lou_fine

Nothing at all like the current NFT (i.e. non-fungible token) craze whereby investors are spending 6 and 7-figures on digital clips that you can download for free anytime you want. Perfect example being this Beeple NFT entitled Everydays - The First 5,000 Days purchased by some crypto investors for more than $69M: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/metapurse-beeple-virtual-art-usd-69-million-jpg-beeple-everydays-the-first-5000-days-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-nft-2394249

This is exactly what I was thinking. I’ve been flipping comics for a very long time now, and I’ve never seen anything like this before, aside from a couple exceptions. Only thing I can think of is that all these movies have created more flippers/sellers than what we used to see 5 to 10 years ago. More people are in the game creating a larger demand. I believe that Alex already answered your question based upon his above post................it's all some kind of big crazy bubble that's taken hold.

How was you able to verify that it sold for $4K when it it lists the "best offer" at only $1,400 which also appears to be the opening bid and the only bid that shows?

I am glad I cherry picked my copies at cover price less the usual discount (if any ??) at the time when they first came out way back when. Even more happy when I picked up an extra copy at the local con where Todd was signing all of his books for free back then. Then again, it means that I've been stuck holding onto these books for more than 30+ years. Ahhhhh..............the joy and fun and sometimes the lucky side benefits of being a long time comic book collector.

Although all of the KDF's are pretty much tough to find, I believe it's the first few issues in the run that are the true real hen's teeth as they hardly ever show up in the marketplace.

Yes, I assume that Spidey 252 must have been hot right when it came out because I remember talking to a old time comic book broker back in the day who had started out in the coin business. He said that since they collected coins in rolls, that;s hwy he picked up 50 copies of Spidey 252 when it first came out. Sounded like that was his first stab at a MA speculative purchase as the book was first coming out and shall we say, he sounded none too happy with the results as they never really went up in value from his point of view and instead, pretty much fizzled out rather quickly.

The difference of grade between these two books is just astounding. I thought they graded books following generic criteria. This indicate they dont. I believe you wouldn't have to wait that long as I believe that this was the copy of Action 1 where Borock stated that he had overgraded it after all of the complaints when the collecting public saw this book.

Have always absolutely loved this classic Simon & Kirby cover with the bold green and red colors, plus the fact that it's almost 3-D like from a perspective point of view with the Manhunter seemingly stepping right out from the front cover. Sad to say though and rather hard to understand why, but unlike other GA classic cover books though, this book has pretty much gone absolutely nowhere from a relative valuation point of view over the past few decades.

Well, I would also say a night and day difference between that lower graded Bat 1 and this slightly higher graded Action 1:

Yes, as a potential bidder I absolutely hate those blind Hail Mary snipe bids that seems to come in during the last few seconds of a CL auction which makes it virtually impossible for you to ever win a book. I much prefer the 3-minute extended bidding format which CC employs as it actually gives you lots of time to think and do a bit of analysis in order to help you figure out whether you should go up to the next bid increment or not.

+1 How dare you old GA collecting fogies try to denigrate and besmirch true and timeless treasures like Transformers 1, just because you are jealous that some astute and lucky bidder managed to snagged it in a steal of a deal for a mere piddly $44K.

I remember Snyder introducing me to the collector who had purchased this copy of Action 1 during the Diamond Int'l Galleries grand opening back in the Super Bowl weekend of '95. For the life of me though, I just can't remember who he was. Does anybody here know as he was an older Chinese gentleman who I've never heard of before and have since not heard anything at all about this gentleman going forward after that. Hence, not sure if it was a one and done deal in terms of somebody from outside the hobby picking up the biggest name book out there or what?

Love books that present greater than the grade i was watching that one Not sure about this, but I think it would have received a grade commensuarate with its actual condition level if it had been slabbed with Green Qulaified label. Then again, not sure about this since I thought a missing coupon usually means an "incomplete" book and automatically graded as a 0.5 Poor if slabbed witha blue Universal label. Or are they basically saying here that the heavy accumulation of defects including the clipped coupon justifieds the 1.0 Fair condition grade.

As a grader, I can tell you there IS a difference, however, that does not mean the difference is worth the price! So, are you saying that we missed our chance to grab that 9.9 graded copy of Transformers 1 for our personal collection. Seriously though or kind of, as a long time grader who has worked for both companies, how am I supposed to submit a book such as this for grading? Especially if I as a submittor probably couldn't tell the difference between a 9.2 book from a 9.8 worthy book, or if there was a dot of color touch on the cover even if my life depended upon it. Because after all, that's exactly what I am paying the big bucks for you guys to tell me. Should I be submitting this book at the lowest possible tier on the assumption that it'll grade out as only a 9.2 copy or even worse, the book is absolutely worthless because some fool drop a dot of color touch on the cover? Or should I be subbing it in one of the middle tiers since it just might be a HG copy that migth possibly be worth a few hundred bucks? Or should I be going all out and doing it as a same day walkthough hoping that the grading company will take the bait and everybody will make some nice money after we find some crazed fool astute bidder buy the book for $44,000 big ones. Not sure if I do, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if I have one or two of these books somewhere in my personal collection which I had cherry picked off the shelves of the LCS back in the day. Especially since being the mindless collector that I was back in the 70's and early 80's before I found GA, I threw my loonie down for the first few issues of some of these seemingly neverending onslaught of Marvel titles hoping against hope that one day there would be even a bigger fool than me who would actually pay me more for the book than what I had paid for it. To tell you the honest truth though, it would never ever occur to me to get one of these books graded as I would much rather go for even a low grade copy of one of these HTF Fox book, as opposed to a uber HG copy of these "common as dirt" Marvel CA books with thousands of them slabbed already. Then again, if somebody's willing to pay $44K for a copy, it could buy a really nice GA Fox book or possibly even a few of them.

Well, from what I remember in terms of photos abput Marilyn, I would have to say it's more than just the eyes as far as I can tell:

If this book is indeed going to be a true mega key as you think, it's actually NOT necessary to own this book in CGC 9.8. As long as you own a copy in your personal collection, and preferably in high grade due to how recent it is, you should be good to go. As I have stated many times on these boards before, the sign of a true vintage collectible comic book is one that that has has monetary value in all grades across the entire condition spectrum. Clearly in contrast to a graded collectible which has value only in the nosebleed HG's such as CGC 9.8 and CGC 9.9, and yet has no real worthwhile value in any condition below high grade.

You do realize this is the CGC generation of collectors who usually buy not to hold, but instead buy mainly for the purposes of reselling at a higher price point. Not sure how many of today's buyers are truly long term collectors who buy these types of books with the intention of locking them away in their personal collection for years, let alone for decades like what the older generation of collectors did?

What it actually means is: 1. There is price resistance for ASM 238 in 9.8 for universal direct, given the number of copies available at this price (and higher) 2. Given the lack of availability of ASM 300 in 9.8 for universal direct, it indicates that selling are holding back their copies, for fear of missing out on values higher than $5K per copy. They are waiting for results of the next auction sale to determine if it’s worthwhile to sell or hold Or the other possibility is that this $4K to $5k price range for Spidey 238 is something that is relatively new and owners of these books are throwing theirs into the ring hoping to try their luck at scooping up some of this dough. The Spidey 300, on the other hand, has been in this $5K price range for the past few months and buyers of these books might just need to hold onto them for a bit longer before they feel comfortable at throwing them back into the ring in hopes of making money on them. From my point of view, the Spidey 238 is simply joining the party a bit later, but hoping to follow in the footsteps of Spidey 300 and all good things come to those who are patient.

Which means that if you want one for your collection, you better grab it now since once these are gone, there'll be far fewer left as the population count for Spidey 238 in CGC 9.8 is running at only about 40% of the population count for Spidey 300.

Looks like it sold for 900 on ebay using Taxex method Well, that's definitely good news for me then since I have all of the bases covered with both an authentic #1 and a counterfeit #1 in my collection.

I thought the $900 was the initial Buy It Now price and is it possible the seller took a lower Offer price on the book?

No doubt, but then you also have to take into account the fact that the SUPPLY of Spidey 300 is multiple times greater than the supply of Spidey 238.

Being a long time comic book collector well before this current CGC generation of slab collectors, the more realistic and relevant price point for me at least is at the CGC 9.2 condition level for these more recent books. As such, any idea on the value in the lower CGC 9.4 and 9.2 grades? Especially since grading is still nothing more than a subjective opinion at a particular point in time, I personally would never ever consider slabbing a book if it had no worthwhile value at the CGC 9.2 condition level.

I guess the question is will it be able to hold off Spidey 238 who is coming in from the outside and might just pass Spidey 300, especially considering that it is much earlier and most of all, also much tougher to find in grade relative to Spidey 300?

It's a 9.9 fer gosh sakes. Oh, come on you guys..........this copy of Transformers 1 is only the relatively "common as dirt" Direct edition of the book. Just imagine if it was the "super rare" Newsstand edition of Transformers 1.........why it might go for the equivalent of the Church copies for both Wonderworld 3 and Mystery Men 1 combined.