lou_fine

That was my advice to Jimbo, not to Steve. Actually, I thought that was your advice to everybody on the boards here. Perfect way to cut down on the competition and leave all the books for yourself.

Strongly doubt that will happen as Steve will not bid in any auctions run by Metro.

With the expected large quantity of books coming out in this upcoming auction, I believe everybody should be able to come away with something. Especially when many books will simply fall through the cracks as it will be hard for bidders to focus on everything . In addition, bidders will most likely not be willing to max out their bids on most of the individual lots (except for some of the key featured lots) since they can just save their ammo for another upcoming lot. I remember when Heritage was auctioning off a run of the Church copies of the Green Lantern series, and I was able to snag a relatively lower graded copy of the supposedly rare Green Lantern 30 for less than $200. I guess it was simply hidden like a weed in a garden of Church roses. Certainly not like a weed in my collection though, as it presents much more like a F/VF 7.0 from the front and back covers. There will most likely be many such nice looking "weeds" hidden and lost amongst the rest of the beautiful flowers in this garden, and yours for the picking if you keep an eye out for them.

Beautiful and stupendous Nova Scotia copy that you've got there. Definitely this plus the #7 are the 2 top covers in this Wonderworld run by far. Is your copy of WW 7 also a Larson as I know you have many of the Larson Fox books within your collection?

It's not sun faded is it? Don't believe so, but I guess you really shouldn't take my word for it though. You should probably check with NP_Gresham himself, the so-called acknowledged expert on the boards here when it comes to sun fading on books.

I traded my copy for a Batman 1 several years ago. I have neither book now and regret the trade Out of all of the books you could have traded it for, the Batman 1 is a real winner from my point of view. From just an overall pure content point of view, as detailed by Overstreet in his price guide, I feel it is by far the top GA book out there and will always remain that way.

I love the book, and am "shocked" , pleased to see it do so well. One of my all-time favorite comic books +1 I guess the simple fact this is one of our favorite books really goes to show how long we've both been collecting. Absolutely loved this book and I still remembered thinking this would be the last book that I would ever sell from my collection. And yet it turned out to be the first book that I sold from my personal collection, and I still miss it.

I thought there were a lot more than just 3 listings for AF 15's in this current CC auction? What happened to the rest of them?

I thought it had eye appeal better than the grade suggested +1 Most definitely, and that is why I thought it probably deserved to do a little bit better since all 3 of them had superior eye appeal relative to their grade. Especially since the other 2 Detecives basically blew the roof right off the building by selling for double the record price per points that their previous copies had just sold for, only a few short months ago.

Looks like Adam was right as I just checked the CGC Census Report and they have now added in some high grades for some of the later Mystery Men books. For example, we now have a 9.4 graded copy for MM 26 when the former high was only a 6.5 graded copy. And for the red hot and HTF MM 30, we now have a 9.4 graded copy to keep company with the sole one and only 4.5 graded copy.

Surprised in what sense of the emoticon? Positively surprised in the sense that a once former hot non-super hero book was able to fetch a very healthy premium of just over 25% above condition guide price, especially in light of this hyper super hero centric marketplace; Or Negatively surprised that this copy of Detective 1 was not able to follow suit with the other 2 more high profile slightly lower graded 'Tec books that sold for insane multiples to condition guide? A territory which used to be reserved only for uber HG copies or CGC's highest graded copies of books during the first decade of slabbing. Especially in light of the extreme rarity of Detective 1 in the marketplace and the fact that it is a super mega key book in the overall grand scheme of things in DC's universe.

I've always joked that it was ironic that the only people who ever saw my collection at its peak in person--you and Gene/Delekkerste--had zero interest in SA DCs. Well, if you had brought out your CGC 9.9 graded copy of G.I. Joe 21 when Gene was over at your place, I am quite sure that he would have been absolutely beside himself. In order to provide you with some much needed comic book bromance, I will be sure to send Greggy over to your place the next time he is in Hong Kong.

Yes and no, as it really depends on the book you are talking about. Yes, if you are talking about the difference between a 9.0 graded copy of Hulk 181 versus a 9.2 graded copy of Hulk 181. Especially since there are already 657 copies of the book graded at 9.0 versus 518 copies graded at 9.2, with a further 744 copies graded at 9.4 and above. So, with almost 2,000 copies of HG Hulk 181's out there, the only difference between them is really the grade, so you would pay according to the grade. This same concept would also apply to a book like AF 15 where you have 9 copies graded at 9.0 with only 3 copies graded in 9.2 condition, along with a further 4 copies each at 9.4 and 9.6. So yes, a 9.2 graded copy of AF 15 should definitely sell for more than a 9.0 graded copy of the same book, if both were graded consistently and accurately. Now, if you are talking about a book like Fantastic 3 where you have the Church copy graded out in 9.4 condition, and the next nearest copy coming in at a grade of only 6.0, the answer would be NO. I believe the Church copy would sell for pretty much the same money whether it was graded as a 9.2 copy or as a 9.4 copy, since it is the only HG or even near HG copy in existence. This same concept would also apply to Mystery Men 30 where you have the Church copy graded as a 9.4 copy, and the only other graded copy in existence is a lowly 4.5. Once again, I believe the Church copy in this case would go pretty much the same whether it was graded as a 9.2 copy or as a 9.4 copy. With respect to these kinds of books that are extremely rare or hard to find in grade, you are not so much paying for the tiny increases in grade, as opposed to paying if it is even in existence and if so, are they even available.

Since the Penn copy was graded back in the late 2014/early 2015 time period, it should be pointed out that the CGC of 2014/15 would most probably have graded the book differently from the CGC of 2017. There is no point in comparing the grading between 2 different auctions houses when the grading within the one company itself would most likely have also produce different grading results. Since the Church copy of Suspense 3 appears nicer than the Penn copy, the increase in grade for the Church copy would tend to indicate that Voldy is maintaining a relative level of consistency with respect to their grading. Unfortunately, not sure if I can say the same thing here with respect to in-house grading company here. I guess that can be explained in large part though, due to the change in how their grading teams are now headed, and also in what appears to be a change with respect to the application of their unpublished grading standards.

Back to the financials for a few seconds here. Do you think this so-called "insane sale" at $57K is representative of the new normal for mid-grade AF 15's or can it simply be considered as an outlier, relative to current Price Per Point trending on this particular book? Just wondering since we just saw a couple of astounding sales results for 2 relatively lower graded copies of early Detective's in the GA Forum, albeit they certainly presented far nicer than their assigned grades. Is this the newest strategy for getting top dollars on your books now?

This actually makes perfect sense since from the 2 cover scans, I would say that the Church copy does look nicer than the Penn copy, strictly from a vosial eye appeal point of view. Having them both graded as 9.0 copies would have thrown a bit of confusion into the mix. When it comes to these types of pedigree vintage once in a lifetime books, the actual books themselves are much more important than the subjective fractional decimals that shows up on a label.

It's quite possible they will probably surface when the marketplace develops some inking of heat towards this Suspense run, as their auction results (except for the Suspense 3) are rather tepid to say to say the least. Especially when you see prices on the Church copies go on a downtrend trend as they re-enter the marketplace over a several year span.

Since there is no CGC 9.0 graded copy that actually shows up in their census report, does that mean they did not do an official or full grading on the book itself? Was it more of a pre-screen similar to what is done with MA books, or was it just a cursory overview glance at the book as a courtesy to Heritage, without actually looking at it in full detail?

I mentioned this but the "expert" said it was still faded +1 The missing red letters are absolute proof beyond a shadow of doubt that this missing color defect is NOT due to sun fade.

What I find interesting about the quote I have copied here is that the Mile High copies of Suspense #4, #8, and #10 are not in the current CGC census. There are examples of Mile High copies having "escaped" into the wild only later to be found. It is likely that these three books are out there, but folks just don't realize what they have? They may also grade well below the 7.5 CGC census (as noted in the quote) if they can be identified. I can tell you from years of personal experience that the Suspense #4 is the hardest book by far to find of anything that Et-Es-Go/Continental Comics ever published. This is one that still flies under the radar for most collectors. CGS census has only 12 copies registered against 32 copies for Suspense #3 for comparison. I will be interested to see if these lost Mile High books surface with the re-newed interest in the title this last year. It should be pointed out that I was saying that the Mile High copies of Suspense #4, #8, and #10 were not shown as having been auctioned off at Heritage. I do NOT know if they are in the current CGC census or not, since I can see the grades only, and nothing at all to do with their possible provenance. Since there is a CGC 9.2 highest graded copy of Suspense 10 listed in their census, I would "assume" that this could possibly be the Mile High copy. Especially since the CGC 9.0 graded copy is the so-called Northern Lights Collection copy (whatever that is ) that sold at Heritage way back in 2005, while the CGC 8.0 graded copy is the Davis Crippen "D" copy that sold at Heritage for $1,434 back in 2006 and then resold 10 years later in 2016 for only $1,075. Don't believe the Church copies of either the Suspense 4 or the Suspense 8 has yet been graded since the highest grade is only a CGC 7.5. According to Chuck's original Mile High catalog, the listed grades for both Suspense 4 and Suspense 10 were NM, while the listed grade for Suspense 8 was a NM+. Remember being at a San Diego Con a couple of decades ago and somebody was mentioning that the MH Suspense 8 was apparently a drop dead killer copy with its all black cover. So, I assume it must be around somewhere unless that was just wild speculation which is quite possible. And I believe you are bang on correct in terms of the extreme scarcity of Suspense 4, relative to the other issues within the run, as I have heard exactly the same comment from dealers and other long-time collectors way back in the day when I was unsuccessfully looking for these books.

This is a pretty offensive post for you to write and frankly don't find it funny. I was paying attention to the auction but the book sold to a customer for full price. The book has been up for sale for months and been at shows. As with the current AF #15 "frenzy" I'm not sure why it takes a auction to "Validate" a sellers price. Extremely sorry Bob, as you are indeed 110% right with respect to your comments about my offensive post here. I really should have taken more time to imply that I was making a very poor attempt at trying to make a joke here. Especially since I have heard nothing but good things about you and all of your dealings with your customers. Definitely my bad as the euphoria with some of these extremely high prices are rather hard to comprehend and made me type faster than I was thinking. My sincerest apologies again!!! -Lou

Since I do not breathe the same rarefied air that some of you big wheeler dealers breathe and have absolutely no chance of ever making these kinds of purchases, I was hoping that if I mentioned it often enough, one of you big shots would take pity on the small saps like us by sharing the Graders' Notes gratis with us. After all, if we can barely afford the $15 bucks for the Graders' Notes, how in the world do you expect us little guys to even imagine coming up with $120K+ for both of these books here. I guess we can come up with some type of sharing agreement here if you agree to pick up the $120K while one of us dig deep into our pockets to scrape out the remaining $20 owing.

Storms' 38 3.0 went faster than a speeding bullet after tonight's result. If Bob was paying any attention at all to the CC auction for these 2 books, he probably simply "brought" the 'Tec 38 for himself since it was still available on his website only a couple of short hours ago. Maybe it'll be reappearing on his website in a few months from now, but at something like much closer to $60K now.

What the frack happened here!!! I go away for a few hours to pick up the kids from work and to make dinner for the family, and I come back to this insanity here. I sincerely hope that whoever brought these 2 books here not only purchased the Graders' Notes, but actually saw the 2 books in actual real life. That's a lot of moolah to be dishing out for a couple of relatively "lower" graded early 'Tec books. Yes, they are both definitely super key books, but that's still way up there and over 4X condition guide for each of them. And obvious record breakers by a huge margin in terms of prices realized on a Price Per Point basis for these 2 books. From the simple fact that both of the final results are ending in $10 which is kind of odd makes me think that both of these books were won by the same one bidder. Maybe he saw some upgrade potential here since both copies appeared to present really nicely from a strict eye appeal point of view, relative to their grades. Maybe we should all demand lower grades from CGC going forward, relative to how a book appears since this could become the latest hot new strategy to get top dollars for your books.

If it stays there, I will win it. Shouldn't you be more interested in the pre-Robin's like that equally nice looking 'Tec 29, instead of this one featuring the first appearance and origin of Batman's "love toy", even though it is most definitely a key book in DC's overall historical scheme of things? Unfortunately though, it looks like you might just have to go a bit higher than the current $25K if you want to snag this copy of 'Tec 38. Especially since a couple of boardies had already made some very positive comments on this particular copy, especially from a visual eye appeal point of view. Remember not to fall asleep and to set your alarm as I believe these Detective's might be ending in the middle of the night where you are, especially with the extended bidding process in place. You wouldn't want to be caught napping at the wrong time here. Seriously though, sincere best wishes on winning this one though, since I know how much you love these pre-Robin Detective's, even though this one does featured Robin on the front cover.