Now that we seem to be done with the craziness of skyrocketing prices over the past year or two, here's a quick check on how the big Marvel Blue Chip keys are doing at the mid year point of 2022. I'm just going to focus on "the" six original Silver Age grails:
In addition, I'm only going to look at grades that had recent sales in June or July of 2022 as well as sales previously in 2022 or late 2021. Since these books don't sell very often, I want to get data closest to the current timeframe as well as data from the madness of "COVID spending" (late 2021 and early 2022). In grades that have more frequent sales, we'll be using the 90 day average and comparing it to the 12 month average. I think these are the best ways to get a fair comparison. As always, I get my data from GPAnalysis....the best source, by far, in my humble opinion. Here we go.....
Fantastic Four #1 (1st appearance of the Fantastic Four)
CGC 1.8 $14,400 (June), compared to $18,500 (May) - DOWN 3%
CGC 2.5 $21,005 (July), compared to $18,000 (April) - UP 17%
CGC 3.0 $17,400 (June), compared to $26,100 (April) - DOWN 33%
CGC 4.0 $23,511 (June), compared to $31,069 (March) - DOWN 24%
CGC 5.0 $57,600 (June), compared to $37,200 (May) - UP 55%***
CGC 5.5 $42,000 (July), compared to $48,000 (May) - DOWN 13%
CGC 6.5 $78,838 (June), compared to $88,000 (March) - DOWN 10%
CGC 7.5 $84,000 (June), compared to $168,000 (April) - DOWN 50%
*** This is a very strange 5.0 sale as the 5.5 sold three weeks later for much less.
Verdict - DOWN in almost all grades. The 5.0 sale being up by 55% needs to be taken with a grain of salt. First of all this was a WHITE PAGE copy, compared to the previous sale being CREAM TO OFF WHITE. Regardless, there's just something fishy with a crazy sale like that. Remember the saying...."Data doesn't lie...but it doesn't always tell the truth."
Incredible Hulk #1 (1st appearance of the Hulk)
CGC 1.0 $9,234 (July), compared to $10,000 (Dec) - DOWN <1%
CGC 2.5 $18,300 (July), compared to $19,999 (Jan) - DOWN 8%
CGC 3.0 $24,722 (July), compared to $26,450 (June) - DOWN 7%
CGC 7.0 $77,000 (June), compared to $74,001 (Nov) - UP 4%
CGC 7.5 $108,100 (June), compared to $106,200 (Mar) - UP 2%
Verdict - DOWN, but not by much. This is the rarest of the original six, with the lowest number of copies on the CGC census. All ups and downs are single digits (in terms of percentages), and this could be the strongest of the six books.
X-Men #1 (1st appearance of the X-Men)
CGC 2.0 $8,611 (July), compared to $9,301 (June) - DOWN 7%
CGC 2.5 $8,600 (Jul avg), compared to $10,787 (2021 avg) - DOWN 21%
CGC 3.0 $11,400 (June), compared to $12,550 (May) - DOWN 9%
CGC 3.5 $14,159 (90 day), compared to $14,083 (12 mo. avg) - UP <1%
CGC 4.0 $15,338 (90 day), compared to $15,506 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 1%
CGC 4.5 $15,718 (90 day), compared to $17,270 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 9%
CGC 5.0 $22,800 (90 day), compared to $24,186 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 6%
CGC 6.0 $28,800 (90 day), compared to $31,657 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 9%
Verdict - DOWN in almost all grades. It's been almost two years since Disney announced they bought the rights to X-Men and all mutant properties from Fox. Since that day, there have been non-stop rumors of X-Men characters showing up in the MCU. With the exception of the brief appearance of Professor X (but not the real Professor X) in an extremely sub-par Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness movie, fans have essentially been given zero. So, it seems as though the honeymoon is over. That being said, once we do see the X-Men in the MCU, expect this blue chip to hit the stratosphere!
Journey Into Mystery #83 (1st appearance of Thor)
CGC 2.0 $6,322 (June), compared to $9,052 (Mar) - DOWN 30%
CGC 2.5 $7,300 (June), compared to $8,850 (Jan) - DOWN 18%
CGC 3.0 $13,225 (June), compared to $13,000 (Oct) - UP 2%
CGC 4.0 $11,700 (July), compared to $16,800 (Apr) - DOWN 30%
CGC 5.0 $19,200 (July), compared to $20,400 (May) - DOWN 6%
CGC 6.0 $24,800 (July), compared to $28,800 (Jan) - DOWN 14%
CGC 7.0 $62,500 (June), compared to $40,800 (Apr) - UP 53%
CGC 8.0 $66,000 (June), compared to $69,000 (Nov) - DOWN 4%
Verdict - DOWN in almost all grades. JIM#83 has been one of the strongest grails over the past couple years, with massive gains. It's not surprising to see it cool off, but some of the losses (30%) is a little surprising. The 7.0 increasing by over 50% seems a little fishy. It sold on Comic Connect and there's no explanation for it going that high...especially when a superior 8.0 (with WHITE PAGES!!!) sold the same month for only 6% more. Hmmmmm.....
Tales of Suspense #39 (1st appearance of Iron Man)
CGC 3.5 $10,200 (June), compared to $13,000 (May) - DOWN 22%
CGC 4.0 $13,167 (90 day), compared to $14,417 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 9%
CGC 4.5 $15,874 (90 day), compared to $15,532 (12 mo. avg) - UP 2%
CGC 5.0 $15,001 (June), compared to $20,100 (Mar) - DOWN 25%
CGC 5.5 $16,600 (July), compared to $22,800 (Apr) - DOWN 27%
CGC 6.5 $30,000 (June), compared to $33,600 (Apr) - DOWN 11%
CGC 7.0 $38,400 (June), compared to $50,400 (Feb) - DOWN 24%
Verdict - DOWN in almost all grades. This one's ugly!!! Iron Man was one of the last keys to catch the "COVID boom", but it's falling at the same time as the others, so the decline is steeper.
And finally......
Amazing Fantasy #15 (1st appearance of Spider-Man)
CGC 1.8 $27,500 (90 day), compared to $28,087 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 2%
CGC 2.0 $36,800 (90 day), compared to $34,933 (12 mo. avg) - UP 5%
CGC 2.5 $33,420 (90 day), compared to $35,713 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 6%
CGC 3.0 $41,100 (90 day), compared to $41,682 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 1%
CGC 3.5 $38,400 (July), compared to $40,800 (May) - DOWN 6%
CGC 4.0 $52,411 (90 day), compared to $60,675 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 14%
CGC 4.5 $58,400 (90 day), compared to $67,133 (12 mo. avg) - DOWN 13%
CGC 5.0 $74,960 (90 day), compared to $73,400 (12 mo. avg) - UP 2%
Verdict - Even the KING has fallen!!! DOWN in almost all grades. Albeit, the decline is slower than most of the six, with Hulk being the exception.
Conclusion
It's clear that the claim by many that "Marvel Silver Age keys won't see a price correction" was flat out wrong. That being said, prices of all these books (in most grades) are still 100% to 200% higher than pre-COVID prices, so it would be premature to say that the comic book market is crashing. When you look at historical data of any of these blue chip keys (since CGC started grading in 2000), there has never been a "crash". In these unprecedented times, we are only seeing price corrections because the price inflation was ridiculously abnormal over the past two years. Expect to see the trend of slow growth continue for years to come!
Until next time, keep collecting!
