Don’t look now, but Bronze Age comics are heating up in our Collectible Price Index! After taking some huge hits over the past year, this is the perfect time to hunt for Bronze Age bargains… or determine that it’s best to wait to sell that once hot comic. Let’s take a look at the Bronze Age CPI to note some winners and losers over the past 90 days.
Criteria
Taking a look at the comics in our Bronze Age CPI, I first determined which ones were showing general upward trends and which were trending downward over the past 90 days. I then looked at the trends per grade. If there were an overwhelming number of grades that matched the trend, that book made the list. Too many flat lines or a mixed bag across grades caused a book to not be included. It’s a simple but effective way to look at the comics in the CPI quickly and determine if the trend is being reflected across grades.
We’re seeing lifts across multiple grades from high to mid to low. Only the 8.0 and 6.5 grades have seen downward trends, and even those have started to rise over the course of the past few weeks. It’s all part of an upward trend that has seen this famous Neal Adams cover’s index value rise 12.9% over the past year.
Loser – X-Men #101 – down 11.3%
The first appearance of Phoenix was experiencing a rise earlier in the spring. It’s all been downhill since. Nearly every grade is down in value over the past three months. Since spiking on May 19, this book is down an astonishing 25.3%. A comic that looked like it might just be immune to the downward trends of the past couple years is finally seeing its correction.
The sad death of Gwen Stacy may only be up a little over the past 90 days, but that hides a bigger story: this comic has risen 4.3% since September 1. While most of the gains have come in the higher grades – with the notable exception of the 9.2 grade – there’s also been a rise in the mid to low grades. But don’t jump on board too quickly – we’re seeing a very slight softening over the past week.
The sad tumble of the once-proud first appearance of Thanos continues. A book that looked like a sure-fire winner during the boom has done nothing but drop in value since, to the point that it is now worth less than it was five years ago. We’re seeing this across most grades, with the exception of the 9.8 grade. Lest you think that marks some kind of turnaround, the 90-day average for a 9.8 is currently $7,500, down 61% from its 2022 peak of $19,200. Overall, the trend across all grades over the past year is even worse than the three-month drop as it’s down 14.2%.
Elektra’s first appearance is in the midst of a rebound. While it dropped a bit in August and an even smaller amount in September, the overall trend line is very positive. Overall, this book is up 7.5% since August 18. The trends across most of the grades 7.5 and up are looking very promising.
The first appearance of the Hobgoblin has been a very volatile seller over the past 90 days. After hitting a low on September 1, it quickly spiked back up again in the September 8 index. It’s been dropping ever since. We’re seeing the same trends across most grades with the exceptions of 9.0, 6.0, and 5.5.
What are your thoughts on the Bronze Age comic market? Let us know below.
