sfcityduck

I'm a GA guy now, these were purchased at the tail end of my new comic buying in the 70s and 80s. So it will definitely be a learning curve to figure out how to sell this stuff. Usually, the GA stuff I sell ends up selling itself.

Every once in a great while I look at the cooper boards and realize that comics that I bought off the stands and which I thought had zero value are now worth something. But, perhaps I am trying to sell them in the wrong venue.

Predator 1 (6/89) - from my personal collection bought off the stand, maybe read once, graded out 9.8 white. Comparables: Lowest price copies on ebay are $1,050. Last ebay sales were $900 BIN on June 12, 2021, and $987 at auction on June 13, 2021. My price for my friends on the boards: $885 (plus shipping see terms).

Dark Horse Presents 10 (9/87) - from my personal collection bought off the stand, maybe read once, graded out 9.8 white. Comparables: No copies for sale on eBay. Last sale was $750 on March 24, 2021. My price for my friends on the boards: $650 (plus shipping see terms).

Usagi Yojimbo 1 (7/87) - from my personal collection bought off the stand, maybe read once, graded out 9.8 white. Comparables: Lowest 9.8 white listed on ebay is $3,200. Last sale on eBay was $2,000 (plus $20.40 in shipping) on June 16, 2021. Before that, a copy sold for $1,999 on June 12, 2021. My price for my friends on the boards: $1,900 (plus shipping see terms).

Sorry for the delays, busy day. Here are the terms: Payment: I prefer Paypal or a means which is non-burdensome for me. We can discuss the options. If you pay by check, it must clear before shipment. Shipping: I am open to USPS and UPS. A signature will be required. You pay actual shipping costs. I will ballpark that $25, but will let you know if it is more or less than that. I normally do not ship internationally. Returns: No returns on CGC books BUYERS MUST BE IN GOOD STANDING. First in thread wins and trumps all PM negotiations. The obvious implication is that I will listen to offers, but the fact I'm listening to you gives you no priority. Prices to follow in a bit.

Terms and prices to follow. Listings will be:

First A-Bomb explosion cover. Top of census. Just back from CGC (finally ... after many months of waiting!):

I'd suggest this perspective might make more sense: The dispute at issue in the linked opinion is appropos of exactly nothing of interest, unless you are a legal geek who wants to know about the enforceability of arbitration agreements and arbitration awards. In contrast, the factual background for the opinion is interesting because it discusses a different lawsuit against Heritage as follows: And that's about all that is of interest. Here's my caveats: (1) This is about 2009, (2) the opinion does not say Heritage did that for all customers, just Hughes, and (3) we don't know from the limited info on this thread if the "audit" findings were confirmed as valid in the Mauer suit against Heritage (they may not have been).

Fandom was right. The activity has entirely changed. That old world is dead and buried.

I was way too low on my estimate also!

Agreed. The real Promise backstory is worth a big premium, and there's no doubt in my mind that big bidders know it. I also think today was a day that spreads on GA became more like the spread on post-Bronze comics. Right now sold prices for a Predator 1 on eBay have a price spread from $1000+ for a 9.8 on the high end to a mere $10 for a decent looking VFish raw copy. This auction is a fervor for "highest graded" copies which are fresh to the market and from what will be a legendary pedigree. Sure there will be dealers that will reprice a bunch of comics upward, but I'm not sure that these results will actually have a long term impact on low grade copies in many of the titles which are now hitting hitting astronomical heights.

Ghost Rider was never "hot" at all during the Bronze Age or anytime through the end of the 80s that I can recall.

This auction result definitely unhinges me. Every GA collector knows that relative scarcity only takes you so far. You can own the rarest GA comics around (and I have had some), but that alone won't get you numbers like that MS 5. This MS 5 just topped out the highest graded Suspense 3 from just a few years ago. Even rare GA comics in super high grade won't necessarily get you $250K+. It takes a confluence of factors, and I don't see the rationale for MS 5 having that confluence. I have little reason to believe that there are not many other high grade MS 5s out there. There were too many people collecting comics in the 70s. Many just aren't slabbing their comics (like me). My GSXM 1, IH 180-181-182, etc. are all raw and will stay that way for another decade at least. I fully get I am out of touch. Heck, I'm now getting back a submission that includes a 9.8 Predator 1 (a movie comic?), a 9.8 Usagi Yojimbo 1 (I haven't submitted my Albedos, and other pre-UY 1 appearances), a 9.8 DH 10 (really? Mask?), etc., that I thought were all entirely without value until I spent a little time on the non-GA boards. So don't get me wrong - I congratulate the seller. But I can't explain what the buyers are thinking on those books which I bought off the stands. And I definitely can't fathom the argument for MS 5. So many more things that I think are much rarer and more desirable.

Everyone is entitled to their preferences. No belittling intended. But, this auction result is so inexplicable to me that I feel like Wonko the Sane in Douglas Adam's "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish" who decides the world is crazy when he picks up a box of toothpicks and realizes that it has a paragraph of instructions on how to use them.

WTF? Ghost Rider is greater than or = to New X-Men? You and I live in different universes. The two books can't be compared to one another on any basis. The first appearance of Ghost Rider is more equivalent to the first appearance of Son of Satan or Shang Chi than anything. GSXM 1 is the foundation book for one of the greatest and most influential character franchises of all time, certainly of the bronze, copper, and modern eras (until Marvel tried to embrace Inhumans). Ghost Rider was an attempt to capitalize on Easy Rider/Hells Angel biker culture, sort of like blackploitation or the attempts to cash in on the popularity of Bruce Lee movies or Disco, which failed by the early 80s (and failed again on revival(s)). Ghost Rider was made into a movie which was critically panned but made a modest amount of money, earning an even worse sequel. X-Men, in contrast, led to 13 major motion pictures (the fifth highest grossing film series), all of which made money and some of which were quite good. I see no comparison between MS 5 and GSXM 1. Not sure why anyone wants MS 5. I can name 100+ Marvel books I'd rather have and would pay more money for, and many other Bronze/Copper books which would rate higher with me. This auction result is going to end up in the crazy town file index. But, hey, to each his own. For the $264K, I'd rather have purchased all of these items: * Whiz 1 3.0 (white) $78K - Better movie, more pop culture and historical relevance, harder book to find, presented really well, and no flood going to hit the market to drive down prices; * Archies Madhouse original art for first Sabrina the Teenage Witch appearance $114K - tough call, who has more pop culture relevance? I dunno, but how many SA first appearance story original art groups can you get? * The 3 foot by 2 foot Charlie Brown baseball art $19K - great to put up on a wall, huge piece, rare Schulz presentation piece which captures the essence of a pop culture icon. * ShockSS 6 $26.4K - A much better 9.8 I think; * Winsor McCay Dream of the Rarebit Fiend drug trip sunday $26.4K - one of the greatest and most creative artists ever at the height of his powers in 1904. And I would have $1,200 left over to buy my friends a really nice dinner to celebrate all the great acquisitions!

Clearly a manufacturing "crack" intentionally designed to enhance the artwork. Nothing to see here. Move along.

If I had to own only one comic, money no object, Action 1 would be it. BUT, I get sort of bored looking at the same thing. So for the money, I'd take hundreds of Promise books over just one Action 1, especially when many are 9.8 top of census and the Action 1 8.5 is maybe the fourth best.

Me, I'd take all the Promise books in this first lot over the 8.5 Action 1.

To reiterate my prediction: $2.74M+ (not shocked if over $3M) for this initial lot. This will top out the average price per issue for the Billy Wright books, despite the absence of any real mega-keys. BUT, let's put that into perspective by asking the question no one is asking yet: Would you rather have the 8.5 Action 1 or all these Promise books in this first lot?

So now I've got to post the next best thing to a Dell wood rack (my Dell rack is wire):

Ask is $10K. Ouch.

For those wanting a rare Silver Age rack, this DC wood rack just popped up on eBay: It's different from other wood DC racks I've seen, not having the painting on the side in the rack shown below and a slightly different graphic for the word "Best": http://chipkidd.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/hakes-auction-chip-kidd-comic-book-rack-2.jpg

Because it is an oil well fire.

MS 5, IH 181, GSX 1, and other Bronze Marvels are not rare or scarce. There was a very robust collecting community back then and many of us buying back then still have our books, boxed and boarded but not encapsulated, feeling little urgency to sell. Of my personal OO collection, I have cgc’d fewer than 10 books, all to sell because the prices were crazy and the books were fringe books (Predator 1, Aliens 1, etc.) that I could convert into something rare and special.