Marvel UK comic help

[unionuk]

Hi,
I wonder if you could help? Cleaning out my old family home the last month, I came across my old Marvel comics (Spider-man, Avengers, Captain Britain, to name a few) all the uk versions from 1960's-1970's, also a few first editions.

Does anyone know the best place to sell these if they are in fact worth anything at all?

Many thanks in advance

[mattbib]

Hi,
I wonder if you could help? Cleaning out my old family home the last month, I came across my old Marvel comics (Spider-man, Avengers, Captain Britain, to name a few) all the uk versions from 1960's-1970's, also a few first editions.

Does anyone know the best place to sell these if they are in fact worth anything at all?

Many thanks in advanceBeing from the '60s and '70s they may actually have retained some value, but they're only worth what someone else is willing to pay. The best way to find out is to put them on eBay or search eBay to see what others have gotten as bids for the same issues.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

eBay's your best bet.

The Captain Britain issues, as with any original Marvel UK material, may be worth something to somebody.

If the others are UK reprints of US titles, they won't be worth very much. But you never know...

[Loki]

Hi,
I wonder if you could help? Cleaning out my old family home the last month, I came across my old Marvel comics (Spider-man, Avengers, Captain Britain, to name a few) all the uk versions from 1960's-1970's, also a few first editions.

Does anyone know the best place to sell these if they are in fact worth anything at all?

Many thanks in advance

Other than e-bay, there's a few places that sell British comics, and where you might try selling your old Marvel UK. As others have said, anything with non-reprint material has greater interest and thus more places willing to buy. Otherwise, you could try:

26Pigs, an online site that specialises in selling UK comics
http://www.26pigs.com/
The Book Palace, who specialise in UK comics (not sure if they'd be interested in Marvel UK, but you can ask)
http://www.bookpalace.com/
Thirtieth Century, who sell a lot of UK alongside their US stock. Again, might not be interested in Marvel UK, but no harm asking
http://www.thirtiethcentury.free-online.co.uk/

[The Confessor]

If the others are UK reprints of US titles, they won't be worth very much. But you never know...


I have to disagree with this statement a little bit, as far as I can tell, these sort of UK reprints are becoming more collectible all the time (especially amongst UK collectors – for obvious nostalgia reasons) and there's actually quite a burgeoning market out there for these mags.

Of course, the OP isn't gonna get fabulously wealthy from selling these comics, of course, but I've definitely seen a growth in their collectibility over the last 10 years.

As an aside, unionuk, there was a thread about these sort of 60s and 70s UK reprints in the Classic Comics Forum a while back, which you might find kind of useful. You can find that thread here...

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=244955

[The Sword Is Drawn]

I have to disagree with this statement a little bit, as far as I can tell, these sort of UK reprints are becoming more collectible all the time (especially amongst UK collectors – for obvious nostalgia reasons) and there's actually quite a burgeoning market out there for these mags.

I guess it really depends what we're talking about, here. Marvel Superheroes, The Daredevils, even Hulk Comic are all very collectible - but they did all include at least one original strip amongst them. Super Spider-Man (Pre-Super Spider-man & Captain Britain) not so much.

Yes, from a house style and editorial point of view the 70s, 80s and even early 90s reprint books are quite interesting, from a nostalgia point of view (And god knows I'm very into Marvel UK nostalgia as most people here are probably already aware :biggrin: )

But if we're talking about reprint titles from the majority of the 90s? No. Not so much. When Panini took over the remains of Marvel UK they went on reprinting quite a lot of material under the banner of Marvel, but even from a house style and editorial POV they're not terribly interesting. They're pretty much straight reprints of US material without adverts. That's all you're getting, bar a brief blurb about the contents inside the front cover and a letters page inside the back cover.

Very much a minimum effort for maximum profit deal. And it worked. Panini made quite a lot out of this, especially through the 90s "Collectors Editions" titles. The company has stayed buoyant enough that there are now able to collect trades of Death's Head, Knights of Pendragon, and Dragon's Claws - which is very much a good thing.

But if you've got a stack of Essential X-Men or Wolverine Unleashed piled up somewhere (As I actually have, come to think of it) don't expect it to be worth any more than you paid for it ten years ago.

[The Confessor]

But if we're talking about reprint titles from the majority of the 90s? No. Not so much.


No, my comments were exclusively about the black & white 1970s and 1980s Marvel UK reprints, rather than the 90s Panini comics. I've seen the prices of these old black & white re-prints steadily increase over the past 10 years...at least, I have on websites like Silveracre and Mile High Comics. I must admit that I've yet to see this translated into eBay prices...you can still pick them up pretty dirt cheap on eBay. I'm sure that will change though, as time goes on.


Edit: As an aside, I wonder who the biggest buyers of these comics are these days? I mean, I wonder who's buying them and driving the prices up? My money would be on UK collectors who grew up reading these comics but on the other hand, I've encountered two U.S collectors in the last 8 months or so, who are getting into collecting them.

[unionuk]

Thank you to everyone that took the time to reply.

I guess the reason why I didn’t go the go the ebay way so far is if you don't know how much something is worth if anything then you could easy lose out on ebay.

I guess I'm just a bit shocked that these original 1960's - 1970's issues are only worth a pound at the most.

Thank you all again for your help.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

No, my comments were exclusively about the black & white 1970s and 1980s Marvel UK reprints, rather than the 90s Panini comics. I've seen the prices of these old black & white re-prints steadily increase over the past 10 years...at least, I have on websites like Silveracre and Mile High Comics. I must admit that I've yet to see this translated into eBay prices...you can still pick them up pretty dirt cheap on eBay. I'm sure that will change though, as time goes on.

For US readers in particular I should imagine that these are particularly interesting. Especially those Hulk Comic issues and The Daredevils. Until this month those Captain Britain stories had never been reprinted in full outside of the UK. The Black knight & Captain Britain stories from Hulk comics still have not been collected stateside at all.


Edit: As an aside, I wonder who the biggest buyers of these comics are these days? I mean, I wonder who's buying them and driving the prices up? My money would be on UK collectors who grew up reading these comics but on the other hand, I've encountered two U.S collectors in the last 8 months or so, who are getting into collecting them.

I've spent a fair chunk of my adult life scouring comic book stores and eBay for the odd issue or three from my childhood, I have to admit. And have paid a fair bit to acquire them, in some cases. Entire series of a couple of Marvel UK titles, which I had shipped from the US on eBay. The nostalgia is a big thing for me. And I do think it's great if more US fans are doing the same. It helps ensure that Marvel UK doesn't get forgotten.

[The Confessor]

I guess I'm just a bit shocked that these original 1960's - 1970's issues are only worth a pound at the most.


Well, that's comics for ya!

I think that there's a lot of disinformation put out there about how much old comics are worth by the mainstream media...it's the same with old vinyl LPs actually. Consequently, the non-comic collecting public thinks that all old comics must be worth tons of money, which simply isn't the case. There are some comics that are worth astronomical amounts, sure, but by and large, old comics aren’t even worth cover price.

[The Confessor]

I've spent a fair chunk of my adult life scouring comic book stores and eBay for the odd issue or three from my childhood, I have to admit. And have paid a fair bit to acquire them, in some cases. Entire series of a couple of Marvel UK titles, which I had shipped from the US on eBay. The nostalgia is a big thing for me.


See, as a UK fan, I'm the other way. Sure, I used to read these black & white Marvel UK reprints growing up but once me and a friend discovered a local corner shop that sold proper U.S. comics (printed in colour!! :eek: ) in 1984, I never went back to the Marvel UK reprints. Since then, my collecting habits have been strictly for the original U.S. versions of those old classic tales.

Admittedly, it’s a bit different for those Marvel UK titles that were exclusive to the UK, but since I'm not a particularly big Captain Britain fan (that’s tantamount to treason, I know) I've never had a desire to buy up those old UK comics.

Having said that, I'm not immune to the nostalgic charm of those old Marvel UK re-prints. I do have a nice collection of 40 or so issues of Super Spider-Man and some other Marvel UK titles from the late-70s, many of which I used to own as a child. I picked them up dirt cheap at a jumble sale back in the 90s. For the price they were being offered at, I couldn't resist the chance to take a stroll down memory lane.

[unionuk]

Yes you are right about the information in the public totally wrong about how much things are worth, I recently looked into selling all my old Star Wars figures that I used to collect that are only worth about 25p than what I paid for them in the 1970's. I was shocked at 1 item which is an Obi Wan with a club foot...yes you heard right, thought that would have been worth a mint, didnt think too many of them would have escaped the factory. Guess I collected the wrong items when I was a kid!

[The Confessor]

I was shocked at 1 item which is an Obi Wan with a club foot...yes you heard right, thought that would have been worth a mint, didnt think too many of them would have escaped the factory.


I'm sorry, I just got to clarify this....Obi-Wan Kenobi with a club foot??!! :confused:
Do you mean a figure with a badly molded, damaged foot or are we talking about a proper Obi-Wan Kenobi figure with a club-foot here?! :eek:

Maybe Kenner were looking to do a whole series of disabled Star Wars figures? Blind Princess Leia, Osteoarthritic Han Solo, Amputee Chewbacca, Paraplegic Luke Skywalker...the list could go on and on. :biggrin:

[unionuk]

Ha Ha I love the idea of those figures, but yes it is just badly molded but one foot it alot 'taller' than the other one.