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FROM “F.O.M.O.” (FEAR OF MISSING OUT) to F.O.L.M. (FEAR OF LOSING MORE)

By Angelo Virone — Cover price variant collector and historian (Contact by email), October 2024

2024 has been a banner year when it comes to scandals with a 3rd party grading company known as CGC, which still sting investors and collectors to this day.


A young Bill Alexander. Bill passed away unexpectedly in July.
This market report and the 2025 edition of our guide are dedicated to the memory and legacy of Bill Alexander, an Overstreet advisor and co-founder of the CPV price guide. Bill recently passed away unexpectedly and will be missed by collectors and advisors alike who thoroughly enjoyed his passionate reports and findings. I recall the numerous communications we had discussing the comic book market and specifically our beloved Canadian Newsstand Price Variants for the better part of the last seven years. However subtle, I find it ironic and touching that Bill’s perspective on the state of the CPV market does appear as I type this report. May his soul rest in peace.

The overall market for comics has declined again over the last 52 weeks with the exception of a number of select high-profile key issues in grades that rarely go on sale. This market report is simply a continuation of the one I wrote last year. The only difference is that prices have dragged lower and for longer than predicted. Click the link to read last year’s report: Is It Time to Stop Looking and Start Buying?

We’ve gone from F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out) during the pandemic to F.O.L.M. (Fear of Losing More) post pandemic. Given the scarcity of CPV’s, it only takes a handful of sellers fearing valuations will continue declining, hence they auction-off more books attempting to stay one step ahead of the market. Consequently, this turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy, spiraling into a domino effect for the market in general. However, the silver lining in a market that overshoots to lower prices is that it also becomes a fantastic buying opportunity! The difficult part is figuring out when we hit that low (or are at least close to it)? And how long will we stay there before a rebound occurs?

Wolverine Limited Series #4 CPV
2024 has been a banner year when it comes to scandals with a 3rd party grading company known as CGC, which still sting investors and collectors to this day. In last year’s report, I questioned what was going on with quality control at CGC, believing that many slabbed 9.9’s and 10’s did not reflect their true grades. There was a Wolverine Limited #4 CPV in CGC 9.9 that sold at auction last year for $9377 that, when held in hand, displayed visible creases on the white section of the back cover. Interestingly enough, no creases were noticeable when viewing pics provided by the online auction site. Shortly after this sale, CGC got slack from the comic book community for pushing 9.9’s as a future potential pre-screen category. Many investors are shying away from (or offering lower bids for) these grades, with prices now self-correcting lower with each passing auction. Within the last 52 weeks, CGC was further scrutinized and lost credibility with multiple scandals hitting the comic book world (i.e., Reholder scandal, Employee scandal, Bend gate scandal). In a nutshell, buyers beware: look carefully at the condition of a book in a slab before purchasing!

In my opinion, there are at least 3 ways of looking at whether or not an investor should buy, hold or sell Canadian Newsstand Price Variants at the time of this writing (Autumn 2024).

  1. If prices DECLINE further after reading this report, buying great books that drop substantially may help lower the medium average cost, however we do not know how low prices may fall
    - THIS POSES A HIGHER RISK

  2. If prices remain STABLE after reading this report, there’s a case the bottom is already in
    - THIS POSES A LOWER RISK

  3. If prices INCREASE after reading this report, averages are increasing so you are in the green
    - THIS POSES A LOWER RISK

Are there tell-tale signs pointing to any one direction? I believe there are!

• 1st SIGN

I see a number of CPV issues selling for the same price as their direct or US Newsstand counterpart.
(THIS POSES A LOWER RISK because the scarcity of a CPV should get a premium but was not factored in).

• 2nd SIGN

A number of CPV’s dropped to pre-pandemic values, while other issues remained resilient from declining despite numerous copies of the same issues selling.
(THIS POSES A LOWER RISK because the self-correction ‘MAY’ have already occurred for the less than desirable books now selling below $100 in 9.8 CGC white, while forming a new floor for those in higher demand. The million-dollar question is how long will we remain in this state?)

• 3rd SIGN

The market decline is not isolated to CPV’s, which is a good sign. However, this reminds me of the famous analogy that the baby is being thrown out with the bath water — similar to the 1990’s comic book market decline.
(THIS POSES A HIGHER RISK because the selling may not be completely over, but I do feel the bottom is very close indeed).

• 4th SIGN

I can think of a few dozen sought out CPV’s that are really scarce to find in 9.8 reaching record prices during this down market in 2024 (i.e., Spectacular Spider-Man #99 CGC 9.8 $1500; Batman #408 CGC 9.8 $1,500; Back to The Future #1 (Harvey) CGC 9.8 $1,350; Archie’s Girls #321 CGC 9.8 $900, etc.…).
(THIS POSES A LOWER RISK because collectors and investors are still bidding up books when scarcity meets demand, while shying away from lower grades and non-key issues).

IN SUMMARY:

3 of the 4 signs are signaling a ‘lower risk’ and one sign signals a ‘higher risk’. Percentage-wise that would equate to a score of 75/100. The pendulum therefore seems to indicate we are closer to a bottom price-wise. However, this stagnant state might persist longer than anticipated. Another factor that will drag prices somewhat lower (or at best stagnant) is the holiday season which is in now full swing. 2024 is an election year in the USA and another is coming in 2025 for Canada; the state of the world economy is getting weaker; wars are expanding around the world and ballooning the cost of living despite the lowering of interest rates. The constant reminder that a global recession is looming provides amazing opportunities for the next bull run if you invest in the right books at the right grades and at the right time in 2024 and 2025.

I know readers want to know which CPV books investors are chasing, and in my humble opinion I still think books that drop significantly in the top 100 make fantastic investments! These are books that have been tested and desired by many. However, keep in mind that some of these books may not make the list from one year to the next, so be wise with what you buy and how much you pay.

Personally, I’m still running after CPV magazines that I’m either missing or trying to upgrade. Some that come to mind are Vampirella #100-113, etc.…

Vampirella #100 CPV Vampirella #112 CPV Vampirella #113 CPV

I’m also chasing nostalgic books and 1st appearances of characters to be made into new franchises, movie sequels or television series that either lost value or hold lots of promise for future price appreciation.

Here are just a few pictured examples selected from the above list:

Creepy #113 CPV Creepy #145 CPV Creepy #146 CPV
G.I. Joe #21 CPV Saga of the Swamp Thing #37 CPV Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer #1 CPV
Spectacular Spider-Man #98 CPV Spectacular Spider-Man #99 CPV Spectacular Spider-Man #100 CPV
Detective Comics #576 CPV Detective Comics #577 CPV Detective Comics #578 CPV
Blip #2 CPV Blip #5 CPV Blip #7 CPV
Blip #1 CPV Transformers #1 CPV Saga of the Swamp Thing #25 CPV
Saga of the Swamp Thing #20 CPV Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 CPV Swamp Thing #49 CPV
Swamp Thing #50 CPV Beetlejuice #1 CPV Care Bears #1 CPV

A big thank you to my colleagues who worked diligently on the 2025 CPV price guide (Tim Bildhauser, Paul Clairmont, Greg Holland, Jon McClure, Salvatore Miceli, Jayden Mitchell, Conan Saunders and Doug Sulipa). Huge thanks as well to our two outside guest contributors of articles this year, David Greer who wrote Light Musings of a Native CPV Guy and David Pietila who wrote LEGO/DC Bionicle Comic Series Canadian Price Variants. And a big shoutout to Benjamin Nobel, a multitalented individual leading this guide as the project organizer.

Again, another big thank you to GPAnalysis for contributing their CPV sales data! If you are not subscribed, do so to remain updated with trends and prices at www.GPAnalysis.com. Last but not least, thanks to you the readers, experts, dealers in Canada, USA and abroad. The greater CPV community via Instagram, Facebook, CGC and CBCS Boards, etc…! We thank you so much for this year’s suggestions, corrections, insights and sharing your CNPV sales behind the scenes.

In Conclusion:

Rule #1: Buy ‘QUALITY’ books in the highest grade you can reasonably afford as opposed to buying ‘QUANTITY’ in lower grades when ‘INVESTING’ in Canadian Newsstand Price Variants!
Rule #2: Don’t forget RULE #1.

Angelo Virone

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The information within CPVPriceGuide.com is presented on a best-efforts basis, but none of the included information is guaranteed to be free of error and therefore you should use this guide only as one tool among your comics research tool-belt, and you should verify information with other sources before acting. Please read the full methodology & guide usage information. Our latest price guide edition of our comprehensive guide to Canadian Price Variant comics is the 2021 Edition, published December 2020.