Woo hoo! Teaser!

Ahhhh. A big sigh of relief today.

I wrote earlier about the hearbreak of getting a dreaded purple label on my X-Men 3, a 4.5 SA for slight touch up and a cover tear repair. I'm not into flipping, but my collection plan is to have all blue labels. I put the book up on eBay to try to get some money back towards buying a new raw or low graded copy.

The auction sat for almost a full week at around the $30 mark until the last day. Suddenly, it jumped up to $160. The bidder had the dreaded "1" feedback rating, but it turned out to be a person who only bought one other item, a 3.5 ASM 1 for $2500+. My faith was restored. In the end, another bidder grabbed it for a hair over $200, and paid promptly.

It's very tough to judge the value in dollars on a restored copy, especially the silvers and golds. Luckily, the buyer saw a value book and grabbed it, and I can't help but thank the CGC grade for giving the buyer confidence in what they were buying. In checking and re-re-re-checking my records, I believe this book was one I had original purchased raw for between $150 and $180. While it may be a zero-sum game, the CGC service helped me preserve my investment.

Again, I'm not a flipper, but I'm glad this worked out that I can restart my quest to finish my permanent collection.

Thanks to Tnerb for giving the book a look over the other weekend at Philly Comicon and discussing the noted areas of restoration. We do a lot online, but at the end of the day, a physical copy needs a physical eye to appreciate a book.