The hero best known as the second partner to Captain America, the Falcon, later became Captain America himself both in the comics and now in the MCU. Ever since the release of ‘Avengers: Endgame’, in fact, the Falcon’s key comics have seen a boost.
Here we ask: is that boost fading or holding steady?
There should currently be enough impetus to keep prices strong on the important Sam Wilson comics. For example, Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie are all set to reprise their roles as Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson for the Disney+ series ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ airing in 2020.
Set immediately after the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame’, we know that the Disney+ series will show us how Wilson becomes the new Captain America.
Co-created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, Sam Wilson has always been an appealing Marvel hero. Mainly this appeal stems from the fact that, although he is just an ordinary human, he fights for the good guys and has been doing so for fifty years now. Sam’s breakthrough moment, for many modern readers, came when he joined the Avengers, and he later became the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. For younger fans, his inheritance of the mantel of Captain America is probably the highlight of his comic arc. Moreover, after ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ Wilson is also set to inherit that title in the MCU as well. Let’s see how this pop culture exposure is affecting prices on his comics.
Captain America #117 (August 1969) - First appearance of The Falcon
Wilson has a slightly different origin story in the comics than he does in the MCU. Starting out as a villain, taking the name of Snapp Wilson, he first moves from Harlem, New York, to California. After a plane wreck in the Pacific, Wilson gets stranded on 'Exile Island' where he encounters the Red Skull. In the comics, Sam has a knack for training birds, so as part of the Red Skull’s gang he is initially given the powers, through the Cosmic Cube, to communicate tele-pathetically with birds. Unfortunately he is also brainwashed to serve the Red Skull. With this power (although he is effectively rendered a hybrid of DC’s Hawkman and Aquaman), Wilson first encounters Captain America as an enemy not a friend.
With Captain America’s help however, he eventually breaks the grip of the Red Skull’s mind control. He eventually reforms and then fights side by side with Steve Rogers, later playing a pivotal role when Roger’s gives up the Captain America persona. So how is his first appearance doing in terms of sales?
There was a significant upward surge in prices after the release of ‘Endgame’ (April 22), and just before the announcement at the San Diego Comic Con (between July 18-21), on prices for this book. Between April 21 and May 21 sales on certified copies were healthy with mostly positive numbers (best returns on 6.0 positive +32.2% after 4 sales, highest sale: 05/16/2019 eBay for $250.00 and 7.0 positive + 22.3% after 4 sales for the month, highest sale: eBay, $325.00). There were some downward trends (on 6.5 and 9.0), but the highs outweighed them. Pushing the time range forward between April 21 to August 21, we see that the outcome is still mostly positive but with stronger negative returns on 8.0, now negative -25.5% after 6 sales (last sale, eBay 08/18/2019 for $365.00) and 9.4, negative -17.6% after 2 sales (last sale: $1, 749.95). Long term returns are looking healthy so this is definitely a book to hold. It will be curious to see what effect the live action series will have on prices. Verdict: gliding.
Captain America v7 #25 (October 2014) - Who is the All-New Captain America?
We would expect a boost on this after April 22 and that is what we see. Whereas 9.6 was selling in certified condition for around $25.00 at the beginning of April, the same grade sold for $68.00 on 05/03/2019 and a 9.8 went from around $30.00 average throughout 2017 to an all-time high of $233.51 (in an eBay sale on: 05/01/2019). Currently returns are mixed with 101 total copies on the CGC census, long term 9.8 is the big winner (positive + 470.9% after 12 sales) but lower grades on this modern book (below 9.6) have returned strong negative numbers and over the last three months, the data looks dismal: down -13.9% in 9.8 and down negative -53.4% in 9.4 after two sales. If you bought high, at this point you can only hope the Disney live action series gives this a boost. Verdict:: if you’re a Falcon fan and want this for your PC, now is a good time to buy; otherwise- steer clear. This isn’t even gliding, it looks to be positively crash landing.
