The Eternals #1 has seen enormous surges in sales prices since the news leaked that Marvel was considering making it the basis of an all-out cosmically themed 'Phase Four' movie. In the meantime, and with periodic surges and dips, the returns on this Jack Kirby Bronze Age comic is following a familiar pattern.
The Eternals #1 (June 1976) - First appearance of The Eternals
Let’s go back to 2001. There were all of 7 copies of this book on the CGC census. By January 10, 2007, that number had jumped to 29. That’s not a lot, which says that this book was very far from a highly prized comic at the time.
In fact, nobody except the most devoted Kirby completists seemed to be seeking this comic out back then.
From February of 2007 until about March of 2018 there was a rather steady submission rate, but the average number sent in for submission was about around 1.26 copies a week. What this means is that while there were exactly 245 copies on the census on February 1, 2007, precisely 578 weeks later, by March 1st of 2018, we see 976 units listed: a rise of 731 submissions. Not at all bad.
Then the announcement that the MCU was planning an ‘Eternals’ motion picture for ‘Phase Four’ first started making media rounds. This happened about a year ago in April of 2018 (see here). Quickly we witness the CGC action jump- while a 1.2 unit a month submission rate was standard before April 03 2018, submissions between then and April 03 of 2019 shows numbers jumping from 990 to 2, 342. A submission rate of 26 copies a week over 52 weeks. Today that number stands at 2, 538.
Correspondingly, the increase in demand for this book follows what I call the standard pattern. Prices spiked with the announcement of the MCU film, and while we await the first trailer are trending up. If the past is any indication, and if ‘Phase Four’ of the MCU can maintain comic fan interest, this book should see another significant spike upon release of 'The Eternals' trailer or teaser trailer.
Looking at only the regular non price-variant edition of The Eternals #1, and taking 9.8 blue label certified sales as our benchmark- the surge in value since January 1, 2000 (earliest Gocollect.com data) stands at a robust positive +111%. Narrowing down those numbers and the date parameters, and taking into account sales on other grades, we see that over the last three months the returns on this book look as follows:
9.8 = positive +12.8% after 42 sales [Last three eBay sales= $1, 275.00 (04/29/2019), $1, 200.00 (04/26/2019), $1, 200.00 (04/23/2019)].
9.6 = positive +4.5% after 70 sales [Last three eBay sales = $385.00 (04/29/2019), $350.00 (04/29/2019), $375.00 (04/27/2019)].
9.4 = positive +22.6% after 50 sales [Last three eBay sales =$275.00 (04/29/2019), $299.00 (04/27/2019), $370.00 (04/27/2019)].
9.2 = positive +13.2% after 37 sales [Last three eBay sales = $235.00 (04/28/2019), $222.50 (04/27/2019), $165.50 (04/24/2019)].
What if you missed the Eternals window and don’t have a copy yet? There’s still time. If there’s anything like a sure bet in today’s speculation market it’s that Marvel keys surge when a movie version of their stories hits theaters. The Eternals movie is more than a year away and all indications point to the movie meeting its schedule and coming out during 'Phase Four'.
Looking at the available data, The Eternals #1 comic is following the same, now established, pattern that we’ve seen with other Marvel books.
