burnsbabe

News to me on the green label threshold. Otherwise, yes, it's definitely .5 max Universal.

Hey folks. I've got an ASM 5 here that's in pretty rough shape. In addition to all the visible color breaking creases, and the tearing along the spine of the cover, you can see that there are a couple places where coupons were cut out at some point. Additionally, the centerfold is detached at the top staple. If it wasn't a single digit ASM, I'd not even worry about it, but it is. Please give me your thoughts, as well as whether you'd ask for a blue label or the dreaded green, if you were to submit it.

Hey folks! I'm going through a modest sized silver age collection right now from a friend. I want to do right by them and get them the most bang for their buck, and that means getting as accurate a read on the potential grade for the big books that are included. I'm posting Fantastic Four 48 below that looks pretty good over all. Biggest thing you might not be able to see from the centerfold shot is the slight staple rust. It's better than I thought it might be. Let me know what you think!

A few of mine just back from the last drop. Very pleased.

Wow, yeah. Never seen the restoration info like that in a blue label before. Obviously, just working from the front page this looks lower than a 4.5 too. Either that, or I have a bunch of stuff I need to submit because they're actually 7s or something.

I've been eyeing this Doom cover for sure. It's SO sweet.

Walkthrough is for for folks with deep pockets who are either 1) simply too impatient to wait, or 2) have books genuinely worth 5 digits worth of dollars.

He's also writing the Gambit solo right now. No spring chicken to be sure, but he's still working.

This looks super clean, yeah. I saw a couple of very small spine ticks and a blunt corner in the bottom left. I'd say get it graded for sure if you're looking to sell eventually (maybe at the next Claremont event), and then sit on it until the X-Men have their day in the movie sun again. If not, grade if you like, mylar and halfback if you don't.

See, I have a hard time with this one. It's modern enough that a 9.2 feels disappointing. It's definitely on my want list though.

Just a question I'm pondering for myself at the moment, and I thought I'd open it up to the boards. As it says in the title, you have $500-750 to spend on one book. It can be raw or graded, but only one. What are you buying? Off the cuff, I'm thinking for me, raw books to maximize value. Looking at an VF-ish copy of Uncanny X-men 101, or Silver Surfer 4 in Fine or Fine- territory. Both are iconic covers, neither are modern books, and while one might look at them as long term investments, they're also just fun books to have.

Just picked up three books, and Terry was great to work with. Shipped promptly, and the packaging kept the books safe, even after USPS did their level best to wreck them. Absolutely would buy from him again.

Thanks for all the confirmation, folks! Obviously, I'd love a higher grade of this at some point, but mind just getting in the door much less on a silver age key like this.

Yup. Relatively new collector. I was looking for something near the letters F and C. Realized after I'd typed out my whole response that you meant front cover. Doh.

Well, I'll stir up some more trouble on the Bronze/Copper distinction then. 135 is obviously Bronze. I'm working on the Dark Phoenix Saga right now. 164 is on the line, though it has a flavor that I can see why some would say Copper. This one I fished out of a back issue bin myself. Really pleased on that one.

Totally fair. The spots near the robot's left are some kind of scratch with some stuff stuck to it? Really hard to say what it is (it's clearly old), but I expect it'll come off with a clean. Obviously, the color break along that line will still exist, which is a shame. I was also disappointed when I noticed the water stain on the back. Those are, I think, the two biggest blockers, except possibly staple rust. It's not a perfect book at all, but glad to hear my rough expectations were right. It's a key I wanted, and definitely can't afford in high grade (just over 100 on the census above a 9.0).

Hard to check the staples because it's square bound, but it does kinda look like they're a touch rusty, sadly. I read it as roughly a 4 as well, and agree it presents nicely for that grade. I'll be sending it for a press and clean, which should make it look even nicer. Can you elaborate on the "fc near the left hand"? I can't parse what you mean there.

Hey folks. I'm not strong when it comes to grading lower grade books. I can tell my 9.8s from my 9.6s, but the difference between at 6 and a 4 is lost on me. I picked this up recently for the PC, so I'm happy to have it no matter the grade. That said, I'd love a rough estimate.

Holy Newton Rings Batman! That ASM 300 is just rainbows all over. Cool collection though.

That's fair. Mostly I was trying to decide if it even deserved a note to the seller. Calling it a "shipping fail" explicitly instead of just "that's what happens with $5 books" gives me some idea of an answer.

Hey folks, I grabbed a pretty low dollar book off of Ebay the other day. I'm pretty new to collecting, but I've done my research, and know about Gemini mailers, etc. I got this book taped between two pieces of average thickness cardboard, put into a manila envelope, and shipped with no extra padding or anything. They did write "Fragile" or "Do Not Bend" or similar on the front. Would you find this acceptable? I'm not pissed exactly. The book is only worth like, $6 raw. I probably would be if it was worth like, $80 or something. So tell me, should this be setting me off more, or less than it is?

That's an awful lot of reading into the gender of a person from a thumbnail. Also, women do collect comics too sometimes.

Hey folks! Newish collector, total submission noob here. Most of what I'm reading makes perfect sense, but there's one burning question I can't quite seem to find an answer to. The "declared value" you fill in before you submit books; is that the raw value, or what you expect the book's value will be after grading (which would obviously require you to guess about the grade)? I'm assuming it's the latter, since anything graded will need to be insured for its value as a graded book on its way back to you. Am I right?