There are many ways to collect comics. You can collect a certain company, you can focus on a character or a run of issues, you can stick with a favorite artist, or you can just collect what you think is dope. For me, I focus on character first appearance books because they seem special. They are like a rookie card....for those who used to like baseball. The Fantastic Four (FF) recently got a comic reboot from Marvel and it got me thinking about some of the popular first appearance books in the run, along with why I never see them on the market. If you are dying to get your hands on a first appearance of H.E.R.B.I.E the robot, this is a safe space just for you.
Like many early Marvel comic runs, the Fantastic Four has had some classic character first appearances and most of them are really expensive at 9.8 grades. Comics in the first 100 issues, for example featuring the First Black Panther, the First Galactus, the First Watcher... all expensive. That's when I start looking for affordable alternatives. So if you can't afford issues 1-100... go to the 200's! Luckily, the Fantastic Four has some stellar first appearances around issue #200.
H.E.R.B.I.E the robot, for those unawares, was a cartoon product tie-in from the 1978 FF cartoon turned actual comic character. Although popular on TV for months, he ultimately made his comic debut in Fantastic Four #209 in August of 1979. Interestingly, there are a string of character first appearance books within the same time-frame that are rare on the market and highly desired by collectors.
Fantastic Four #186 featured the villainous team the Salem Seven. Fantastic Four #205 introduced the Nova Corps to the Marvel Universe. Fantastic Four #211 gave a new Herald of Galactus in Terrax. All of these books show positive pricing trends in the upper grades, with some books growing as much as 87% over time. Each of these books is also relatively rare on the census. With the number of total 9.8 graded copies sitting in the 20s-30s range.
Of all the issues noted above, #211 has appeared the most on the open market in the past few years... but only about 4 or 5 copies total. With a market price of approximately $400, each time one comes for sale it seems to get a higher and higher price. Issues #186, #205, and #209 have been almost non-existent. I have seen only one of each example hit the market, and some are not even at the highest page color quality.
There may be a few reasons why copies are not hitting the open market with any frequency: 1) Collectors/Buyers who have these issues wish not to part with them. They may be rare enough to hold onto over time or simply near and dear to a collector's heart. Even worse, the owner may see long term value in the book and is waiting to cash in on a future price bump or Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) potential. 2) New copies in 9.8 grade are not being created and delivered to the open market. I could expand on this for hours, but the short version is that 9.8 grades in older books are extremely rare. You had to have a collector who basically did not touch the thing for 40 years. Even if there are more pristine copies sealed up and locked away, there is no certainty that they will grade 9.8. Therefore, as time goes by, 9.8 books only get rarer. This is no reason not to keep an eye out for such a rare comic though.
Do you consider buying a first appearance of a character in the FF series? Are you excited about the FF comic reboot? Do you have any favorite FF supporting characters (where you at Yancy St. Gang fans)? Will we ever get a worthy FF movie? Join in the conversation!
