Expert: Mark Harmon - 2/12/2009

Question
I PURCHASED THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN OBAMA COMIC, 1ST PRINT VARIANT, FOR $99.00, BECAUSE I WAS SEEING IT SELL FOR MUCH MORE ON EBAY...SO I WANTED TO KNOW IF THIS WILL ACTUALLY BE WORTH SOMETHING LATER ON, SINCE SUPPOSEDLY IT'S ALREADY SELLING AS A COLLECTORS ITEM NOW. I'M GETTING MIXED FEEDBACK, ABOUT IT BEING WORTH SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE, TO NOT BEING WORTH MORE THAN IT WAS AT THE BEGINNING?  THANKS FOR ANY CLARIFICATION!

Answer
Hi Carol,

Based on past experience with "hot" comics, I would say that it's most likely at/near it's highest peak right now.  Once the 2nd, 3rd, etc. prints hit the market, the demand for the 1st print will drop.  In many cases I've noticed that comics that sold for high dollar values the first month or so after they came out can be found 6-12 months later for around their original cover price.

I'm not saying that that will be the case with your particular comic, just that it has happened before.  Because it is a 1st print variant, there should always be a demand for it in the collector's market.  If you are able to keep it in Near Mint condition, 10-15 years down the road it may even sell for more than what you paid for it.  For the near term though, I would suspect that by the time Summer rolls around, the price on that issue will have come down.

Hope this helps.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.

- Mark