Expert: Brian G. Philbin - 11/29/2005

Question
Hi,

I have a Sons of Origins of Marvel Comics/ Origins of Marvel Comics combined set. It has the origional box to keep the two books together. The origional price is marked on the top left corner of $13.95. I was wondering how much it is worth today. I have been looking, but can only find one book or the other. Not both of them together in a box set. The books are both paperback. Can you help me find the value? Thank you for your time in reading this.

Megan Zerbe

Answer
Hi, Megan,

Thanks for your question!

You may note on the inside cover of either book, it will indicate that this is not necessarily a first printing and that this set is not from 1974, but a reprint of the two books.

There is no current price guide for what are referred to as "Trade Paperback" comic-related books, so it is difficult to indicate any type of value whatsoever.

However, a price guide is, quite simply, a guess at what the current market will bear nationwide. You can actually find this out by monitoring eBay.com for a few months and finding a similar item in order to get an idea of what value it might hold to collectors.

Demand determines appropriate market value. It's all about finding the right "audience".  

Also, condition is very important and the better condition, the better the likelihood of garnering a better price for it.  At the moment, however, such an item may not bring any more than, say, $20.00 - $30.00.  But that's just an educated guess.

If you decide to sell your book on, say, eBay, you may need to list the book more distinctly in order to get the desired response. It the form that you indicated above, I wouldn't be able to necessarily find this set, so it would eliminate your listing and I wouldn't find it in an eBay search.  Look at the publishing page to get all of the information on each book (including the ISBN - International Standard Book Number - which some folks actually use online).

There are several tricks to putting an item up for bid on eBay and you should look at the comics and trade paperbacks (TPBs) getting the biggest bids any how they are "marketed" on eBay, i.e., how the reserve is set or whether it advertises "no reserve", whether there is a big minimum bid or not, etc.

I hope that this is helpful - let me know if there is anything further I can help you with.

Pax, harmonia,

Brian G. Philbin
www.metropolis1.net/comics