Expert: Justin Case - 2/13/2009

Question
QUESTION: HI, I JUST RECEIVED A COPY OF THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN FIRST PRINT.  IT'S ALREADY GOING FOR AROUND $140.00 ON EBAY, SO IS THAT A GOOD INDICATOR THAT IT WILL BE WORTH MORE IN THE FUTURE?  I'M GETTING MIXED FEEDBACK, SOME PEOPLE ARE SAYING IT'S HYPE AND THAT IF YOU WANT ANY MONEY, TO SELL IT OFF NOW BEFORE IT DIES DOWN, AND IS WORTH NO MORE THAN IT'S COVER PRICE.  OTHERS ARE SAYING TOTALLY THE OPPOSITE, AND I'M NOT A COMIC BOOK COLLECTOR TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF TO HOLD ON TO MY COPY, OR SELL IT?  THANKS FOR ANY CLARIFICATION ON THE SUBJECT!

ANSWER: Hi Carol -

Can you tell me the issue number?  If you can't find it shoot me back an e-mail and maybe I can get you to take a picture of the issue and I might be able to figure it out.

Amazing Spiderman was a series with upwards of 200 issues so I'd need to know which one you had in order to zero in on a value.

Generally with a comic like Spiderman the value will not go down in the future and you probably won't end up selling it for cover price.  Other cancelled series' or ones that were very unpopular during their production run sometimes have that happen to them, but with a character like Spiderman you're generally okay.

See if you can get that issue number or let me know and I'll see what we can figure out for you.

Thanks!

Deran

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I'm sorry I completely forgot to mention the most important part...It is the Amazing Spider-Man #583 Barack Obama Variant 1st PRINT. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Carol -

Awesome!  Don't let anyone fool you at all that is DEFINITELY a comic that will only appreciate in value, particularly since you have a first print.

Marvel is up to something like the fifth printing on that particular issue and previous prints are going for upwards of $200.00 on eBay.

If it was me I'd hold on to that, comics with particular historical poignancy rarely, if ever, depreciate in value and, depending on the events of the Obama presidency, the value may even show dramatic increases in the future.

Generally Spider-Man comics hold their value pretty well anyway, without showing a reduction (unless they are really, really bad condition), so go ahead and keep hold of it.

Let me know if you have any other questions and congratulations on getting that, I can't even find a 5th printing in my hometown!

Thanks!

Deran