Sometimes, things that seem to be easy are instead very complex.  There is more to a book being valuable than appearing on a hot list.  In my previous article, I covered grading, plot elements, and other attributes that can make a book more valuable than others.  The final element that needed to be discussed is comic book rarity. This is very important to both collectors and investors. The topic is very complex because there is so much to evaluate to determine if a book is rare. Doing the work, though, is worth it because knowing the rarity component of an issue can help both collectors and investors obtain the best price possible for the issue.

Step #1   Print Runs

Data at your fingertips

Every process has a beginning.  The print run is the first place that collectors and investors should start when determining how rare a comic book actually is.  This is the total number of copies that the publishers send out to the market. Comichron is a terrific site to research the print runs of recent issues. These numbers are important because most comics purchased now are preserved by both collectors and investors.

Data from previous generations

Other Internet sites can also be used to research print runs from older books.  Those numbers should be scrutinized for accuracy. That does not mean those numbers are not valuable.

Years ago, comic book print runs were not that important to investors or collectors, but now people realize that the more they know about an issue’s population the better equipped they will be to purchase the book. even partial information is significant in the process to determine the rarity of a book. The print run is the best way to determine if a comic issue was rare right out of the box or if we have to go further in the analysis.

EXAMPLES:

1st Miles Morales: ultimate fallout #4 had AN estimate OF 73,764 COPIES. Most are higher-grade books.

1st green Goblin: outstanding Spider-Man #14 has no sales data available. fewer high-grade issues, but a wide range of grades in total.

Green giant Comics #1: This issue was a limited test print run by the publisher only in one city. fewer than 10 total copies graded.

Step #2  Slabbed Census

GoCollect Features

GoCollect users know that a nice feature of the site is the ability to track the books in the CGC census.  The total figure will include universal and signature books.  The total number of books will then be further broken down into grades.  High grades may be rare for some books while other books may have only a majority of high grades.

This is important to know because if the high grades are not prevalent then those high-grade books that do exist will sell at a premium. The total of graded issues will also reveal if the entire graded population can be considered rare.

Graded Copies matter to all

The reason that the total number of graded copies is significant is that these books may one day be sold.  one of the main reasons for grading books is to one day sell them.  A large print run of an older book with very few copies graded may be an indicator that the book is now rare.

Gold and silver age books do exist that are raw, but many are, in fact, graded.  Sadly, many more were lost during the passage of time. The census of graded books is now telling the collector and consumer a good number of how many of those books still exist.

Other Issues

Collectors and investors should realize that there can be other copies that exist that are not graded.  An issue may not be valuable or worthy of grading because it is common. Some copies may be purchased for reading and will be held by true collectors.

In addition, some copies may be graded by other companies that are not included in the CGC census. Finally,  issues may have been read and destroyed, so they never will be graded.  A general rule of thumb is the older the issue the greater the potential that those books are not around to be graded.  These issues can affect how rare a book truly is so we account for them too in the next step.

EXAMPLES:

1st Miles Morales: 14,162 total CGC copies graded at the time of this writing. 14,162/73,764= 19.2% of all copies CGC Graded

1st green Goblin: 4,708 total CGC copies graded at the time of this writing.

Green giant Comics #1: 4 total CGC copies graded at the time of this writing.

Step #3 Sales data

Significance of the Data

The sales data of an issue is very important to determine how rare a comic book is in the market. many copies may exist, but if they do not come to the market then this book may be rare.  A lack of sales may be indicative of books that are being held by collectors and may hardly ever come on the market.  another reason for low sales numbers is that investors are holding onto the issue for future sales or that the issue is not in demand.  Finally, low sales numbers may be indicative that a book is truly rare and there are not that many sales.

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