sfcityduck

Now we know the exact discount a staple replacement should yield - something less than the $410 value of scraps of paper plus an Action 1 staple.

I do not think a staple replacement should impact value one iota. In fact, I think we, as a collecting community which wants to see books preserved, should encourage staple replacement. In the fine art world, no one would downgrade a piece of art because an inherently damaging object is removed or replaced. Comic collectors should not be so dumb as to insist that switching out rusting staples, of all things, for period correct clean staples is a "downgrade" warranting a price reduction. They are just staples for God's sake! In a relatively short time, my view will be the norm. Don't be surprised.

Instead of speculating, why not find out the identities? The folks who I can identify who have paid more than $1 million for a comic were collectors. So who are these investors that your are talking about? Here's what you might not be getting. A lot of folks have a lot more disposable income right now because they aren't doing a lot of the expensive activities they used to engage in like eating out, traveling, vacations to luxury resorts, etc.. They've got more money, more time, and they are bored. So its natural that a lot of folks are putting their money into collectables as a diversion. It's COVID safe. And entertaining.

With very very few exceptions, the guys who pay big bucks for comic books are comic book fans or have a personal connection to the characers. Hariri got into comics because of an editorial that depicted his, now assassinated, father as Superman. That's why he would pay record princes for Action 1 and what got him into other comics (and, yes, DC comics were published in Lebanon). The celebrities like Nic Cage and Jack White who bought Action 1s were comic fans. They weren't investing. The investors who have paid record prices have tended to get burned, and more than one high end dealer has told stories about Wall Street investors electing not to invest in comics because the market is to thin and small to make it worth their while. There are people who are passionate about comics and are willing to drop big bucks on a comic out of their love of comics, not a desire to cash in a year later. That is the pool that is probably buying these comics. Because, let's face it, a 50% rate of return over two years is a return the high end investors believe they can beat in other arenas.

I'm curious if this is actually true (the Okajima as part of 50objects is not yet true). When and where? Not any that I've been to.

Jpepx78 of this board was a driving force behind the attempt to get Okajima included in the 50objects project. It has not happened yet because, I believe he told me, the project felt that there was too little information on the backstory on the collection. The project has also been moving at a much much slower pace than originally projected, but the concept and resulting articles are incredible. Worth checking out: https://50objects.org/

Is it just me, or are Little Lulu comics sort of hot right now?

Great history! Thanks

No surprise here, but the serious SOTI collectors made some offers and the winner is SOTIcollector in a cash/trade deal! Another rare addition to an already very impressive collection.

Thread suspended until further notice.

Fawcett Funny Animals 14 - ZERO copies on census! Why? I don't know. Great idea for a cover. High quality art. Really struck me as unique design. Love the pre-Wertham and pre-CCA stamp! The stamp only appeared on select Fawcett issues. Nice bit of forgotten history. None sold by Heritage, none at Metro, none on eBay, none available anywhere as far as I can tell. GCD hasn't even really indexed it. Strange. Is it actually rare or just disrespected? I dunno. You tell me:

That Miles Morales movie was awesome, including Spider Gwen, despite old school fans thinking Spiderman always had to be a flawed white guy. So I'm more than ok with creators being creative and reflecting society as it exists today. It is leading to some great new stories! Nostalgia only gets you so far, and some things we shouldn't be nostalgic about.

Alright, here's another rarity. So rare the guy with the best SOTI collection on the planet doesn't have one (yet correction: now he does). This book is much rarer than SOTI, and even rarer than POP. I've looked, and could only find this copy for sale. Another copy was mentioned once before on these boards ... 14 years ago, and one respected poster (Robotman) said he has a friend who has a copy. This thing is so rare that even most collectors of SOTI materials don't know it exists. DESCRIPTION "Youth in Danger: A Forthright Report to the American People - the Findings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Deliquency" by Sen. Robert C. Hendrickson and Fred. J. Cook. (1956). That's the author immediately next to the that famous PCH display used as an exhibit in the Senate Hearings on the left: This book is notable for its extensive Chapter on horror comics and the Senate Hearings at which Wertham, Gaines, and others testified. But, the real value of the book is that it (1) lets you know what theSenators were thinking, including whether they supported censorship or not, and (2) details the continuing condemnation of comics after SOTI, after the adoption of the CCA, and the skepticism that comic critics had of the CCA itself. Really interesting stuff. An example is the discussion of the cross-examination of Gaines. Gaines sunk the comic industry. CONDITION What you see is what you get. You can see there are rips and dings to the cover, but it still presents really well. The interior pages are generally white (ow at worst), but the end papers have some tanning or foxing including on the inside cover flaps. It is a solid copy and there is no better copy on the market. PRICE This book is so rare it has not caught much attention, despite the super cool back cover. So how do you price this? You'll likely never see another copy. My answer is: $650. Feel free to contact me with any inquiries. For this, I might consider a part trade deal involving a SOTI item. Thanks.

Congratulations!! The early bird gets the worm! Now I'm going to have to list something else just to keep my entertainment going.

Got the COVID blues? Here's something you rarely see. RULES: First "take" wins! Supersedes negotiations or PMs with below ask offers! I reserve the right to refuse to do business with HOSers or anyone else I deem a risk. Payment: PayPal. Shipping: You pay shipping and insurance cost (let's start with a $50 estimate and go up or down from there), but you can specify mode. I normally do not ship internationally, but you can try to convince me. Returns: For this CGC graded book - no returns. I'm not a dealer, I rely on CGC, and if you buy from me you do too! I will answer any questions and listen to reasonable offers (but first "I'll take it" wins). Again, I'm not a dealer and my selling history is small. All my transactions through this site were (I believe) four figures or up to well-regarded members like SOTIcollector, Yellowkid, etc., and I would hope my reputation is good, I just don't do "kudos." Ask around if you have concerns. On eBay I have a 100% rating. DESCRIPTION The CGC Census shows only 4 copies of this comic - a 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and the copy being offered for sale, which has just returned from CGC this week with a census topping grade of 5.5 (ow) - four grade increments better than the next best copy! Please note, as stated by CGC, the book was "manufactured with a hole punch." All copies I have ever seen have that hole punch. The case on this book is shiny new (and still in the bag). This book was "found in the wild" by me, is fresh to the market, and freshly encapsulated. Here are pics of the rare D.C. "How You Can Defend Your Home" (sorry for my photo skills which put reflections on images): BACKGROUND ON THIS BOOK: "How You Can Defend Your Home" is a D.C. comic which was published in 1942 by All-American through its indicia publisher Jolaine Publications (also the indicia publisher for Green Lantern Comics 1-23, All-Flash Comics 2-26, and Comic Calvacade 26). "How You Can Defend Your Home" was sold as a 10 cent premium for members of Hop Harrigan's "All-American Flying Club" and "American Observation Corps" through ads in All-American Publications such as All-Star 10, All-Flash 4, and All-American 42. See here from All-Star 10: The editor is M.C. Gaines, writer is Edward Gruskin, and the artist is Hubert Mathieu. Mathieu (1897-1954) was a notable illustrator who gained fame during WWII as the artist on his "Spot Your Plane" and "Our Democracy" features. The latter feature lasted 10 years and was run by 2,000 newspapers and magazines. Gruskin was the writer of such favorite comic features as Street & Smith's Supersnipe, Shadow, and Doc Savage. M.C. Gaines, of course, was a co-owner of D.C., All-American, and the founder of E.C. Comics. This is a truly rare publication. Ian Levine noted it as one of the cruxes in his quest to obtain a complete D.C. collection. Aside from Ian, only four other board members have claimed to own a copy (Esquirecomics (Mark Zaid), Bangzoom, Jerome34, BLBcomics) and board member Baz posted he'd seen a copy with a rat chewed corner. I have found records of only four copies being sold: By Harley Yee for $1,000 in 2009, two copies on this board for hidden amounts around 2015, and a "fair" copy on eBay. A volume of comics bound by famous SF author Walter Gibson which included a copy was also sold by Potter & Potter in 2017. Only three public institutions (two University library archives and the Library of Congress) have the book in their holdings. This is less than for many very rare comics. Simply put, it's a small club that has a copy. You can see Ian's copy in the top row of this picture of his key comics: PRICE: How do you price a book like this? Rare, top of census, significant to DC and Max Gaines/EC collectors, rarely offered for sale. None have sold in the last five years that I know of. Heritage, ComicConnect, Comic Link and Hakes have never sold a copy. I'm going to ask more than Harley did 12 years ago, but not too much: $1,750. You may not see another copy. And this tops census. It is a trophy and a talking piece. I reserve the right to end this offering at any time of my choosing by posting "ended" in the title of this thread. I also reserve the right to offer up some more cool stuff if the itch hits me. Again, feel free to contact me by PM for inquiries. SOLD!

Under California law, where I recall (I think, going off memory) you live, the answer is "no." In a case of "defamation per se" damages are not an element of the cause of action. Accusing someone of a crime is an example of defamation per se. Committing or attempting suicide in California is a crime. If you win, your recovery can include monetary relief for general damages (such as loss of reputation, shame, mortification, hurt feelings, emotional distress) and punitive damages.

So Marvel is no longer Diamond, but exclusive to Random House? So retailers must now order from one more distributor than previously? Seems a bit of a hassle for retailers.

No need for a political discussion here. If that happened, you must have made out like a bandit in the resulting defamation lawsuits. Hope you spent the money on comics! My experience, which includes having two parents who were reporters for a well-regarded local daily newspaper and my own experience contributing articles/columns to publications, leads me to a different conclusions than yours (including that there is no such thing as "the media" as there are many different outlets and publications). But, that's a debate for a different message board. Let's keep it on comics related topics here.

I'm not accusing you of any intentional wrongdoing. I'm just pointing out that Buzzetta correctly identified the comment as yet another political comment by that poster (which prompted Buzzetta to disagree with it on political grounds). Buzzetta undoubtedly reached that conclusion the same way I did - by reading all of the poster's posts on this thread. By looking at that one post out of its context, you came to the wrong conclusion that Buzzetta was being unfair to the poster because you thought the comment was "innocuous." It wasn't. No biggee it happens that we all misinterpret a comment or miss the context. I just thought you should know.

His first comment on this thread was this: "our local newspaper is $2.50 an issue and it only has about 20 pages... i would never buy one or even read it for free because it is all lies ,.... but it seems that it was only 50 cents an issue 15 years ago ,... so the price has quintrupled since then" He then made the comment you are defending as non-political: "it was a completely dishonest newsprint media that was the catalyst that brought down all other forms of print" He's not talking about circulation stats. He is parroting a political view about a supposed lack of honesty in the mainstream media. Buzzetta is right. And it is notable that the poster is not pretending otherwise.

My last shipment was in the same box they use to send out their "ship to us" kits. It was a single book shipment, nice sturdy box, wrapped in a lot of wrap, and I couldn't be more pleased. I plan to sell the book, and I am saving all the packing material to use again.

Yep. I save @ $250 a week on parking and lunch just by not going to the office. And that doesn't count money I might spend having drinks after work.

Cons are the poor man's internet. Heck, lots of dealers were fleeing cons such as Comic-Con that weren't really focused on buying and selling comics any more. Anyone on this site can email Gator and I'm sure he'll sell you a book. I personally feel that by the time the big cons re-open, a lot of folks are going to have other options to spend money on that they will have been denied for a year and a half or more. No one has been denied the opportunity to buy comics during Covid. So as the world opens back up, the market is likely going to cool down.

The post you are defending was inappropriate political content.

Here is what everyone should be worried about: A lot of us whose jobs are not impacted by the pandemic now have excess money because we have been forced to forego a lot of discretionary spending. I'm talking vacations, nice restaurants, going to sporting events, movies, etc. So we suddenly find ourselves bored and with extra cash. What do you do? You buy things you can enjoy in your home that make you happy, one of which is collectables. So what's going to happen when the world re-opens and we can all travel again? Me, I'm taking some trips. Think about it.