Best investment5310

Originally Posted by jaeldubyoo
Quote:

Originally Posted by DocBrown
Star Wars #1 went on sale in April 1977, over a month before the film came out.

One would have to have had access to a distributor to get 150 copies at that point, because few newsstands were going to carry that many copies of an individual comic...it would have to have been a monstrous newsstand...or one would have had to have access to multiple newsstands in perhaps a very large city like NY. "Special order" would have been essentially unheard of at that point.

In April, the public was getting excited about the movie, but it hadn't reached the fever pitch it would after the film's release on May 25. Movie adaptations weren't new, even then, although they were new for Marvel. By the time the film came out, however, the book was GONE, sold out, kaput. Buyers ran to the newsstands to scoop up any copies that remained, if any remained by then.

While "#1s" were the thing to buy in the late 70's, you weren't seeing people buy hundreds of copies of any one issue, unless they were dealers with storefronts. Not that it didn't happen...but if you had 10-20 people nationwide buying 100+ copies of anything, that would be pretty astonishing. And a completely unknown, untested quantity like a movie adaptation, based on characters and a story no one had ever heard of...?

That's one of the reasons why the book was $10 by the end of summer: the demand far outstripped the supply, even as the reprints started showing up in July and August.

Not saying the story isn't true, but...doesn't seem likely.

Back then there were a lot of small distributors. There were many ads in The Buyer's Guide advertising multiple issues of comics for less than cover price. I also "invested" in Star Wars #1. Unfortunately, I had to buy them in the after-market for 50¢ each. I saw the Star Wars movie and was so excited about it I bought 5o copies. This was several months after the comic had come out. I did buy multiple issues of 2-6 at less than cover price. I wished I held on to them. I gave away most of them that year to family and friends. I've sold a few over the years, but still have a few.

Originally Posted by docstrange
When Star Wars came out in 1977 I bought 150 copies of #1 at .30c apiece
2 years later I sold 140 copies to 1 guy for $2 apiece did I make good money yes I did at the time 7.5X my money Should I have hung on 40 years Hell YA

Originally Posted by Comicnewbie
Hi all. Original starter of this thread here. Not sure if that's good or bad lol. I wanted to get some opinions on ASM 43 CGC 8.5 offered for $200. Good deal? My buddy who I've been telling him about this saga, saw it and wants it. He is an ASM fan according to him. Thanks.

Originally Posted by DocBrown
Quote:

Originally Posted by jaeldubyoo
Quote:

Originally Posted by DocBrown
Star Wars #1 went on sale in April 1977, over a month before the film came out.

One would have to have had access to a distributor to get 150 copies at that point, because few newsstands were going to carry that many copies of an individual comic...it would have to have been a monstrous newsstand...or one would have had to have access to multiple newsstands in perhaps a very large city like NY. "Special order" would have been essentially unheard of at that point.

In April, the public was getting excited about the movie, but it hadn't reached the fever pitch it would after the film's release on May 25. Movie adaptations weren't new, even then, although they were new for Marvel. By the time the film came out, however, the book was GONE, sold out, kaput. Buyers ran to the newsstands to scoop up any copies that remained, if any remained by then.

While "#1s" were the thing to buy in the late 70's, you weren't seeing people buy hundreds of copies of any one issue, unless they were dealers with storefronts. Not that it didn't happen...but if you had 10-20 people nationwide buying 100+ copies of anything, that would be pretty astonishing. And a completely unknown, untested quantity like a movie adaptation, based on characters and a story no one had ever heard of...?

That's one of the reasons why the book was $10 by the end of summer: the demand far outstripped the supply, even as the reprints started showing up in July and August.

Not saying the story isn't true, but...doesn't seem likely.

Back then there were a lot of small distributors. There were many ads in The Buyer's Guide advertising multiple issues of comics for less than cover price. I also "invested" in Star Wars #1. Unfortunately, I had to buy them in the after-market for 50¢ each. I saw the Star Wars movie and was so excited about it I bought 5o copies. This was several months after the comic had come out. I did buy multiple issues of 2-6 at less than cover price. I wished I held on to them. I gave away most of them that year to family and friends. I've sold a few over the years, but still have a few.

Hi JLW. Nice to see you again. There were a lot of small distributors, like Bud Plant, Seuling's Seagate, and the Schanes' brothers Pacific Comics, among others. TBG would be access to a distributor that I was referring to. Your story is familiar; the prior story, for the reasons laid out, is suspect. Not that it wasn't possible...but unlikely.

What was the source you used to buy multiple copies of #2-6? Distributor, local store(s), newsstands, TBG? TBG only had a circulation of ten thousand in 1977, so its readers were mostly diehard comics fans. And, after all, even by 1977, there were only a couple of hundred comic stores in the entire nation...NY, LA, and SF could boast 4-5, but this was long before the era where stores existed on every other strip mall, as they did in 1993.

Someday, I would love to write a comprehensive history of the comic collecting market. What I wouldn't give to interview Phil Seuling.

Do you have your copies of TBG from that time period? Can you find any ads for Star Wars #1 for less than cover price in bulk? I would be surprised if you could, but not completely.

Originally Posted by ThorneArt
Quote:

Originally Posted by Comicnewbie
Or do I spend about $85 more to get a 9.8

I would spend the extra for the guaranteed grade. IMHO

Originally Posted by Comicnewbie
Or do I spend about $85 more to get a 9.8