As in the world of stock trading – comic book investing can be about finding the next hot issue before the rest of the crowd catches on. In the early 1990s it was easy to find such books as Marvel Spotlight #5, Batman #227 and All-Star Western #10 for $5-$15 in Near Mint condition. There were those collectors who took that opportunity to load up on the future winners of the market. But nonetheless, many waited until the value of the books were proven and therefore much more expensive. Likewise, there is a multitude of Copper Age (and newer) material out there waiting to be discovered and the surface has only been scratched.
Consider this: Every time someone on a comic book forum asks for a Copper Age list of keys, they get the same exact list. Now, with Bronze Age and older back issues the keys are pretty much set in stone, but not so with newer must-haves. The implication is clear that there are favorites out there that a few people have discovered but haven’t been embraced by the masses as yet. When those ‘neo-keys’ start to pop up and the money starts to chase them – the result will be our next big boom in the back issue market.
This is where the fun starts – by being one of the proactive few, you get to start doing your homework and getting in on the ground floor. Ocassionally, you will find a book that no one really cares about and when you make a case for it online or in a crowd at a convention it will catch on. That’s what happened a few times with current Copper Age and Modern Age lists and very often with Bronze Age before that.
Don’t forget that there are still first appearances that no one is giving weight to as yet (i.e. Kilowog and Rocket Red – Green Lantern Corps universe, seen on TV, have action figures) that are available and cheap. Or covers that may achieve classic status but haven’t been seen by enough eyes as yet (i.e. Fantastic Four #243 and Captain America #321). Those are just suggestions, of course, but the beauty of this area of collecting is that you buy what you love and wait for the hobby to come to you. There is good reason to have faith that this will happen about 50% of the time. The rest will be cool stuff that you hoarded on the cheap that few people will care about, but as time goes by you should at least be able to get back what you paid for them.
A partial list of Copper Age keys (assuming CA is 1980-1992):
Action Comics #583
Albedo #1
Albedo #2
Amazing Spider-Man #238
Amazing Spider-Man #252
Amazing Spider-Man #300
Avengers Annual #10
Batman #366
Batman #404-407
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1
Bone #1
Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
Crisis on Infinite Earths #8
Cry for Dawn #1
Daredevil #168
Daredevil #181
Dark Horse Presents #1
Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special
G.I. Joe #1
G.I. Joe #21
Harbinger #1
Incredible Hulk #340
Marvel Super Hero Secret Wars #8
Miracleman #15
New Mutants #87
New Mutants #98
New Teen Titans #2
Omega Men #3
Punisher Limited Series #1
Sandman #1
Sandman #8
Star Wars #107
Superman #423
Swamp Thing #20-21
Swamp Thing #37
Tales of the Teen Titans #44
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
The Tick Special Edition #1
Transformers #1
Transformers #80
Uncanny X-men #133-143
Uncanny X-men #266
Watchmen #1
Wolverine Limited Series #1-4
