lou_fine

It's certainly nice to see a fellow collector from the days prior to CGC when these kinds of books were still being sold raw at conventions. Definitely not the case anymore in this current marketplace as books like Mask 1 and Suspene 8 would now in almost all cases be sold only when graded and slabbed, and usually in some type of auction format setting, whether it be on eBay or with one of the 3 big comic book auction houses. Interesting to say that you've seen a few raw copies in the VF or higher range back in the day, because unlike the Mask 1 which does have higher grade copies (albeit restored), there had so far been zero copies graded to date (either unrestored or restored) of Suspense 8 in above CGC 7.5 VF- graded condition to date, until this Promise Collection copy graded at CGC 9.2 came along this year. Makes me wonder if the HG copies, if there are any others actually in existence, are still locked up in private collections, and if so, hopefully we will see them come to market someday.

It's a good thing you qualified your statement to exclude copies coming into the auction marketplace. Especially since I believe we've seen copies of Mask Comics 1 show up in almost every single major comic book auction from the big auction houses during the past few years, which has probably given Overstreet enough reinforcing sales to allow him to raise the valuation by such a significant margin. Not so much the case with Suspense 8 yet, as there have been far fewer on-line auction sales of this Cole classic book during the same time period, although a few copies have now finally started to make their way into the marketplace during the past year. So, it's possible that Suspense 8 might be following in the same footsteps as Mask 1, except just a couple of years behind.

When you consign an Action 6.0, Heritage will let you put in whatever you want wherever you want whenever you want. And likewise to Tim's point, when you are willing to fork over $50K to $60K for CGC to slab a book, they are more than willing to put on the label whatever you want wherever you want whenever you want.

Graders notes might tell the tale. Not necessarily so, as I have been told many times by boardies here that the Graders Notes are really nothing more than internal notes by the graders as the book goes from one grader to the next and does not necessarily list all of the defects that goes into the determination of the book's grade. Which then leads me to the question of should CGC really be charging money for the Graders Notes if they are really meant as nothing more than incomplete internal notes for the graders?

Apparently , but maybe for me to buy Heritage is most definitely NOT the major auction site you should be going to if you want to sell a highest graded copy or near highest graded copy of what is actually a relatively common book with multiple HG copies showing up in every single auction. Even more so once you factor in both their BP and SP fees which you as the consignor have to pay for out of your auctions proceeds.

Hey jimbo; With books like this CGC 9.0 or tied for second highest graded copy of Seven Seas 4 along with some of your other books that you have posted on these boards here, I seriously think you are undervaluing the current marketplace worth of your collection.

I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that you seem to have forgotten that spines, corners, edges, and staples are way above and far beyond the pay grade of the CGC graders to take a look at when it comes to grading books from the Promise Collection. All kidding aside and on a more serious note here, any truth to the rumours that a family of rats have infiltrated the new additional 25,000 square foot of warehouse storage base they have added into their facilities to hold and store their submitted and now finally opened comic books that's now awaiting grading and slabbing.............Yum, Yum!!!

Being a long time GA collector, I guess I am used to thinking of the Suspense 8 as being pretty much on the same level as Cole's Mask 1. Needless to say, that has certainly changed during the past few years and even to the point that old slow Bob has recognized this by jacking his top of guide price for Mask 1 from $8K in 2019 all the way up to $30K in this years edition of the guide, while the Suspense 8 has made the gigantic leap from $8,700 all the way up to $8,900 during the same 2-year time period. If I had a choice between these 2 books at their current marketplace valuation, I certainly know which one I would prefer at this current point in time. Then again, maybe some of these prices that we are seeing on the very few copies of Suspense 8 to hit the marketplace is a sign of a potential catch up period for this equally classic L.B. Cole spider cover. It's too bad there's not a nice copy of Suspense 8 out there in the Chinatown Collection or any any other pedigree that could give this Promise Colection copy a run for its money since the next highest graded copy out there is only a CGC 7.5 graded copy. I guess only time will tell if another HG copy of this classic cover and rare in grade book ever surfaces in the marketplace.

Try telling that to somebody like Jay Parrino who lost big time money on virtually all of his GA purchases even though he didn't tried to flip them immediately. I guess the moral here is NOT to over pay for your books in the first place, which kind of makes me wonder how long some of the Promise Collection buyers will have to wait before they can get back to the breakeven level on some of their purchases.

Didn't I read in a post of yours awhile ago that you were also buying up some of those B&W books from the late 80's and possibly even some of Wizard hyped books that were selling for stupid money when they hit the shelves of the LCS. Also certainly didn't work out so well for some of those speculators who paid top dollars for movie and TV related hyped "common as dirt" books only to see their vlaues chopped in half or more by the time their characters hit the silver or small screen.

Wth some of the rather astounding record setting prices that I have seen your books sell for, the moral of the story in your own particular case is don't practice what you preach.

If that's the case, then it also means the Batman 49 could be sitting at half of its current value in a month from now.

It is indeed a conundrum - do you stick or twist? The only problem is that by the time you get your books through the maze that is CGC, the entire marketplace might be completely different by then.

Do these guys at CGC have more than 1 mailing distribution list, as I am sure that I received more than 3 emails per month for their frigging signings. It seems much more like 3 emails PER WEEK asking if you want to turn in books for their money grabbing no name signings.

Well, that's because with the way the girl is dressed, what you see is pretty much all you are going to get. With the covered up dude, it leaves a lot to the imagination and there just might be a big big unexpected surprise in there for you.

Well, looks much more like a tiny pimple as compared to some of the mouse chewed bitten-off cover to cover corners that CGC is pretty much giving a free pass to for the Promise Collection books submitted to them by Heritage for grading.

Was just scrolling through the HA Sunday Auction offerings set to end later today and noticed that they have an entire HG set of theAdams/Smith Avengers 93 through 100 up for auction. Go figure that the Avengers 97 without either the Adams or Smith artwork would be the issue going for the most money by far at this current point in time at a bid of $410, with the others in CGC 9.6 barely fetching premiums to top of 9.2 guide, if even any premium at all.

In a mano a mano beatdown fight to the death, who's got the larger warehouse...............Halperin's warehouse full of his winnings awaiting future auctions or CGC's warehouses full of books awaiting grading and slabbing.

It's the greatest Bronze Age comic book published in the history of humankind. ( ) Yes, from a strict collectoer's point of view, it's definitely pretty hard to beat 52 pages of squarebound cover though to cover of Adams goodness featuring the classic Kree-Skull War storyline.

Sure, but why would it be? No reason at all, except it sadly goes to show my rapidly advancing age as I still clearly remember approaching the end of the 70's when Avengers 93 was the top BA book in terms of valuation by a long shot and that entire Adams/Smith run from #93 through #100 (excluding #97) was right there at the top of ever true collector's want list. Definitely not so much the case in today's marketplace where it's so much more about first appearances and movie/TV related hype. Especially since nowadays the top dollar BA books like Hulk 181, Spidey 129, and X-Men 94 were still not yet broken out in the Overstreet guide at the time and had a top of guide valuation of sub $1. In fact, if I remember correctly, the only BA books that were even within earshot range of Avengers 93 were the matching bookend set of Spidey 121 and 122.

I guess it's really more of a relative comparison because I still remember having to pay pretty much the same amount of money for a HG copy of Avengers 93 as I did some 10 years later for my HG copies of both Hulk 181 and Spidey 129. Needless to say, the Avengers 93 is not even in the universe as the Hulk 181 and Spidey 129, let along the same ballpark from a valuation point of view.

Didn't your mother ever tell you the story about what happens to the messenger who's the bearer of bad news. Seriously though, unfortunately you are bang on here as it must have been Thor 193 which is clearly a much easier to find book and definitely worth a whole lot less than TTA 93. Doubt I would have a copy of TTA 93 since that was well before I started collecting and if I do, and yet well after I was picking up those old used books from the second hand store for 5 cents a pop. Since I was alluding to Avengers 93 in my original post up above, it's really kind of sad how this classic Neal Adams book lost its place on the throne as pretty much the de factor book from the BA to acquire back in the day. Seems to be pretty much a forgotten former BA key in today's much more robust marketplace, where it's so much more about first appearances as opposed to artist driven books.

Hey Rick; Although I was 95% certain that it was you who had originated the PPP concept and shared it with the rest of us here through your ongoing posts, I guess I just wanted to play it safe in case there might have also been somebody else that I was not aware of.

To each their own, I would have to say, as I absolutely love those early 25 cents squarebound SS issues, especially the SS 1 with his detailed origin and the touchingly beautiful Shalla-Bal storyline and then the classic SS 4 Thor cover which goes without saying. Although I will admit you are also bang on when it comes to the FF 72 up above with that out of this world blazing red SS cover. As for the TTA 93 book, not sure why, but I guess my memory must be failing me as I always thought this was one of those 25 cent squarebound issues. Should look for my copy, but I guess I must be confusing it with the Avengers 93 which also had the same brown cover which was the top #1 go to BA book to get back in the day as it had the classic Neal Adams artwork throughout the entire squarebound issue. You definitely can't go wrong with any one of these 3 books though, as they were all definite keepers in any collector's personal collection.

Looks like you are working on the theory that price per point is a straight-line relationship which would be an incorrect assumption on your part. Even Gator who was one of the original boardies to come up with this "price per point" concept states quite clearly that it is best used for books ranging from 2.0 up to 6.0; since prices on entry level books and HG books tend to be a lot more volatile. If it was a linear relationship across the entire condition spectrum, you would see uber HG 9.8 graded copies of books selling for only 2+ percentage premium over the 9.6 graded copies which is clearly not the case. At the other end, you would also not see a raw Poor condition copy of Action 13 sell for almost $15K several years ago or multiple copies of 1.0 graded copies of 'Tec 31 sell in the $low to mid $40K's price range during the past few years. From my personal POV, it is common sense to think more about label chasing collectors when it comes to the high end portion of the marketplace and then budget minded collectors who just wants to have an affordable copy of the book for their personal collection.