I thought I might try to fill a few gaps in my Class collection. Well, considering thefts more like filling huge chasms.
I got a couple Class books for £1.99 and £2.00.
Not bad.
Then I saw all the other prices -£15, £20 and even £30 and £40. THAT is just robbery. Do not bid on books at that price and just remember there are only black and white reprints inside these books. Nothing ultra rare!
Nothing ultra rare, as you say, but when I read some eBay listings in which every issue of any Class title is described as "Rare!", I think I must be sitting on a small fortune with my limited collection. And yet, many of these over-priced listings do sell, and as soon as there are two or more bidders for the same comic, the sound of tills ringing becomes deafening.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, though, what should we consider a sensible price these days ? Firstly, is there any real justification for claiming (as some sellers do) that one issue is worth more than any other ? Surely they all had the same print run and so we can assume that surviving issues exist in roughly equal numbers.
Second, if the earliest publications cost 5p (or 1/- as it is nostalgically written on the cover), then some 50 years of inflation would make today's price well under £1. We know that by 1970 and decimalisation, the price had already quadrupled, so I think that £2.50 per issue would be a fair estimate for what Alan Class comics would cost if they were still being published today, and therefore £3 - £4 is a sensible maximum to pay for a copy in reasonable condition, and on eBay I try to set a limit slightly less than that. Bidding higher than that will only encourage the exploitative prices we have been discussing.
The best listings on eBay are those where the seller has put some effort into the task and included a list of the story titles in each issue. I find this really helpful because there are various stories I recall which I want to read again,and it is awfully difficult to trace them, unless someone can give me any pointers to a better source of information, for which I would be really grateful!