Welcome back to our blog series about the Fantastic Four CPI! This time, we’re going to take a look at individual issues in the Fantastic Four CPI to discover some surprising pricing stats and what they mean for your collection or future purchases. We’ll also see how the index has changed in the past week and how it was affected by that record setting sale of the FF’s first appearance.
Early Issue Highs & Lows
For many, many years, if there was one truism in the early Fantastic Four issues it was that Fantastic Four #3 was the least valuable of the first five issues. While it may have had the first appearances of the team’s costumes and the first bathtub, er… Fantasticar, it also had the first appearance of the very forgettable Miracle Man. In comparison to Doctor Doom, Skrulls, and the reappearance of the Sub-Mariner in the Silver Age, Fantastic Four #3 couldn’t compete. But a funny thing has happened over the past five years:
The value of Fantastic Four #3 now contributes roughly 20% more to the Fantastic Four CPI than Fantastic Four #4. So, what happened? Let’s look first at the changes in Fantastic Four #3:
Five years ago, Fantastic Four #3 contributed 54.97 to the Fantastic Four CPI compared to 139.07 today. In the five-year look at the index, we see a big spike occurring on April 10, 2022 that corresponds to the sale of one of only three 9.4 graded copies in a Heritage Auction for $102,000. While that represents a sizable percentage of the increase in value for the book, it’s also fared well in other grades:
It isn’t until we get down to the mid and lower grades that we see any decrease in value. In grades 7.0 and above, Fantastic Four #3 has either increased in value or retained its value from the boom.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Fantastic Four #4:
Five years ago, Fantastic Four #4 contributed 89.01 to the index, roughly 62% more than Fantastic Four #3. Today, the book’s contribution to the index stands at 116.1. However, even with that big sale of Fantastic Four #3, it wasn’t enough for it to pull ahead of Subby’s first Silver Age appearance. On April 20, 2022, Fantastic Four #4’s contribution to the index was 147.08, still roughly 10% more than Miracle Man’s first appearance. By early 2023, though, the value of Fantastic Four #4 was in the midst of a deep slide and dipped below the value of Fantastic Four #3. It has yet to recover, as can be seen in many grades:
Likely a victim of the boom and MCU hype that didn’t pan out when Sub-Mariner appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it’s an abject lesson for collectors. While more attention has been paid to Fantastic Four #4 over the years, and in the recent boom in particular, Fantastic Four #3 does have great value to FF collectors and investors (Miracle Man aside), certainly enough that it has retained its value while not falling victim to hype or FOMO. Shiny objects have their value, but they can wax and wane. Perhaps it’s better to build the foundations of your collection on sturdy granite.
Galactus & Silver Surfer Flip-Flop
Yet another truism that hasn’t survived our recent times is the one that the first part of the Galactus Trilogy – Fantastic Four #48 – is worth more than Fantastic Four #49.
That clearly isn’t the case anymore, but it wasn’t always so. Five years ago, Fantastic Four #48 was worth roughly 23% more to the Fantastic Four CPI than Fantastic Four #49. Today, that first Galactus cover is worth 8.4% more than the Silver Surfer’s first appearance. Why? This one comes down to rarity:
Fantastic Four #48 Census:
When there are so few 9.8 graded copies for an issue, as is the case with Fantastic Four #49, when one of the two goes up for auction, it can command top dollar. That’s exactly what happened when a 9.8 sold for $192,000 in a November 2022 Heritage auction. That’s 33% more than the top dollar sale of a Fantastic Four #48 in the 9.8 grade. Remove that big Fantastic Four #49 sale – as we’ve done in the Silver Age CPI – and Fantastic Four #48 leaps back ahead. That’s why it pays to do the research. It’s always worthwhile to use the tools that GoCollect provides to dig a little deeper before you invest. At first glance, and if you’re only looking at the 9.8 grade, a book can appear to be more valuable. But look a little further and across grades and you’ll begin to see a clearer picture – and make more informed purchases.
Recent Fantastic Four CPI Movement
Last week, we mentioned the huge sale of a 9.6 Fantastic Four #1 for just north of $2 million. This week, we can see how it affected the index. That one sale was enough to turn the index positive for the month, despite downward trends in other issues. The biggest change in the index, however, is the percentage of value that Fantastic Four #1 contributes to the Fantastic Four CPI as a whole. Prior to the record setting sale, the first issue in the series represented roughly a quarter of the value of the index. Now, it’s more than half. This will definitely be an important factor to keep in mind as we investigate the Fantastic Four CPI further.
