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| Copyright MARVEL COMICS. Featuring the Hulk face as originally drawn |
Take a look at the above comic from 1976. The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #198, featuring half of the introduction of WOLVERINE, reprinted from The INCREDIBLE HULK #181, from 1974. At this time (if I remember correctly), the panels in MWOM were trimmed, clumsy lettering amendments were instituted, the reproduction wasn't always as sharp as it should have been, and ugly 'Zipatone' obscured some of the detail in the artwork. But guess what? This comic is being touted on eBay for anything from £75 right up to around £700. (The price for the copy above is £196.26, but it only has a 3.5 grade.) Yup, just 'cos it features the 'first' UK printing of Wolvie's debut. (Some sellers include #s 196, 197 & 199 in the higher end prices, though there's one asking for 'only' £149.95 for all four.)
No way in hell is it worth more than a tenner, and then only so someone can complete their collection of MWOMs. Sure, it's cheaper than the original US printing, which can set you back close to £12,000 (for higher condition copies admittedly), but it's a poor-quality UK reprint for goodness' sake. Hulk #181 has now been reissued in a facsimile edition (and 180 and 182 will soon be available), so would anyone be daft enough to pay out several hundred quid for an inferior UK partial reprint? Maybe, but surely only if they're millionaires. (Having said that, I see one dealer is asking for £89.95 for the facsimile. Strewth!) Are comic dealers colluding on the asking price for this comic, or has one chanced their arm and the others followed suit? Either way, the asking price far outweighs the value of the comic and once again I'm left feeling that dealers need to regain a sense of proportion over the arbitrary pricing policy they adopt in regard to reprint comics.
What's your own views about this, fellow Crivs? Could you ever see yourself paying out several hundred pounds for a mag just to complete a set? Or do you think that some comic dealers need a good hard slap for being more than a bit greedy? Let rip in the captivatin' comments section! (Oh, and in case you were wondering, no - it isn't a comic I was looking to buy.)
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| The original 1974 issue. Note that the Hulk's face was redrawn for the published issue - and not by HERB TRIMPE by the look of it |
Just ludicrous to ask more than £3 for this. I've seen some issues of SMCW,Avengers Weekly and MWOM from 1973/4 going for silly money though nothing like this. Ditto some Alan Class comics at over £100 each. But does anyone buy at these prices (as I have that issue of MWOM willing to let it go for £80 lol)
ReplyDeleteI doubt that your everyday type of collector buys at these prices, McS, but I suspect that some unaware buyer (taking the seller's description of it being Wolvie's first appearance too literally) must have stumped up the cash for it at some point, prompting other sellers to immediately up their prices.
ReplyDeleteNot that long ago, a seller was asking around £70 for the first UK issue of John Byrne's Superman, which is far more than the original US comic would put you back. Sometimes, some opportunistic sellers attach silly prices to their wares, just to see if anyone will bite. If some poor sap does, other sellers/dealers immediately take that as its 'official' worth.
I'll give you 8p for your copy if it's in fair condition. Not a penny more, mind.
I don’t understand why a reprint is collectible. A first appearance of course , just like the first printing of a book has significance. I suppose one could say because the MWoM was a smaller print run- but it was just a reprint! I don’t get it.
ReplyDeleteI'd say it's only collectable out of a sense of nostalgia to those who once owned it and would like to have it again, PS, or to someone wanting to complete a collection. I don't think it has any great value to Wolverine fans, but the current asking prices in some circles have been inflated merely to capitalise on the fact that it reprints Wolvie's first appearance. I doubt that it will ever sell at that price, except to someone to whom money is no object.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been happy to pay high prices for first issues of Alan Class comics due to their scarcity. Anyone paying those prices you’ve mentioned for the mass produced, easy to find, Marvel weekly back issues are simply falling for the hype.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to Alan Class comics, CN, it depends what you mean by high prices. Some of the later AC mags that reprint Marvel stories have asking prices of £500-£600 - right up to (and over) £1,000 - but they're still only reprints. If I may ask, what's the most you've paid for an AC comic? You'll probably find that you'd have to pay much higher than whatever you paid nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI’ve probably paid in all about £1,200 to assemble every single No.1 he ever produced. Not just Creepy Worlds and the other well known names but also Hellfire Raiders and other more obscure titles. One of his Westerns is so obscure that he forgot all about it when advising 30th Century Comics on his output. I know it’s a lot of dosh but it’s a very happy corner of my collection.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that's too expensive for that amount of comics, CN, and they're probably 'worth' far more than that now. In fact, some sellers are asking that (and more) for a single issue of some AC titles. If you divide that sum by all the titles you got for it, then it probably works out at a not unreasonable average.
ReplyDeleteI've seen incredible Hulk #181 in sheer dirt grade almost like it's been trampled over by a stampede and afterwards dipped into oil to darken the white/cream pages and given to gnasher to chew at the edges and then thrown onto eBay for bidding and I pity the poor sucker that falls hooked lined and sinking for it! They start a trash graded comic like this for €/£0.99 knowingly it will rocket sky-high upwards cause despite it's deplorable condition it still retains itself as a hot key comic providing it isn't coverless and still recognisable!!!
ReplyDeleteI saw a '70s reprint of the first appearance of Guardians Of The Galaxy going for an extortionate asking price - until I pointed out to the seller that the reprint had 4 pages edited out of the story and was in a terrible condition for what he was asking. He then changed the price accordingly. I already had both versions of the strip so I wasn't interested in buying, but at least someone else wasn't ripped off as much as they could've been.
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