PWCC is known for its huge weekly and premiere auctions that focus on sports cards. For example, on average, PWCC auctions 2,000 to 2,500 baseball cards every single week. But many comic collectors don’t look to PWCC for their comic book auctions. It can be a good place to find some good deals on comics since you won’t face as much competition here as you might on Heritage or ComicConnect. Let’s take a closer look at some of the comics PWCC has up for bids this week.
Avengers #55 (Marvel, 1968) CGC 4.0
I know Avengers: Age of Ultron didn’t do Ultron justice (he was way underpowered), but I consider him one of the creepiest and greatest villains of all-time in Marvel comics. IGN ranked Ultron as the 18th greatest Marvel villain of all-time. From his origin (a science experiment regarding artificial intelligence gone awry), to his near invulnerability (being made of adamantium) to his design (the creepy, red “Kirby crackle” in Ultron’s mouth), just a scary character overall and definitely an Avengers-level threat.
According to GoCollect, the FMV of a CGC 4.0 copy of this issue is $85. As of Friday, July 28th, the current bid for this issue is just $23.
Amazing Spider-Man #86 (Marvel, 1970) CGC 6.0
When the Black Widow first appeared Tales of Suspense #52 in 1964, most MCU fans would not have recognized her. With her hat, veil, shawl, and black cocktail dress, she looked more like a "Bond girl" from a Sean Connery film, and not like the lethal assassin with the form-fitting all-black SHIELD agent uniform.
In this late Silver Age key issue, Natasha says that in order to “erase” her past, she must “design a new costume for [her]self!” And later in the issue, she appears for the first time in the iconic costume that we've seen repeatedly in the MCU. While the first appearance of a costume doesn't usually generate a lot of demand, it may, depending upon the costume (see, e.g., the recent photographs on the set of Wolverine's classic yellow and blue costume).
In my opinion, this isn't a bad comic to invest in for the long term, especially if you don't want to pay for Black Widow’s first appearance in Tales of Suspense #52.
According to GoCollect, the FMV of a CGC 6.0 copy of this issue is $140. As of Friday, July 28th, the current bid for this issue is just $26.
Strange Academy #1 (Marvel Comics, 2020) CGC 9.8
I honestly don’t understand the appeal of this book, published just a few years ago in 2020. Sure, it contains a lot of first appearances, but does anyone really care about the first appearances of Emily Bright, Doyle Dormammu, Shaylee Moonpeddle, and Calvin Morse?
That said, I must not be understanding something because the market clearly values this issue. Published just before the comic boom, this issue has had remarkable staying power. Like many comics, this issue reached its all time high of $452 during the spring of 2021. And like other comics, its value has declined, but not nearly as dramatically as most. many Modern books have lost upwards of 80% of their value throughout 2022 and 2023; on the other hand, this book has lost only about 45%.
According to GoCollect, the FMV of a CGC 9.8 copy of this issue is $240. As of Friday, July 28th, the current bid for this issue is just $82.