Magnus Robot Fighter 1 CGC 9.2 - $3600

[nycjadie]

Might this be a record?

https://comics.ha.com/itm/silver-age-19 ... dofauction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[greg]

Definitely a record. A CGC 9.4 sold for $2,126 in 2012... nothing higher before now.

[magnus20009]

The buyer got a good deal at $3,600 for it in 9.2 Had I been following the auction I likely would have beat that bid and sold my 9.0

I paid $3,275 for my Magnus 1 in CGC 9.0 in the Comiclink Auction that closed September 5, 2018. That was the auction that had almost a full run of Magnus 1-28 in CGC 9.0 or better.

[greg]

Thanks for that info. Comiclink doesn't report to GPAnalysis.com

[magnus20009]

If you want more data here are the results from 16 of the roughly 28 Magnus books that were in the CGC auction. ComicLink only saves the items I won so I no longer have a record of the auctions I bid on and lost.

$3,275 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #1, CGC 9.0 VFNM
$480 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #3, CGC 9.2 NM-
$111 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #5, CGC 8.5 VF+
$161 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #6, CGC 9.2 NM-
$111 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #11, CGC 9.2 NM-
$72 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #13, CGC 9.2 NM-
$175 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #14, CGC 9.6 NM+
$171 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #16, CGC 9.4 NM
$177 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #17, CGC 9.6 NM+
$135 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #19, CGC 9.4 NM
$76 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #20, CGC 9.2 NM-
$121 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #21, CGC 9.6 NM+
$93 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #23, CGC 9.4 NM
$71 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #24, CGC 9.4 NM
$71 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #26, CGC 9.4 NM
$71 MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER #27, CGC 9.2 NM-

[FormerReader]

Why is the price so high? Is this book hard to find in higher grade or are prices just finally rising?

[nycjadie]

Also in the same Heritage auction:
#2 9.4 - $528
#10 9.2 - $156
#16 9.6 - $264

[StarBrand]

Wow!

[greg]

Why is the price so high? Is this book hard to find in higher grade or are prices just finally rising?

Feels like both to me.

[StarBrand]

Why is this book moving up and Doctor Solar 1 isn’t? Supply? Is Magnus more desirable?

[greg]

Why is this book moving up and Doctor Solar 1 isn’t? Supply? Is Magnus more desirable?

If I had to guess, it's because Magnus is still a "unique concept" in comics while Dr. Solar is a little like the Atom and a lot like Dr. Manhattan, so he is more represented in the industry.
Perhaps the continuation of "damsel in distress" (Leeja) covers and the fun of robots (sliced with bare hands!) keeps more traditional Golden Age / Silver Age comic collectors interested.

[StarBrand]

Thanks.

[greg]

It's also worth noting that there are only 168 copies of Dr. Solar #1 and 129 copies of Magnus #1 on the CGC Census. Just going from the CGC counts, we might expect copies of Magnus #1 to cost about 30% more than Dr. Solar #1 (for the same grade) since there are 30% more copies of Dr. Solar #1, even if the characters are considered "overall equal demand" due to the supply difference.

[FormerReader]

It's also worth noting that there are only 168 copies of Dr. Solar #1 and 129 copies of Magnus #1 on the CGC Census. Just going from the CGC counts, we might expect copies of Magnus #1 to cost about 30% more than Dr. Solar #1 (for the same grade) since there are 30% more copies of Dr. Solar #1, even if the characters are considered "overall equal demand" due to the supply difference.

Those are minuscule numbers.

[StarBrand]

How does the first Turok appearance compare? It's been moving up in price, hasn't it? Seems like that would be harder to find than Magnus and Doc Solar first appearances as well.

[greg]

How does the first Turok appearance compare? It's been moving up in price, hasn't it? Seems like that would be harder to find than Magnus and Doc Solar first appearances as well.

There hasn't been a CGC 9.0 or higher of Four Color #596 (Turok #1) sold on the GPAnalysis.com records since 2014.
136 copies on the CGC census, so about the same as Magnus #1, but about 9 years older.
Dell had pretty good sales for the Four Color series, and most people can't tell you when Turok first appeared.
If the book was actually called Turok #1 instead of Four Color #596, it would probably be worth a lot more.

[StarBrand]

That's amazing none in 9.0 or higher have sold in that long.

[greg]

If we look at the "middle" of the CGC grades for these books, we'll get a better idea of the more frequent sales and pricing.

A CGC 5.0 copy of Four Color #596 (Turok #1, 1954) sells for about $450.
A CGC 5.0 copy of Dr. Solar #1 (1962) sells for about $200.
A CGC 5.0 copy of Magnus #1 (1963) sells for about $250 to $350.

[greg]

That's amazing none in 9.0 or higher have sold in that long.

There are only 15 copies at CGC 9.0 to CGC 9.4, with none higher. 13 of those 15 were already on the CGC census in April 2014. They might not have been slabbed to sell in the first place, and it doesn't take long for them to disappear into long-term collections (if they weren't there already).

There are only 21 copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 at CGC 9.0 or higher, and even prices of $350,000+ haven't shaken many of those loose and into the market.

[magnus20009]

How does the first Turok appearance compare? It's been moving up in price, hasn't it? Seems like that would be harder to find than Magnus and Doc Solar first appearances as well.

There hasn't been a CGC 9.0 or higher of Four Color #596 (Turok #1) sold on the GPAnalysis.com records since 2014.
136 copies on the CGC census, so about the same as Magnus #1, but about 9 years older.
Dell had pretty good sales for the Four Color series, and most people can't tell you when Turok first appeared.
If the book was actually called Turok #1 instead of Four Color #596, it would probably be worth a lot more.

In the same ComicLink auction I bought a Turok 1 (FC 596) CGC 9.0 for $1,788 so about 1/2 the price of the Magnus 1

http://www.comiclink.com/itemdetail.asp?id=1263398" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In October 8th, 2018 I bought a Solar 1 CGC 9.0 on eBay for $1,250

Although there was this gem the month before I wanted.

In the September 1,2018 ComicConnect Auction a Solar 1 CGC 9.4 sold for $5,205 (I was the I under bidder)

https://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=782400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So with in a 33 day period last fall the sales in CGC 9.0 were:

Magnus 1 GCG 9.0 $3,275
Turok 1 CGC 9.0 $1,788
Solar 1 CGC 9.0 $1,250

[nycjadie]

There are only 21 copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 at CGC 9.0 or higher, and even prices of $350,000+ haven't shaken many of those loose and into the market.

That is amazing!

[nycjadie]

Four Color 596 is REALLY hard to find in high grade. Took me about 10 years and I think I overpaid a bit at $1K for a 7.5. But now I have Solar, Magnus and Turok all in 7.5.

[StarBrand]

How does the first Turok appearance compare? It's been moving up in price, hasn't it? Seems like that would be harder to find than Magnus and Doc Solar first appearances as well.

There hasn't been a CGC 9.0 or higher of Four Color #596 (Turok #1) sold on the GPAnalysis.com records since 2014.
136 copies on the CGC census, so about the same as Magnus #1, but about 9 years older.
Dell had pretty good sales for the Four Color series, and most people can't tell you when Turok first appeared.
If the book was actually called Turok #1 instead of Four Color #596, it would probably be worth a lot more.

In the same ComicLink auction I bought a Turok 1 (FC 596) CGC 9.0 for $1,788 so about 1/2 the price of the Magnus 1

http://www.comiclink.com/itemdetail.asp?id=1263398" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In October 8th, 2018 I bought a Solar 1 CGC 9.0 on eBay for $1,250

Although there was this gem the month before I wanted.

In the September 1,2018 ComicConnect Auction a Solar 1 CGC 9.4 sold for $5,205 (I was the I under bidder)

https://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=782400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So with in a 33 day period last fall the sales in CGC 9.0 were:

Magnus 1 GCG 9.0 $3,275
Turok 1 CGC 9.0 $1,788
Solar 1 CGC 9.0 $1,250

So the first appearance of Magnus goes for more than Turok's. I didn't know that.