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Top 50 Copper Books in Overstreet
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402 posts in this topic

Thanks to everyone who's added input and ideas to the discussion... I`m finalizing the list over the course of the weekend, as my Market Report has to be in to the folks at Overstreet by Monday.

 

As always, I'm blown away by the knowledge of the folks on these boards, and will acknowledge the group's efforts in the report.

 

To pare this down to a final list of 50, I obviously have to exercise a lit bit of "editorial oversight" so apologies in advance if it doesn't match your personal choices 100%, but the list will definitely change based on your input!

 

Until next year...

 

I love the Market Reports, mostly. But the insanity of publishing next summer market reports written in December about market activity in the months prior to December... SMH...

 

+1

 

It's a challenge, for sure. I always try to approach this from "this was the market in 2016" perspective, and focus on trends and patterns rather than individual prices.

 

Other suggestions and proposed approaches are always welcome!

 

I appreciate the work you put into it. Definitely not a knock on you. More on Overstreet's consistent inability to shorten up the lead time (c'mon, it's ridiculous), fix their recurring errors, and get a meaningful online presence going.

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Here's an updated list based on input here and, of course, I took some liberties myself to promote/demote:

 

 

Albedo #2 (1st Usagi Yojimbo, very low print run)

Amazing Spider-Man #238 (1st Hobgoblin)

Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1st full Venom, McFarlane art, Anniversary issue)

Amazing Spider-Man #361 (1st Carnage)

Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #320 (1st Cheryl Blossom)

Batman #357 (1st Jason Todd in cameo, 1st Killer Croc)

Batman #404 (Year One, creation of Post-Crisis origin)

Batman #428 (Death of Jason Todd)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 (Miller art/story, Batman in alternate future)

Batman: The Killing Joke (Joker origin, cripples Batgirl)

Bone #1 (1st character appearance)

Captain America #332 (Steve Rogers quits)

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (Death of Supergirl)

Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (Death of Flash)

Comico Primer #2 (1st Grendel)

The Crow #1 (1st solo book)

Daredevil #181 (Death of Elektra)

Daredevil #227 (Born Again pt. 1, Miller returns to book)

Evil Ernie #1 (1st Evil Ernie and Lady Death)

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1 (1st appearance of team)

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #21 (1st Storm Shadow, Silent Issue)

Harbinger #1 (1st Renegades, 1st original Valiant title)

Incredible Hulk #271 (1st Rocket Raccoon)

Incredible Hulk #340 (Hulk vs. Wolverine, McFarlane art)

Iron Man #282 (1st War Machine)

Legends #3 (1st Suicide Squad)

Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (1st New Mutants)

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 (1st black costume)

Miracleman #15 (Death of Kid Miracleman)

New Mutants #87 (1st Cable)

New Mutants #98 (1st Deadpool)

New Teen Titans (Tales of the..) #44 (1st Nightwing, origin of Deathstroke)

Punisher (Limited Series) #1 (1st solo title)

Sandman #1 (1st Morpheus)

Sandman #8 (1st Death)

Silver Surfer #34 (Revival of Thanos, Starlin joins as writer)

Superman #75 (Death of Superman)

Swamp Thing #21 (Revised origin)

Swamp Thing #37 (1st John Constantine)

Tick Special Edition #1 (1st character appearance)

Thor #337 (1st Beta Ray Bill, Simonson run begins)

Transformers #1 (1st appearance of characters in comics)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1st character appearances)

Uncanny X-men #266 (1st Gambit)

Warrior (UK Magazine) #1 (1st Marvelman, 1st V for Vendetta)

Watchmen #1 (1st issue, Moore story)

Wolverine (limited series) #1 (1st solo title)

X-Factor #6 (1st Apocalypse)

 

I feel this is a bit more representative of books/stories/characters/creators that impacted the era rather than being steered in the direction of current flavor of the month characters who are out of vogue as soon as their movie tanks.

 

This accounts for 48 books, so there's two slots left.

 

Here's what I took out:

Amazing Spider-Man #252 (1st Black Costume)

Amazing Spider-Man #298 (1st McFarlane art on title)

Amazing Spider-Man #301

Caliber Presents #1 (1st appearance of The Crow)

Crisis on Infinite Earths # 1

DC Comics Presents #47 (1st Masters of the Universe in comics)

Starslayer #2 (1st Rocketeer)

Suicide Squad #1

Uncanny X-men #221 (1st Mr. Sinister)

X-Factor #24 (1st Archangel)

 

Here's what could stake a claim to the last two spots:

Akira/Macross

Amazing Spider-Man #294 -or- Web of Spider-Man #31 (Death of Kraven vs. pt 1 of Kraven’s Last Hunt)

Destroyer Duck #1 (1st Groo)

Gobbledygook #1 (1st Fugitoid, TMNT ad, Mirage Studio’s 1st publication)

Omega Men #3 (1st Lobo)

Spawn #1 (1st Spawn, helped launch creator-owned Image)

Teen Titans #39 (Grayson quits as Robin, Kid Flash quits team)

 

And I'd still like to voice my own personal crusade to replace Batman #428 with Batman #427, which was the issue with the cliffhanger ending and the phone number at the end, allowing the readers to choose Jason Todd's fate. That's what made this arc unique more than Jason's death (spoiler alert).

 

Thoughts?

 

Omega Men 3 and Spawn 1 seem like the clear leaders here. Maybe not as expensive as some others, but certainly most impactful.

Really can`t beat them, especially with both of them rumored to be in solo Hollywood blockbuster movies in the next 5 years.

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Personally, I don't consider any Image product to be Copper Age...... to me, those are the obvious beginnings of the Age that follows Copper, whether it is called Modern or whatever.

 

Collector interest is following first appearances and #1's. The books I recommend removing from the list do have impactful stories, but collector value is suffering due to over saturation in the marketplace. Independants can and do have significantly higher collector value due to scarcity compared to big two.

 

Completely agree with both of these comments. I tend to discount 'great stories' in favor of 1st appearance books of key and semi-key characters. That's just where my collecting focus has been for the past 20 years.

 

And Spawn #1 was the beginning of the Chromium Age in my book...

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Personally, I don't consider any Image product to be Copper Age...... to me, those are the obvious beginnings of the Age that follows Copper, whether it is called Modern or whatever.

 

Collector interest is following first appearances and #1's. The books I recommend removing from the list do have impactful stories, but collector value is suffering due to over saturation in the marketplace. Independants can and do have significantly higher collector value due to scarcity compared to big two.

 

Completely agree with both of these comments. I tend to discount 'great stories' in favor of 1st appearance books of key and semi-key characters. That's just where my collecting focus has been for the past 20 years.

 

And Spawn #1 was the beginning of the Chromium Age in my book...

 

Having been one of the people who thought they were going to retire on those 1990s premium books (yes, I'll admit it), I think the age after the modern age should be called the Fool's Gold Age.

 

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Omega Men 3 and Spawn 1 seem like the clear leaders here. Maybe not as expensive as some others, but certainly most impactful.

Really can`t beat them, especially with both of them rumored to be in solo Hollywood blockbuster movies in the next 5 years.

 

Didn't Spawn already have his own movie about 20 years ago? :gossip:

 

Didn't seem to have much impact on the prices of the Spawn comic books at the time. (shrug)

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Omega Men 3 and Spawn 1 seem like the clear leaders here. Maybe not as expensive as some others, but certainly most impactful.

Really can`t beat them, especially with both of them rumored to be in solo Hollywood blockbuster movies in the next 5 years.

 

Didn't Spawn already have his own movie about 20 years ago? :gossip:

 

Didn't seem to have much impact on the prices of the Spawn comic books at the time. (shrug)

Spawn's problem is the quantity of #1 available.

 

They printed a million, and if they were $10 books, that would be $10,000,000 total.

There are very few comic books which are worth $10,000,000 total.

 

Amazing Spider-man #300 might have 100,000 copies remaining in all possible conditions, and they might average $50 to $80 each. That would only be $5,000,000 to $8,000,000.

 

Spawn #1 is a "cheap book" but the market size for Spawn #1 may already exceed books like ASM #300.

 

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Sounds like someone needs to start buying up a bunch of spawn 1s for a public burning. That'll get things going

:)

or just this.

Todd McFarlane Teases ‘Badarse’ & ‘Scary’ Spawn Reboot!

Spawn r-rated reboot in the works.

 

Spawn #1 looks like a good bet no matter how many they printed to go up in value. I can see the rule of 25 kicking big into this.

In the 1990s Spawn was much bigger than Deadpool.

HBO TV show, action figures, movie and video games. Spawn is a sleeping giant ready to make a comeback.

 

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Hello all -

It's that time of year, as I rush to put together my annual "crowd-sourced" list of the Top 50 Copper Age keys for the annual Overstreet Price Guide. What are the key books of this era? What books need to be added, and which ones get the boot? 

We're working from a (rough) 1982 to 1992 timeline here. Last year's list (which appears on p. 112 of the Guide) included the following books:

  • Albedo #2
  • Amazing Spider-Man #238, #252, #298, #300, #301, #316
  • Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica #320
  • Batman #357, #404, #428
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1
  • Batman: The Killing Joke
  • Bone #1
  • Caliber Presents #1
  • Comico Primer #2
  • Crisis on Infinite Earths #1
  • The Crow #1
  • Daredevil #181
  • DC Comics Presents #47
  • Evil Ernie #1
  • G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1
  • Harbinger #1
  • Incredible Hulk #271, #340
  • Legends #3
  • Marvel Graphic Novel #4
  • Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8
  • Miracleman #15
  • New Mutants #87, #98
  • Sandman #1, #8
  • Spectacular Spider-Man #64
  • Suicide Squad #1
  • Superman #75
  • Swamp Thing #21, #37
  • Tales of the New Teen Titans #44
  • Thor #337
  • Transformers #1
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
  • Uncanny X-Men #221, #248, #266
  • Warrior (UK Magazine) #1
  • Watchmen #1
  • Wolverine (limited series) #1
  • X-Factor #6, #24

What are your thoughts and suggestions?

As always, while I'll use some "editorial oversight" I will do my best to reflect the consensus of the discussion...

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ASM 301 and 316 need to go, 301 is just tough to find in 9.8 and 316 is just Venom's first cover appearance.  

Valiant's 1st book was a Nintendo Sneak Peek #nn so that could be added?  

Need to add DC Comics Presents 26 and Silver Surfer 44 (1st Gauntlet)  Spider-Man 1 Gold UPC, Spider-Man 1 Platinum

Edited by Kevin76
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-Agree with dumping ASM's 301 and 316, as well as Legends 3 (probably Suicide Squad 1, too), disagree with adding Bats 423. Not that I don't love 423, but it's all cover, little substance (especially amongst other Bat-books like DKR, KJ and Year One). If Supes 75 is on there, you can also make a case for the inclusion of Bats 497. To me, those two kind of mark the ultimate endpoint of one of the underlying copper themes (the super-hero as fallible, human, and no longer indestructible).

-I'm going to continue to lobby for GI Joe #21. I thought it was a really ground-breaking book at the time and it's great on so many levels: Cover, story, 1st appearance. It really pushed this series to a new level.

-DCP 26 could be in there if you're willing to stretch the cutoff as it's one of the early harbingers of the Copper transition. Dump DCP 47.

-New Teen Titans 2 (and not just because of movie hype as Deathstroke's longevity is pretty rock-solid at this point).

-Surfer 34 should get the nod before 44. Revival of Thanos and beginning of Starlin's run :luhv:

-I think last time I might've also pushed for Crisis 7 and/or 8 to usurp Crisis 1.

-Punisher Limited #1 is not on there!?!?! Wow. WOW. to me one of the quintessential copper books and the real launching point for one of the era's biggest characters.

-I swear there's better UXM's than 221 and 248, but I'm hard-pressed to come up with them. Probably one of the Mutant Massacre books, but I know the luster has worn off the whole Wolverine/Sabertooth feud. 

 

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1 hour ago, Martin Sinescu said:

-Agree with dumping ASM's 301 and 316, as well as Legends 3 (probably Suicide Squad 1, too), disagree with adding Bats 423. Not that I don't love 423, but it's all cover, little substance (especially amongst other Bat-books like DKR, KJ and Year One). If Supes 75 is on there, you can also make a case for the inclusion of Bats 497. To me, those two kind of mark the ultimate endpoint of one of the underlying copper themes (the super-hero as fallible, human, and no longer indestructible).

-I'm going to continue to lobby for GI Joe #21. I thought it was a really ground-breaking book at the time and it's great on so many levels: Cover, story, 1st appearance. It really pushed this series to a new level.

-DCP 26 could be in there if you're willing to stretch the cutoff as it's one of the early harbingers of the Copper transition. Dump DCP 47.

-New Teen Titans 2 (and not just because of movie hype as Deathstroke's longevity is pretty rock-solid at this point).

-Surfer 34 should get the nod before 44. Revival of Thanos and beginning of Starlin's run :luhv:

-I think last time I might've also pushed for Crisis 7 and/or 8 to usurp Crisis 1.

-Punisher Limited #1 is not on there!?!?! Wow. WOW. to me one of the quintessential copper books and the real launching point for one of the era's biggest characters.

-I swear there's better UXM's than 221 and 248, but I'm hard-pressed to come up with them. Probably one of the Mutant Massacre books, but I know the luster has worn off the whole Wolverine/Sabertooth feud. 

 

Can be both the 34 and 44, NTT 2 came out in 1980, it says 1982 to 1992

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2 hours ago, Martin Sinescu said:

-Agree with dumping ASM's 301 and 316, as well as Legends 3 (probably Suicide Squad 1, too), disagree with adding Bats 423. Not that I don't love 423, but it's all cover, little substance (especially amongst other Bat-books like DKR, KJ and Year One). If Supes 75 is on there, you can also make a case for the inclusion of Bats 497. To me, those two kind of mark the ultimate endpoint of one of the underlying copper themes (the super-hero as fallible, human, and no longer indestructible).

-I'm going to continue to lobby for GI Joe #21. I thought it was a really ground-breaking book at the time and it's great on so many levels: Cover, story, 1st appearance. It really pushed this series to a new level.

-DCP 26 could be in there if you're willing to stretch the cutoff as it's one of the early harbingers of the Copper transition. Dump DCP 47.

-New Teen Titans 2 (and not just because of movie hype as Deathstroke's longevity is pretty rock-solid at this point).

-Surfer 34 should get the nod before 44. Revival of Thanos and beginning of Starlin's run :luhv:

-I think last time I might've also pushed for Crisis 7 and/or 8 to usurp Crisis 1.

-Punisher Limited #1 is not on there!?!?! Wow. WOW. to me one of the quintessential copper books and the real launching point for one of the era's biggest characters.

-I swear there's better UXM's than 221 and 248, but I'm hard-pressed to come up with them. Probably one of the Mutant Massacre books, but I know the luster has worn off the whole Wolverine/Sabertooth feud. 

 

Hmm agree Joe 21 needs to be added. They even did a month 20 years later of books because of it. 

Keep DCP 47 until we see what happens with the movie. Add DCP 26 easily.

No need to add Crisis not enough significance I think anymore.

Nostalgia makes me add Supes 75 and Bats 497 as well.

Neither SS 34 or SS 44 yet. Again lets see what happens next couple of years. 

 

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