Are you looking for a price guide to find the value of one or more comic books? There’s so much information online you can be quickly overwhelmed. Don’t be afraid! In this article we’ll break the value process down to a few easy steps and you’ll know if you have trash or treasure in no time at all.
The first key to finding the value of a comic book is organization. What this means is you must accurately describe your comic books in a way that collectors and dealers will be familiar with and will ease the process of looking up the value online or in a price guide. You can think of this as speaking the comic book collecting “lingo.”
An accurate description of a comic book includes the title, volume number if applicable, the issue number and the grade or condition.
The title and issue number of a comic book is usually self explanatory. Some examples are Amazing Spider-man 134, Superman 300, or X-men 94. You can run into trouble if there are multiple volumes of a comic. For example, Punisher Volume 2 Number 1. Comic book publishers have “reintroduced” several titles in recent years and started back at issue number 1. A number 1 that is from the first volume can have a very different price than a number 1 from a later volume or year of publishing. Be careful you have the correct volume number. If there is only one volume number you don’t need to include that fact in your description.
Once you have the title and issue number you’re ready to move on to the condition or grade of the comic book.
Comic book grading is one of the most controversial areas for collectors because it is somewhat of a subjective process. If you have a large collection and are serious about becoming a comic book collector you should pick up a copy of the Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide. For our purposes we’ll concentrate on the few main grades you should be familiar with.
The first grade you should know is Near Mint, abbreviated NM. This is the grade most people look at in the price guide because it’s the big number! The only problem is most old comic books and many newer issues aren’t in near mint condition. A near mint comic book is like new with almost no flaws. If there are flaws on the comic they are almost imperceptible to the naked, untrained eye. Just think of a comic book that is not only newsstand fresh, but one of the best examples you see on the shelves.
Next, you should know Very Fine, abbreviated VF. This condition also looks almost new, with very few flaws. You will probably be able to see one or more very small imperfections. Most novices call very fine comic books near mint. Be careful.
You should also be familiar with the most common grade comic book and that is Very Good (VG). If you go to an antique store or flea market, your average old comic book will typic?y be very good condition. The book is well-read with many flaws, but still complete.
Any book that has pieces missing or is incomplete will fall into the final category, Fair or Poor.
Once you have accurate description of your comics – title, issue number and grade – you are ready to find the value.
The first place to look is the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. This guide is used by most collectors and dealers in the industry and is a great starting point. There are some issues with the guide, but that is the subject of another article. With the “Overstreet” you will have a ball park idea if your comic books have any value or if they are destined for a 25 cent box.
You now have a great start to begin your comic book value quest. Good luck and maybe you have some treasure lurking in your collection!
