Captain marvel #17, 2nd print was a really good investment for me. It was a perfect storm of limited supply, growing fan base and a bit of media hype. I don’t think it has reached its potential yet but I am happy as it is right now.  In fact, I am quietly confident that any confirmed TV show or movie appearance will make this book the next Batman Adventures #12.

What can be the next CM #17, 2nd print?

Given the success of the CM pick, I was of course motivated to look for the next book that will have a similar performance. In particular, I was looking for a book that has a limited print run, a female character with growing fan base and a chance at being in the media hype. After due consideration, I settled on Young Avengers #1, the Wizard con Sketch edition which had only around 500 copies in circulation. This issue contains the first appearance of an up and coming female character: Kate Bishop.

Issue	Runaways #1	Vengeance #1	Young Avengers #1
Characters	Runaways	Ms America	Kate Bishop
Print Run	25,000	26,000	88,000
NM Prices	USD 60+	USD 4	USD 4
Variant	NA	1,700	500
NM Prices	NA	USD 30+	USD 5

The table shows some interesting information but I want to first draw your attention to the variant prices for Vengeance #1 and Young Avengers #1. You can see that the former has some respectable secondary prices for a character that is fairly new and has no media rumors. Given that Kate Bishop has a longer history and arguably a stronger fan base, you would think her first appearance should be worth something, especially the low print variant. Interestingly, this is not the case. In fact, the Young Avengers #1 Wizard variant is near cover price despite having a lower print run than Vengeance #1 variant and a stronger character in Kate Bishop.

This, to me, is a sign of being undervalued. Even without media rumors, I would expect this book to be at least on par with Vengeance #1 variant.

What happens when there is a media rumor? The prices on Runaway #1 is a good guide. Prices for this book started spiking when there was rumors of a Runaways TV show. Although that rumor never did materialize, the book manage to retain some of its run up value and still commands a healthy secondary price.

If Kate Bishop ever has any rumors, I expect the Young Avengers #1 Sketch variant to experience an even strong price spike due to the limited supply. If a 25k print run book can achieve USD60 on the back of a TV show rumor, a 500 print run book should do much better. Nevertheless, I am saying even without media rumors, this book should command a higher price than it currently is.

Scooby Doo Team up #12 vs Young Avengers #1

To see how crazy the comic market is, let’s look at this week’s hot issue: Scooby Doo Team up #12. There is nothing really special about it except for its low print run, which is estimated to be around 7000-9000.  This books was so hot that it once reached more than USD25+ on its pre sale price. Thankfully, with the influx of new listings, it is now in the USD15+ range.

Compared this to Young Avengers #1, Wizard Con Variant. The latter contains the first appearance of 6 characters, of which Kate Bishop is the breakout of the bunch. It has only 500 copies, much less than the 7000-9000 print run of Scooby Doo Team Up #12. Despite all these, you can still buy this at around cover while the latter issue is fetching a price 3 times higher. Undervalued or what?

Factors to trigger price appreciation

Despite all the good things said so far of this book, it wouldn’t appreciate just because I say it is undervalued. One of these 3 types of trigger needs to happen before we see any price increase. This applies only to books such as this because the supply is so tight. Just a couple of sales at an ever increasing price point from one of the triggers is all that is needed for this issue ascend into CM #17’s territory. :

• Strong discussion on CGC board: I have seen this happen so many times. The more intense the discussion is on a particular title or character, the stronger the secondary price is. If the CGC boards start to recognize the value of this issue and debates about it, it will be enough.
• Solo series: Kate Bishop is now sharing the Hawkeye title with Clint Barton and unfortunately, he is the limelight of the series. If Kate gets her own title, it will draw collector’s attention to her first appearance.
• Media appearance: Any rumor of her in a TV show can also do the trick. The thing is, Kate Bishop is super easy to pull off on screen. Just look at all the arrow characters appearing in the Green Arrow TV show.

Conclusion

Kate Bishop is a great female character that is gaining fans. She is different from Kamala Khan and Harley which is good. Her first appearance in the Young Avengers #1, Wizard Con Variant is a great book to hoard because they are so limited in supply and are cheap. These type of books are the perfect ingredients for a perfect storm to happen. I am not saying it will but there is a stronger chance of it happening to this issue than Scooby Doo Team Up #12 🙂

Check Ebay listings here