market value of Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1988). At each maturation even, the growth rates for the book changed as follows:

Here, we will utilize the data gathered from ASM #300 to estimate the price of another Marvel character currently undergoing the maturation cycle. Specifically, the character Morbius and his 1st appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #101 (1971).

 

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #101 #101 SO FAR

For Amazing Spider-Man #101, we will examine the corresponding similar CGC population percentages. 9.0 and 8.5 will be grouped together as they represent the top 23.6% and 34.1% population, respectively. 5.5 and 5.0 will be grouped together as they represent the top 83.1% and 88.8% population, respectively.

The natural growth rate of the book is shown below. Again, this is the pricing trend without any influence from the movie:

Compared with ASM 300, the higher grade of ASM 101 grew almost twice as fast at 194%, while the lower grade grew about 35% slower.

Fast forward to the official announcement on June 27, 2018, when Jared Leto was cast as Morbius and Daniel Espinosa at the helm as director.

In the follow months, the growth rate now accelerates. Interestingly, ASM 101 benefits from a larger magnitude of acceleration than ASM 300 experienced. On the higher grades, the growth rate jumps to 541%. The lower grades increase to 185%. ASM 300 increased “only” 147% and 145% at the high and low ends, respectively. Perhaps this points to a potentially stronger growth in the subsequent maturation events.

 

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #101 LOOKING FORWARD

The first teaser/trailer release date is at the mercy of Sony Pictures. For the purposes of our estimates, we will assume a 6 month trailer to movie release date. This puts it at a late December 2019. With this December 2019 first teaser/trailer release date, we can estimate the following price target:

CGC 9.0 at $1,300 and CGC 5.5 at $370

In the period between the 1st teaser/trailer, ASM 101 will experience the most aggressive growth. While the teaser/trailer release date is up for speculation, the official release date of the movie set by Sony Pictures is more certain. Barring any delays or move ups, it is currently slated for July 31, 2020.

Using conservative estimates based on ASM 101’s higher growth relative to ASM 300 at each maturation event, we arrive at the following target price, just before the movie’s release date of July 31, 2020:

CGC 9.0 at $1,600 and CGC 5.5 at $400.

 

BOTTOM LINE

The risk/reward potential of Amazing Spider-Man #101 at a CGC 9.0 appears to be a safe bet. It should reach a price target of $1,600 by July 31, 2020. This represents a 139% gain from the current fair market value of $1,150. Meanwhile, the minimal upside of 114% for CGC 5.5 offers a poor risk/reward situation.  Other than 9.0 and 5.5, predicting whether the surrounding grades for ASM 101 will also behave similarly over the same time frame would require additional analysis.

  • 9.0:  Buy
  • 5.5:  Hold

 

“Calculators just spit out answers! There’s no craft! No art! No journey to savor!” – Jason Fox, FoxTrot