cloudofwit

21 hours ago, Green said:

Take it

On 5/15/2017 at 11:11 AM, G.A.tor said:

So I've gotten a few pms folks wanting to buy one of my af15s and my current reluctance to sell. Since I've pmd a few folks my reasoning for holding , thought I'd share...might be a diff perspective from other sellers  ...most won't care but maybe someone will

its already obvious I prefer to make a profit on books I sell, and unlike most sellers I don't sell online, website, eBay etc. I typically only sell at cons and by request (just not motivated to do more)

and I like to have a deep stock at cons....options for buyers, and feeds my ego for having books others don't (helps to feed my con presence ). I don't have customer bases like metro and highgrade and harley, etc so I like to support my "niche". So when I sell a sa key I always consider reacquiring replacement issues (costs and availability) and was it a good/fair deal for both buyer and seller

Im reluctant to sell today because I'm not sure what true fmv is these days. I don't want to sell too high for several reasons....one being new/replacement acquisition cost and second I don't want my customers to overpay if the market is going to correct down. 

Im also reluctant to sell at former/last years  fmv in case the markets upward move holds. Same first reason (replacement costs relative to my retail ) and second would be selling to cheap relative fmv... I do want to sell a book at a fair price relative to the market. 

Maybe im too transparent, maybe no one cares, but there's my perspective on the af15 market and why I'm in a "hold" pattern for the time being. 

Any indication that your acquaintance or friend with that long-held small box of AF #15s might be tempted to sell considering the season? Or is he a hard-core collector enough to where this won't even phase him?

9 minutes ago, VintageComics said:

Those numbers sound right as I remember dreaming about them around this time.

And what was FF #1?

Slightly more?

FF #1 was the same as AF #15, except, oddly, 10.00 less in Good @ 175

7 minutes ago, ThothAmon said:

Might well have been.  Just not for me.  Someone around here must have a 1983 Overstreet handy?

AF #15: Good: 185 / Fine: 550 / Mint: 1,200

ASM #1: Good: 110 / Fine: 330 / Mint: 700

On March 31, 2017 at 0:34 AM, Jaydogrules said:

Publicly available sales data says it, including a litany of sales of this book that literally just happened.   

-J.

My questions to you were larger questions--based on your matter-of-fact proclamation--and you missed that. As smart as you seem, you might be missing a lot. And it might have little to nothing to do with funny books. 

3 hours ago, Jaydogrules said:

Hi bomberbob, I don't care what other people like or collect.  I just don't feel the need to belittle or demean other people's books, not even in the subtlest of matters, or cause them to feel their books are "inferior", and since "all things" are almost never equal with anything, I simply take exception with those few who like to state things in absolutes, when nothing, is in fact, absolute.  And what some people may or may not ask for in a WTB thread is of little relevance here.  If someone is willing to advertise that they're willing to pay more for a book with this or that trait, then more power to them.  

And I don't see a single place in any of my recent posts where I used an "lol" emoji.  Perhaps you are confusing me with drbanner and his "rofl" emoji, which I noticed you didn't actually take exception with.  

-J.

Who said nothing is absolute? And by what authority? Is this a gut feeling, cliche, or something you've researched extensively? If the latter, give us your bibliography down through the ages. And are you saying, absolutely, that nothing is absolute? (Need that emoji where a stick figure is doing something carnal with the word logic.)

15 hours ago, Jordysnordy said:

How's this for a sale on HA last night - missing back cover and last 2 pages yet still sets a new GPA high (granted the front cover is really nice)

 

Thank you for posting this sale. I was just about to comment on being surprised that the CGC 0.5 copy on ComicLink that ends tonight is above 5K now, which, considering one page is missing and another page has panels cut out, seems rather crazy. And this Heritage copy does indeed have very nice cover appeal, but 6K for a copy with missing pages--and NO back cover! Pure mania.

Are sales of .5s below 5K--regardless of being complete or not--becoming a thing of the past? Hard not to obsess on pricing when things are this extreme, even in the absolute basement grade...

Alright, peewee22, here's a flashback from 2010 that's worth a revisit as I've been out of the hobby for a little bit now. (And it sure says something about how much even the cellar-dweller CGC .5s have increased in the last 6-7 years.)

I cannot contain my excitement...  In late October, I received a call from a comic book buddy who gets his new books from the same LCS I do in Buford, GA--basically north Atlanta (actually, it's an hour trek to this place since the LCS in our town closed down a couple years ago). He said that Kyle, the owner of Galactic Quest, had an AF #15 CGC 0.5 blue label for sale. I hung up with my buddy and immediately phoned Kyle. Yes, he did have one but it wasn't on display...but he had showed it to a couple of folks and there was some interest. He wanted 1,000 bucks for it. The cover was detached. There was water damage. There was Marvel chipping. When I asked of the PQ, he said it was decent but obviously wasn't familiar with the designation on the label (I didn't ask).  In owning his store for 20 years, only two AF #15s have walked through his door. One, a few years back, he passed on because the seller wanted too much (it was low grade too). And this one recently came in, and he bought it. He read it with his daughters and then sent it down to Sarasota, FL for CGC certification. He was hoping for a 1.0 but it came back 0.5.  So I set up a meeting the following week, on Nov. 2, to see the book. I thought a deal breaker would be: brittle or tan pages; major soiling, major writing, major tape, etc. Considering it's a 0.5, picky, picky--I know, I know.  Once I saw it, I realized it had CRM/OW pages. The eye appeal sealed the deal for me. Yes, the Marvel chipping is MAJOR. Yes, the cover is detached. Yes, it's the lowest grade CGC offers out of their 10-point scale consisting of 25 units, but... I've always regretted selling the only other copy of AF #15 that I've ever owned. I've told the story before but it was a pence copy and a kid had traced Spider-Man on the front cover with a blue ball-point pen so it was probably a 0.5, maybe a 1.0. Whatever it was, I sold it for about $150 back in 1992 when I was 25.  I always regretted selling it.  But fast-forward 18 years, and this 43-year-old has just (re-) joined the AF #15 club.    Many thanks to my beloved wife, Amy, who tolerated the purchase and took the sweet pics which you see here.  Edit: And thanks to rsortor here on the boards who bought my ASM #129--or else I wouldn't have had the funds for this AF #15. Take a bow, Ronnie.

 

Mods off probationary period!

 

it was removed due to obscenity

:think:

Mods off probationary period!

$4-5K for a cover less copy seems high to me. I wouldn't go any higher than $3,500

It is the cover that is missing after all.

 

Agree. 3K+/- sounds about right.

+1.

Last month, a CGC coverless (NG) sold on eBay--via Terry's Comics, Orange, CA--for 2,500. And that was a BIN buy, so thinking it happened pretty fast.

Congrats!! You say you only like to purchase AF15's but what about comics like say Captain America Comics #1, Superman #1, Batman #1, Marvel Comics #1 or a Detective Comics #27 (or something like that from the Golden Age)? I mean those are huge key issues as well. Your set of AF15's looks nice but in my opinion it is missing that ''wow/cool'' factor to it!! In the end it's your money but all the above comics I mentioned will do just as well as any AF15 over the long period so not only would you get to keep the financial aspect of your collecting intact but you would add to a already amazing collection.

 

 

I agree that all the above mentioned books will do as well as the af15. I like af15 b/c it gives me the thrill or high of owning it. I've owned at one point or another some major keys but the thrill wasn't the same and i found myself selling the books to finance af15s. I don't get that thrill with other books. The only books that would surpass that thrill would be an action 1 or tec27. With recent sales of restored copies, looks like i'm priced out of those 2 books.

If you don't mind my asking, did you sell all of your Action #1 pages that you had slabbed?

Anyone know of any .5 copies for sale?

:think: ::

I think debt is fine IF you don't really "need" it. I use 0 interest credit quite a bit for large purchases, but probably have 90% of the funds on hand should I need to pay it off quickly.

 

To each his own. Just don't get yourself underwater on anything and show some common sense.

 

And I think liquidating and downsizing to generate the funds for a large purchase is a great idea.

I went from thousands of books in my personal collection to less than a hundred a couple of years ago. Liberating and takes up very little space.

 

Your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs make total sense. I am utterly intrigued, though, by the first sentence of your first paragraph--"I think debt is fine IF you don't really 'need' it."

 

So if you don't need to go into debt, you might as well because you have 90% of the funds on hand anyway? And then so debt is fine if someone "needs" it? I guess it boils down to how we define "fine" and what constitutes "need". :: Who needs debt? Many of us have a lot of it, no doubt, but it's an interesting paradigm, that sentence of yours.

 

Kudos to all of you disciplined folk who pay off the ol' credit card after every cycle with no interest involved. You are among a super tiny minority. :hail: PayPal, Discover, American Express, Visa, Master Card, etc. wouldn't have a prayer in hell if this was even REMOTELY typical consumer behavior.

 

"Make memories today. Pay in the future"--that was a recent slogan featured on the homepage of PayPal. It's deceptively simple. What if debt was the most aggressively marketed product today? :think: Folks with great marketing skills have had great success with we consumers....

 

Veering quickly off the AF #15 Club thread focus, admittedly.

 

Sorry for being unclear. My use of the term "need" was to differentiate the four letter word from NEED, as in people NEED jobs, food, or if they are bound and determined to make an ill-advised purchase that they have no business making, they would NEED financing to do so.

 

My point was that if I've got $1K in my comic book spending account, I don't "need" to finance a $1000 purchase, but will do so if the terms/rewards are suitable to my needs. I'll pay it off in the span of a couple of months, but will have the $1K my account on hand to pay down immediately if need be. Those are just number for example. It's pretty rare that I spend that much on a book.

 

Anyhow, that's just me. Long story short, I'll finance if it's worth it on some level, but never more than I can pay immediately if I needed to in a pinch. Just my way of doing things. Following my example has historically led to everything from unexpected pregnancies to jail time, so steer clear.

 

Hope that clears my stance a little bit.

:thumbsup: Makes sense.

Why my hyper response? Events have transpired in the last few years that have just gradually led me to be a bit evangelistic about all this.

I think debt is fine IF you don't really "need" it. I use 0 interest credit quite a bit for large purchases, but probably have 90% of the funds on hand should I need to pay it off quickly.

 

To each his own. Just don't get yourself underwater on anything and show some common sense.

 

And I think liquidating and downsizing to generate the funds for a large purchase is a great idea.

I went from thousands of books in my personal collection to less than a hundred a couple of years ago. Liberating and takes up very little space.

 

Your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs make total sense. I am utterly intrigued, though, by the first sentence of your first paragraph--"I think debt is fine IF you don't really 'need' it."

 

So if you don't need to go into debt, you might as well because you have 90% of the funds on hand anyway? And then so debt is fine if someone "needs" it? I guess it boils down to how we define "fine" and what constitutes "need". :: Who needs debt? Many of us have a lot of it, no doubt, but it's an interesting paradigm, that sentence of yours.

 

Kudos to all of you disciplined folk who pay off the ol' credit card after every cycle with no interest involved. You are among a super tiny minority. :hail: PayPal, Discover, American Express, Visa, Master Card, etc. wouldn't have a prayer in hell if this was even REMOTELY typical consumer behavior.

 

"Make memories today. Pay in the future"--that was a recent slogan featured on the homepage of PayPal. It's deceptively simple. What if debt was the most aggressively marketed product today? :think: Folks with great marketing skills have had great success with we consumers....

 

Veering quickly off the AF #15 Club thread focus, admittedly.

 

Oh we went off the rails some time ago on this one... At least it has been civil!

I'm not always successful, but I try sometimes!

I think debt is fine IF you don't really "need" it. I use 0 interest credit quite a bit for large purchases, but probably have 90% of the funds on hand should I need to pay it off quickly.

 

To each his own. Just don't get yourself underwater on anything and show some common sense.

 

And I think liquidating and downsizing to generate the funds for a large purchase is a great idea.

I went from thousands of books in my personal collection to less than a hundred a couple of years ago. Liberating and takes up very little space.

Your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs make total sense. I am utterly intrigued, though, by the first sentence of your first paragraph--"I think debt is fine IF you don't really 'need' it."

So if you don't need to go into debt, you might as well because you have 90% of the funds on hand anyway? And then so debt is fine if someone "needs" it? I guess it boils down to how we define "fine" and what constitutes "need". :: Who needs debt? Many of us have a lot of it, no doubt, but it's an interesting paradigm, that sentence of yours.

Kudos to all of you disciplined folk who pay off the ol' credit card after every cycle with no interest involved. You are among a super tiny minority. :hail: PayPal, Discover, American Express, Visa, Master Card, etc. wouldn't have a prayer in hell if this was even REMOTELY typical consumer behavior.

"Make memories today. Pay in the future"--that was a recent slogan featured on the homepage of PayPal. It's deceptively simple. What if debt was the most aggressively marketed product today? :think: Folks with great marketing skills have had great success with we consumers....

Veering quickly off the AF #15 Club thread focus, admittedly.

But it is generally a BAD idea to debt fund a comic purchase.

 

Try telling that to the Dentist who used credit to fund the bulk of his Mile High purchases when he first came out of dental school.

 

Work out alright for him in the end.

The exception proves the rule. But that was/is a wild story. No denying it.

I only recently came to this conclusion, but my goal now is to NEVER go into debt again. Much less on a funny book. We're working our way out (wifey & I) and it's been exhilarating knocking out debt that had basically been a source of bondage for many moons.

And I am a stone cold AF #15 fan. As fate would have it, I picked up a lowly .5 back in 2010 for 1K--more or less the going rate at the time (G.A.tor, via a PM, gave me some wise counsel. :hail:) and then a few months later that CGC 9.6 sold for a million and the book seemed to go extra crazy in the past few years. (Not saying it was only the result of the million sale, but that didn't hurt things, I'm thinking.)

Now, if I had 1K in hand, I'd deliver a 1K punch to the balance of a certain Discover card. You never know. You might one day find yourself with a 10K debt on a credit card @ 20% interest, paying 200 per month minimum. Seems rather unpleasant, right? That ain't the half of it. You keep ONLY paying that minimum of 200 and it'll only take you about 36 years to pay off! :whatthe: I knew paying more than the minimum helped, but didn't realize the magnitude of bondage via the ol' compound interest. So, my 2 pennies: Double payments, get outta debt, and just say yes to debit cards.

Easy, no-hassle transaction with Chadwick a while back. Quick payment. Thanks!

(Catrick checks in, hoping for an Early Bird Special)

Apparently, your hope was in vain.

What a crazy thread. Thanks, Bill! :hail:

And goes to two of the boards nicest fellows!Right on Dr,Wit!

And a big awesome to OP....even if he wont ship to porcupineland....

Well, thank you, Jimmers.

I'm sure there's some advantages to living in Canada that we don't have here in the ol' U.S.A. (I don't know what they are, but if I did, maybe it'd get me into political trouble. :shrug:)

And I'm not a Dr.! (And I don't play one on TV.)

What a crazy thread. Thanks, Bill! :hail:

450K still too weak for a 9.4, I wouldn't let it go for less than 800K, Hey if that's too much, then the buyer can have fun trying to find another for sale 9.6's are over a million.

 

The first 9.6 was over a million, the second wasn't...

 

and the third even less ...

I take it the second and third sales were public. If so, what did they fetch?

Thanks for pm'ing me the account & routing #s on your checks, G.A.tor...I'll be out of the country for the next few years.