Buying big keys produce even bigger wins. Investing in comics is speculation pure and simple, but some comic book speculations are Blue Chip while others are Pink Sheet low-grade long shots. The larger the purchase the larger the return in comic book speculation. Let's take Amazing Spider-Man #1 as a prime example of how to invest in big comics. First, it is the headliner for Marvel there is no one bigger than Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. He shows up across genres, throughout the Marvel Universe, even into the future with Spider-Man 2099 (Side note: These 1990s splash pages are awesome pieces of inked art to own). The Amazing Spider-Man #1 is not his first appearance. Second, this is the first comic book in the volume one series for Spider-Man and as such a big book to own. Part of the preference for this book as opposed to Amazing Fantasy #15 (the full first appearance of Spidey) is the wider audience that is available to buy a cheaper book more accessible to the American public. Also, this book is easier to find in a higher grade.
Finally, let's not forget catalyst going forward, is there one? Currently, Tom Holland has done an outstanding job as Spider-Man. He has been in two movies, and Sony has made a wonderful animation Into the Spider-Verse that everybody should see. I would suggest they are going to have at least two or three more movies with Tom Holland. That means catalysts going forward for at least the next five years. Because, after all, we haven't even seen his latest movie coming out this summer yet: Spider-Man: Far From Home. But it looks like it will rock, especially with set pieces in Venice, Italy of all places. In review, we have a key character of Marvel, a big key first in the series comic book, a price that is substantial but not beyond most middle-class incomes in a pinch, and catalysts as far as the eye can see. Outcome: Amazing returns, Spider-Speculator, just simply amazing returns.
It is time to put your big boy pants on and invest a significant amount of money in a first series big book like Amazing Spider-Man #1. The enormous cost for this comic ASM#1 in grade (9.6) is $410,000 FMV per GoCollect. If we take it down a few notches to the level of a first time big buyer at a grade of (5.5) the price drops to $13,000 FMV. It is cheaper than a new car, and it won't lose half it's value once you take it home. Over the course of the last couple of years grade (5.5) has doubled in value with a return of positive +117.3%. The Big Kahuna grade (9.6) has returned positive +125.5% during the last 19 years as well. Still too rich for your blood Spider-Speculators? Then buy a grade (2.5) at around $4600 FMV and try to buy white pages.
White pages can be very important with these older books. After all the paper they were printed on was substandard and breaks down over time. White pages are a CGC designation of the quality of the paper. It speaks to the condition of the paper and can give a huge boon to the bottom line for years to come as long as that quality holds up. Obviously, you will need a temperature controlled environment to protect these books. I would suggest buying a humidity gage you can place near your books or at your computer desk to track the indoor humidity for keeping your very expensive paper in great shape. My Uncle Tom bought a book like this several years ago around 2016 and it has since doubled in value. But, he had to fork out the money initially and risk a big loss if the comic market somehow collapsed. Instead, the movies took off and his copy of Spider-Man continues to make money to this day.
