Alright, so for those who need a recap...I started with a CGC 9.6 Spawn #1 Newsstand, a CGC 9.6 Hulk #340 and $500 cash. The goal? Use the cash and books to trade/buy and sell my way to better things. The rules? Only books acquired along the way can be included in the journey. If I acquire a book I have doubles of, I can enter the duplicate (even if it is a book I acquired long ago) as part of the challenge. Otherwise, I cannot just add books from my "to sell" pile at home to this challenge.
Alright, so I mentioned I would try to do monthly updates on my trading challenge...to see how far I could get starting with Hulk #340 CGC 9.6, Spawn #1 Newsstand CGC 9.6 and $500 cash. I want to see, through buying and selling and trading, how far that can get me.
Well, here is the first update! So far, as result of the challenge, the following books have been added to the personal collection:
1. TMNT #4 First print raw, around a 7.5 with potential to press and improve
2. Hulk #3
The Premise
So this is an idea I have seen done but I decided to tackle it in my own way. Basically, what I am going to do is see how far I can get by taking two books and a set amount of cash and seeing how far I can go with it through trades and purchases. To start, a couple rules:
1. I will have $500 in cash to spend. I feel like this is a modest budget that a collector would have and I want to see how long I can stretch it. The goal is a year. This money can be spent on other books
Well, back in February, I sent some of my books of to be graded for the first time. A great thanks to @thirdgreenham for assisting in this!
Anyways, I thought I would share and talk about the results and what I learned. So let's get started with...
X-Men #101 CGC 8.0
So originally, I had graded this as a 6.5-7.0 unpressed. I felt that the slight colour fade/loss to the top left of the banner and the fact that the back cover was dirtied would have it fall there.
So I finally made my first ever submission to CGC! I am excited and hopefully these will be back to me by June. Here is a list of the books submitted, along with reasons why I submitted it! I also did a video showcasing the books and my grade estimates.
Book 1: X-Men #101. Anticipated grade after a press is 7.0. I would be fine with a 6.5 and elated with anything higher. I am getting this one pressed because it is a great cover and a book that I MAY sell one day.
Book 2: Ms Marvel #18
So in previous years, I had tried to keep track of how much I "spent" yearly on comics. I am farrrrrr from someone who buys and sells to the extent of some but I do enough selling and have for years to fund the hobby. This year, I wanted to see what that would look like and I want to continue this in future years.
After all is said and done, this year I spent a total of $671 CAD (or about $524 USD) on comics. Below are some highlights added to the PC from within that spending...
-Terr
So I am starting this journal to officially count my collection and to also go through and share what I have. Currently, I have 24 black bins as show that are stored on two shelves. They are not full but some are getting close. I am going to go through each bin and highlight a couple favs, how it’s organized and most importantly how many books are in it! In addition to these bins, I have one king box and one short box with stuff plus some others odds and ends which I will someone count/include i
So here we are at number one! It was kinda tricky to dig through the memory of the past 15 years and pick out the highlights. There are loads more but most were quick ebay buys and flips or lots on ebay where I maybe made a tiny bit and kept some random issues. I tried to showcase more interesting books and finds that resonated with me in some way. But, enough chatter...time for numero uno!
I wish this one had a bit better story but because it was a find and I consider it one of my prized p
Before I post number one, a couple honourable mentions that I recall but don't fit into my top 10 for various reasons. I remember them all though, so I figure they were worth mentioning....honourably.
1. ASM #300. First purchase I ever made from outside ebay over the internet. I sent money in good faith, he sent comic in good faith. I did not include this as it was a specific purchase I wanted. It was around 12 years ago but it was a screaming price for a NM copy and I own it still
So COVID happened, the border closed and I was sad. No longer could I cross the border to pick up parcels (heck I have 2-3 there waiting for when it opens up). So how was I gonna get me some comics? I hate paying $15-30 for shipping for a small amount of books or even 1 book! I had to buy comics so I took to avenues I had never used really before. And I really regret that it took me this long to do so.
First, Facebook groups here in Canada. Found a few things, minor things really. For the m
So this collection was a doozy. A connection was made with someone I knew who's stepfather had a bunch of comics. I had met the guy couple of time and one day, he mentions having comics and says he was thinking of just "having a fire" with them. I said woahhhhh at least let me see what they are. I THINK he was joking but either way, he started sending boxes with his stepson who I knew and I valued them. He said they were just taking up space and would be happy to get whatever money he could so o
Everyone out there probably has a flea market or yard sale story. Sadly, here where I live, yard sales are very VERY junky. As a result, I rarely go out to look unless the yard sale specifically lists old books, comics or magazines. Occasionally to save time, I will reply to ads or call to see if it is even worth my time (most people are great to talk to plus it can get word around that you are someone looking for comics). This "word" is how this yard sale came to me. My family was visiting us t
Ever since moving to where I now live, I have regularly checked local avenues, scoured pawn shops and tried to find places that sell comics. It seemed nothing every came up. The one shop that has records and comics only had 80s and 90s stuff and anything from the 70s was automatically priced at $7 or more, regardless of condition. I have gone through the place literally issue by issue and they rarely add anything and there are books that have been there for decades (they mostly make their money
So about 5 years ago I heard people had found deals in other countries on eBay. I tried but did not seem to have any luck. So I gave up on it. But then one day I had an alert for an auction in Mexico. It was for a bunch of Spidey books, early ASM issues. The ask was $300 and the pictures were once again horrible. There was a beat up copy of issue 50 shown and a few others, nothing key. Yet on the description, there were quite a few books listed, including some key early ASM books I really wanted
Shortly after moving to where I live now, a colleague who I work with was going through a tough time and needed to sell his collection. My wife knew him better at the time and knew I bought and sold comics and figured I could at least help see what he had. So I went over to see and man, did he have a lot. All of it had been largely untouched since the lat 80's. The best bunch of it all were the Uncanny X-Men books, including a Giant Size #1. Again, this was 7 years ago or so now and this book wa
I moved in late 2012 to where I am now. This buy I believe happened 2013. Ever since Dark Knight had come out, I had slowly been getting into Batman more. I am to this day a Marvel guy, but I found that 70s Batman through til the 80s was tolerable, with some great runs, stories, and artwork/covers. Golden Age Batman was (and still is) outta reach I feel, although I do like a lot of the artwork a lot, and 50's/60's Batman just has no appeal to me. I respect those who do like it though, it's just
This next purchase was the first collection I ever bought. It was around 2007 or 2008, maybe a year prior or a year later. I had started paying attention and occasionally checking other avenues locally like Craigslist and Kijiji. Anyone, I found a local guy selling a longbox and a random stack of comics. He wanted $100 for everything. What caught my eye was the stack he had in the pictures...a big ole stack of Wolverine #1 from the 1988 run. I counted at least 20 copies. I thought to myself, Eve
This is going to be a quick series on my top ten finds in terms of comics. I will not be including purchases that I made specifically for a good or decent value. No, these purchases stand out because they were found in some way shape or form and ended up being extremely beneficial for me as a collector in some way. I am focusing on the past 15 years because, at 31, those 15 years represent me collecting the hardest. Before that, the occasional venture was made to a local comic shop to buy back i