lou_fine

Ummmm.................what exactly does the census or grade have to do with anything since bidders are simply supposed to get all giddy and lose all sense of reality and then their wallets when they see The Promise Collection name on the CGC label?

Anybody going for the rare and HTF Green on this recycled and non-CPR Promise copy of All-Top 16 that's coming back to market in Heritage's Good Girl/Bad Girl Valentine's Showcase Auction, or are most of us simply going to go with the seasonal Valentine's Day red, especially since the book had sold for $13,200 in its initial go round back in November of 2021: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/all-top-comics-16-the-promise-collection-pedigree-fox-features-syndicate-1949-cgc-vf-80-off-white-to-white-pages/p/40216-25001.s?ctrack=473536&type=bodylink-2-comic-consign-40216-tem122122

I believe the Toledo books are one of those former pedigrees that might possibly no longer be recognized by CGC as one of their current official pedigrees.

Did it look anything like this book here where it's hard to make out some of the signatures, let along the underlying cover image itself:

More likely due to the fact that some of the so-called once red hot BA, CA and MA books have taken a humongous double percentage pummeling from their recent highs and submittors are now no longer as anxious and in such a hurry to send in these kinds of books for so little gains, if any at all, after taking into account their shipping and slabbing fees along with any other ancillary charges.

Actually, isn't this image much more accurate when applied to the "leaf casting" process that Matt Nelson and another restorer (was it Kenny Sanderson??) perfected over 10 years ago which was deemed to be a so-called "revolutionary" process that supposedly "elevated" comic book restoration to new heights not seen before?

Ahhhh..................it must be Christmas time again just like those lazy, hazy, and crazy days of Christmas of 2015 when it was absolute dullsville until we were all awaken from our slumber when the Meyers and Matt decided to air their private and dirty laundry out in public on these very boards here for shall we say our festive seasonal entertainment. It really seemed like a serious case of "he said, she said" between two former lovers and any bets that if Matt was still involved in the process to the end, this would now be another tool in CCG's toolbox to bolster both their top and bottom lines and some boardies in turn would be just fine with this activity and jumping right on board this money train without giving it a second thought.

If a live action movie could be released of the 'Mystery Men' (Dark Horse), then any 3rd or 4th tier hero could make it too big screen release. Aardvark-Vanaheim's (?) 'Mystery Men' not even listed in Overstreet due to no demand. Wouldn't another perfect example of a 3rd or 4th tier super hero book which nobody had heard of before being turned into a movie be Guardians of the Galaxy?

Isn't that pretty much the same moonlight illumination that takes place earlier in the much more reasonably priced Suspense 1 cover image by Charles Quinlan:

Just took a quick look at the auction that's going to start in a few minutes from now and the first thing I noticed right off the was this book here: https://www.comicconnect.com/item/973505 Will be interesting to see where this copy finish up at since high grade copies of this particular issue are so few and far between.

Definitely bodes well for this portion of the marketplace at least when we continue to see such strong prices, especially when we have seen some rather large collections of Timely books hit the auction blocks in the past few months or so, as per your following comment here from the Heritage thread: Not sure if it's a run for the exits though which we have clearly been seeing with some of the much more recent hot BA and CA books selling for big discounts from their recent 2021 highs, but probably more of a few long time collectors deservedly cashing in some of their decades long held GA Timely chips at top dollar. Perfect example being @Straw-Man's complete Marvel Mystery run which he finally let go a few months ago, followed by Heritage's some 70 odd issues of Captain America books in their auction last week, and now this 60+ issues of Cap with another almost 50 issues of the Marvel Mystery run in this week's CC Event Auction.

Only deals to be had here is if you are the type of collector willing to pay big time top dollars for the Promise name on unforgettable books like late run issues of Big Shot Comics, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, or Sparkler Comics. As for the graded Promise copy of Captain Marvel 45, as recent history has shown us in @MasterChief's masterfully crafted chart below, this second go round for the Cap 45 will most likely turn out to be a much better deal for the winner this time as compared to the winner "loser" who ended up paying $2,160 on its first go round earlier this year:

In terms of the classic Lou Fine robot cover, you must be referring to Fantastic 3 which long time collectors all remember being Fishler's go to book when he was trying to corner the market on that book when every copy came up for sale. As for speaking of Pep 34, looks like a relatively strong result for this CGC 6.5 graded copy from their Event Auction last night as it hammered at $19,771 for a final price of $22,736.65: https://www.comicconnect.com/item/974072 Not quite as strong as the CGC 5.5 graded copy which sold for an even stronger $23,199 in their December 2020 Event (must have been the QES sticker that did it ), but much stronger than the $14,400 and $19,800 that Heritage was able to fetched respectively for their CGC 5.5 and CGC 6.5 graded copies later on in the so-called euphoric year of 2021.

This went for $80k plus BP? So $94k? Congratulations! If you are referring to the Rockford copy here, I believe your $80K figure includes the 15% BP since you would not be allowed to enter decimals: https://www.comicconnect.com/item/974076 Based upon my arithmetic, the hammer bid would have been $69,555 which then works out to the final price showing of $79,988.25.

That's an absolutely gorgeous front cover copy of Cap 31 relative to the assigned CGC 5.5 condition grade. So gorgeous in fact that it made me wonder why it got such a low grade relative to its appearance and I guess this is where a back cover scan would have helped, as per the Graders Notes: moderate piece reattached with tape left top of back cover

Then again, it's definitely not all bad news when a book like this CGC 7.0 graded copy of Human Torch 12 can still fetch $21K: https://www.comicconnect.com/item/966242

Well, although he's back, it was probably not a good idea for Tommy Thorsen to come back so soon and he should have used a dose of collector's patience before trying to put this copy back into the marketplace so soon. Especially since it was only able to sell for $33,500 on this go round here or just over a $9K discount to condition guide and also nowhere lose to the $46K it was able to garner during more euphoric times in the CC Event Auction back in September of 2021. Then again, I am also sure that the fact there was a also a Rockford CGC 6.5 graded copy of this exact same book in this auction also didn't helped the final price in the end.

Since these are all Promise Collection retreads trying for a second go round, does this mean we are going to see even more red ink on @MasterChief's updated chart next time or will we finally see a tingle of green in the Promise sea of red? My leaning is towards a big fat NO since the consignor here is trying to do this without even attempting a hopeful CPR upgrade on any of these books here. It's definitely going to be tough for the consignor to find another bidder willing to bid more than the $4,560 for the CGC 6.5 Promise copy of Marvel Mystery 91 or even better yet, the $9.6K which he had paid for the CGC 6.5 Promise copy of Cap 31 and this is even before factoring in the Heritage auction fees.

Big congrats to you on completing this short run of yours here. Like you correctly stated in your post here, all 3 of your books certainly presents really nicely relative to their assigned CGC grade.

I’m thinking more ‘49/‘50. What say you Marty? What I was referring to was the GA portion being the final phase of the red hot comic book marketplace cycle in the early to mid-90's whereby the SA Marvels finally woke up from their almost decades long slumber in the late 80's to the highly speculative boom of the Wizard induced Valiant & Image new book marketplace in the early 90's prior to their implosion in '93. Being a collector from back in the day, I still remember the GA collectors sitting back outside and watching all of the euphoric action taking place inside before they finally got invited into the party back in '94 & '95 and having their own short, but explosive meteoric rise before the entire comic book marketplace settled back into its traditional doldrums for the rest of the decade after that. This recent red hot back issue marketplace that we've been in is slightly different since the GA portion has been front and center throughout the whole thing and still seems to be pretty much on fire right now with all of the hot books still selling at multiples, if not big multiples to condition guide. Unlike the pandemic driven meteoric rise of the red hot BA and CA movie hyped keys of 2021 and early 2022 with many of these readily available books now not surprisingly selling at huge double digit percentage discounts to condition guide. Makes me wonder what this might mean for the GA marketplace going forward.

That's my realm Any truth to the rumors that although your better half is not at all sure about your ability to turn things into gold, she really loves your ability to turn your assets from placid soft to rock hard?

Well, Overstreet might not be showing it anymore in the front of the guide, as they now show it in the Glossary at the back of the guide. For example, in this year's 52nd edition, they show it on Page 1072 where they define Rare as "10-20 copies in existence" and Scarce as "20-100 copies estimated to exist." So, no change as it's just the same old, same old.

Big congrats on your pickup of a nice classic Schomburg action packed WWII Cap cover. If you are comparing current marketplace prices relative to the OPG, there is now a clear divergence with virtually all of the hot GA books still continuing to sell at multiples to condition guide, while a good portion of the so-called red hot BA and CA books from last year that took a huge jump in the OPG now able to sell at only a discount to guide, and in some cases, only at a huge huge percentage discount to condition guide. Being a long term GA collector, just hoping that this is not a portent or a sign of things to come in the GA marketplace, although it is starting to feel a bit like 1995/96 with some of the GA books.

Actually I deleted that post days before the auction ended. But a deals a deal. I'll make hat jerky out of it. Wash it down with some ice cold Moosehead beer. Didn't realize you had deleted that post a few days ago since I've been super busy and away from the boards for the past few days. So, if it's a pure chocolate coated covered hat, I am more than willing to help you with a portion of that hat there...........yum, yum!!

That hat's only fit for old Hossie there.............................how about one of these slightly larger size hats instead to whet your little appetite: When compared to the Spectre More Fun's, some here would say the Cap 3 also underperformed, even though $90K is probably still a record price for this grade from Heritage's point of view. The consolation being that it means a yummy din din for somebody..................will you take that with salt & pepper and a bottle of ketchup: