lou_fine

Well, isn't it really a case of to each their own, as some collectors "buy the book" while others tend to "buy the label"? From my own personal point of view, it's all good as long as they know exactly what they are buying and are happy with their purchases in the end.

Absolutely no idea as you really need to have the actual book in hand in order to grade it properly. Realistically though, you really can't compare grades from different time periods, especially if they are quite distant, because the grading teams change and the undisclosed grading standards also tends to change over time. For example, certain defects that might be at the top of CGC's hit parade 10 or 15 years ago or whenever, might not necessarily be at the top anymore, as other types of defects might have moved squeezed and pressed their way to the top of their charts for whatever reason.

If you are referring to long time held raw collections from the old school collectors back in the day, I believe one of the top dealers who would know where the books are would be Fishler himself because the word is that he has a mind like a steel trap when it comes to these kinds of things. No doubt due in part to the strong liklihood that he was the one responsible in one way or another for acquiring the books for these big collectors back then. He's probably the best one in terms of knowing where all of the skeletons that we haven't seen for decades are still buried.

Not with that label it wasn't. They must've risked a reholder! Looks like you would be wrong here as it was graded way back on November 14 of 2000: CGC Cert # 0008334004 Title Captain Marvel Jr. Issue 29 Issue Date 4/45 Issue Year 1945 Publisher Fawcett Publications Grade 9.9 Page Quality OFF-WHITE TO WHITE Grade Date 11/14/2000 Grade Category Universal Pedigree Edgar Church (Mile High) Label Text Double Cover. 1st cover 9.8. 2nd cover 9.9. Grader Notes Front Cover Shadow Right Bottom Front Cover Crease Top Back Cover Small Crunch With those last 2 defects listed in their Graders Notes though, I very much highly doubt this book would grade out as a CGC 9.9 copy if regraded today with CGC's current condition-centric focus targeting additional revenue generating defects like creases and fixabale bumps whenever possible.

Are you saying this was before Heritage's arrival on the comic book market scene and also before CGC's ever evolving and fine-tuning of their undisclosed grading standards over the years? Interesting to note that every single one of the highest graded SA Marvel #1 or first appearance keys (save for about 2 of them now) were all graded way back in CGC's first year or so of operations over 20 years ago and have not been surpassed to this date yet.

That's what I was thinking too. Wasn't willing to take a loss, so if he could get his money back the commissions had to be on top. Maybe it's just me, but I guess I must have learned my arithmetic a slightly different way: $3.4M - 10% ($340K) = $3.06M $3.06M - $3.18M = ($0.12M) For a possible loss of $120,000 if there was a 10% commission fee involved which might not actually be the case here.

Not at all surprised that Metro would be involved since they have the longest and one of the deepest connections in the comic book grapevine, especially when it comes to knowing where all of the big money books are and the deep pocketed collectors who are willing to pay for them. I believe that Metro is involved in virtually almost every single high dollar value Action 1 sale (save for one or two) during the past few decades, whether it be from the buying, selling, or brokerage end of the transaction.

Looks like you started off your comic book collecting the right way with an all time WWII classic cover book from Timely. I guess like other collectors in those days, you also tended to read and exchange your comic books with other kids to read back then, and I don't think there would be any condition conscious comic book nerds like we have nowadays. Being a real long time comic book collector from decades before the age of certification, a little bit surprised that you would have this book graded and slabbed if it wasn't yet time for you to dispose of it. Then again, being the first comic book that started you off on your lifelong wonderful journey, also not really that surprised.

Too bad you didn't start a month earlier as you would have gotten Strange Tales 135 and I am sure that the upcoming Disney+ Marvel TV series on Nick Fury: Secret Invasions due out next year will only help to push the value of this book up even further:

Would you be referring to reprint books like these because I still remember bidding on them some 20 odd years ago, but was not willing to bid 3-figures on something which I had never heard of: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/funny-animal/rare-barks-nn-unknown-rare-publication-from-unknown-date-or-publisher-reprints-rare-carl-barks-work/a/12121-31585.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116 https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/funny-animal/early-barks-vol-1-unknown-rare-publication-from-unknown-date-or-publisher-reprints-very-early-work-from-carl-barks/a/12121-31330.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116 Not sure if they have any real value which I would highly doubt because according to the lot description, it was an unknown publisher who reprinted and distributed these Carl Barks books. Probably just an enthusiatic Barks fanatic who decided it would be rather neat to run and print these off for himself and a few other collector friends of his.

I assume this wouldn't happen to be Bang Zoom's amazing collection that you are referring to, as we all know of its existence here already?

Do you guys still remember what that first book was and if you still have it in your personal collection to this day?

On second though though, maybe not such a crazy price on the FF 191, as I guess there must also still be a few Bruce Lee fans out there: https://comics.ha.com/itm/silver-age-1956-1969-/adventure/the-green-hornet-2-gold-key-1967-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/a/7279-94312.s?type=bidnotice-tracked-endofauction Either that or some CGC labels chasers out there as I thought this sold for a very strong $7,500 considering that it is a Gold Key and definitely not that scarce of a book. Heck, even I've got a File Copy set of this Green Hornet 3-book series which means that I am going to have to give them some more squeezing and squashing lovable hugs if I ever want to have a shot at getting some real money for them.

Very Buck Rogers like cover and really the only other Famous Funnies that I really want besides the first few issues of the run and then the later much in-demand Frazetta cover issues. Did put in a few bids on this copy here, but just could not justify going triple for a raw copy as opposed to a graded beauty like this one here: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/famous-funnies-191-file-copy-eastern-color-1950-cgc-vf-nm-90-cream-to-off-white-pages/a/122025-17276.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 Sold for what I thought was a strong $600 back in 2020, but nowhere like the rather crazy $1,800 that the raw Promise copy fetched yesterday.

FTFY

Well, I guess that's only for the big dollar books brought by deep pockets collectors like you since I've never ever received one of these certificates with any of my winnings to date. I guess with the types of low dollar value books that I tend to win, they are probably more than ecstatic just to get rid of them and never ever want to see them again or to touch them with a 10-foot pole. Needless to say, unlike most other boardies here, at least I am doing my part to fight this war against inflation that we are all suffering from.

What kind of ball park prices do you mean when you say "still not that expensive"?

Long time coming and much deserved with almost every other genre of comic books soaring up in value over the years, but its about time that the "historical" comic books like this one here finally going for some real money: https://comics.ha.com/itm/platinum-age-1897-1937-/famous-funnies-1-eastern-color-1934-cgc-fn-55-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7279-92084.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 Hard to beat the first monthly newsstand comic book and a book which helped to usher in the birth of the comic book industry, with this copy here finally cracking the 5-figures mark and coming in at $19,200.

I also own a few of these Alan Light reprint books from way back in the day. Any idea if CGC accepts them for grading or is that a silly question because they will grade almost anything nowadays as long as they are compensated for it. Just wondering if any particular issue would be more highly desirable and at least worth a few dollars, or is the demad for these reprints so low that the available supply has no problem fulfilling the current demand?

Dang really? Is this the same across the board Actually, kind of expected and no real surprise when you see multiple HG copies of this book and other BA/CA keys showing up in every single auction during the past couple of years. Especially when this supply of HG copies will only increase going forward as CCS/CGC digs their way out from their backlogged inventory.

Hey @Forbush-Man; I guess when you see stunning record setting prices like this one here that just took place on this CGC 3.0 copy of AMF V2#5 going for some $8,400; you just can't wait until CL gets all of your Centaurs back from CGC in time to slot them into one of their upcoming Featured Auctions: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure/amazing-mystery-funnies-v2-5-centaur-1939-cgc-gd-vg-30-cream-to-off-white-pages/a/122237-13020.s

Not too sure about staple placement, but that's probably because CGC tends to grade based upon the so-called "technical merits" of a book (Promise Collection notwithstanding ), and really not so much upon visual factors such as color strike.

Not sure about the condition quality of either copies here, but decided to track this one here since I remember being knocked right out of my seat when I happened to noticed that stunning auction result of $19,644 back in 2018 for a book which I had never even heard of. Especially since these coverless books tend to always remind me of those promotional giveaway comics from various companies such as the Gordon Bread giveaways which really never ever seems to be worth that much. Any idea if there is something special about this book that makes it actually fetch some real dollars whenever it hits the auction block?

Well, if a "grease penciled S" so-called non-pedigree copy of More Fun 55 in CGC 9.0 can fetched $90K, it makes me wonder how much the Church and Nova Scotia CGC 9.4 graded pedigree copies could fetch in today's marketplace?

Not a true comic book pedigree by any stretch of the imagination, but if you are referring to so-called "name collections' which we seem to have several of, one which they clearly missed was the "Bob Overstreet Collection" with the majority of which coming to market during the unveiling of the Diamond Int'l Galleries grand opening back in early '95.