While the saga of the Diamond Comics Bankruptcy shuffles on and on I was reminded recently that Diamond founder Steve Geppi still owns several businesses, including Gemstone, publisher of the Overstreet Price Guide, among other things. While the release of the printed 2025 edition has been delayed by all the goings on, I just got another emailed reminder that the website version, Overstreet Access, is still up and running, and they just announced some new features for subscribers.
The timing is pertinent, as the gobsmacking $9 million sale of a Superman #1 found in an attic made headlines everywhere. And the comics collecting market is quite lively these days, what with variants and blind bags, and people buying and selling lots of back issues. And so Overstreet Access is adding some features, according to a PR I received.
Basically, instead of updating prices annually to coincide with the release of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, the site will now track price changes more dynamically, and users can now request their own valuation reviews.
To access all the tools requires a subscription, ranging from $# to $9 a month, BUT to check out all the new features, you can get a free month by going to the Membership Levels page and adding a sub and entering the the code “OAFREEMONTH” at checkout.
As for what the features include, I’m going to quote the PR here because it’s quite specific:
Amount and percentage changes for 9.2 grade values will be displayed throughout multiple sections of Overstreet Access when a title’s value has been updated within the past 90 days. Those changes will be visible to subscribers on the Volume and Issue detail pages, Recent Value Changes page (accessible via the button next to “New Comics”), View Values modals, Gap Lists, and Want Lists.
If an issue in a user’s collection has experienced a change in value, the user will see the amount and percentage difference directly in their collection view. The figures reflect changes based on the specific grade of the issue, creating personalized data for the user’s collection. When a user adds a new issue to their collection, the current valuation will be the baseline and no change will display until the next update cycle.
It is now easier for collectors to participate in the valuation process. If a user believes that an issue’s value listed on the site does not accurately reflect its value in the current market, users can request a valuation review. Requests can be submitted on any Issue Detail page, View Values modal, and the Gap List “View Values” screen. Soon, requests can also be made directly from a subscribers collection view.
Once a request has been made, the Overstreet valuation team will review the data and market activity to determine the need for an update to the value. After the review is complete, all of the users who submitted a request for that issue will receive an email that summarizes the results. All outcomes will be shared with transparency, whether the value has gone up, down, or remained the same.
Each issue will only be reviewed once within any 90-day period. This format will help the Overstreet Access team to distinguish between sustainable changes and temporary fluctuations based on speculation spikes, casting rumors in film and TV adaptations, and other short-term changes.
Overstreet Access has also added a new Recent Value Changes page that is accessible from the Titles search area beside New Comics. The page updates every day by showing all issues with valuation changes that have occurred in the last 90 days. Collectors can also filter by publisher to find changes to books they are interested in rather than combing through all updated issues.
It is now easier for collectors to participate in the valuation process. If a user believes that an issue’s value listed on the site does not accurately reflect its value in the current market, users can request a valuation review. Requests can be submitted on any i signed up for a free account and poked around a little, but I signed up for Bronze and couldn’t get too far. But a few tools that people remember from dear departed Previews World are still there.
Anyway, as a reminder, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is one of the longest running tools for evaluating comic book prices, and now it’s gotten a little bit more up to date via its website. OF course there are quite a few other online comics price guides and tools because, as we’ve noted, comic book collecting is a very sizable subculture right now so it’s actually a quite competitive category. I won’t mention them but Google is your friend.
The other thing of note about this is….hey Steve Geppi is still in the game, even if Diamond isn’t! Geppi also owns the still-running auction site Hakes, and a few other businesses, so he hasn’t left the comics industry just yet.
