Cable

Comics can have a strange up and down trajectory, just like any other investment.  Today's big thing could turn into a dud tomorrow.  If you have the next big character before others realize what is happening, you can get ahead of a very competitive market.  When a character is super popular they can have momentum that is driven not only by movies but by the collector's market as well.  One character who has seen a recent shift in both areas is Cable.  With his first appearance book beginning to heat up again, is it time to scoop up the character prior to the next price shift?  Let's take a look!

Cable made his first appearance in The New Mutants #87, in 1990, although the character of baby Nathan was introduced in the X-Men title years prior.  Throughout the '90s, Cable was the epitome of the new age Marvel characters.  Overtly buff, psychologically complex, technologically enhanced, and carrying enough guns to take over a small country...all he needed was a Mountain Dew in his hand while riding a skateboard and he would have been perfect.

Fans were treated to Cable in the cinematic form with his role in Deadpool 2.  And like the rest of the characters in the movie, he was promptly overshadowed by Peter.  Deadpool and Cable have been linked together awhile.  I have no clue whose idea it was to team these guys since it would be similar to fitting a puzzle piece into a Jenga tower.  However, it seems to work in the comics, and on film.  Will we be seeing a return of the character in an upcoming Deadpool movie, or will the powers that be think that one dose of Cable is enough for today's audience?  That is a question that speculators are left pondering.  It seems like a few have made the decision that now is the time to strike.

Sales of The New Mutants #87 were stagnant for approximately 18 months following the release of Deadpool 2.  Prior to the movie, prices were spiking into the $400 range for a Direct Edition (DE) copy.  The DE comes up for sale most frequently and this version is pictured in the article.  A newsstand version of this book does exist and does sell at a premium above the direct version.  During the peak, newsstand copies sold into the $600 range when properly identified.  We are beginning to see some signs of life after the lull and copies are starting to sell with some frequency with prices starting to tick up a bit.  A newsstand copy recently sold for $500, while a direct copy is getting back into the $400 range, for 9.8 graded copies.  Although loaded on the census at high grades, the reasoning seems to be that many collectors want this book and the market can bear the volume.

I always like to take advantage of the market when it is either in the act of correction or in those circumstances that I feel the market is missing the signs that an increase is inevitable.  Cable may be one of those instances.  Deadpool's first appearance is also going through a bit of a lull right now too and both of these characters will continue to be popular with fans, exposed in movies and other content in Marvel, so their values should be affected in kind.  Keep an eye on these comics as speculation and comic collecting intensifies over time.

Were you a fan of Cable in the movies?  Do you feel that they will continue to expand the character for the audience?  Drop your comments and join the speculation!

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