100 Hot Comics #60:
Journey into Mystery 83, 1st Thor

100 Hot Comics: Journey into Mystery #83, first appearance of Thor. Click to buy one at Goldin

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Why Journey into Mystery 83 is a Hot Comic

2024 MARKET UPDATE: $350K SALE IN CGC 9.4 IS SECOND-HIGHEST EVER

I always look for solace wherever I can find it in this market. Several books have outsold pre-pandemic high points this year. They aren't close to the bubble highs ($430K in this case), but it's a sign of life.

I'll take it.

2023 MARKET UPDATE: WHY IS THIS TIED FOR 50TH?

This is absolutely NOTHING to do with us, um, forgetting to include this book and then having to lever it in at the 11th hour... AHEM. Oops.

It totally deserves to be here too. Couldn't leave it out!

A monster high-grade sale and some very nice VF range sales show how strong demand is for this book. Unfortunately it's one of the tougher Marvel keys to find. They don't change hands much.

How Many Copies of the Big Marvel Books Exist?

There is a definite hierarchy for census numbers on the mega key issues. Some are rarer than others.

Check out these total census numbers for unrestored copies, ordered by least to most certified examples:

Tales to Astonish #27 -- 938 copies graded / UK variant 18 copies graded
Incredible Hulk #1 -- 1,401 copies graded / UK variant 38 copies graded
Journey into Mystery #83 -- 1,738 copies graded / UK variant 30 copies graded
Fantastic Four #1 -- 1,926 copies graded / UK variant 32 copies graded
Tales of Suspense #39 -- 1,981 copies graded / UK variant 51 copies graded
Amazing Fantasy #15 -- 2,419 copies graded / UK variant 58 copies graded
Amazing Spider-Man #1 -- 3,257 copies graded / UK variant 71 copies graded
Avengers #1 -- 3,860 copies graded / UK variant 71 copies graded
X-Men #1 -- 4,352 copies graded / UK variant 85 copies graded
Daredevil #1 -- 4,851 copies graded / UK variant 91 copies graded

Recent sales:

9.4 $432,000
9.0 $105,000
8.5 $75,000
8.0 $48,000
7.5 $54,000
7.0 $27,600
6.5 $21,000
6.0 $18,000
5.5 $13,200
5.0 $19,500
4.5 $12,800
4.0 $8,500
3.5 $9,300
3.0 $6,900
2.5 $6,500
2.0 $5,640
1.8 $5,500
1.5 $5,280
1.0 $3,900
0.5 $4,015

2021 MARKET UPDATE:

This has been a frustrating year to own a JIM#83.

Some books have set new records, including a huge 9.4 sale.

Meanwhile, other grades (including my pick of 5.5) saw bafflingly low results.

Entry point for this book in any grade is now well over $2K!

Recent sales:

9.4 $210,000 (NEW RECORD!)
9.0 $72,500
8.0 $28,800
6.5 $21,000 (NEW RECORD!)
6.0 $12,600
5.5 $7,500 (LOW SALE)
5.0 $9,260
4.5 $7,350
4.0 $7,250
3.5 $6,025
3.0 $4,425
2.5 $4,725
2.0 $3,360
1.8 $3,010
1.5 $3,055
1.0 $2,450
0.5 $3,000(!)

IF YOU BOUGHT MY RECOMMENDED GRADE LAST YEAR:

Here's the bottom line.

CGC 5.5 2020 $9,021
LAST SALE $7,500
PERCENT CHANGE -17%

2020 MARKET UPDATE: TIME TO BRING THE HAMMER DOWN

The Marvel Silver Age keys are all performing strongly this year.

Journey into Mystery 83 is rubbing shoulders with Hulk 1, Tales to Astonish 27, Tales of Suspense 39 and the rest of the gang to see who's the hottest.

(HINT: none of them are the hottest mega-key this year!)

How did we do last year tipping this book?

I think the sell-off of this book was overdone in the past couple of years.

It's generally a tough book -- we get it far less often than some of the other Silver Age keys -- and the fuss about Jane Foster taking up the mantle has led to renewed interest in early Thor issues.

Here are recent sales:

9.4 $144,000
9.2 $120,000
9.0 $60,000
8.0 $24,500
7.0 $17,550
6.5 $11,500
6.0 $9,900
5.0 $8,750
4.5 $6,120
4.0 $5,400
3.5 $5,000
3.0 $4,300
2.5 $3,050
2.0 $3,800(!!!)
1.8 $2,850
1.5 $2,735
1.0 $2,750
0.5 $1,799

2019 MARKET UPDATE: TOUGH BOOK TO PREDICT

There are relatively few sales of this Marvel Silver Age Key Issue comic book. It's one of the scarcer mega-keys of the 1960s.

If more copies turned over, then it would be higher up the hot list for sure.

This book is almost as scarce as Incredible Hulk #1, which turns up 3-4 times per year in bigger collections.

There is no good reason to tip Journey into Mystery 83 for a big increase. It's really a long-term hold kind of investment. Keep it forever.

Some recent sales:

CGC 7.0 $18,000
CGC 6.5 $14,900
CGC 6.0 $10,000
CGC 5.5 $7,100
CGC 5.0 $7,200
CGC 4.5 $5,400
CGC 3.5 $4,680
CGC 3.0 $4,000
CGC 2.5 $3,650
CGC 1.0 $1,572

2018 MARKET UPDATE: NEW ENTRY ON THE 100 HOT COMICS LIST!

Never a hard issue to love, the first appearance of Thor is definitely worth a place on the Hot 100 following a couple of years when its values had been static.

The Marvel key issue comics from the 1960s have long had their "first appearance" movie values baked in. That said, books like Fantastic Four #1 and Daredevil #1 have been considered under-valued lately, and investors have been taking notice.

Some recent sales:

CGC 8.0 $22,500
CGC 7.5 $15,000
CGC 7.0 $13,000
CGC 6.5 $13,000 (!!)
CGC 6.0 $10,000
CGC 5.5 $5,250
CGC 4.5 $5,000 (!!)
CGC 3.5 $4,000
CGC 2.5 $2,600
CGC 1.0 $1,900

You can see from the above prices that price compression has been occurring -- this is where two grades (or even three grades) of the same book sell for similar prices in the market.

This can be a fluke, but you definitely want to be the person buying the (say) CGC 7.5 for $15K rather than the CGC 6.5 for $13K.

Be patient. Don't rush, especially if you're investing five figures in to a Marvel key issue comic with the hope of getting a decent return on that investment in the future.

What to Invest In

100 Hot Comics: Journey into Mystery #83, first appearance of Thor. Click to buy one at Goldin

Some books just get more expensive suddenly. It's like you reach base camp on the previous grade, and the next step up is steep.

This happens to be the case with JIM #83. A CGC 6.0 is about twice the price of a 5.5, and grades above 6.0 get silly.

You can find a 5.5 that looks just as good as a 6.0 -- sometimes better. Try to avoid Marvel chipping, and look for a copy with most of the damage on the back cover.

Note that when you come to sell, finding a buyer for a book in the $5,000-$10,000 range is going to be easier than finding one in the $10,000-$20,000 range.