sfcityduck

Thanks to you and everyone who is taking the time to share your experience. I really appreciate it. I take great comfort in your comments about subscriber labels. What do you think about this book?:

Two questions: First, are there any differences in the prices netted for GA WDC&S subscription variants versus the standard editions? The difference is the back cover. The subscription variants have a different design that allows space for the subscribers address to be printed on the comic. Second, before they had subscription variants, WDC&S left space on the back cover for the subscribers address to be printed. The newsstand copies just had blank space. Are copies with a subscribers address printed on the back cover worth less?

So I'd submit this as a standard track book, right? Or would CGC put it on a different track?

How much does CGC charge for a press of that type?

Next question. Want to venture a grade for this?: I've long wanted a decent issue of this, but I don't trust my grading skills. Your thoughts?

Very helpful! Thanks.

Need help. Have opportunity to buy some WDC&S and DD/US FCs. Some of them are really nice. NM covers. BUT, some of those have an issue I've not dealt with before. I need to know how these issues impact price. First issue: A subscription label on the back cover. What % hit to value? Second issue: A faint non-color breaking subscription mailer crease on back cover. Impact? Will it press out? Probably always coupled with issue 1. Third issue: A distributor date stamp on cover. Not coupled with first or second issue. What % hit to value? Additional question: These appear to be similar in cover quality to file copies. What PQ do the file copies have? If the PQ for these are OW to W is that comparable or better than the file copies? Final question: What is the market for Carl Barks FCs in VF to NM? E.g., is guide high or low? Do they sit or are their buyers?

Nice! I've picked up some vintage posters to hang on the wall also.

Yep! Thanks for the correction!

I know a guy like that. Fulls runs of Action, Detective, Batman, Superman, etc. He's very slowing selling off his runs ... in inverse sequential Order. He hasn't gotten to the good stuff yet.

Any disclosures you feel comfortable sharing? It did not escape my notice that he kept the Superman 1 from the Billy Wright Atlantic City Collection auction which may be the highest graded cover still extant (interior coupon was clipped). He obviously could have also stored away some other Wright's, Allentowns, Northfords, D-Copy or Crowley's.

Always glad to help a fellow San Franciscan.

"The Dentist" is "Anderson" (Dave Anderson - a Virginia dentist) who owns not only the MH AC 1, but the Allentown D 27, and the best Superman 1 (he rejected the MH), as well as many other MHs, including MH Pep 22, the MH Archie 1 ..., and well, you get the point. He wins. He reportedly has a very high grade pedigree (Nor Cal) whose contents are not well known as DA is so secretive, though they did yield a 9.4 AS 8 3, essentially to himself. Second place goes to Verzyl with the MH MC 1, Allentown CA 1 and lots of MH Timely's.

Fischler has a collection? What's in it besides Fantastic 3s? I thought he just had inventory, not a collection.

Seems like there is no reason to believe that Anderson or Verzyl will be selling their collections any time soon, if ever, and those have got to be the top 2 GA collections by far, right? Halperin must be a contender for best OA collection. But no reason to think he'll sell either and he's got two sons. Brulato's collection is mainly SA. My guess would be that next big auction event will be a relatively unknown collection coming to auction from one of the long time buy and hold collectors. Probably composed mainly of books they acquired prior to the 1980s. BangZoom's collection would be an obvious example of this type of collection. I suspect that there are more of these types of collections than people realize, guy who have been collecting since the 60s or early 70s, who will either die or turn their attention to selling.

Hariri has an Sensation 1 9.4. Here's why: He could have had the WW 1 solicitation copy sold by Lasry, but apparently didn't want it at all or at the price. Why would he pay more now?

eBay and Adams do it again! CNET story All-Star 8 9.4 CGC Blue (no ped) Sensation 1 9.6 CGC Blue (no ped) Wonder Woman 1 9.0 CGC Blue (solicitation copy) Bidding opens August 13. Didn't the solicitation copy just come up for auction? Or is this different. The claim on the AS 8 and S 1 is that they were "uncirculated" and unrevealed until now.

The way I heard it back then was that the Guide was over priced on books he had, and under priced on books he wanted.

Very insightful post. Your comments remind me of comments made by Vincent and Fishler: My takeaway is that the most financially successful dealers these days are selling their information and connections more than they are comics themselves. They've become, in a sense, consultants and headhunters. The smart dealers are not sitting back waiting for folks who aren't collectors to sell them comics anymore. Instead, they are building their relationships, taking extensive notes on who has what and who wants what (valuable information), and are turning themselves into necessary middlemen for buyers who want specific items and sellers who want to eager buyers. But, that's just a guess. Correct me if I'm not reading this right.

Comic cons used to be super cool and ultra important because that was the only place you could find comic books not available at your local comic store (LCS). Buying by mail back then was a bit dicey because you had no idea what you were buying. But, now, with the advent of the internet and grading services, you have complete comfort and convenience in buying from afar. So the need for Comic Cons has greatly greatly greatly diminished. Forums like this have even removed the networking benefits of cons. Meanwhile, SDCC has turned into the coolest place in the world to be a pop culture early adapter. Nothing more than watching an Arrowverse premiere 3 months early or being in the room as one of the first around watching the Ready Player One trailer. And there's lots of limited edition "exclusives" to shop for, cool booths to experience, and great panels to attend. And those things can really only be done at SDCC, whereas you can buy comics from anywhere.

Maybe there's some speculation going on in light of the recent Mile High Fantastic 3 auction result. One problem with that thinking: The supply/demand equation for Fantastic 3 has been manipulated, so it is not a good model for predicting the future of other similar books.

Grading services have been accused in the past of utilzing a business model which encourages buyers to "break out" under-graded collectibles (especially coins) and re-submit them to get a higher grade (and hefty increase in price). The advantage to the grading service under such a scenario is that it receives multiple fees. Obviously, there are stories of notable books in the hobby, the record 9.0 Action 1 being the most notable, which were cracked open more than once to achieve higher grades on re-submission. Wasn't the Action 1 once an 8.0 and 8.5? I forget. Obviously, services that offer cleaning and pressing would also benefit from "untreated" books being graded harshly as it would increase the incentive to "realize the potential" of an "untreated" book. So, I'm not sure that it is entirely accurate to conclude that utilizing a more critical eye for the grading of an "untreated" book would undermine the business model of a grading service. It might actually drive more revenue to the grading service.

That list actually made a fair amount of sense back then. The big controversy was MC 1 in the top spot. Back then, what was driving prices was content (first appearance, origins, first issue, etc.) not covers, Marvel Comics was ascendant, rarity mattered a lot more than it does today because collectors had a completist mentality that is greatly diminished now, Batman was at a nadir, and Captain Marvel had made a relatively recent comeback and his history as a (maybe "the") dominant GA superhero was widely appreciated. (Picking a year at random, 1947, reveals that there were 9 Capt. Marvel related books published by Fawcett -- Whiz, Capt. Marvel, Marvel Family, Capt. Marvel Jr., Master, Mary Marvel, Wow, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, and Funny Animals -- and CM supposedly had the biggest readership of any GA superhero.)

Here's the top 10 from OPG No. 10, one of the weirder configurations: 1. MC 1 2. Action 1 3. MPFW 1 4. Whiz No. 2 (1) 5. D 27 6. Superman 1 7. Wow nn (1) 8. Captain Marvel 1 9. WDC&S 1 10. CA 1 Times have changed. For me, the most interesting listing is Wow Comics nn (1) (Fawcett). OPG valued it highly because it was printed on "unstable paper stock" and was "rarely found in mint condition." A case of rarity resulting in an inflated price. There are only 17 copies on the census, with the Mile High 9.4 being the highest rated Universal and the next highest being a 6.0. The Mile High copy sold in 2002 for $39K.

A "guide" is a guide, not a stock market ticker. The important thing about the OPG is the information. I really appreciate that the OPG updated the information on the Nightingale after I discovered a copy based on my input, including giving more accurate information on the known copies in private and institutional hands. I assume that something similar might now have happened with Double Action 1 (or was that last year?). What I'm most interested in is not the new prices, but the new information and listings.