sfcityduck

The covertness only applies to the stolen art, mainly early Marvel art. Presumably, there are guys who worshipped Kirby and Ditko, yet were buying up stuff like the covers to AF 15 and ASM 1 without any regard to the fact that the art had been stolen from Marvel or/and the artists like Ditko and Kirby. At least the person who donated the AF 15 interior art to the LoC asked Ditko if he wanted it back first. The LoC, interestingly, has basically admitted that art was stolen, but they don't care because they hope for more donations of similar art. The major early Marvel art probably should be in a place like the LoC or the Lucas Museum. But, an argument can be made it really should be repatriated.

The problem I have with CVA is that they spend more time talking on their website about the quality of their sticker than they do the criteria they use to determine whether it is warranted. Here's how they describe their service: So what is the criteria for "exceptional eye appeal"? Apparently, the same criteria the Supreme Court uses for determining obscentity: I know it when I see it. But, don't we all?

My desire to know has nothing to do with internet or mail order business. Instead, while I enjoy your writing style, it is hard for me to evaluate the value of your advice and experience without knowing where and what the name of your store is. Your location says SF (where I am), but up thread you professed to have no real connection to the Bay Area. So why not just come clean with those two details?

What's interesting to me is what book was the most valuable when. We all know Action 1 was the record for the greatest number of years, but MC 1 is a clear number two and Whiz 2 might well be a clear no. 3 over D 27 (depending on whether a certain transaction was cash or trade). Flash 1 apparently shared the record for a while, and CA 1 brings up the rear with one year in the sun a while back.

You ought to consider a Kickstarter to get these Austrailian "whites" back into print. Hope Nichols and Rachel Richey have done quite well in getting support for the Brok Windsor and Nelvana books.

I believe it passed through someone else's hands between Chuck and the Dentist. Maybe Snyder. I forget the story.

Super cool! Like the Crimson Comet! Are the stories any good?

Austrailian reprint editions are neat, but what I'm really curious about is whether the Austrailians had their own superheros like the Canadians. Did they?

PT Barnum said ... But, I prefer the wise men on these boards who say: Buy the book, not the sticker. My own advice: Buy the book, but feel free to get a sticker. How hard can it be?

I think we're all aware of inflation so I don't think anyone will be misled. And, as I know you are aware, inflation calculators have their own problems. But, I would be interested in seeing charts as you propose, just not in the first instance. I prefer knowing the actual prices paid, so I can apply my own context.

He's using raw numbers. Which I prefer because we can all do our own inflation adjustment if we want. But, knowing that someone paid $250 in 1965 is pretty neat.

Rob, Check out this thread:

See next post.

Grading can be difficult. Submitting a book to CGC protects the seller from undergrading and the buyer from overgrading -- at least to an extent. Most importantly, it eliminates debate over grades. Thus, CGC adds value when you are in a transaction (I don't see a need if you are just holding comics). Looking at a comic in a CGC case and deciding whether it looks good is not difficult. Anyone should be able to do that. I see no value to a CVA sticker. But, if you do, then use the service. It doesn't hurt the holder and some buyers might like it. Anyone know CVA's position on Newton rings? Automatic DQ for the sticker?

Where and what is the name of your store?

Chuck does NOT call "Dallas Stephens" books "Mile High II." In fact, Chuck said, as quoted by the OP, "Given the enormous size and scope of his collection, this will be the largest single collection offered for sale by Mile High Comics since the Mile High II collection was released to the national market in 1985." Mile High II was the massive warehouse find of returns. Seems a little credibility damaging to call this book a "Mile High Collection". I'd suggest you change the description, as the book will sell itself.

You guys are most excellent! Keep them coming!:

I was not commenting on a Wolverine v. Hulk fight (which excites me not at all), but this: I'd imagine there's plenty of fertile ground there with a possible wolverine origin movie. I don't think too many casual fans especially younger generation have been exposed to how the character came to be. With repeats, pay per view, etc., and how popular the character is, my assumption is that any fans of Wolverine have seen the movies. Personally, my favorite Marvel movie was Spiderman (2002).

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) is only nine years old.

I answered your question. You want to answer mine:

I did not ignore it. I pointed out you are making a strawman argument. People who read comics, thereby decreasing their grade from NM/M to F, are not "allow[ing] your books to be destroyed." Nor does reading mean they "don't make an effort to preserve them." It just means that they are perfectly happy to collect their comics for a purpose, reading, which will result in a decrease in grade. And there's nothing wrong with that, especially when we are talking about collecting comics bought new. Those people are collectors, despite the fact that their collecting goal results in some damage to the comic.

One last point: If buying motivations are irrelevant, how do you distinguish between comic collectors and comic speculators, a distinction you made up thread?

No, it is the act of seeking out, buying and holding comics, for the love of the comics, that makes you a collector. The difference between us comes down to this: You can collect comics, even if you read them and thereby decrease their grades. You have been desperately trying to whittle down the number of collectors in 1970 to a figure below 1,000 by the artifice of trying to exclude folks who seek out, buy and hold comics for the purpose of reading them, not preserving them untouched. The narrow defintion you are proposing just doesn't work. It's perfectly ok to collect comics to read them, knowing full well that reading them will cause a decrease in grade. You diagree. What else is there to say at this point? I think your argument is absurd, and the lengths you have gone to try not to lose this point is foolish.

RFLMAO! I can't believe you just posted this on a CGC board. Luckily for you, few people will read this deep into the thread and join my laughter.

You have now proven, in black and white for all to see, that your arguments lack all common sense and intellectual honesty. First, a "collecting goal" is the aim of your collecting. It can be as simple as "I want to own every X-Men comic book so I can read them" or "I want to own every Matt Baker cover so I can admire them." To claim otherwise is irrational. The objects you collect are different than the goal you are seeking to acheive by collecting those objects. Everyone has a reason for collecting comics, but those reasons vary. Second, in 1970, the time period we are talking about, there were no, for example, comprehensive X-Men reprints. To read the entire X-Men story, you needed to seek out and obtain the back issues or, at the very least, the prior published reprints containing those stories (yes, buttercup, you can collect reprints like Marvel Tales 2). The same was true for New X-Men in 1978. If you wanted to read the full story, you had to get the back issues. These were times before digital comics, before Masterworks, etc. That you fail to understand that many collectors were motivated to seek out comics because they wanted to read the story is astoundingly unbelievable to me. You ask: "why would someone who merely wanted to READ spend the money on a copy of X-Men #1, when they could buy a reprint for a lot less...?" If the collecting goal is reading all the stories, you may well be happy reading reprints, second prints, etc. instead of owning all of the first prints. Again, that's a perfectly fine collecting strategy. You ask again "what are you collecting?" Comic books. But the issue of "collecting goal" goes to the question you do not ask: "Why are you collecting?" For many, it is and was to read the comics.