Weekly MCU Spec: Ironheart

Your thoughts on Invincible Iron Man 9 2nd print with Ri-Ri small indent on cover similar to issue 7? Stupidly I gave a nm+ raw Issue 7 3rd print to a friend a few years ago...

• I think the book has some value for sure. The problem is that it just says "featuring Riri Williams", while #7 says "first appearance". the use of the phrase "first appearance" is what, in my opinion, really elevates the 3rd printing specifically

• I gave a Invincible Iron Man 1 Variant for 70 on Ebay, the person that brought it then sold it a few days later for 650

Since no one seems to mention this in these blogs, do you think census growth affects value? It may not be that the book is "less desirable" and may be simply that supply has met the demand.

In mid-2021 there were 1,125 first print 9.8s on the census and 233 9.6s.
Now there is 1,803 9.8s and 514 9.6s.

3rd print 9.8s had 234 and now there are over twice as many at 511. I also think the recently decreased value would reduce submissions which means there are probably quite a few more 9.8s candidate out there.

And lastly, the third print came out months after the release of issue #9. So even if the #7 1st print was her first appearance, the third print coming out months after her later appearances doesn't really make it more desireable IMO.

• So I think its actually probably a combination of both. As Steve M pointed out in his comment, the poor reception of some parts of Phase 4 has definitely chilled the market on many of the keys for newer heroes. And as you pointed out, supply increased significantly. So what likely happened is some combination of higher supply making the book more available and thus driving down the price AND investors pulling back from the character because of a general market chill on MCU books.
  
  Regarding the 3rd print coming out after issue 9, that is totally fair and I really think thats in the eye of the beholder. I know many people who think like you do and often regard subsequent printings as reprints and nothing more. Conversely, I also know people who just go with whichever printing has the best art. And finally I also know people who just like to collect rarer versions of books, which subsequent prints often are. There are a lot of different angles to the hobby

Values climbed initially due to investor faith that Marvel could craft excellent cinematic properties focused on the new generation of Marvel characters (e.g. Miles Morales, Riri, Ms Marvel). But with the disappointing Phase 4, that faith has dissipated. Skepticism is especially high for Riri as her comics never quite reached commercial success (or so I have been told). I own some of the early keys and plan to hold at current prices but am not sure I would buy.

• I think that skepticism is generally valid, as Phase 4 was certainly not received the way previous phases were. That being said, I think people may be jumping the gun a bit. Marvel is trying to do something never really attempted before - telling a continuous, interconnected narrative across both film and television. The odds of them getting that correct right off the bat were never high. Second, Marvel seems to have heard fan criticism and has said they are scaling back the quantity of content they will release for phases 5 and 6 in order to focus on quality. Third, fair point on the sales, but then again the same can be said for Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man, and a lot of other heroes. So I dont think we should be too quick to equate comic sales with how well a character will do in a show or movie. Lastly, there is a VERY LONG history of investment success when it comes to characters created by Brian Michael Bendis, both in general and regarding the MCU specifically.

Didn't realise that issue 7 3rd print came out after issue 9. People are doing their research. Therefore did issue 9 2nd print come out before issue 7 3rd print? Now theres a conumdrum, as many see issue 9 as the better ri-ri appearance....