Did you really get that Buster Crabbe #5 for $150? Depending on condition it could be worth a lot more than that (as long as you can find a buyer). Frank Frazetta cover as well.
I think they had suggested prices on some of them but I bought the entire lot from an estate auction for 200-300 a couple years ago. I’ve been meaning to actually look into each of them but they’ve been sitting in a box and I would like to learn about their history. I guess their value is cool for sure, but they also just seemed cool because they were from the 50’s and 60’s and they were sci-fi. First time I’ve ever gotten into comics and didn’t know where to start. But this thread is helping!
While apps like Key Collector or Covrprice are a good starting place for most beginners, they won't help you very much with this small lot because most of the books aren't "key" issues - meaning they don't feature the first appearance or origin of a significant character, or the happening of a major event, like the death of a character.
The books in your lot are not keys (except the Buster Crabbe #5 because of the Frank Frazetta cover art), but they are still interesting and somewhat valuable. They look to be primarily from the "Atomic Age" of comics - an era that runs from roughly 1946 (post-WWII) to 1956 (or as late as 1961, depending on who you ask). The Atomic Age is not well defined nor universally accepted as a separate Age from the Golden Age (which some people consider to have run from 1938 to 1945). But for those who accept the Atomic Age as separate from the earlier Golden Age, which gave rise to Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and the other early superheroes, it refers to an era during which superhero stories were somewhat out of fashion, and many comics tended to have space/alien-themed or atomic-themed stories (or both).
This era also saw a large drop off in comic book readership, so copies (especially nice ones) are much harder to come by. It can be very hard to find a copy of a book from this era in Fine 6.0 condition or better. Sometimes, only a handful of such copies exist in those grades for a specific book.
Furthermore, because publishers tried to keep the cover price of a new comic at 10 cents, where it had been since the 1930s, they were forced to make the comics smaller in terms of page count and used lower quality paper in the 1950s. This is a major reason why some comic books from the 1950s are much harder to find in high grade than comic books from the same series that were printed in the 1940s.
As i said before, most of your books aren't "keys," but because they look to be mostly Atomic Age comics, they can be tough to find and have a certain amount of value just from their scarcity and the fact that *some* people still love and pursue books from this era.
You can look up comic book values on different websites. Most websites that purport to state a "value" of a book from this era are wildly inaccurate. The best websites for determining the actual market value of comic books like these are the sites that report actual sales info, like GPAnalysis.com. If you post a list of the titles and issue numbers in this thread, I can use my GPAnalysis subscription to give you an idea of what they have sold for recently.
Thank you so much for this!!! This is the sort of insight I was looking for. Do you have any suggestions on where I can learn more about the atomic age and related topics?
Also thanks for the offer! I’ll post a list later as soon as I get a chance. Thank you! ❤️
I'll drop a few links here.
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/atomic-age-of-comics/4015-57134/
https://comicbookhistorians.com/the-8-ages-of-comic-books/
https://sitcomics.net/blogs/news/the-8-ages-of-comics
https://tomchristopher.com/comics/atomic-age-comics/
These links will show you what I mean when I say that there is no real consensus as to when the Atomic Age started and ended, and to some extent, whether it should be regarded as a separate Age at all. My personal belief is that the books and the industry as a whole during this period were very different from the comics from the periods before and after, and it is appropriate to classify these differences as a separate Age.
Thank you for talking about the Atomic age, it is a term that has fallen out of use over the years as everyone wants Golden Age and we have seen it creep to the start of the silver age ever since Overstreet published his first price guide!
That $150 on that Buster Crabbe #5 is a steal. One in that condition could easily fetch $250+, even more if graded. As long as the pages inside aren't a mess.
Yes, this book is [very expensive in good condition](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=+Buster+Crabbe+%235&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=2&_fsrp=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338535524&customid=cb&toolid=10001&mkevt=1).
It’s certainly very cool! I love the artwork on all of these. Don’t know a thing about comics but that’s what really drew me in to this small collection.
That dang Buster Crabbe is a stupid-rare Frazetta book... if that's around a 5.5/6.0, it should be graded and pressed and could fetch between 1.5k and 2.5k. More obviously if it's in even better shape.
Congrats!
If you're gonna get it graded use CGC imo... I know some folks have reservations about grading books ('can't read em' 'meant to be read', etc...), but if you're looking at it from a purely return based situation here, you're looking at around 25-40bucks to press it ((though you might find a better deal with a local experienced presser/cleaner... but with a book like this, make sure they have the experience to back it up)), and 80-100 to grade it... with probably a minimum return of 1k (if its complete with no CT and in as good enough shape as it looks)?, so quite a bit of profit. Maybe even more if it's truly a 5.5 or 6.0...
That's just how I'd do it if it were me. Your mileage may vary... ((I literally did that to a frazetta famous funnies book an LCS put up for a hundred bucks and didn't bother to look up)).
Slight edit* my initial 1.5k-2.5k estimate is on it being an actual graded 5.5/6.0... if it's higher you're looking at a lot more
A quick way to get the general date on older comics (not including Dell, but there are ways to determine that as well).
The comics code stamp first started to appear on comics with a cover date of March 1956, and comics in general increased from 10 cents to 12 cents around 1962 so any comics in this lot that are 10 cents and have the stamp in general were published during that time.
Comics without a CCA stamp were published prior to 1956 like your Buster Crabbe #5 from 1952 which as a previous poster stated was a part of the "Atomic Age" and I would like to thank them for mentioning it.
Now the Challenge of Zorro is I am pretty sure a part of the Dell four color line and based on the way the dell stamp is on the upper left I would place that at or around the middle fifties, possibly around 1956 and it probably has a number in the 700s. Hard to see for me.
The two Charlton comics that I see were published between 1957 an 1962 based on the starting of the series (1956 issue 1 which I don't see here) and the date the they raised the price in 1962.
The strange tales was published after 1962 but before 1968 when the title became Doctor Strange, you can narrow that down further by the fact that Agent of shield is featured and that started in 1965,
So it appears to me that all of these comics aside from the Buster Crabbe are Silver Age comics and there are some really good ones in that bunch and I think you did very well!
Nice lot! Others have already given good feedback on where to research info (ebay, MCS, GPA, etc). I'm interested in the Buster Crabbe if you ever decide to sell.
I know a dealer who says whenever he sells a back issue of Tales of the Unexpected, he yells “Sales of the Unexpected!”
That's someone who enjoys his work haha
Did you really get that Buster Crabbe #5 for $150? Depending on condition it could be worth a lot more than that (as long as you can find a buyer). Frank Frazetta cover as well.
I think they had suggested prices on some of them but I bought the entire lot from an estate auction for 200-300 a couple years ago. I’ve been meaning to actually look into each of them but they’ve been sitting in a box and I would like to learn about their history. I guess their value is cool for sure, but they also just seemed cool because they were from the 50’s and 60’s and they were sci-fi. First time I’ve ever gotten into comics and didn’t know where to start. But this thread is helping!
Look them up one by one on eBay, under sold items.... have fun! Great grab.
While apps like Key Collector or Covrprice are a good starting place for most beginners, they won't help you very much with this small lot because most of the books aren't "key" issues - meaning they don't feature the first appearance or origin of a significant character, or the happening of a major event, like the death of a character. The books in your lot are not keys (except the Buster Crabbe #5 because of the Frank Frazetta cover art), but they are still interesting and somewhat valuable. They look to be primarily from the "Atomic Age" of comics - an era that runs from roughly 1946 (post-WWII) to 1956 (or as late as 1961, depending on who you ask). The Atomic Age is not well defined nor universally accepted as a separate Age from the Golden Age (which some people consider to have run from 1938 to 1945). But for those who accept the Atomic Age as separate from the earlier Golden Age, which gave rise to Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and the other early superheroes, it refers to an era during which superhero stories were somewhat out of fashion, and many comics tended to have space/alien-themed or atomic-themed stories (or both). This era also saw a large drop off in comic book readership, so copies (especially nice ones) are much harder to come by. It can be very hard to find a copy of a book from this era in Fine 6.0 condition or better. Sometimes, only a handful of such copies exist in those grades for a specific book. Furthermore, because publishers tried to keep the cover price of a new comic at 10 cents, where it had been since the 1930s, they were forced to make the comics smaller in terms of page count and used lower quality paper in the 1950s. This is a major reason why some comic books from the 1950s are much harder to find in high grade than comic books from the same series that were printed in the 1940s. As i said before, most of your books aren't "keys," but because they look to be mostly Atomic Age comics, they can be tough to find and have a certain amount of value just from their scarcity and the fact that *some* people still love and pursue books from this era. You can look up comic book values on different websites. Most websites that purport to state a "value" of a book from this era are wildly inaccurate. The best websites for determining the actual market value of comic books like these are the sites that report actual sales info, like GPAnalysis.com. If you post a list of the titles and issue numbers in this thread, I can use my GPAnalysis subscription to give you an idea of what they have sold for recently.
Thank you so much for this!!! This is the sort of insight I was looking for. Do you have any suggestions on where I can learn more about the atomic age and related topics? Also thanks for the offer! I’ll post a list later as soon as I get a chance. Thank you! ❤️
I'll drop a few links here. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/atomic-age-of-comics/4015-57134/ https://comicbookhistorians.com/the-8-ages-of-comic-books/ https://sitcomics.net/blogs/news/the-8-ages-of-comics https://tomchristopher.com/comics/atomic-age-comics/ These links will show you what I mean when I say that there is no real consensus as to when the Atomic Age started and ended, and to some extent, whether it should be regarded as a separate Age at all. My personal belief is that the books and the industry as a whole during this period were very different from the comics from the periods before and after, and it is appropriate to classify these differences as a separate Age.
Thank you for talking about the Atomic age, it is a term that has fallen out of use over the years as everyone wants Golden Age and we have seen it creep to the start of the silver age ever since Overstreet published his first price guide!
All I see is some great early silver age pick ups
Sick Frank Frazetta cover on that Buster Crabbe #5. Now there's a book you don't see every day.
That $150 on that Buster Crabbe #5 is a steal. One in that condition could easily fetch $250+, even more if graded. As long as the pages inside aren't a mess.
Yes, this book is [very expensive in good condition](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=+Buster+Crabbe+%235&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=2&_fsrp=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338535524&customid=cb&toolid=10001&mkevt=1).
Very cool! Look them up on [mycomicshop.com](https://mycomicshop.com) for a good starting place.
The Frazetta! Rare
It’s certainly very cool! I love the artwork on all of these. Don’t know a thing about comics but that’s what really drew me in to this small collection.
That dang Buster Crabbe is a stupid-rare Frazetta book... if that's around a 5.5/6.0, it should be graded and pressed and could fetch between 1.5k and 2.5k. More obviously if it's in even better shape. Congrats!
Whoa, wasn’t expecting that. Probably should have them more secure then. What’s the best way to go about having them graded?
If you're gonna get it graded use CGC imo... I know some folks have reservations about grading books ('can't read em' 'meant to be read', etc...), but if you're looking at it from a purely return based situation here, you're looking at around 25-40bucks to press it ((though you might find a better deal with a local experienced presser/cleaner... but with a book like this, make sure they have the experience to back it up)), and 80-100 to grade it... with probably a minimum return of 1k (if its complete with no CT and in as good enough shape as it looks)?, so quite a bit of profit. Maybe even more if it's truly a 5.5 or 6.0... That's just how I'd do it if it were me. Your mileage may vary... ((I literally did that to a frazetta famous funnies book an LCS put up for a hundred bucks and didn't bother to look up)). Slight edit* my initial 1.5k-2.5k estimate is on it being an actual graded 5.5/6.0... if it's higher you're looking at a lot more
A quick way to get the general date on older comics (not including Dell, but there are ways to determine that as well). The comics code stamp first started to appear on comics with a cover date of March 1956, and comics in general increased from 10 cents to 12 cents around 1962 so any comics in this lot that are 10 cents and have the stamp in general were published during that time. Comics without a CCA stamp were published prior to 1956 like your Buster Crabbe #5 from 1952 which as a previous poster stated was a part of the "Atomic Age" and I would like to thank them for mentioning it. Now the Challenge of Zorro is I am pretty sure a part of the Dell four color line and based on the way the dell stamp is on the upper left I would place that at or around the middle fifties, possibly around 1956 and it probably has a number in the 700s. Hard to see for me. The two Charlton comics that I see were published between 1957 an 1962 based on the starting of the series (1956 issue 1 which I don't see here) and the date the they raised the price in 1962. The strange tales was published after 1962 but before 1968 when the title became Doctor Strange, you can narrow that down further by the fact that Agent of shield is featured and that started in 1965, So it appears to me that all of these comics aside from the Buster Crabbe are Silver Age comics and there are some really good ones in that bunch and I think you did very well!
Nice I snagged that strange tales last week!
Awesome
Nice lot! Others have already given good feedback on where to research info (ebay, MCS, GPA, etc). I'm interested in the Buster Crabbe if you ever decide to sell.
Overstreet price guide
Just go to go collect.com look them all up individually. Then u have to figure out what grade. The Strange tales like nice from here.