Articles
Scoop 2007 Article
Doug Schmell, President/CEO of Pedigree Comics, Inc. (www.PedigreeComics.com) reports that CGC certified Silver and Bronze Age Marvels are selling incredibly well right now, with a number of record prices realized in July. The frontrunner is the Fantastic Four and sales of CGC graded FF back issues, while always strong, went through the roof the past 2 months, buoyed by the release, in late June, of the second Fantastic four motion picture, "Rise of the Silver Surfer". According to Mr. Schmell, a few brand new passionate Fantastic Four collectors have entered the market recently and are looking for the highest or second highest CGC graded Fantastic Fours they can find. The demand is seriously outweighing the supply with ultra high grade FF's so a lot of the prices paid have been at record levels.Pedigree Starts off 2007 with a Boom!!
Pedigree Comics, Inc. has just completed one of its greatest months of sales ever, following in the footsteps of its record-breaking sales from the last quarter of 2006. Owner and president Doug Schmell reports the Marvels back issue market, specifically for CGC graded Silver and Bronze Age books, is stronger than ever. There is an influx of many new buyers, baby-boomers who are getting back into the hobby and using their disposable income for the books they bought and loved as kids - 1960's and 1970's Marvel comics. Here is a small sample of the record and noteworthy sales from the last two months, mostly all from Marvel's Silver Age, and mostly all from ultra high grades:2006 Market Report
2006 was another very busy year for us selling (and buying) CGC graded comic books through our website (www.PedigreeComics.com). We are an internet-based, buy and bid, non time-based auction site and we only deal in certified books and magazines (90% of which are ultra high grade Bronze and silver Age Marvels). It was our second full year of operation (we launched our site in June, 2004) and we somehow have already topped our sales total of 2005 as of this writing (over 1.2 million dollars in sales).Worth Magazine Article: Child's Play
Values for rare, vintage comic books are rising faster than a speeding bullet. But is this market simply super-heated?2005 Year-End Market Report
Pedigree Comics deals exclusively in CGC graded comics and magazines and we specialize in ultra high grade (9.4 and higher) Silver, Bronze and Copper Age Marvels. Through our website (www.PedigreeComics.com) we sell more CGC certified Marvel comics than any other dealer and many of these books come from nationally recognized pedigree collections. Since this is the area of the market we predominantly deal with, we will not comment on other segments.The CGC Registry
Formed in 2002, the Comics Guaranty, LLC Registry has been an important and expanding part of the CGC’s trifecta of services that have been introduced since the company first started third-party grading, certification and encapsulation in February, 2000 (the other two being the CGC census or population report and the CGC boards or forum). The Registry allows Certified Collectibles Group (CGC’s parent company) members to list or register their certified comic books (and magazines) onto the Registry, where each certified item receives a value (in points) based on its grade. The Registry is divided into sets (Fantastic Four issues 1-300; X-Men issues 1-201, etc.) and subsets (X-Men issues 94-143; Amazing Spider-Man issues 1-25) and the registrants set listings are ranked according to the total number of points his or her set accumulates by adding up the value of each specific issue within that set. At first glance this would seem like a competition or a means by which a collector can "show off" his or her comic books, but the Registry is far more significant and consequential than its apparent use.March 2005 Market Report
Hello from sunny South Florida. The comic book back issue market is really starting to heat up as the convention season is in full bloom and we approach the Summer, the statistical peak of the buying season. First came WonderCon on the weekend of February 18-20, then MegaCon the final weekend in February and then it was Wizard World Long Beach in mid-March. I was able to make it to the final two shows and definitely continued to notice a trend that has redefined our hobby for a couple of years already. Most of the big time deals (trades, purchases and sales) are usually between dealers. Very infrequently will you find a large item or very valuable comic sold by a dealer to a collector or convention-goer. In fact, most of the big ticket books will be sold from one dealer to another way before the doors are open to the general public. And, most dealers do not even bring their expensive stock to shows as the internet (websites and ebay) has replaced the traditional forum of buying (and selling) comic books at stores, through catalogues and at conventions. Most dealers are keenly aware of this fact and will take advantage of the dearth of big dollar spenders at the shows by going to their dealer brethren as soon as possible to find stuff for their own customers and/or websites. That was definitely the case at Wizard World, where I was able to buy a great selection of Silver Age DC’s for my website from four different dealers plus a 140 book run of raw Bronze Age Marvels that I immediately submitted to the CGC at the show. In the old days, those books would have been sold to collectors at the dealer’s marked up convention prices (takes the set-up fees and traveling costs into the equation) and not at a discounted amount to a competitor!February 2005 Market Report
February picked up right where January left off and was a very busy month. We sold a bunch of Silver Age Marvels from the usual suspects (Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Strange Tales, Journey Into Mystery, X-Men, Sgt. Fury, etc.) as well as the Bronze titles we have had a lot of success moving (Avengers, FF, ASM, Thor, Captain America, Doctor Strange, X-Men, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk) and some lesser known, esoteric ones (Chamber of Chills, Journey Into Mystery (vol. 2), Marvel Triple Action, Fear, War is Hell, Warlock, Uncanny Tales). The most surprising title we sold, however, which encompasses both ages, is Captain Marvel, the focus of this month’s report.January 2005 Market Report
January, 2005 brought in the new year with an unprecedented level of activity here in South Florida, making it our most productive month so far since we started our internet comic book company last June. Sales were at an all-time high (over $100,000 in gross sales through our website) and the usually slower pre-holiday period of late November through the end of December seemed like a distant memory when the calendar changed into February. Highlights of our sales this past month included record prices for a beautiful Strange Tales 110 in 9.4 ($10,500) and a Strange Tales 114 in 9.6 ($6,500), very high multiples obtained for an FF 27 in 9.6 ($5,000) and an FF 29 in Near Mint ($2,700), a killer white paged Avengers #12 in 9.6 fetching $2,100, a Tales of Suspense #48 in 9.6 commanding $4,500 and a Marvel Tales #1 from the Curator Collection (a NM+ with white pages) bringing in $5,000. We also sold an incredible group of 13 Bronze Age Amazing Spidey’s, all in 9.6, to the same high grade collector for record prices and a nice group of 16 Silver and Bronze X-Men across the board (including a #1 9.0 for $11,750) to one X-Men completist. But perhaps the most amazing part of the month was the listing and immediate sale of the remaining ultra high grade (9.4 and over) copies of Sgt. Furys from the Mass. Collection, the first part of which was reported about in our November market sales and commentary.December 2004 Market Report
Happy new year to all and greetings from South Florida. December was an incredibly busy month for us and it was highlighted by the sale of the second Pacific Coast copy of X-Men #1 in CGC certified 9.6 with off-white to white pages for $100,000 (combination cash and trade). As was reported in our October market repot, we had purchased the other Pacific Coast X-Men 1 9.6 (white pages) for $100,500, freeing up the second copy which was listed in both our vault and new arrivals section. The book was sold to a private collector who is an X-Men fanatic and who has a genuine passion for the hobby. After numerous negotiations and proposals, a figure of $100,000 was arrived at which included mostly cash but a few choice Silver Age Marvels as well. Incredibly, this “second” Pacific Coast copy of X-Men no. 1 looked almost exactly the same as the white paged one, and it was obvious that it was neatly stacked underneath the white copy within one of the 6 foot stacks the original owner placed each one of his prized possessions. For those of you not familiar with the history, the “first” X-Men #1 (white pages) had been sold by the original owner on ebay (along with some other choice doubles) before the entire collection was bought by Robert Roter of Pacific Comic Exchange, Inc. (in mid-late 1999), who named the collection the “Pacific Coast Collection”. The initial no.1, therefore, was not certified as part of the PC Collection until years later, when many of the original owner’s ebay doubles were incorporated by CGC into the named pedigree. Amazingly, that “original” X-Men 1 was resubmitted to the CGC and is now a 9.8!!November 2004 Market Report
WAH-HOO! and greetings from Pedigree Comics. This market report reflects most of the activity we have had in November, but specifically, it addresses the incredible and unprecedented sales we had from our Sgt. Fury run which was listed in our “new arrivals” section on the night of November 15th. I first got the idea of presenting the almost 65 issue run of this popular Marvel war title back in August, when I sold the 9.4 CGC graded Curator copy of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos No.1 for a whopping $17,500.00. It made me realize that even the most obscure, underappreciated, undervalued and overlooked titles from the Marvel Age are in demand, especially keys in high grade. I then put together the fantastic run that was listed on the Pedigree Comics website through purchases, trades, consignments and picking issues out of my own collection. When the dust had settled and the smoke had cleared, I had every Sgt. Fury from #1 through #49 in CGC high grade, plus 51-61 and some scattered issues in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Most of the issues were pedigree copies, with the Massachusetts and Boston Collections the most represented, plus a few each from the Winnipeg, Western Penn. and Golden State pedigrees.
October 2004 Market Report
Hope all is well for everyone out there. We have had quite an “Astonishing” month of October and early part of November here at Pedigree Comics. We have been busy as usual selling ultra high grade Marvel Silver and Bronze comics online and purchasing numerous items for our inventory. However, the “Astonishing” part I’m specifically referring to is from Tales To Astonish, the focus of this issue’s report. We were able to come to terms on a part consignment/part purchase of the entire run of the popular Ant-Man/Giant-Man title with Mark Arrand of Colmore Comics & Collectibles. As most of you know, Mark is a very knowledgeable and serious collector of Marvel Comics and has one of the best, if not the best, Silver Age collections that side of the Atlantic. When Mark and I discussed the possibilities of a full-blown trade/purchase/consignment of the run, which included 60 Pacific Coast copies, I could not pass it up. After numerous negotiations and variations on a deal, Pedigree Comics wound up purchasing 53 comics out of the run, 49 of which are Pacific Coasts. The remaining issues were posted on my site and were bid upon as soon as I listed them. Many had sold almost immediately, especially the remaining PC books that I did not purchase.September 2004 Market Report
Greetings from sunny Southeast Florida. We have survived 2 major hurricanes and prolonged power outages since we made the move from New York and despite all of this we have had an incredible month in September selling high grade, CGC certified books through our website. Both our main areas of specialization, Silver and Bronze Age Marvels, have shown continued strong sales and interest in the last month. Even before having the opportunity to individually list them, we sold an entire run of Strange Tales from #136 through 168, all from the Massachusetts Collection, to one individual collector. 75% of the run was ultra high grade (9.4 or better) and over 90% had white pages!! In addition, we sold perhaps the finest run of original Incredible Hulks to a private collector, with the #1 issue (Northland 9.2) going for a straight trade for books valued at $75,000. The individual issues sold from the rest of the 6 issue run are listed below. Finally, at the end of the month, we uploaded the remaining copies of the Mass. Werewolf By Nights onto our site in the new arrivals section (most of the issues between 9 and 39). The response to these relatively cheap Bronze books was amazing, as most sold within the first 24 hours of their listing and at strong multiples as the data below clearly show.August 2004 Market Report
Pedigree Comics buys and sells comic books from different genres and publishers, but we specialize in high grade Marvel Silver and Bronze books. We also specialize in books from a known provenance or pedigree, the subject of this month’s report and the reason for our company name. Many buyers like to have a book from an original owner collection, and will pay a multiple to obtain a comic from a known pedigree run even though a non-pedigree is available in the same condition and at a lower price. Many collectors will try to amass as many pedigrees as they can of a certain title or run. Some collectors will try to buy as many keys and origin issues from a known provenance. Whatever the reason, pedigrees have made a significant impact in our hobby and the entire comic book market. Sales of pedigree Marvels have been exceptionally strong as of late (non-pedigrees as well) as you can see from the following recent transactions we have made through our website. Of significance is the sale of our Amazing Fantasy 15 9.4 White Mountain copy, which established a record for a Silver Age comic book.