GoCollect Blog: D23 Market Reaction - Secret Invasion (d23-market-reaction-secret-invasion )

It’s been a week since Marvel held the stage at D23 to reveal some more about its upcoming slate of films and TV shows. Time for our final market reaction, this time looking at Secret Invasion keys.

Secret Invasion Coolness

With some exceptions – which I’ll get into below – comic collectors don’t appear to be reacting to Secret Invasion with the same fervor as they have other MCU properties. Perhaps it’s the lack of superheroes seen so far in any promotion. Or maybe it’s that fans aren’t all that thrilled with the Secret Invasion storyline. Regardless, there is definitely a chill in the air when it comes to Secret Invasion, both in terms of volume and price.

First Issue of Mega-Crossover

Marvel was deep into their 2000s mega-crossovers when Secret Invasion #1 came out in May 2008, and fans were already growing somewhat weary of the concept of a storyline crossing over into so many titles. This isn’t a particularly rare book; you can find raw copies pretty cheap all over the place. There are 929 graded copies in the CGC census, and nearly 60% are graded 9.8.

Eight graded copies of Secret Invasion #1 have sold since September 10. Five of the six 9.8s that have sold had an average price of $142. The sixth was sold as part of a set of all eight issues of the mini-series, each one graded 9.8, for a combined price of $1,200.

Even if you were to assume that each of the other seven issues in the series was valued at $100 each for a 9.8 – which seems like a stretch to me – that means someone spent $500 for this book, or an average value of $150 for each of the eight books. That’s still paying too much when the average price for Secret Invasion #1 has been at $142 over the course of the past week.

MCU FOMO is still very real, and some sellers are taking advantage. Don’t be a buyer who falls for this. Do your research and don’t overpay.

First Appearance of the Skrulls

The Skrulls made their first comic book appearance in Fantastic Four #2, cover dated January 1962. Two copies have sold in the 5.5 grade since September 10, both in a Heritage auction. The first sold for $3,600 on September 12, the second for $4,080 on September 13. Both are down considerably from the peak price in this grade of $5,040, paid in another Heritage auction on March 22.

The third sale was a 0.5 Restored copy going for $600 on September 13. The copy was missing page 12, page 5 had been reattached with glue, and the staples were replaced. As a comp, look no further than a coverless 0.5 graded copy selling for $950 in a ComicConnect auction on April 20.

Skrull mania hasn’t been elevated enough to stop Fantastic Four #2 from falling in price.

No Love for Skrull Royalty

One of the characters that collectors have been speculating on for a while now is Queen Veranke of the Skrulls, with many pointing to Emilia Clarke as the likely actress playing the character. Queen Veranke made her first appearance in New Avengers #40.

Back on April 8, this book reached an apex of $440 for a 9.8 graded copy. Since then, it has been all downhill. Not even the release of the first Secret Invasion trailer has helped. A 9.8 sold for $280 on September 10, the day the trailer was released. That’s down 36%, and roughly reflects the state of many Secret Invasion and Skrull keys.

In short, the market reaction for Secret Invasion has been no reaction to this point. Individual issues are continuing on the same downward trajectory without even a slight uptick – other than extreme outliers – to show this MCU property making a real difference in the market. This is definitely a trend worth following, as it would be fairly unique among MCU properties. I won’t go so far as to say the MCU spec bubble is bursting. Still, we are seeing a maturing of the market and potentially more discerning collectors.