It’s been an interesting month in the high-priced comics world with some eye-popping sales in February. Let’s dive deep to determine what these sales tell us about the market for the comics every collector wishes they could own.

More Wolverine on eBay

A typical month on the Chartbusters list includes numerous comics sold in Heritage, ComicConnect, and Goldin auctions. eBay sales, on the other hand, usually only represent a small fraction and they’re typically toward the bottom of the overall list. Not so in February. In addition to Wolverine Limited Series #1, a 9.6 graded copy of Giant-Size X-Men #1 and a 9.2 graded copy of Incredible Hulk #181 both sold on eBay in February.

The sale of Giant-Size X-Men #1 ranks number 20 on our overall Chartbusters list and number 3 on the Bronze Age list. The price paid for the 9.6 was $13,100. This marks a significant increase over the $10,800 paid in a January 23 Heritage auction.

Sale prices for 9.6 graded copies had dropped below $10,000 for the first time since early 2021 as recently as November, so its recent climb should be watched carefully. The bottom may have already passed in this grade.

While the $11,000 price paid for the 9.2 Incredible Hulk #181 may initially look like the continuation of a turnaround for this book, don’t get your hopes up yet. A subsequent sale of a 9.2 in a February 27 eBay auction for $9,303 is as low as any price paid since early 2021. In all likelihood, we still haven’t hit the floor yet for Incredible Hulk #181 as the downward trend continues.

Punisher Continues to Fall

A 9.8 graded copy of Amazing Spider-Man #129, the first appearance of the Punisher, sold in the February 27 Heritage auction for $27,600. While it's a high enough price to place it at number 2 on the Chartbusters list and number 1 on the Bronze Age Chartbusters, it's nowhere near high enough a price to reverse current trends.

In the year since a 9.8 sold in the March 2022 ComicConnect auction for $57,000, the overall trend for this book continues to be downward. While not down to 2020 prices yet, absent a solid lead that the Punisher will appear in the MCU, Amazing Spider-Man #129 will likely continue to decrease in value.

Matt Baker Crippen Copy Sets Record

Golden Age great Matt Baker continues to be a hot commodity in Heritage auctions. Coming in at number 1 on our Chartbuster list for February is Seven Seas Comics #4. A 9.2 graded copy from the Davis Crippen Pedigree Collection – the highest grade and one of only two - sold in the February 9 Heritage auction for $81,000. It’s a monumental sale, dwarfing the previous high for this book of a slashed $15,650 for a 6.5 graded copy set on December 15.

The copy that sold on February 9 was one of the “D” copies from the Crippen collection, marking it as one of the copies that had previously been stolen from Crippen’s home in 1991 and only discovered as part of the collection in 2006.

Turtlemania

Exploding into the number 11 spot on the Chartbusters list is Turtlemania Special #1. Haven’t heard of Turtlemania Special #1? It’s a comic produced by Robert Wilson, the owner of Metropolis Comics in New York, back in 1986. A huge fan, he managed to convince Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird to donate original material for this one-shot fanzine. There were three editions printed: the standard white edition with an estimated print run of 3,000 copies; a silver edition estimated at 100 copies; and the gold editions, each with a unique original sketch and autograph on the back, of which there were 10.

On February 22, a 9.8 graded white edition of Turtlemania #1 sold as part of a fixed price group sale on eBay – not an auction – for $18,500. OK, I know what you’re thinking – books sell for five figures all the time. But not this one. The previous high for this comic was set in August 2021 when a 9.8 sold in a Heritage auction for $1,800.

When a comic has such a low print run, it’s hard to say whether someone overpaid or not. Based on previous sales, I’d say yes normally. However, it’s quite possible that the rarity hadn’t played into the pricing as of yet. Maybe this is the new normal. While we won’t know for sure until the next sale, I for one can’t wait to see what happens if one of those ten gold editions ever comes up for auction.

Do you track the big sales of comics? Do you feel there’s a trickle-down effect in pricing? Let us know below.

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.