lou_fine

Finally added a blue one, was happy with the colors. The HA scan looked washed out to me. Much richer colors in hand: When you said that you needed some blue, I thought for sure that you had meant the AMF V2#4 Sand Hogs cover. Congrats on adding to your color spectrum as this blue cover copy is also certainly very nice and right up there.

+1 Surprisingly, this lack of respect also used to apply to the Wonder Woman books before they finally managed to get some heat from the movie and related media hype that started up a few years ago. In a way though, they still seemingly don't get a ton of respect since the majority of their non-key, non-classic cover books still barely goes for guide, and in some cases sell only at a big discount to guide, as evident to many of the WW lots in this just completed CC auction. Like everything else in this supposedly hot marketplace, everybody seems to be after only the keys and classic covers with not too much love for the others. +1 Most definitely as it's already difficult enough to jump back and forth between the CC auctions that are supposedly ending and then "not ending" due to their continuing 3-minute extensions. And now you are also asking us to open up additional windows to keep track of auctions ending on CL at the same time. If I was a consignor in this auction and the book which I had consigned sold for quite a bit below recent market prices, I would definitely be a bit perturbed with the situation here.

It's rather unfortunate that you ended up missing out of both of these all-time classic books. Especially in terms of the Science 2 which certainly doesn't come along everyday when you are talking about the Church pedigree copy of the book. Although I do believe you probably placed the right bet since the 'Tec 35 is more widely collected and known as it is GA DC mainstream, while the Science 2 is much more of a true comic collector's type of book and hence limited to more of a niche market relative to the 'Tec 35. But that's just my opinion even though I am a Fox collector, but not a Science 2. Oh yeah, I guess I am also a pre-Robin 'Tec collector since I also have some of those issues, but just not a 'Tec 35. Actually, I am quite surprised that you cannot bid on the Heritage website when you are in China since I believe they have one of the highest internet penetration rates in the world. From being in China myself several times a full decade ago, I found their cell phone technology to be light years ahead of what was available over here at the time. Another thing that I am surprised at is that apparently the reason why Apple Pay is so successful in the U.S. is that the credit card system (apparently until very recently) did not have tap capability or even chip enhanced security which has been a feature on Canadian credit cards for several years now. +1 Most definitely the best hobby ever, at least from my own very biased personal point of view. Sorry to hear that you will be taking a break for awhile from the comic book buying world. Totally understandable though since I kind of took an extended break from buying expensive vintage comic books myself for about 20 years. Especially when the nice quality books started to pass my $1K threshold limit back in the mid 90's. But in a sense, I never really left because I still kept track of what was happening in the marketplace, and hopefully, you'll continue to do the same also. Especially since you certainly don't need to be a constant buyer in order to be a true comic book collector.

Don't get me wrong, I know Hong Kong is one of the premier spots on the face of the planet . . . But How are you able to acquire comics in such a remote spot? I don't believe that Tim is the type of collector that goes down to the LCS to buy his weekly fix of MA comics. He's much more the type that would have accounts set up with Heritage and CC whereby he could snap up quality vintage books like the Church copy of Mystery Men 3 which he got in the Jon Berk Auction.

Oh, my bad. It looks like the CC auction actually ends in December and only starts in the same week that the heritage auction ends. Either way, December is not necessarily the best time for an auction to end as potential bidders are sometimes just too busy to focus on comic books.

Where are you guys seeing all of these books or is it because you are the big buyers and have special access? When I just checked their site, it only shows 2 Action 13's, 3 Action 15's, and no 'Tec 62 at all so far, although they do have the CGC 9.4 'Tec 71 there. And they also have 4 copies of the supposedly HTF Detective 29 in this auction.

I believe we'll get the answer to this question within the next few months as CC has 4 copies of AF 15 along with a a CGC 3.5 copy (so far) in their upcoming Event Auction scheduled for this November. Best people to ask would be dealers like the Blazing One and Gator who seems to have quite a few AF 15's on hand. From what I see on these boards here, this book seems to have a pretty wide range on a price per point valuation. Although we always seem to focus on the grand slam headline grabbing auction results here, there also seems to be quite a few examples of sales still substantially lower and nowhere close to the $10K price per point ballpark yet. Being avid collectors as we all are here, we always tend to focus in on the strong positive news in terms of auction results and ignore the many ones that do not seem to do so well.

I guess you must have inside info as their Event Auction website shows only 5 lower grade copies for now. These would be 4 CGC 4.0 copies along with a lonely CGC 3.5 copy.

Really? Yes, rather surprising! Is this similar to how Google, Youtube, and some of the other major Western sites are blocked in China? Maybe this is why one of the other board members said that they could not bid on Heritage while they were in China at the time of the auction?

All I can say is that if I was a consignor, I would certainly not be happy with the timing of this auction here. In the one just completed last week, they went head to head against CL and it would appear that many of their books did not do as well as expected. For this upcoming auction in November, it looks like they've clearly decided to go head to head against the heritage Auction which is also taking place on the exact same week. Not sure what their game plan is here, although I believe the actual times within the day might be slightly different, but still.

No opinions on this sale of this Pacific Coast copy of TOS 39 in the just completed CC auction: http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?referral=EAlist&id=730880&title=TALESOF SUSPENSE Or nothing more than just a big yawner and snooze fest for everybody here since it's not the highest graded copy and there's another 4 copies in the exact same condition.

My response was sarcasm at its worst I guess... I too think its probably a load but thats the story we've been told. Unfortunately I think gpa's prices are certainly cherry picked, but we all still use it so... Actually, if you re-read my post, it was really meant in a sarcastic tone and to bring a bit of levity to the situation. In this particular case, I actually do believe Vincent's explanation , as it would not make any sense at all for them to exclude a huge record setting sale such as this since it would definitely be a critical and game-changing data point in the upward momentum for this book in the GPA trend line. I am just surprised that it took an email from Jay for them to spot this omission, especially since it has been discussed for the longest while here on the boards. I guess it shows you how much attention is paid to what we say on the boards here........zilch, nada, none at all.

You asked why I bought the books I bought, but I really don't have any reason to offer for going after the V2#3 other than, behind V2#1, I simply liked it best. You're the Fox collector, right? I just picked up a copy of Science #2 in a Heritage auction. I can't get over how cool that cover is. It's always ideal to go after the books that you yourself like the best as it's your money and your collection. Well done with the AMF V2#3. As for the Science 2, is this the copy you are referring to: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/science-comics-2-mile-high-pedigree-fox-1940-cgc-nm-92-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7166-91110.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 If so, definitely very well done and a book which is clearly out of my league by a long long shot. Indeed, a very beautiful book nonetheless. As for being a Fox collector per se, not really sure if I fit that definition as I also collect a lot of other books. Just happened to pick up several of the Fox books when they became available back in the mid-90's, although they certainly did not come cheap at that time as the GA market was on fire back then. Now, I am happy that I did as they look relatively cheap compared to what they are going for in today's marketplace, even though the few Fox books in this just completed CC auction was definitely nothing to write home about, as they sold below what I was expecting them to go for.

Does seem like a good deal, although GPA records a 7.5 selling for $8,365 last November. Although Superman may possibly appear to be cold from this one particular auction result, he most definitely can be certified as stone cold dead when you combine him with Batman in World's Finest as many of those early issues were only able to sell at a big discount to guide in the CC auction. At least this copy still went for a very healthy 62%+ over condition guide price which is much better than what the Superman Batman combo in World's Finest can fetch. Actually, I think what may have hurt this book is nothing more than too many copies in too short of a time period. After all, is this not the 4th nice copy to hit the marketplace in less than a year ranging in grade from VF- 7.5 through to VF/NM 9.0. There's only so many buyers willing to dig deep into their pockets to pay silly money for books. Looking back on some of the auction results here and in the CC auction, there are many others that I would say were clear under performers. This is why I believe that auctions are often a matter of timing and luck, especially when it comes to lucking into the perfect storm where you have 2 deep pocket buyers determined to win the same book. Easier to find strikeouts as opposed to these headline grabbing grand slams when it comes to these auctions.

I am really concerned. People are paying crazy prices for low grades . I mean 2.0 , 1.5 etc , mid grades are becoming unatainable .... If this continues i will get purple slabs Well, when it comes to GA books I believe this has been in play for several years now. Especially when HG copies and in particular for the keys, very seldom ever shows up in the marketplace and when they do, are beyond the reach of 99% of the buyers out there. As a result, low and mid-grades and even entry level copies for the expensive keys is where the bulk of the real action is in the current marketplace. This is even starting to spread beyond the GA books, as is clearly evident with what is happening to AF 15 prices and possibly some of the other Marvel keys. Even old Bob has gotten around to recognize this recent phenomenon as it used to be the top of guides that always got the big increases while the low and mid grades were lucky to get any kind of increases unless the book was really hot. Definitely not the case anymore. For example, if you take a look at a book like 'Tec 31 which is an expensive key which actually doesn't trade (at least publicly) in the high grades, but does in the low and mid grades. Overstreet has raised his top of guide price on this book by only 28% over the past 2 years, but by a whopping, albeit still undervalued 92% in bottom of guide. Same for a book like Flash 86 which slow conservative Bob has raised by 272% in top of guide while going up by 478% in bottom of guide over just the past 2 years. As for buying purple slabs before they also become unattainable, it might already be too late for the bigger keys, especially if the restoration is only slight and professional. I would say the smart buyers with an eye to the future are probably already starting to pick off some of the semi keys or HTF truly scarce. Just take a look at the recent Jon Berk auction where many of the HTF PLOD's were still able to fetch a healthy premium, and in some cases, even multiples to guide.

Now that I gave it some more thought, I don't believe this is quite accurate. I believe the sale that signaled the start of the price escalation was the 8.5 graded copy on Heritage back in August of 2016 that sold for the monster sum of $77K. That was the calm before the storm before all of these hurricane sales of AF 15's came plowing in, each stronger than the one before. That calm should have been the signal for all of us to jump in.

Absolutely. We've discussed this very thing on the boards many times and I remember you saying similar things over the years. With the comic grading, you've always suggested to look at coins and how the grading there "evolved" over the years. CPR was there to see from the beginning if you looked at coin grading. Sadly, this entire scenario is just so true, especially when we look back to when pressing was first outed on the boards here and all of the anger and disconsternation that resulted from this sense of betrayal to the collecting base. Yet, it was ironic how quickly the speculators and the majority of the collecting base jumped into this mud pile once they saw the dollar signs and supposed pot of gold that was in there. Yes, although one of CGC's main purposes was to protect us from the nasty and evil comic book doctors hiding away in their dungeons secretly restoring books during the days of the so-called Wild West, we are now in the age of legitimate professional masters working from their beautiful penthouses and performing their magic to improve and maximize the potential of our books, all without disclosure of course. What was once seen as something dark and dirty has now been not only fully legitimized, but also actively encouraged and rewarded if done. Any bets that this was in CCG's business model all along even before they started up CGC, as their real interest being a business entity and all, was understandably in lining their own pockets first and foremost. In terms of additional streams of revenue and getting repeat business, I am rather surprised that CGC hasn't introduced the concept of a Best Before or expiry date on their slabbed books yet.

So much for all our wild theories On second thought here, you guys are all so gullible and would believe almost anything. By the way, I got some swampland to sell you in Florida. A likely story and sounds like a lot of and bull to me. Makes it sound like these sales have to be manually entered by Vincent one by one at a time, instead of simply being done through an electronic download in this day and age of computers and high tech data transfers. Even so, are we really expected to believe that Vincent would remember to include a sale of Actual Romances #1 for $27 and yet at the same time, inadvertently omit the AF 15 sale for $57K. I believe Jay's confirmation back to us now only gives even more credence to my initial theory: The only reason for this sale to now be included as part of the GPA stats (albeit it 6 months after the fact) is due to the persistent and hard investigative work of the board members here and the fact that we caught Vincent with his shorts down around his ankles.

Thanks! Email sent. I'll let you know what I hear back. They are usually pretty fast with their responses to error inquiries. Wow Jay, that was fast and also good to know. Thanks for getting back to us so quickly.

While I appreciate the joke the fact is that the 5.0 selling for $57K on Comiconnect sort of kicked off the AF #15 price escalation. As with any key price appreciation somebody has to go first. This buyer did and subsequently higher prices have been popping on all grades. Well, it's best if we keep this between you, me , and Roy then as I believe it was Jay or somebody like that who claimed this price acceleration was in place well before the CC $57K sale, as that sale was only part of a continuing trend that had started earlier. We wouldn't want to start up that little discussion here again.

38 is not a preRobin Methinks you might be correct here. But if that is the case, than should we not have Batman 1 in there since it has a pre-Robin story in there with the now famous and much sought after Hugo Strange villain that was originally intended for 'Tec 38?

+1 Most definitely a very bad reputation to shake. From a business point of view, however, CGC had the business "smarts" and took the fast, simple, and dirty road to give themselves a leg up once it looked like the other company was gaining market share last year. The fastest and simplest way to make the other guys look bad is to tightened up your own grading to the point that its almost undergrading. Unfortunately, although you do make the other guys look bad, you also kind of invalidate the grades of your own books that were previously graded in the past. Based upon some PM's that I have received, there are quite a few very unhappy speculators who have been hammered on some of their resubmits in the last year or so. Grading to an ever changing business agenda is unfortunately sometimes more important than grading consistently.

Okay Jay, here you go: http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=700363 Be sure to report back to us here on what you find out.

I believe the business model of GPA is to report on prices for all applicable comic book sales and not just for AF 15 only. If it was just for AF 15 only, what you are proposing is indeed perfectly feasible. If it is for the thousands or tens of thousands of other titles also sold on a monthly basis, not so much. The real comic book world is just so much more than AF 15, but from spending time on these boards here I can understand why that might not be the case for some people here.

Maybe ComicConnect waited for the comic to be paid for in full. That was my initial thinking of the situation at first also, but then another boardie sent me a PM stating that the book had been paid for in full. He also stated that both of the other 2 big sales in that same auction, namely the record breaking CGC 3.0 sales of 'Tec 29 and 'Tec 54 for $66K and $54,010 respectively, were also paid for in full and yet both of these were reported in GPA pretty well immediately. So, who really knows why except for CC and GPA. Is zhamlau saying that the AF 15 5.0 sale for $57K is now finally in GPA from his statement above?