Just last week, Disney hosted its annual "D23" exposition event (the "D" stands for (obviously) Disney and the "23" for 1923, the year Walt Disney founded the company). At this fan and investors event, Disney provided a preview of many upcoming projects across its vast IP including Pixar, Star Wars and the MCU.
Based upon what Marvel revealed at D23, many now believe that Mephisto will finally make his appearance in the MCU. Mephisto was a big deal back in 2021; is the market still investing in his 1st appearance?
On ScreenCrush's YouTube channel, Ryan Arey reported that Disney may have revealed Mephisto may appear as the main villain in the upcoming TV show Ironheart. Mephisto is of course the character with the devil's face who launched a thousand speculators when WandaVision premiered during the pandemic. First appearing in The Silver Surfer #3, and inspired by the demon Mephistopheles, Mephisto is one of the most formidable villains in the Marvel universe and has battled the likes of Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, and the Scarlet Witch among others.
Due to his ties to Wanda Maximoff and the many red herrings the producers of WandaVision included in the show, YouTubers big and small lit the fuse of what would become the "comic boom" by insisting Mephisto was pulling the strings all along (it was actually Agatha Harkness). As a result, collectors new and old flocked to purchase any copy they could find of Mephisto's first appearance. Because this is the book that really launched what became the "comic boom," I think it has some historical significance (though it is not included in GoCollect's Silver Age CPI).
A CGC 7.0 reached an all-time high of $2,000 in 2021; today, its value is a mere $450.
Let's take a closer look at the most common grade on the CGC Census: a 7.0.
The 7.0 grade absolutely exploded in value in early 2021 reaching an all-time high of $2,000. Prior to the pandemic, a 7.0 sold for around $450; it jumped over 4x in value basically overnight.
Of course, Mephisto never did appear in WandaVision or in any MCU TV show or film since then. And once the stimulus funds ran out, the value of a 7.0 began to drop like a rock. Interestingly, the value of a 7.0 is right back where it was immediately prior to the pandemic; according to GoCollect, the current FMV of a 7.0 is $450. And there is some evidence that it continues to lose value since its 30-day average ($450) is less than its 90-day average ($459), and its 90-day average is less than its one-year average of $487.
There are now nearly three times as many 7.0s on the CGC Census today than there were in early 2020.
There's another important reason why the value of a 7.0 has plummeted in value; there has been a dramatic increase in supply. According to CGCData.com, back in late 2019, there were only 133 7.0s on the CGC Census; today, there are 311. There just wasn't enough demand to keep up with the increase in supply which also likely contributed to its depreciation.
With many pundits proclaiming that Mephisto will finally make his long awaited appearance in IronHeart, do you think Silver Surfer #3 is a buy, sell, or hold?
