A complaint I regularly hear from readers and other collectors is how they’ve always wanted a particular book, their Holy Grail book, but it’s out of reach. This may be because they didn’t buy it at the right time and it’s since gone ‘out of control’ price wise, or it may simply have always been too expensive. For a lot of people this grail book is Hulk #181.
If this book is seemingly out of reach for you, what can you do?
First, relax and take a breath. There’s never any need to panic. The comic collecting hobby is supposed to be fun. There are actually ways to acquire a grail book, or barring that equivalents, that can limit the amount of debt you need to take on (always a good thing), yet still keep your participation in the hobby enjoyable.
To continue our example, let’s say that what you really want is not just a coverless incomplete copy, but rather a high grade copy of Incredible Hulk #181 (November 1974) - First appearance of Wolverine that you can display proudly.
For example, let’s say you’re the biggest Wolverine fan on the planet, because…well, who needs an excuse to be a Wolverine fan!
You enter “Hulk 181” on an eBay search and what do you see?
The screen returns items listed and priced as follows:
‘The Incredible Hulk #181 (Marvel) VG+! - No MVS - has the look of a CGC 7.5/8.0!’ [Price = $1,300.00 or Best Offer], and,
‘The Incredible Hulk #181 CGC 3.5 (Nov 1974, Marvel) 1st Wolverine Full’ [Price = Auction starting at = $1, 399.00; Buy It Now = $1, 899.00].
And those are the lower grade copies. Then you spot a high grade copy:
'Incredible Hulk #181 CGC 9.6 1st full app WOLVERINE vs HULK Battle cover Marvel'
Only to see the price set at a cool $15, 596.10. Which, of course, makes your heart sink.
Okay, so after attempting to contact the seller and learning they won’t lower the price, knowing you don’t have $16, 000.00 dollars lying around, but able to scrounge up, say, $1000.00: what do you do?
Well, you love Wolverine right? And this character’s popularity is not exactly fading away year by year (want proof? The latest 'X-Men' movie is bombing. The cast is largely the same as in previous few films with the exception of a certain lanky Australian who plays everybody’s favorite Canadian - yup, no Wolverine and no box office mojo). The good news is that by all accounts the MCU will eventually bring Wolvie back (just hopefully not as Keanu Reeves or Danny DeVito!)
Hulk #181 may be the Wolverine’s first appearance, but have you seen the prices on Wolverines’ other books. They are currently affordable and on the rise: Giant Size X-Men #1 (December 1974) - Second appearance of Wolverine; First Wolverine in X-Men team in 3.5 will cost you much less than the $1,600 that Hulk #181 goes for in that same grade. Yes, at $625.00, it’s currently much less, and will leave you with $375.00 to spend. You could take the $375.00 and then purchase Wolverine #1 (August 1982) - First solo comic book series; First cameo of Yukio; First appearance of Shingen Harada. The Claremont/Miller mini-series is a great Wolverine story. Of that $375.00, you can spend $260.00 on a Wolverine #1 in 9.8 grade which is its current FMV. That will leave you with $115.00 in change. Or take the $375.00 left over from GSX #1 and pick up both of the following for a total of $340.00 according to their current FMV’s.
Marvel Presents #1 (September 1988) - Wolverine on Cover Wolverine’s appearance in Marvel Presents #1 from 1988 in 9.8 grade will cost you around $160.00. Wolverine #1 (October 1988) – First Wolverine on-going comic series; First appearance Cult of the Black Blade; First appearance of Muramasa; First Wolverine as Patch The first issue in his stand alone series, in 9.8 sells for $180.00. If you can pick up the above two books for current FMV you’ll have $35.00 left.
Picking up the above combination: Giant Size X-Men #1 in 3.5 and Wolverine limited series #1 in 9.8, or Giant Size X-Men #1 in 3.5 and Marvel Presents #1 with Wolverine #1 in high grade of 9.8, will leave you in a great position for the upcoming Wolverine fever.
Next step: Wait for the MCU to reboot Wolverine.
Once that happens, and I think it will happen before they launch another ‘X-Men’ film so possibly Phase 4 or 5, the above books will all spike.
You can bet that the rising tide of Hulk #181 is pushing that book away from other collectors too. As more and more collectors compete for the remaining Wolverine keys, all wanting the same issues, you can sell the books you’ve bought for a handy profit…use that, along with other savings, to eventually buy your own copy of Hulk #181.
Or, alternately, you might want to seek out Incredible Hulk #180 (Oct. 1974) - the true first appearance of Wolverine, which you can currently find in 9.0 for $1, 050.00. This is a great book to buy now, as it has the first appearance of Wolverine (in cameo). But be careful, since Wolverine is not on the cover of Hulk #180, it may never be worth as much as #181 and is therefore (rightly or wrongly) deemed the lesser Wolverine key by most collectors.
