Wednesday, October 09, 2013

One More Down...

Today I was able to buy a mid-grade copy of FANTASTIC FOUR #65. I only need one issue in the 60s, now. Once I have #67 I plan to sit down and read several story arcs that I've been waiting to look at to refresh my childhood impressions.

A couple of years ago this issue was very easy to land in high grade. I could have found one at a convention or on Ebay for $20 or so. That would have been for a very fine to near mint copy. Now, for some damned reason, the book is off the rails. A year ago I would barely be outbid for a high grade copy in the $21 range or so. Now it's going for close to $100.

So, I had to settle for this issue, which probably grades out around very good plus. I can't comment on the story because, as I said, I'm waiting to read the arcs.

This will teach me not to be so cheap when I need to fill a gap in the collection. Could have had a very high grade copy of this a year ago for $20 or so. Now I'd have to pay several times that much for a high condition book.

2 comments:

Kirk G - The Thrifty Rocketeer said...

I wonder what the appeal for this is? Recent discussions about the Kree driving this up? Maybe it's the current Infinity storyline in the Avengers? Perhaps because it's the last major contribution Jack made to Marvel before the camel's back broke next issue? I'd be interested to learn what others think might be driving this up in price.

James Robert Smith said...

It could be the market's desire to create a "key" where none exists. 'First appearance of Ronan' or some such silliness. I don't recall that Kirby ever used the character again.

Any excuse to push the price higher. At any rate, the market has responded, so there's nothing to do but grab a decent copy while the price is still manageable.