lou_fine

From the Universal blue label on this cover here, I guess this goes to show that it's still impossible for the CGC graders to tell when micro-trimming has been done on a book when it's been performed properly, even when it's been done multiple times.

Have always been trying to acquire a copy of this classic cover book for my collection since way back in the day, but sadly never came across a nice enough copy back then: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure/jungle-comics-11-fiction-house-1940-cgc-fn-65-off-white-to-white-pages/a/40199-81121.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115 Based upon a rather stunning price point of $7,200 for the above mid-grade copy in last night's Fiction House Auction, looks like I'll never be acquiring a nice copy of this HTF book here.

This is correct. The spine is so unmarred and glossy the light reflection could deceive you. Oh wow, thanks guys...................greatly appreciate this as this is absolutely the most sound, logical, and reasonable explanation for what we are seeing on some of these scans of HG books here. Maybe I need to win more high end books from Heritage to know this, but I thought it was just CC that always took crappy pictures or scans as their books in hand are almost always pleasantly nicer that what you see on your computer screen. Like they say, I guess this is another reason why you can never grade accurately from a scan as you need the actual book in hand to do this. It's just that with improving technology over time, you would think that with the new slabs and better photo scanning improvements this would have taken care of these image artifact issues, instead of exacerbating them..

Absolutely love this squarebound Avengers 93 as it's 52 pages of absolute Neal Adams artistic goodness from cover to cover. I still remember when this book was considered to be the BA key to acquire and the most valuable BA book out there. Definitely not the case anymore as this book has seemingly been forgotten by this current generation of collectors/investors/speculators as a ton of other BA books have rocketed up into the stratosphere while this once iconic book here still seems to be stuck in the launch pad.

Unfortunately for all of us here, since the writing on this Official Grading Guide was completed over 18 months ago, it's already obsolete and out of date once the Promise Collection surfaced and crossed the CGC grading table.

I guess it's a case of to each their own, but I certainly not your best looking 9.4 book with that rather large green pencilled "D" mark on the cover and definitely don't care for that creased line that seems to be running down the entire spine. Any idea what that fugly creased line running down the spine is because it's clearly visible and sure seems to be showing up on a lot of HG books.

Yeah, don't you miss the days when he was signing copies of this book for free, as I still remember him always showing up at the local con to do this with his classic signature using his silver sprinkly pen back in the day.

If you love this hobby when there's an rather insignificant one-step grading increment on a book, then you must really really love this hobby when you see a relatively much larger four-step grading increment on a book in this same upcoming Doug's Dell & Gold Key Comics Showcase Auction: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/crackajack-funnies-9-file-copy-dell-1939-cgc-vf-nm-90-off-white-pages/a/830-91039.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515# https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/western/crackajack-funnies-9-file-copy-dell-1939-cgc-nm-mt-98-off-white-to-white-pages/a/40208-81046.s?ic16=ViewItem-Auction-Archive-OtherAvailable-081514# Especially when the only 2 defects (i.e. Front Cover Writing and Top Back Cover Lite Shadow) as delineated in the Graders Notes for the 9.0 graded copy are still evident when it was regraded up to its current CGC 9.8 grade after taking a short pit stop at the CGC 9.6 rest area. Not sure if it's just a bad photo artifact, but don't really care much for the look on the right edge of the cover for the CGC 9.8 graded copy.

Yes, definitely…I’ll miss them though. Yes, but for long term collectors like you and some of the other boardies here, you definitely can't complain when you not only get a lifetime of fun and enjoyment from your chosen hobby, but hopefully also a big financial payoff from it at the end.

For the collectors of this book here, as opposed to the speculative flippers, what was the GPA average for the book in 2020 and back in 2019?

Did you purchase a lot of these GA books back in the day when restoration was seen as adding value to the books, similar to how undisclosed pressing and cleaning nowadays is seen as adding value to books? Isn't this the absolute best of both worlds when your hobby can also go a long ways to funding a good portion your retirement?

Yes, when prices on the red hot speculative books were rising last year with no end in sight, many were saying they couldn't wait until prices dropped so that they could buy back in. Now that prices have indeed dropped significantly on some of these books here, many of these same people who couldn't wait for prices to drop are now running for the exit doors as fast as they can and don't want to touch these books with a 10-foot pole.

Hey Bob; Your link took me right to 3 later rare and HTF Ace Comics with the Phantom covers such as this one here: https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FPREVIEW.ASP%3Fcode%3D2022oct%26session%3D2%23Item_1624962&id=1624962&itemType=0#detail Would these Ace Comics also be yours since you seem to have so many rare books and it's pretty hard to beat these later Ace issues with only a mere total of 4 graded copies for Ace 145 & 146, and only 3 graded copies for the Ace 147 with the above copy being the single highest graded copy?

That's because you are thinking of 2 different copies here. One is the 3.0 graded copy that got bumped up to a 3.5 and the second one is a CGC 4.5 graded copy with the "S" mark that got bumped up to a 5.0 graded copy.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news here.......but around the 8-minute mark of that video, Matt states that the book was about 6 years in the making, with the writing for it completed about 18 months ago. Then came the Promise Collection after that, which probably means the book is already out-of-date, especially since grading is an ever changing and ongoing process.

Clearly you are thinking small potatoes here, as the winning bid was from the CCG ownership group itself. Insignificant fractional expense to be attributed to advertising & promotions as CCS & CGC will now be receiving an additional 10,000+ copies of this book through their front door for pressing and grading services in the hopes of obtaining the next 9.8 graded copy of this relatively easy to find book.

Nah...........can't bid in pennies. So, I assume the bid was for $2,006 and then with the 15% BP juice added on top, the final price as shown then comes to $$2,306.90.

Did you smell an even bigger fish with CL reporting $25K for their signed copy of Spidey 300 or a looney bin $52K for their 9.9 Spidey 361?

Okay, never mind as I went to Goggle and found out some info on this Darren Wan guy and saw absolutely nothing at all about comic books: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenrwan From his work experience background listed in the above link, it certainly looks like Darren has moved arouund a lot through a slew of various industries, with none of them relating to the collectibles marketplace. So, this should definitely be a big change and interesting to monitor going forward since both Fishler and Vinnie had long and deep roots in the comic biz, unlike this new guy here. Darren Wan New York, New York, United States 1,484 followers 500+ connections Join to connect ComicConnect/Metropolis Comics The University of Chicago Booth School of Business About I am an enthusiastic business operator who possesses a unique combination of diverse experience and professionalism from over 20 years in finance, technology, hospitality, construction, and retail. I began my career doing equity research for a top performing portfolio team with over $20 billion in assets before jumping into the trenches of fast-paced and rapidly growing business environments across multiple industries. I am known for my ability to evaluate, organize, and direct the day-to-day operations of a company with a keen focus on profitability. Driven by metrics and results, I value defining KPI dashboards to help navigate staff, improve profitability, and drive top-line growth. My colleagues would say that I excel at building trust and am a good listener. When someone is looking for a contrarian view to stimulate ideas, they come to me. Ambiguous situations excite me. By gaining a deep understanding of my surroundings, I am able to deliver exceptional results by implementing structure and process to solve problems. I have defined product visions and strategy and executed go-to-market action plans. I am comfortable in small team settings as well as growing and managing organizations of more than 200 and have grown revenues from the ground up. Am able to jump from conversations with manual labor to corporate senior management seamlessly. Specialties: cross-functional team leadership, data & business analysis, data visualizations & KPIs, financial modeling, project management, process improvement, product management, customer development, P&L management, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint Experience Chief Operating Officer ComicConnect/Metropolis Comics Sep 2022 - Present2 months New York, NY ComicConnect and Metropolis Comics is the world's most trusted and dynamic online auctioneer of vintage comic books, original comic art, and pop culture memorabilia. We empower our international community of collectors to discover, acquire, finance, and consign these wonderful and sought after items. The company holds numerous record-breaking sales and has an excellent reputation for our vast expertise in the field of comic books, original art, and graded video games.

A bit off topic here, but since it has to do with Metro and CC, does anybody know who this Darren Wan guy is and what his background is? Just wondering since I received an email this morning from Metro & CC stating that this Darren Wan has joined Metro/CC as the new COO of the company replacing Vinnie who has now moved up to his new role as President of the company. Especially since this is not a name that I am familiar with in terms of his comic book background and figure boardies here might know more about this rather significant change than me.

Especially with regards to the placement of his penmanship on that gorgeous looking copy of Planet 33 above. Congrats on your purchase here and how much did that copy of Planet 33 cost you by the time it was all said and done?

And all at pretty much the same price point, give or take a few hundred dollars.

I guess it's really a case of to each their own, but isn't this the kind of book which other than the slab, is considered to be pretty much worthless drek? Especially when you see HG unread copies of books like this sitting in the dollar boxes at the local con's with dealers hoping against hope that somebody will stop and buy one from them. No doubt CGC is ecstatic and their owners laughing all the way to the bank with submittors clogging up their submission pipeline with books like these even though they have to wait a full year or more to get them back. What's that old saying about "putting lipstick on a pig", but glad to see that there's a market for books like these, and as long as the buyers and sellers are happy with them, then it's all good from my point of view.

It was (unsurprisingly) moderns. At this current stage, the only ones making any real money in this current marketplace would be the pressing and grading companies if you consider a hundred bucks to be lofty heights. Especially if you are talking about what are otherwise virtualy worthless Modern books since they've somehow been able to conditioned submittors to keep throwing their money away at another spin of the grading roulette wheel.

Well, if you are thinking about books like More Fun 14, then how about going even further back to what many viewed as the true prototype: