Spider-Man, Donald Trump, and Babe Ruth covers were among the most sought-after magazines!
The Hottest Magazines is a curated list of the magazines moving up the eBay sales lists. GoCollect pulls the stats straight from eBay and sorts them by volume moving in the marketplace over the past 30 days.
1. Wizard #1 (-)
The first issue of the ever-popular comic collecting magazine, Wizard #1, remained as king of the magazine charts. Sporting a Todd McFarlane Spider-Man cover, this magazine retained its crown thanks to strong sales, including a 9.8 signed by McFarlane going for $1,300 in a May 1 eBay auction that garnered 50 bids and the sale of a Wizard File Copy 9.8, which fetched $898 in a May 14 eBay auction.
2. Playboy #v37 #3 (+2)
Issues of Playboy currently dominate our top 100 Hottest Magazines. None, however, is hotter than Playboy #v37 #3 with a cover featuring none other than Donald Trump, circa 1990. After a hot April that saw six sales, the streak has continued in May with five sales so far. Sporting an impressive CGC census count of 427, this issue has been on a tear for the past year due to a 9.8 selling for a slashed $5,500 in April 2023. With the current trial keeping Trump front and center, expect more sales in the near future.
4. Sports Illustrated #v32 #24 – Subscription Edition (new to the list)
Sometimes sales techniques are enough to land a magazine on the Hottest Magazines chart. Sports Illustrated #v32 #24, from 1970 and featuring Steve Prefontaine on the cover for the first time, is a perfect example. No fewer than five copies – ranging in grades from 7.5 to 5.5 sold in May 14 eBay auctions. The high was a 7.5 going for $108. These sales represent all but one of the recorded sales. The lone previous sale was a 6.0 selling for a slashed $500 in in October 2023. The plummeting prices seen in the May 14 auctions should be a lesson in flooding the market. Expect this issue to drop off the list by mid-June.
52. Time #v50 #12 (new to the list)
With a low census count of just 34 copies and only one recorded sale prior, it wasn’t surprising to see a 3.0 graded copy of Time #v50 #12 and its Jackie Robinson cover from 1947 go for a slashed $795. That’s roughly double what a 3.5 went for in a February 29 eBay auction and an impressive showing for this hard-to-find historical issue.
79. Strength #v12 #8 (new to the list)
Strength magazine, a publication widely credited with popularizing weight-lifting in America, was published by the Milo Bar-Bell Company from 1914 to 1935. The October 1927 issue, Strength #v12 #8, made our list thanks to the strong sale of one of only five copies in the CGC census. A 2.5 graded copy of this hard-to-find magazine sold for $275 in an April 22 eBay sale. Published at the peak of Babe Ruth’s popularity, he was no doubt placed on the cover more to sell issues rather than his propensity – or lack thereof – for physical fitness.
Honorable Mention
