Set Description
Wonder Woman is the first run we have started collecting, which I did not read as a kid, although I remember Lynda Carter’s TV show. Not sure how far we are going to take it, as our focus has been primarily on Silver Age books, although we have bought a handful of earlier ones. Problem is, while some of the covers are cool, others are downright Disneyish-not that there is anything wrong with that LOL.
This is a strange run of books to me, as sometimes there is an early 9.8 and then the next highest graded issue will be an 8.0. Since we generally do not buy lower grade books, it is hard to break the bank for an 8.0 or 8.5, even if it tops the census. To make matters worse, we generally always avoid books with names or writing or stamps on the cover. But with WW, often those defects appear on the highest graded examples. Needless to say, this run has far more holes than any other we actively collect, as we often pass on books where the covers do not interest us. Still, we now top the census despite having only 38% of the books #1-200. So obviously if there are any serious high-grade collectors of this run, their sets are not registered.
Again, not sure how far we are going to take this one, but admittedly, I got somewhat interested in WW after seeing Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. While I have never read most of these books, I have enjoyed collecting some new covers rather than constantly looking for upgrades. Unlike most Marvels and many DCs, collecting these books is more like a scavenger’s hunt.
2021 Update: Wonder Woman remains our most confusing collection. I often wish we had started this one later since, as is, our books are spread between #12-#200. And while we generally do not buy books graded below 9.4, many issues here have no books even graded as high as 9.0. We like some covers, others not so much. We have basically decided not to pursue any earlier books than the ones we own currently because of cost and again, we frankly don’t love the covers. And even with the later books we are not a huge fan of the Wonder Woman family covers. Consequently, we have seriously debated whether to continue collecting these books or selling them to raise cash for other collections. Still, we do have slightly over half of the 200 books, with 36 currently single highest graded examples. So perhaps the starter set designation is no longer applicable.
Currently, we are not buying any books below an 8.0, and only go that low when that book is at least top three in the census. We raise the bar to a 9.0 with issue #100, unless none exist, and again to 9.4 for later issues. I think the chances we will ever complete this set are virtually nil. In fact, from what I can tell, nobody has ever found all 200 books in any grade, as you are competing with different collectors-gold and silver age-for a run of books that are both rare and somewhat ignored.
