lou_fine

Do you have any idea when the greased penciled "S" collection first entered the marketplace? Was this very early on in comic book fandom, even before the collecting marketplace had come up with the term of "comic book pedigrees"?

A knockout of a price as I thought this little heard of book had a very strong result coming in at $5,280: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/miscellaneous/the-ko-punch-nn-ec-1952-cgc-fn-60-off-white-pages/a/7279-94161.s?type=lotlink--bidnotice-tracked-dailystatus But clearly lost out in the end with a TKO punch from this copy that managed to fetched a KO punishing $19,644 in a CC Auction back in 2018: https://www.comicconnect.com/item/656651 Then again, as some boardies would say (here's looking at you @tth2 ) there are some collectors who will pay the farm for a second higherst graded CGC 7.0 copy, but "mulch" for a third highest graded CGC 6.0 copy.

Well, he did managed to be very diplomatic when it came to the Promise Collection and was able to walk a very fine line there. A lot more so than another boardie who just may have summed it up correctly though when we go back to look at it in a few years from now: This actually has a nice ring to it as it also reminded me of how much most boardies hated the name "The Promise Collection" when it was first announced.

Good things come to those who are patient, so I am just waiting for CGC to reset their top grade up to 12.0 and then I am all in.

Those darned Notes again........maybe Heritage might just have to rethink their strategy of including the informative and much appreciated Graders Notes, similar to how CGC removed notes from thier labels years ago as that was seen like a negative red flag to potential buyers. Then again, like you had alluded to in terms of market turmoil, it could also just be trying to come back to market too soon with the third bidder in the last go round being nowhere close to the Top 2 bidders who were fighting it out for the book. At $9,300 though, still a relatively strong price for a mid-grade copy from my own personal point of view.

Well, although the Mask 1 is still riding high in the Premium First Class section of the L.B. Cole Express train, it looks like the Suspense 8 just got booted off the much overcrowded Economy Coach cattle car section of the train and only managed to get a refund of $9,300 after paying a whopping $14,400 to get on board back in November of last year: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/horror/suspense-comics-8-continental-magazines-1945-cgc-fn-55-cream-to-off-white-pages/a/7279-94194.s?type=lotlink--bidnotice-tracked-dailystatus What the frack.............OUCH, OUCh, OUch, Ouch, ouch.......... https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/suspense-comics-8-continental-magazines-1945-cgc-fn-55-cream-to-off-white-pages/a/7248-97006.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

And all aboard as the L.B. Cole Mask express train just keeps on rolling along at full steam ahead. Sadly, without poor old me on board though as I did not jump on board when it was stuck in the station for the longest while back in the day.

I also thought it was the payment selection fee if you decide to pay by credit card, but that wouldn't make sense because they make it sound like it's waive if you pay by a certain date (i.e. September 14, 2022).

Don't we all miss those endless ads back in 2000 when CGC used to run side by side pictures of the sale of a raw book for X dollars and then a picture of a CGC graded copy for XXX dollars. When I saw this result, it reminded me of those ads and maybe it's time for CGC to run another one of those ads OR NOT for this sales result here: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure-comics-33-dc-1938-cgc-vg-40-off-white-pages/a/7279-94063.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 Sold in today's Signature Auction for a "seeming at first glance" strong price of $2,040, but then definitely still not as strong as the $5,040 for this RAW RESTORED lower graded Apparent G/VG copy here: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure-comics-33-dc-1938-condition-apparent-gd-vg/a/122207-13007.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|2 Actually, not really all that surprising since we saw the same type of scenario played out in their April Signature Auction where prices for graded pre-hero DC books simply did not performed as well relative to condition guide as similar raw entry level copies (with some even restored or Incomplete) that had sold only a few short weeks earlier in their Sunday/Monday weekend auctions.

Sorry, my bad as I didn't realize that Rob Liefeld was still doing comic book work at that time, but I just checked and I guess he was:

Well, how even luckier for you then because I heard through the comic book grapevine that the winner would be more than happy and is very willing to give it back to the consignor for its $90K purchase price and not looking for even a penny more than that.

Wow, what a fantastic memory since I had forgotten all about that. Had to think about it for awhile, but if I remember correctly now, I do believe that Richard the Tall Texan was supposed to post that one for me and I think it was supposed to be a Mystery Men 10 and not a Wonderworld 10.

Alghough you guys joke about this, there's probably actually some truth to this scenario here if you are into the CPR game and yet too lazy or don't have the know how to do the analytical work on each individual book yourself. I know somebody that actually brough several of the books with the QES stickers on them and they stated that they had an almost perfect batting average that some baseball players would die for. Especially since the books came back with an upgrade of one or two grading increments, and a couple of them were just a simple resubmit without any additional work done to the books. Actually, no big surprise here since grading is still really more of a subjective opinion, albeit a so-called "expert" one at that, than anything even approaching an exact science.

Why, dear Sir, are you really trying to imply to us that spending $456K on a 'Tec 140 or a PL 17 is starting to aprroach "looney bin" times? Well then, how do you feel about the $264K on a Marvel Spotlight 5 or $90K for a Four Color Uncle Scrooge in the exact same auction, although I am sure that @tth2 would say that the Uncle Scrooge sale was a steal of a deal for the lucky winner?

So, I guess you are saying that spending $456K on say a mainstream book like a 'Tec 140 is a much safer bet than spending $456K on say a niche book like a Phantom Lady 17? Personally from my own point of view though, either one of those big dollar purchases would seem like a massive risk to me.

Do you have the attached link which you can post here for us since I was unable to find it in my Heritage archives? The only thing which I can see for 2007 is a Not Sold on January 18, 2007 because the Reserve Price of $11,500 was not met. Invlaid lot usually means that the lot was withdrawn by the consignor prior to the auction or is this a case of the buyer backing out of the sale and Heritage removing from their historical auction sales results?

Since I didn't see it in the Heritage archives, did it resell on another auction platform and do you remember the final winning price?

The current owner purchased it from a dealer, whom I suspect was the auction winner. Since you are much more in the know when it comes to these big time higher dollar value books, any idea why this Church copy of National 7 was seemingly seen as such a pariah at the time and failed to resell over that 3-year time period from 2005 to 2007? Especially since less than 4X top of guide should really not have been such a stretch for a Fine classic cover book and to boot, also a Church pedigree single highest graded copy by a long shot at CGC 9.6 when the next highest graded copy back then was much further down at only CGC 7.5.

I wish I had the moolah to take the poor book out of its misery at the time, but sadly, my pockets would not have been deep enough even at the bargain basement price that it must have gone for in the end. YOU probably should have stepped up and put the book out of its misery because that would have certainly worked out for you going forward longer term at the time.

This has most definitely worked out very well for the long time vintage comic book collectors when it comes to the comic book marketplace. Not so sure about trying to time the comic book marketplace though in terms of the speculative movie/TV related and variant comic book marketplace though.

These two charts confirmed that the downside risk is so much greater as compared to the upside gains in terms of volatility as I guess the equity markets tends to trudge up slowly over time, but sadly, tends to drop like a rock at a much faster pace.

Although I have clearly heard this argument from the pros as to why regular investors like you and me should stay invested in the market longer term, it actually sounds like a lot of the pros themselves are not following their own advice as they are constantly buying and selling. To keep things fair, do you have the stats for the opposite scenario whereby what is your return if you miss the 10 worst days, 20 worst days, etc.?

Definitely rare in grade as there is only the one single copy graded into the 9's, with that one being the Church copy at a CGC 9.0 grade. After that, there are only 2 copies graded into the 8's, with that being this CGC 8.5 Denver copy graded back in October of 2000 during CGC's first year of operations plus another CGC 8.5 copy graded back in early 2008. Rather surprisingly, nada certified in high grade after that point in time except for the 9.0 Church in 2016, and like you said in your post, one of his best. Best to move on it sooner, as opposed to later, as prices on HTF books like this tend to rocket up quite fast once they hit onto the radar screen of the collecting marketplace. Then again, if this Hit 1 ends up moving above your price point, an even better Fine bet might just be a copy of this classic cover book here: A much undervalued and even more underappreciated book to the point whereby this stupendous Church copy here sold for $20,400 at HA way back in 2004 , but then rather surprisingly failed to resell on 3 separate occasions in the following 3 years as it did not meet reserve even as the Reserve Price dropped from $16K down to $12K and then finally bottomed out at only $11.5K and still did NOT sell. Another Quality Publications book like the Hit 1 and hence, probably not the same rabid following as the much more highly popular Fine early Fox cover books. Definitely hard to beat the detailed artwork and eye popping stunning colors on this classic Fine underwater cover though and like the Hit 1, also rare in grade with only the seemingly much maligned and then out of favor 9.6 Church copy being the only graded copy to date hitting into the 9's. After that, only 3 copies being graded into the 8's, with all 3 of these being at a grade of CGC 8.5. Actually, far fewer copies graded in total as compared to even Hit 1 at 38 copies (i.e. 27 Universal and 11 Restored), with the National 7 having only 23 Universal copies along with another 6 Restored copies for a total of only 29 graded copies. Probably worked out best for that original buyer of the Church copy back in 2004 if he still owns it because my bet is that it would not only rocket right past all 3 of those unmet reserve prices, but also well right past his original purchase price point of $20,400 if brought back to auction in today's still red hot marketplace for HTF GA books even though the crypto-like speculators might have taken their early leave from here.

Finally, a strong price for a copy of Hit 1 even though we should not be comparing a pedigree book against a non-pedigree book. Especially when you are talking about one of the long time established GA pedigrees like the Denver pedigree. Then again, I've always felt that Hit 1, similar to National 7, has been a much underappreciated and seemingly almost forgotten Fine book when compared to some of his other more higher recognized classic cover books. Absolutely loved the detailed artwork on this gorgeous red cover and from my own personal POV, stands up with Fine's other classic cover books from his much more higher profile earlier Fox time period run:

Although prices might be off a bit for a small portion of the GA books right now, they are not too surprisingly noticeably off on the recycled Promise Collection books, and then off by a whole whack on most (but not all) of the more common red hot BA and CA keys that were simply running on overdrive last year. Still appears to be a lot of upward price movements on most of the GA books for now, but not sure how long before the seeming downdraft in the rest of the marketplace hits the GA books.