Hot Comics #28: Marvel Spotlight #5, 1st Ghost Rider

Hot Comics #2: Marvel Spotlight #5, 1st Ghost Rider. Click to buy yours from Goldin

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Why Marvel Spotlight 5 is a Hot Comic

2024 MARKET REPORT: THE PERFECT STORM

Few books demonstrate the power of market forces like Spotlight #5. You had the pandemic bubble inflation, and then the selloff.

The MCU has, in relative terms, crapped the bed in recent years, with a string of less-popular releases and falling audience interest. The rumor mill and spec game have cooled off.

While there are enough flashes of life to keep this classic key issue in the top 30, recent sales are 50 percent lower than bubble highs. If you bought a CGC 9.8 for over $260K, then good luck seeing that money again...

Returning to the real world, the most recent sale of a 9.4 for $15K is exactly half the record set two years ago.

2023 MARKET REPORT: GHOST RIDER NOT IMMUNE TO BIG SELLOFF

While on the face of it, this book should be lower on the list than it is, there are reasons to remain hopeful for its future, namely Cosmic Ghost Rider and the MCU.

Prices have fallen in line with other Bronze Age comic books and Marvel horror titles, but I would continue to hold, or even snap up this at 2021 prices while you still can.

2022 MARKET REPORT: A NEW RECORD FOR 1970S BOOKS IS SET

$264,000 is a remarkable amount of money to pay for a comic book. It's especially impressive given that the previous highest sale for a CGC 9.8 was $48,500. It's increased six-fold!

Other grades have seen similar rises, and it's hard to escape the feeling that this was long overdue. Given that the cover is all black and the infamous "picture frame" design which is near impossible to find in top condition, and it's from the early 1970s.

There are four 9.8s in the census. Pretty special if you own one of those. Ghost Rider seems to be part of the MCU's future... Whether the Cosmic Ghost Rider is the same or not doesn't really matter to collectors.

Recent sales:

9.8 $264,000
9.6 $84,000
9.4 $30,000
9.2 $18,600
9.0 $10,800
8.5 $6,500
8.0 $4,200
7.5 $3,500
7.0 $3,350
6.5 $2,450
6.0 $2,300
5.5 $2,200
5.0 $1,950
4.5 $1,650
4.0 $1,600
3.5 $1,100
3.0 $1,450(!)
2.5 $1,085
2.0 $905
1.8 $920

2021 MARKET REPORT: ALL THINGS GHOST RIDER ARE STILL BLAZING!

While there has been no CGC 9.8 sale for a long time, a 9.6 did sell for a record price this year.

Other high grades saw slight increases, though low to mid-grade books did very well.

Continue to hold, as the fuss around Cosmic Ghost Rider will continue to shine a spotlight on this classic Bronze Age key issue.

CGC 9.6: $16,560
CGC 9.4 $6,230
CGC 9.2 $5,000
CGC 9.0 $3,700
CGC 8.5 $3,300
CGC 8.0 $2,000
CGC 7.0 $1,350
CGC 6.0 $835
CGC 4.0 $575
CGC 3.0 $525(!)

IF YOU BOUGHT MY RECOMMENDED GRADE LAST YEAR:

Here's the bottom line.

CGC 9.4 2019 $5,280
LAST SALE $6,230
PERCENT CHANGE +17 PERCENT

2020 MARKET UPDATE: RIDE THE HIGHWAY TO PROFITS

While the slight loss in my selected grade is not pleasant to see, I would still feel happy if I were you -- at the time of writing last year there had been no sales in CGC 9.4.

Then there were two in the second half of the year. Average of $5,640 versus the $3,700 in 2018... A slight pull back is nothing to worry about!

Other grades have seen strong increases too. Here are recent sales:

9.6 $13,200
9.2 $4,175
9.0 $2,900
8.5 $1,500
8.0 $1,275
7.0 $755
6.5 $700
5.5 $475
4.5 $380
3.0 $400(!!)
2.0 $250

2019 MARKET UPDATE: BLAZING HOT, JOHNNY BOY

Sadly, our target grade hasn't seen a sale since last year, but many of the other grades have increased by 50 to 100 percent!

You're sitting really pretty if you bought into this book anytime in the past two years. Most of the sales below are comfortably record prices in grade.

Recent sales:

CGC 9.2 $3,089
CGC 9.0 $2,399
CGC 8.0 $1,125
CGC 7.0 $700
CGC 6.0 $472
CGC 4.0 $261

2018 MARKET UPDATE: JOHNNY BLAZE SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE

We've seen strong sales of this book, especially above the tough VF range for this black covered book from the early 70s.

There's no stopping the price increases, though our 9.4 pick has only appreciated 9 percent.

CGC 9.6 $11,000
CGC 9.4 $3,700
CGC 9.2 $2,250
CGC 9.0 $1,050
CGC 8.0 $650
CGC 7.0 $380
CGC 6.0 $310
CGC 4.0 $175

2017 MARKET UPDATE:

While the movie trail has gone cold for Ghost Rider, this book is still very popular with collectors and investors. It's doubly tough, being a black cover and a picture frame cover (notoriously hard to find in high grade).

While some grades have seen prices cool off, the 9.8 sale makes this book the most valuable of the Bronze Age (not counting the freak CGC 9.9 sale of Incredible Hulk #181).

CGC 9.8: $48,500
CGC 9.4 $4,850
CGC 9.2 $1,500
CGC 8.0 $560
CGC 7.0 $400
CGC 6.0 $325
CGC 4.0 $260

Despite the best efforts of Nic Cage, nobody much cares for the series of Ghost Rider movies. Tedious storylines and perhaps some of the least likeable 'heroes' in the MCU have kept Ghost Rider a second-string hero.

Nevertheless, Marvel Spotlight #5 is a genuine key issue, and has enough demand to cause its price to increase in the last year or so.

Part of the renewed excitement is the fact that film rights have reverted to Marvel Studios. Maybe there will be no more dedicated Ghost Rider movies, but if the character even crosses over into a mainstream series, then you'll see prices rocket.

Forget CGC 9.8. There are only two examples in the census, mainly due to the mostly black cover of this early 70s book, and the next time one hits market we expect it to fetch close to $20K.

9.6s are the next best thing, but probably not affordable to most of us. We recommend a 9.4 with white pages, which will still cost you close to $2,500, but has the potential for big appreciation.