GoCollect Blog: Market Reaction - The Sandman & Paper Girls (market-reaction-the-sandman-paper-girls )

Well, it’s been a few weeks since the premieres of The Sandman and Paper Girls, certainly time enough to see how the market reacted.

Sandman First Appearance

The Sandman TV show premiered on Netflix on August 5 to much fanfare. The property had been in development on and off for decades, and for the first time, fans could finally see what the beloved series would look like on film.

The Sandman character – also known as Dream or Morpheus – made his first appearance in Sandman #1, written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC and cover dated January 1989.

There are 4,312 graded copies of Sandman #1 in the CGC census, with more than 56% graded 9.8 or 9.6. In the two-and-a-half weeks since the series premiered, 93 graded copies have sold, an enormous number of sales.

Taking a look at the 9.8 grade, we see an average sales price in August of $879 with a 30-day average of $865, a 90-day average of $899, and a 1-year average of $1,063. This is far below its non-signature peak price of $1,800, set in August 2021 in an eBay fixed price sale.

In this grade, Sandman #1 has been on a steep decline since March. Still, the TV series has increased the volume of sales considerably; there has been a slight uptick since the series began. It will be interesting to see if the Netflix series is enough to stabilize the price of this issue. Or will it continue its downward trend once a month or so has passed?

**Reaction of Other Sandman Keys**

In a 75-issue series, especially one with this prominence, there are bound to be other key issues. Two issues, in particular, had marked increases in the volume of sales and should be pointed out.

The first is Sandman #4, the first appearance of Lucifer Morningstar. There are 1,072 graded copies in the CGC census with nearly 53% graded 9.8 or 9.6. 20 graded copies of this book have sold since the start of the series, nearly the same number as sold in the entire month of July. This issue was already being heavily speculated on, with Lucifer confirmed to appear in the Netflix series.

The average 9.8 sales price in August stands at $472, the same as the 30-day average and below the 90-day average of $532 and the 1-year average of $683. The peak price was set in December 2021 in a fixed-price eBay sale for $899.

The second most popular issue of the series is Sandman #8, the first appearance of Dream’s sister, Death. There are 2,385 graded copies in the CGC census. However, there are comparatively few 9.8 graded copies – 314 in total and comprising only 13.6% of all graded copies.

This relative paucity has pushed the price higher than where we would expect, to the point where it now sells for nearly as much as Sandman #1. 58 graded copies have sold since August 5, six of them in the 9.8 grade. The peak price in that time was a $1,370 fixed price eBay sale on August 9, down 31.5% from its all-time high set in a June 2021 fixed price eBay sale for $2,000.

The downward trajectory for this comic is less steep than for that of Sandman #1 and Sandman #4, with even a slight uptick recently. Keep an eye on this book, especially in the 9.8 grade, as it may weather the storm better than the more abundant first issue and the less desired first appearance of Lucifer.

Amazon’s Surprise Hit Series

While comic book collectors are very familiar with Brian K. Vaughn’s work, the general public has been unaware of his talents. Whether it be Y the Last Man or Saga or many other series, the man has built an impressive resume of fan-favorite stories, including Paper Girls.

The Paper Girls TV series premiered on Amazon on July 29 and has been compared favorably to Netflix super hit Stranger Things. For collectors, the key issue is the first – Paper Girls #1. There are 3,100 graded copies in the CGC census with nearly 85% in the 9.8 grade, not surprising for a book published in 2015.

Since the series premiered on Netflix, 109 graded copies have sold, with 9.8 graded copies representing 85 of those sales.

This is a book that has seen a massive correction since selling for as much as $415 in an October 2021 eBay auction. The book has stabilized since January, however, and has been in the $100 to $120 range since. Some sales since the Amazon series began have been for slightly more and some have been for slightly less than that price range.

If you purchased this book prior to the price skyrocketing in April 2021, you’ve likely made out OK. Did you buy it when it was rising or at or near its peak? Then it will likely be a long time until you break even on your investment. The volume of sales, however, serves to showcase the overall reaction to the Amazon series and speculation that values for this book could begin to rise again with subsequent seasons.