The real value of comics?

[Gatomon]

I thought that people would like to consider the collectors value of the Comics or Manga that they have? I've not gotten any manga/Comics for several years now. At one time I used to stop at my local Comic's shop and pick up around 10 different ones. I do have what I think are some rather rare ones.

How many people know what is so special about the first 5 Ranma 1/2 comics that were released (American style) many years back?

[Leader Desslock]

^ Are you talking about the first 5 Ranma 1/2 individual comics, or the first 5 collected volumes? I doubt that either would be worth anything, but I was unaware that Ranma 1/2 was released in the US as individual comics, if that's the case.

What'd be worth more is if you had original copies of the Shounen Sunday (or whichever it was) in which Ranma 1/2 or Urusei Yatsura appeared. Might not be worth much, but a Takahashi collector might give you a lot for them on eBay.

[Gatomon]

Depends on your want for collecting the Ranma series. The first and longest run of it was Released by VIZ many years back. All of them were set for US market reading. The first 5 were Very rare and in color. After that they are black and white. Remember things that seem worthless can have lots of collector value to the one that wants them. Back when I found them the values were around 100 bucks a comic. Not sure what they are now.

Take another series. This one american. It is called Animal Mystic. It has vibrant colors and is a limited printing. There are 2 printings now. The first printing is the more valuable. In fact the second comic of the first printing is only 2k copies. The values are around 100+ for the first printings back when I bought them.

Now, here is one that I've been hunting for more of the series. Dragon Pink was released here in english. I have a copy but cannot find anymore than the first issue. I'd like to find more of it.

[Hara!]

I don't really have any valuable comics or manga.

The most I have is some 1st Print Dragonball and some issues of Avengers The Initiative signed by the writers, and those are worth $15-$20 at most.

[Leader Desslock]

Depends on your want for collecting the Ranma series.
As with anything, really. The worth of anything is "whatever you can get someone to pay for it". I'm sure that someone had a price tag of $100/comic on them at some point, but if the seller never found anyone willing to part with $100 per comic, then that's not how much they were worth, just how much he was asking.

I'm sure there'd be someone out there who'd pay it, but as much as a Ranma nut as I am (and I'm a pretty big one), that person wouldn't be me.

Still, I'm just wondering - are you talking about individual comics, or collected volumes? I know that one of the VIZ collected volume releases had the first X episodes in color (I don't remember how many at the moment). I'm just curious if those episodes were releases as individual comics, because I was unaware of that, as I said.

Remember things that seem worthless can have lots of collector value to the one that wants them.
Oh, I know. I've got a few semi-valuable comics of my own, and more than a few books of interest. Growing up in Stevie King's old neighborhood, it's not hard to browse the yard sales to pick up those older first editions that people don't realize they're selling for a dime apiece. But hey, if the buyer has to beware, then so does the seller, eh? ;)

[Gatomon]

VIZ had individual comics just like DC or Marvel. I have a large box of them.
I also have LUM (Yuri Yatsura) and Inu-Yasha that came out long before the anime here.

[goddessofanime]

I used to own copies of Ceres when it came out individually. And Card Captor Sakura.

The bookstand in the antique mall down the street from me has some invidual copies of Dragon Ball..but I don't think it's worth anything.

[tenshi_a]

The price on comic / manga varies a huge amount. You can't really rate things from one day to the next. Or at least, I can't. Some days the front-to-back volumes go for £2 each, the next day they're £10 each... it's rather strange.

[Suiko Eiji]

Still, I'm just wondering - are you talking about individual comics, or collected volumes? I know that one of the VIZ collected volume releases had the first X episodes in color (I don't remember how many at the moment). I'm just curious if those episodes were releases as individual comics, because I was unaware of that, as I said.

VIZ had individual comics just like DC or Marvel. I have a large box of them.
I also have LUM (Yuri Yatsura) and Inu-Yasha that came out long before the anime here.

Yes, VIZ used to publish 32-page, monthly books for most, if not all of their series at one point. They would split up the collected volumes and release the smaller books as Part X/Number Y where x was equal to the collected volume and y was equal to the sequential number within the part. The typical 32 page book contained the equivalent of two manga chapters. IIRC, they retailed for about $2 or $3 bucks, which almost seems like chump change compared to today's comics but were slightly more expensive than most of the other comics of similar size back in the mid-1990s. They used to then collect them back into the volumes and sell them at some ridiculous price point; I forget which, but they were more expensive than the "same, reprinted" collected volumes you can buy now.

I don't have many of them but I do still have a handful or so from Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Ranma 1/2 and Maison Ikkoku. I've been lazily trying to sell my old comic book collection, but I set aside those books to hold on to; not really for any monetary reasons, just for fandom nostalgia.

And, as Desslock said, stuff is only worth what others will pay for it. To quote a law professor I had, "price is always a matter of negotiation and never a matter of fact."