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Comment by johngossman | Hacker News Reader

I have a b&w photo of my (considerably) older brother, from the early 1960s, reading a pile of comic books a foot high. The only cover visible is Spiderman #4. When I was a kid I used to stare at that picture and dream.

Needless to say, I kept all my old comics.

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I use to collect baseball cards as a kid in the 80s and I can remember I would see comics at card shows.

I had seen football cards take off in value and really wanted to get into comic collecting. What I remember is the big comic books were just slightly outside the price range of a 10 year old cutting the lawn. Unlike baseball cards that cost thousands for HOF rookie cards.

I don't know how accurate it is but chatGPT gives prices that sound about right from what I remember looking at comic price guides in the 80s.

X-Men #1 $60–$150

The Incredible Hulk #1 $60–$120

Avengers #1 $80–$180

I never got to start my collection then I remember as a teenager thinking what a stupid idea it was anyway. Who the hell is ever going to be that into comic book characters?

I had a British edition of Star Wars #1 at my parent's house that an English friend gave me when we were kids back in the early 80's. I always wondered what it was worth, as I could only find price guides for the US edition. But when I finally got around to go get it a couple years ago, it was nowhere to be found. So the question became only academic.

I kept all my old comics too, and check the value occasionally on eBay. Most valuable one has yet to top $40.

Turns out a lot of 80s kids had the same idea!

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