Are you afraid you'll never have your own Incredible Hulk #181? You can always opt for a copy missing the value stamp and have the potential for huge returns.
I gave you a breakdown on the value in collecting the Hulk #181 reprints in "Und Jetzt...Wolverine." When it comes to this holiest of collectible grails, there's no surpassing the original.
One of the reasons that Hulk #181 is so valuable is because of the Marvel Value Stamp. For those of you unfamiliar with this, the value stamp was a promotion in which Marvel had a string of issues that featured collectible stamps in the pages of the comics. The idea was for fans to cut out these stamps, put them in a Marvel-issued booklet, and show them off to their friends. Of course, this was an era when comics weren't given the royal collector's treatment like they are today, and this was meant to push kids to buy every issue with a different stamp in order to have a full collection.
Here we are more than 40 years later, and those value stamps are loathed by collectors. But maybe that's because they're looking at it the wrong way. Thanks to the ill-fated MVS idea, a complete Hulk #181 with the value stamp intact makes the issue even more collectible. Given the steady rise of the Hulk #181 values, the MVS - or lack thereof - gives more fans a chance to own a piece of Marvel history.
About a year ago, I finally got my hands on an Incredible Hulk #181 for $700. Granted it was incomplete and ended up being graded a modest 3.5, I was able to buy my "holy grail" because it didn't have the value stamp. Here we are a little over twelve months later, and it's averaging close to $1,100, so I'm glad I grabbed it when I did.
Compared to a complete 3.5 that has the mythical value stamp still firmly attached, my green label Hulk #181 is the consolation prize, for sure. Earlier this month, a complete 3.5 averages close to $1,700, and one copy sold for as much as $2k in 2018, which was far beyond my budget. That's the beauty in having the option to buy the incomplete copy. Sure, it's missing a square, but the story is complete, and I still have Wolverine's first appearance in my collection.
As I've been warning you for months, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of rising values when it comes to Wolverine keys, and there's none bigger than this issue. Even graded at a shoddy 1.0, a complete Hulk #181 is nearly a $1,000 comic. In fact, a 1.0 sold this month for $980. Let's say you are a Wolverine fan with that same $1k budget. If you opt for the green label, you can have up to that 3.5 for about the same price.
With the immense popularity of this issue, any grade of any color label - from a blue all the way down to a purple - is a sound investment. It's not going to plateau for years especially with the anticipation of Wolverine joining the MCU.
