Foolkiller

Hey -- I didn't want to let the Rosa go... I thought there was no way you were going to buy it at that price! But you did -- so I had to let it go then.... Glad they were good books...

btw: Anyone here have any idea what a Warrior #1 mag would go for in VF? Or in NM- or whatever? I found a copy -- but I couldn't get an idea on price...

Chris, you know Gary Platt has a Miracleman 15 CGC 9.6... are you interested?

I saw this book today in person when Bob picked it up... what a beauty.

Unbelievable pics. Wow. Impressive.

Ian: do you know anything else about the story of the other person who completed a full set of DCs? Is there going to be any photos or news articles about your collection? I'm just curious cause I think you'd have something in common with the other person who accomplished the same and would at least have something in common to discuss.

Interesting... anyone have more info on this topic? She's one of the heirs to Pepsi. She may have had a little more access to money to complete her collection than I did.

well, I'm happy for Ian as well. It is an amazing accomplishment.

I think it has been intimated that the Living Tribunal (representative of an even higher power that governs the multi-verses) is the most powerful being. Although the weilder of the Infinity Gauntlet supposedly had essentially the same power, it is not exactly clear. However, since the tribunal shut off the access and the ability for the gems to work together any longer, it's probably the Living Tribunal. The Beyonder was later shown to be a manifestation in physical form of a cosmic cube, and cosmic cube, though having vast reality altering powers was not nearly as strong as the Infinity Gauntlet which controlled all aspects relating to this universe (and presumably, the same types of powers the Living Tribunal could wield).

Whoever is selling those books though, does get back to you quickly when you bid. We'll see how Josh handles my transaction this go around.

ohhhh..... damn man! you should have jumped on that! 110 is without a doubt the most valued of the Steranko Cap issues. At worst a 9.4 and sellable for $350, at best a 9.6 and sellable for $550. good pickup regardless though. did you think Metro's was a true 9.4?

yeah... Metro wanted $290 for their raw Boston 9.4 -- now isn't a slabbed Boston 9.4 White pager up on Comiclink? I passed on the Metro one because some of the Bostons are 9.2s not 9.4s but the page quality on all of them is beautiful, so I'm sure you got a sweet book.

nikos: did you buy Metro's raw Boston copy of Cap 110, or did you buy one of the slabbed Boston copies off of Comiclink?

I just bought a CGC 9.0 with off white to white pages for $52 off Ebay. I love this book. Great looking copy, greggy. I saw 2 or 3 nice copies of this book in Dallas, but they all had ridiculous prices on them. I think this issue will be filed in the "Books I should have bought a year ago" section.

sterling: did you get those charlton books in philly? if so, I'm happy for you... never looked for charlton's myself, so those might have been sitting over at some store and I'm sure they were thrilled to have you buy them.

I think if we all started getting custom titles, it'd just be a pain for the mods... unless they started letting us fill it in on registration or editing our profiles. I'd like to reserve the title "Soup Nazi" if I ever get a custom one.

the book graded as a CGC 3.0 G/VG

darth, just to be clear, I don't think Ian's offer was a "lowball" offer, but I also didn't think it hurt to shop the book around a little to see what kind of market there was, rather than jumping on the first offer thrown out there.

Redhook, I appreciate your opinion... in fact, in retrospect, perhaps I should have only let Ian in on the deal once he was the first contacted. But, Joe was trying to get opinions on the book before I contacted Metro, and additionally, was trying to get a feel from other dealers just to know what the book was worth. I had nothing to do with that. Additionally, I thought of Metro based primarily on rep alone. Joe would have moved the book to Ted at Superworld or other dealers, but there wasn't necessarily the client base there to move the book. It was then that Metro was brought in... basically because I felt the book was being shopped already... For all the headaches and accusations this has sent flying, for no money, I wish I just stayed out of it. I only wanted Joe's interests protected, and now I've just got a messy headache.

The answer to the question of Ian making a better offer is of course Yes. Keep in mind I am not brokering this deal. I am NOT receiving any money from Joe and did not ask for any kind of finder's fee from Vincent. I'm getting absolutely Zero dollars, nor did I ask or want anything in connection with this deal. Ian contacted me via PM and asked for me to intervene on behalf of him to get Joe to sell the book to him. I told him I didn't have that kind of control and it was out of my hands. That's the truth. I told him he'd have to up his offer. Ian made an initial offer on the book before it was slabbed. This was NOT a question of money, it was a question of forging a business relationship between Joe and Vincent. I had advised Joe that if it were me, I'd deal with Vincent only because of that potential and the fact that Vincent has an excellent rep as does Metro in general. I said the only way that I saw Joe considering an offer again from Ian was to make a significant financial offer that was on the high end. If anyone thinks Vinnie out of spite... let me tell all of you that's patently untrue and incorrect. Ian made a flat offer to Joe. At the time, it was not high enough to sell right then and there. And I think in earlier post, Ian has stated it was $5k. $5k was too low for the book at the time. BUT I don't know specific numbers as I wasn't that involved with the deal. That's something for others to work out. I'll tell all of you again, Joe, in my opinion, had the right to get the best financial offer. My only interest here was to get Joe the best offer all things considered for him to consider all the options. I presented those options to him with the help of DAM and it was laid out. Joe made the call... it was his book.

Guys, Guys, Guys: Let me clear the record ONCE AND FOR ALL on this subject as I am the person who both knows Joe Conzolo personally (and consider him a friend), initially contacted Ian Levine AND with DAM60's helped to contact Metropolis. Let's set the record straight: Joe Conzolo is a personal friend of mine and an established dealer with a comic store in NJ. Joe is a stand up guy but his knowledge of the golden age market isn't that expansive. I first learned of the book a few months ago, had seen the book raw, and told Joe just how rare the item was. I advised that this book, while low grade should be brought to Steve Borock and the boys at CGC for the following reasons: 1) the book needed to be added to the census, 2) the book should be checked for resto (although I doubted it) and 3) the book should be checked to make sure it was the real deal. The book was to be brought to the National in NYC in November, and I PM'd Ian Levine as he was the only person that I knew would be interested in the sale. Ian was, of course, very intersted, and I informed Joe. At the National, there was siginifcant interest in the book from SEVERAL major dealers, but Joe wanted to wait for the book to get back from CGC. It was at that time in Dec. that both DAM and I discussed the fact that Vincent from Metro should be brought into the mix as a possiblity to sell the book because he has some of the largest available funds to obtain this significant book. Although Ian had been contacted, I felt that a) his initial offer was low and b) since there was siginifcant interest in the book, it would be foolish not to at least shop the book and see what kind of offers could be made. I got Vincent in touch with Joe and stepped away from the process. Now for all of those conspiracy theorists who believe this was Vincent's idea of trying to pursue the book just to mess with Ian... YOU ARE ALL DEAD WRONG. I was the one who contacted Vincent and it was Joe, not Vinnie, who initially pursued this deal. Vinnie and Joe have since developed an outside business relationship, and I can tell you unequivocally that Joe did the deal for the reason he stated in his email to Ian: because Vincent offered the better opportunity for future business. I do not say any of these things because I am friends with Vincent (in fact, we've only met once or twice, and we barely know each other), the only thing I can say is that he has been completely honest and standup throughout this whole process. Joe as well. All the cards have been on the table. That's where it stands right now. Ian was never promised the book. Joe did what any person would do... he got the best deal. Vincent never tried to get the book from Joe or approach anyone... Vincent was approached because Metropolis is Metropolis. It was the best deal for Joe to make and it was made.

As a lifelong Cap fan... it does matter that it's the Steve Rogers Cap as opposed to the others. Avengers 4 is the first appearance of the Cap who has continued on into today's continuity, thus why I mark it as the first SA appearance of Cap. The guy in the costume in ST 114 isn't the same character that continued on today... I do love the cover though.

Oh the cover's great... but since it's some villian dressed up in a costume of Captain America, I don't think it's an appearance, cause it's not the same character.

CBG should know better. It's clearly noted in OS... and I think any semi serious fan of the SA knows this fact. p.s. to all who read my post earlier, i'm a insufficiently_thoughtful_person for spelling "know", "no"

What worries me though is that each year the total book sales are still decling... even if one store sees a spike, the overall numbers have hit, at best, a plateau. I'm all for optimism, but I just can't believe that with the generation that there's going to be a young generation of collectors thinking comics are cool enough to collect. This is a generation that largely is without real exposure to comics... unlike a lot of youth and teenagers from the 60s, 70s, and even 80s... I at least remember seeing, reading and enjoying comics. How many people in the 90s and beyond will say that? If you're only reaching, let's say a total distribution of 200k, right now... how many of those have books towards the youths. Most local stores I've been too... and I've been to a lot around my area, don't report many new book sales for people who are under their mid 20s. That says something to be about the future... as one collector friend of mine who's in his 50s says (and he's got a ton of silver DC) when I die I don't care what they do with my collection... burn it for all I care... my kids know what the books are worth and don't care, they don't want the hassle. This guy's son tried collecting for about 3 years, and said it was too time consuming and boring for him... and that he preferred video games etc. Sad to say, that's probably the trend these days.