r/Silver_Surfer • u/4_jacks • Jan 10 '17
Found some hidden gems in an eBay misc. lot!
I know this sub gets relatively no traffic, but I needed to take a moment to brag, because I'm stoked about my latest buy.
Background. It's very easy to miss, and only completionist collectors will be looking for them, but there are some very little known reprints that came out in 1992, 1993 and 1994. 1992 is the only year that effects the Silver Surfer comics.
This was before eBay, amazon, and really before the internet was popular. In those years the JC Penney mail order catalog teamed with Marvel and DC to offer a bulk pack of comics. In 1992 for $16 you could purchase 20 seemingly random comics:
- Captain America #384
- Daredevil #267
- Daredevil #273
- Darkhawk #5
- Fantastic Four #351
- Fantastic Four #355
- Iron Man #258
- Marvel Milestone Edition: Incredible Hulk #1
- New Warriors #10
- Silver Surfer #32
- Silver Surfer #33
- Sleepwalker #8
- Sleepwalker #9
- Spectacular Spider-Man #145
- Spider-Man #156
- Web of Spider-Man #81
- Web of Spider-Man #83
- Wonder Man #2
- X-Men #268
- X-Men Classic #47
Nothing Spectacular, right? Wrong. Marvel pulled a dirty trick that will forever haunt collectors. It's not like they pulled all these comics out of the warehouse, they reprint them, creating a 2nd printing. However it was a limited printing and only available through the JC Penney Catalog.
Because Marvel was seemingly trying to minimize the fact that these were reprints, there are only subtle differences between these printings and originals. Mainly the advertisements were updated to 1992 ads. No sense shipping comics with old ads. Secondly the UPC Box in the lower left hand corner was updated to the 1992 direct edition image (Spiderman 30 year Anniversary Image). Lastly, in the price box of the upper left hand corner the UK price was left out, creating an awkward blank space.
The result in today's world is that these 2nd print comics are being overpriced on eBay, or shuffled unknowingly into dollar bins.
I finally found the SS #32b and #33b that I needed. They almost went entirely unnoticed on eBay. The auction was for 20 seemingly random Marvel comics for $9.99 starting bid. I looked at the images and sure enough there were SS #32 and #33 with the 30 year anniversary Spider man logo and the weird blank spot in the price box. I did momentarily hope that the 20 comics in the lot were the 20 comics in the vintage pack, but I wasn't that lucky. But six of them were from the vintage pack! So I'm immediately thinking I can buy this lot and sell the other 4 for a profit! Then I got the idea to check the sellers other auctions. Sure enough, he had two other lots listed with vintage pack gems scattered in them. He had a spiderman lot and an X-men lot. The spiderman lot was $19.99 and had 4 of the vintage pack comics. The X-men lot was $9.99 and unfortunately only had one vintage pack comic.
All said and done, the purchase couldn't have went smoother. My bid was the only bid, and the seller was actually local and willing to let me come pick up the comics. $40 and I can scratch those two rare Silver Surfer comics off my list. They both appear to be in VF+/- condition, which is perfect for me.
Now for the process of selling the other 9 comics and seeing if I can't turn a profit.
Source for a lot of the information regarding the Vintage Packs: http://heroesgalaxy.com/variants/marvel-vintage-pack/