Collectors Dashboard has been unable to not focus on all the news around Spider-Man. With the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home, the first appearance of Spider-Man in the Amazing Fantasy #15 just saw an all-time record price for all comic books at $3.6 million. What is more interesting is that the lower grade issues, which are more available and “affordable” to high-end comic book collectors, are seeing their prices explode higher.

Changes are now being felt by collectors and investors after the September CGC 9.6 sale. That CGC 9.6 elevated the price for every condition of the comic. Spider-Man passed Superman in price and we wanted to evaluate the ripple effects from the permanent change that has come to the comic book market.

The website GoCollect.com had previously listed a value for a 9.6 example of $1,600,000. The theoretical value of a 9.8 example, which isn’t even known to exist, was $2,300,000 at the time. This auction price now alters all prior estimates, and GoCollect had even later raised the theoretical value to $2.7 million for a 9.8 grade and a $1.75 million for a 9.6 grade. A CGC 9.8 does not exist but the new theoretical value according to GoCollect.com is $8,800,000. (Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

Why the lifting-up effect is so interesting is that there are an estimated 3,472 total graded examples of Amazing Fantasy #15. And for rare Golden Age and Silver Age comic books, having nearly 3,500 graded examples just is not that scarce at all. It turns out that besting Action Comic #1 for the first intro to Superman has been a serious money-maker for Spider-Man comic book owners.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means collectibles are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds. When you get into tens of thousands or millions of dollars, this is undeniably an investment even if it’s not a stock or bond. Collectors with a passion to own a collectible for years are now frequently have to compete directly against investors whose only desire is to make a profit in the future.

Here are some current offerings of Amazing Fantasy #15:

Comic Connect lists a CGC 1.8 for $21,000.00 with 34 bids and 12 days left on the auction  The website also lists three other opportunities at the issue. This is an issue which it now describes as once bought the owner only needs to just sit back and watch the value grow. The three issues in question are an ungraded example listed as follows:

• FA: 1.0 for a buy it now price of $24,500.00,
• a CGC 2.5 with 15 offers made the highest being $20,000.00 and a buy it now price listed for $33,500.00,
• and a CGC 7.0 with a 15% buyers premium added at the conclusion of the sale.

The CGC 7.0 has a starting bid of $1.00 with an auction date that has yet to be determined, which means this price is not yet determined either. With the surge in popularity of the issue it could be speculated that Comic Connect is waiting for the other sales to be completed.

Did you ever consider that some individual examples of comics can have their own DNA? A CGC 0.5 with exact matching CGC serial numbers was sold twice on eBay over the last 100 days or so. The first time was July 3, 2021 for $9,488.00 after 16 bids. The second time the exact same serial numbered encapsulation was on September 6, 2021 for $10,099.99 after 35 bids. And for a reference, the record $3.6 million Heritage Auctions sale was on September 9, 2021.

The Amazing Fantasy #15, which we would consider to be “the Silver Age equivalent to Action Comic #1 of the Golden Age” has these eBay sales currently listed:

• CGC 1.0 for a buy it now price $25,950.00
• CGC 1.5 for a buy it now price of $36,995.00
• CBCS 2.5 Restored with a buy it now price of $25,999.00
• CGC 1.5 with a buy it now price of $34,995.00
• CGC 2.5 Signature Series signed by Stan Lee with a buy it now price of $34,999.00

And to prove that the demand is there, one comic that was in very poor condition was even dismantled and its pages sold individually. That is taking fractional ownership to an extreme. Page one of Amazing Fantasy #15 has a buy it now price of $7,500.00. Graded by CGC as PG which stands for page.

With the attention of the first appearance of Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15, there needs to be at least some interest given to the Amazing Spider-Man #1 which was published and released shortly after Amazing Fantasy #15. Collectors Dashboard found three identical graded examples of The Amazing Spider-Man #1 that were sold through Heritage Auctions:

• CGC 6 sold on July 18, 2021 for $26,400.00 after 22 bids
• CGC 6 sold on September 9, 2021 for $26,400.00 after 48 bids
• CGC 5.5 sold on June 7, 2021 for $20,400.00 after 31 bids
• CGC 5.5 sold on August 9, 2021 for $10,500.00 after 21 bids
• CGC 5.0 sold on September 5, 2021 for $24,000.00 after 23 bids
• CGC 5.0 sold on September 11, 2021 for $22,200.00 after 32 bids

(Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

What can be surmised from the sales above is that the interest went up for The Amazing Spider-Man #1 based on bidding activity recorded after the September 9, 2021 sale of Amazing Fantasy #15. The price realized to the investor stayed the same or even went down on some comparable sales. That said, GoCollect lists many higher prices above $145,000 for the CGC grades up at 9.0 and higher.

Perhaps most telling is the trend of single page sales from Amazing Fantasy #15 after the $3.6 million highest price paid sale. September 19, 2021 after 42 bids eBay sold the first page of the Amazing Fantasy #15 issue. A partial page that was graded by CGC 0.5 and sold for $1,017.00. Buckle up for the changes of price for Amazing Spider-Man #15. Collectors Dashboard will be here to find out the realized prices of the most sought after Silver Age comic.