Speculators are inflating bubbles once again as a result of the most recent episodes of The Falcon & the Winter Soldier. We'll talk about one of those bubbles as it relates to the Power Broker below.

The serial format of Marvel's Disney+ shows continues to wreak havoc on the comic book speculation market. We all witnessed the market's reaction to the weekly speculation that Mephisto, Grim Reaper, Wonder Man, and white Vision might appear in WandaVision. They inflated a huge bubble for those stocks. When some of those characters didn't appear, that bubble might have popped. But what about now?

Machine Man #7 9.8 Sells for $1,288.

Many have speculated on Curtiss Jackson, aka the Power Broker, making an appearance in the MCU ever since the first episode of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, driving up the price of Jackson's first appearance in Machine Man #7. That Machine Man #7 bubble just got a lot bigger three days ago (FYI, I wrote this article on April 10th). On April 7th, someone purchased a CGC 9.8 copy of Machine Man #7 for a whopping $1,288.88 on eBay. Less than five years ago, another 9.8 sold for $69. If you bought this book back then, that's almost a 2000% return on your investment over five years.

The problem is that most people are buying this book for the first time just as speculators have inflated a pretty big Machine Man #7 bubble. To me, this is a good example of herd investing. In other words, investors have noticed a sharp rally in an asset, and a fear of missing out clouds all other analyses of the asset's current price. This kind of investing, i.e., following the crowd instead of conducting one's own analysis, often leads to large, unfounded market rallies that lack any real justification.

It's Unlikely Curtiss Jackson is the Power Broker.

In this case, $1,288 is a lot of money for: (1) a character that hasn't actually appeared (the Power Broker may not be Curtiss Jackson); and (2) a villain (it's generally better to invest in heroes than villains). About that first point, the show has been building towards a pretty big reveal regarding the Power Broker's actual identity for several episodes now. If it's just Curtiss Jackson, most viewers will be disappointed since most people don't even know who he is. It'll be more satisfying if the show reveals the Power Broker to be Thunderbolt Ross, Sharon Carter, or some other character that has already appeared in the MCU.

The FMV of Captain America #117 is $1,250.

About the second point, for the same amount of money, you could purchase a CGC 9.0 copy of Captain America #117, which contains the first appearance of Falcon. Specifically, according to GoCollect, the FMV of Captain America #117 is $1,250. Falcon will likely become the next Captain America at the end of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and serve in that role through Phases Four and Five.

What do you think? Do you think Machine Man #7 at current prices is a good investment? Please let us know in the comments section below!

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