We’re back to discover more of the secrets that the Pre-Code Horror CPI has to tell. Join us on this startling adventure that will reveal the pre-code horror boom.
When Was the Big PCH Boom?
GoCollect’s Collectible Price Indexes allow you to track gains and losses over time and see just where the biggest impacts occurred. Taking a look at the five-year trendline for the Pre-Code Horror CPI, you can see a number of booms going back to 2019, but none are bigger than the one that occurred between August 20 and September 17, 2023.
On August 20, 2023, the index value stood at 810. By September 17, the value had climbed to 863.
That’s a 6.5% increase in just four weeks. You can even zoom in to see the rising trend in the index and exactly when it happened:
What Happened?
During that time period, there were two big auctions. The first was a ComicConnect auction taking place August 23 through August 26. This was a monster (pun intended) auction for pre-code horror. No fewer than 17 of the comics in the Pre-Code horror CPI sold in the auction. Not to be outdone, Heritage Auction’s September 17 auction also had a number of pre-code horror comics up for sale, including an 8.0 Pedigree copy of Punch Comics #12. It was the top copy in the CGC census and it went for a record $204,000.
Which Comics Sold?
The ComicConnect auction featured a number of pre-code horror comics that would reach five figures. The big seller was a 6.5 graded copy of Startling Terror Tales #11 which went for $33,350, a 114% lift over the previous sale in the grade just ten months earlier. Hot on its heels was an 8.0 graded Mister Mystery #6 selling for $32,775. It was one of two top of census copies and it saw a remarkable gain of nearly 2,500% since its previous sale 20 years earlier. A 7.5 Chamber of Chills Magazine #19 sold for $31,050, the only sale in the grade. A 7.5 graded Journey Into Mystery #1 sold for $28,750, 199% higher than the previous sale in the grade back in 2019.
Crime SuspenStories #22 sold in the 6.5 grade in both the ComicConnect and Heritage auctions, earning $24,150 in the former and $15,600 in the latter. While that’s a big $8,550 drop in a month, both are significantly higher than the previous sale in the grade - $6,900 paid two years prior.
These and other pre-code horror comics sold either for the first time in a grade or for a huge amount more than previous sales. Those sales, and that many occurring in a short period of time, are going to have a tremendous impact on the index, and to collectors’ perception of the value found in the genre as a whole. In many respects, those four weeks have been responsible for the increased visibility of pre-code horror as investment grade comics and their subsequent rise in value.
Why Did the Boom Happen?
Pre-code horror has always been an above average comic genre in terms of its popularity among Golden Age collectors. For many decades, they have been among the most prized comics of the 1950s. So, why are they still booming, and at a pace that’s more than double that of the Golden Age CPI over the past five years? While we can never answer a question like that with one hundred percent accuracy, we can entertain a theory or two. The timing is the key.
In August and September 2023, we were about a year into drops in both the Bronze Age and Silver Age CPIs, Bronze having peaked on June 19, 2022, and Silver on September 11, 2022. Collectors were nervous. Those who weren’t bailing on the hobby (as often happens when prices drop) were looking for safer investments. However, most collectors didn’t have the wherewithal to afford the big Golden Age books with good long-term return on investment. So, a middle ground was selected. Collectors turned to a popular genre where individual issues hadn’t yet climbed into the six-figure range for top grades and lower grades were still relatively affordable.
Essentially, what we saw was a shift from super-hero comics of the 1960s and 1970s to horror comics of the 1950s. While the index hasn’t risen in value at the same pace as 2023, it’s still showing solid gains as we near 2025. Will there be a peak and a subsequent drop in the future, or will the index plateau? Time will tell.
