STAR WARS #87

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creasing or color break. There is minor surface rubbing/scuffing near Luke's hairline and forehead area, and a faint scratch-like line visible across the upper right of the cover art, possibly from the protective sleeve. Spine appears tight with no visible stress lines, and edges look clean. Interior and back cover were not assessed as this photo only shows the front cover through a protective sleeve, which may be masking minor surface defects.

Star Wars #87 arrived in September 1984, well into the back half of Marvel's original ongoing Star Wars series, which ran from 1977 to 1991 and predated the prequel and expanded-universe explosion by more than a decade. By this point the title was written by Jo Duffy, with art from Ron Frenz and inking from Tom Palmer, a creative team that steered the book through original stories set after Return of the Jedi rather than direct film adaptations. The issue features the established core cast of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian, continuing the series' original-continuity adventures rather than introducing any character or concept that later became a first-appearance touchstone.

Market data on this issue is thin, reflecting its status as a mid-run, non-key Copper Age newsstand book. Certified sales cluster at only a handful of transactions across the graded spectrum, with values climbing modestly from the mid-grade range into the low nines before a large jump at 9.8, a pattern typical of high-page-count Bronze-to-Copper transition comics where high-grade survivors are scarce relative to demand from Star Wars completists. There is no population data above 9.8, meaning the top of the market is effectively defined by the handful of 9.8 sales that have occurred, rather than by a deep or liquid high-grade market.

This issue trades primarily as a run-filler for collectors assembling the full 107-issue Marvel Star Wars series rather than as a standalone investment target. Low and mid-grade raw copies move cheaply and steadily through back-issue bins and online marketplaces, driven by nostalgia and completism rather than speculation. High-grade certified copies see occasional spirited bidding from Star Wars specialists and 9.8 registry chasers, but the buyer pool narrows sharply above near-mint, and pricing at the top remains sensitive to the small number of recorded sales rather than broad market consensus.