As an adult, who has a small family to provide for, I'm always trying to find ways to help make my hobbies pay for themselves. The great thing about the times we live in is that the comic book and collectible community is at an all-time high and still growing! This means that there are people out there willing to buy, but even better yet, we have resources available in the palm of our hand to help sell! So, I figured I'd go ahead and list my Top 5 flips using the Key Collector Comics App!
5. The New Avengers Vol. 1 #11
This issue is the 1st full appearance of Maya Lopez as Ronin and has a great cover of the character! This book began heating up when rumors of Hawkeye taking on the Ronin mantle in Endgame surfaced. Its climb continued after we got confirmations in the trailers for the film. Though this isn't Hawkeye as Ronin this book still gained enough steam to find for a $1 and make a nice enough profit off of to pay for a week's worth of new comic books! I managed to find a New Avengers Vol. 1 bundle with this book and the next on the list. This series ended up being a fantastic read and I got a huge chunk for free after flipping these two books!
4. The New Avengers Vol. 1 #27
Now, this book seems to be a little more appropriate in relevance to why these issues in particular began to spike. This issue sees the first appearance of the second Ronin but it isn't revealed in this issue that it is Hawkeye donning the identity. The second appearance of this character follows in issue 28 and we see Clint join The Avengers as Ronin in issue 30. However, this was another book I managed to let go on eBay and make all of my invested money back on plus some to ensure I was utilizing the hobby to pay for itself. Like any collector this can be hard to do sometimes. Sometimes getting the good deal makes it harder to let it go instead of easier but I try and have a focused collection that keeps blinders on to the big picture of what keys I want/need.
3. Batman Vol. 1 #609
This book is a really fun testament to my LCS's back issue bins! My local comic shop keeps the higher valued back issues in boxes behind the counter. So, anything that's out in the back issue bins on the floor are all 50% off of the marked price. Sometimes, when I don't find what I'm looking for, I go through saved books that Tom and the gang have talked about on the Bags & Boards podcast, that I would never want. This gives me opportunity to make some money instead of spending it. Now, I fail much more than I succeed but I always enjoy looking! I picked Batman on Key Collector and selected the lowest starting point that I found in the box and started working my way back. I came across this book for $5 so that means I paid $2.50! I don't collect much Batman so this might have been the easiest flip of them all! It also worked in my favor that DC decided to release the animated film around this time also.
2. Hulk Vol. 1 #30.1
The first appearance of General Fortean! He's played a much larger role here recently in the Immortal Hulk series and has gone on to become a new version of The Abomination! Still an affordable book and likely to be found for less than double-digit pricing. Has a really sweet Red Hulk cover but can be found for next to nothing if you look in the right $1 bin! Overall, the Immortal Hulk run has been tremendous both in storytelling and the artwork! I honestly only picked it up because I really loved the Alex Ross cover on issues 1 but the story got me hooked. Key Collector has been great to follow along on current titles such as this so we can see, even in advance, the key moments week-to-week with modern happenings.
1. The Avengers Vol. 4 #12
This here makes #1 on the list because this was easily my fastest and most profitable of the whole list! I actually went in to my shop hoping to find Thor Vol. 1 #390 which is the 1st time Captain America wields Mljonir. Key Collector did a fantastic job of quickly uploading all of the related keys to Avengers Endgame and I just needed that issue for my collection! It was nowhere to be found in the 50% off bins so I just decided to take a peek in the Avengers boxes. I was fortunate enough to come across 2 copies of this book for $1.50 each! I kept and still have a copy in my collection to this day because the cover is just so standout! However, the other issue I managed to have gone within an hour of posting for a whopping $55! That's like two weeks worth of new books on my pull list! I did also come across that Thor #390 weeks later for only .75 cents! So, patience can always pay off when looking for these books. Even if you don't find them in your local half off or dollar bins, they can cool off just as quick as they were heating up! So, sell when you can if you're willing, and buy for good deals when you're able!
As always, thank you for reading this and sharing the hobby with us! I'm forever thankful for this blog, this community, and the internet for bringing us together through our hobbies! If you haven't yet, you should check out the Key Collector Comics app, whether you're wanting to help your collection pay for itself or just want help sorting through long boxes of books. It has substantially changed the way I hunt for my books!