Black_Adam

Very pretty looking 8.0 and a beautiful find, congrats and good luck with the grade!

5.5 from me (probably only a half grade bump with a press). Solid looking copy though!

I'd bump it down to a 7.5, mainly based on the back cover. From the front it's a beauty though, congrats! 

2 hours ago, Chillax23 said:

Not to mention X-Men 1 also brings Magneto who is arguably the most important mutant and arguably the most important Marvel villain (although I may be willing to concede it is Doom  ). 

For me it goes AF15, Hulk 1, FF1, X-Men 1, TOS39 - I am trying to buy a TOS39 this year as my “big book” and am finding low grade copies surprisingly difficult to find. 

Magneto vs. a guy who made his costume out of scrap iron? No contest!

And best of luck with the TOS 39, I can only dream. 

10 hours ago, Sweet Lou 14 said:

It's a great list, but I would just point out how hard it is to set expectations on price, especially for a complete novice.  There are several books on your list with prices that really jump out to me as low.  If you find a JIM #83 8.0 for $22,500, please let me know immediately so I can buy it.  

For sure, that sales price (the last for a JIM #83 in that grade) was from June 2017. The only recent sale close was a 6.5 for $14,900 this month. 

The list was intended more to give my friend an idea of the relative value of the different Marvel Silver Age keys in relation to each other. For instance, he kept phoning me amazed at how cheap high grade issues of Iron Man #1 were - he had never even heard of Tales of Suspense #39 and had no idea that was the 1st appearance of Iron Man. I also warned him not to use BIN prices on Ebay as a barometer of how much different keys are worth.

And why would you need a JIM #83 in 8.0 anyways? Rumor has it your sweet Silver Age collection is all 9.4 and up!   

8 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

Those almost poked my eyes out when I was scrolling the thumbnails for this auction...., 

He does have sharp-looking claws.

1 hour ago, KirbyJack said:

What I’m referring to is that, IMO, the desire for early back issues of FF and ASM ( especially, but not exclusively) is what got the hobby really going. 

 

I totally agree, they are the cornerstones of Marvel (though FF seemed to have kind of faded for a while). I was just impressed by how well those first six issues of Hulk performed on the list, especially when you consider ol' greenskin's only other significantly valued issue is Bronze Age and his only part in the comic was introducing the universe to Marvel's favorite Canadian.

30 minutes ago, piper said:

ASM 1 check

JIM 83 check

TOS 39 check

XM1 - no interest in owning. I’ve always felt that GSX1 is the book to get.

I dream of owning a pretty X-Men #1 - Magneto's 1st appearance! 

28 minutes ago, KirbyJack said:

Early Spidey’s and FFs are the foundation of the entire hobby.

Why is Hulk still so far ahead of FF when it comes to first issue values? Smaller print run? Simple supply and demand?

19 minutes ago, telerites said:

Way back when I first read X-Men #3, I would have never dreamed the Blob would be a part of a top 50 list unless it was for large rubbery men.  And it's a shame. DD had such corny villains early on.  I liked DD but was always an Avengers guy as my favorite title. 

 

Technically, the Blob, who I have always thought was awesome (and not just in size), falls at #70 on the list. But I was surprised when making the list how few Daredevil issues (exactly one) made the list. And Captain America's sole appearance was via Avengers #4. Compared to Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, both with 18 issues making the cut, that's not a lot of high-value issues other than the high grade stuff.

One other note - nice to know the above Crazy Eight collection can be yours (assuming you can find them in the grades and values listed) for only $626,830. Shipping and sales tax extra of course...

8 minutes ago, valiantman said:

But what if he loves Groot?  

I've never read the original tale but I'm guessing the Groot from 1961 is quite different from the movie version my friend knows and loves!

I've edited the list to remove the pre-hero stuff and have added the years as suggested. Thanks for the input!

29 minutes ago, serling1978 said:

Unfortunately I have no dollars and cents data to confirm this, but I've been  getting the feeling for a while that collectors aren't as hot on TOS 39 as they used to be. Could just be things going in cycles, but it seems like amongst the Marvel "Grails" it has fallen somewhat in desirability. 

I've always loved the book and I'm proud to have one in my collection. Just curious where it falls  on the list of desirable keys for other collectors. Personally I would rank it only below AF15, Hulk 1 and FF1. 

I would definitely rank it #4 for most desired Marvel Silver Age keys, but I don't think it will be long before Amazing Spider-Man #1 surpasses it.

2 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Well, it's hard to consider 1959+ Marvel as Golden Age, though.  It's essentially "pre-hero Silver" with Fin Fang Foom, Groot, and lots of other "monsters with fun names" before Fantastic Four #1.  Amazing Fantasy #15 is interesting because it's clearly #15, so there are 14 other books, but they started as Amazing Adventures (1961), then Amazing Adult Fantasy until #14, then Amazing Fantasy #15 and it's done (until decades later).  For what it's worth, Amazing Adventures #1 (1961) is more than $1,000 in 8.0 as well.

I guess I've always considered Fantastic Four #1 as the rocket that launched Marvel into the Silver Age. To me all the pre-hero monsters, westerns, suspense, etc. were Atlas' Atomic Age. But I definitely appreciate the feedback and will be making my friend aware of it! 

7 minutes ago, valiantman said:

You might add the year of each book.  Someone may have no idea why 1st Fin Fang Foom is so high on the list, but it's the year it was released that answers the question.  It also answers the question of why 1st Iron Man (series) #1 is so low when 1st Amazing Spider-Man (series) #1 is so high.  If you decide to add "1st Groot", the year also answers some question about value. 

I wondered if I should even add 1st Fin Fang Foom to the list as my friend has no idea who that is (he naturally knows Groot from the movies) and I'm not even sure if Strange Tales #89 technically counts as Silver Age Marvel being published one month before FF #1 (as opposed to 1st Groot which was a year earlier). I just thought Fin Fang Foom was too cool to leave off...

I'm sure this has been done before (and I'm not sure if this info is of any value to anyone here), but I have a friend who is looking to get into comic collecting and is mainly interested in Silver Age Marvel (keys/semi-keys) from Fantastic Four #1 and on - none of the pre-hero stuff. He knows the characters but has very little knowledge of the different titles and their values. Using 8.0 (VF) as a nice entry-point grade I made him the following list so he could get an idea of the different values (roughly based on current GPA with $1,000 as the cut off point) and pick out some comics he's interested in to target.

If you notice any comics that fit my criteria (Silver Age Marvel - CGC grade 8.0 - value > $1,000) I have forgotten to list please let me know so I can add it. On my first attempt at this list I forgot Amazing Fantasy #15...   

I'm batting .154 so far, with only 2 wins out of 13 bids (and outbid on 11 other upcoming auctions). Seems like pretty healthy results so far, especially on anything even resembling a key! No wins to speak of last night, but here is one of my misses. congrats to the winner (if they're lurking here).

I'd say 5.5 just because the graders will be wondering why that corner didn't get pressed! Otherwise in the 7.0 range. Sucks when sellers send comics in a nice big box but then allow it to slide and bang back and forth inside. Have had the exact same thing happen to more than a few comics sent my way...even some bought off these boards. 

2 hours ago, Washingtonxan said:

Crime Suspenstories #26 complete with cover and centerfold attached at both staples. Small piece of tape inside back cover about 4.5-5.0 - $75

Finally added this Aparo via Comiclink. Bronze Age gold! 

As to how this happened, I suspect it was caused by poor packing technique. The slab was cocooned in bubble wrap horizontally but there was zero wrap (or protection of any kind) on either the top or bottom of the case. The slab (which I believe measures 13" in length) was then put in a FedEx medium sized box (13-1/4" in length) so the only protection of any kind against impact during transit was the thin cardboard of the FedEx carton.

1 hour ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I'm curious as to how this happened. I'm not sure but is this an example of the early version of the new slab design, without a true inner well ?  I don't see the corner slots that are usually present in the inner well. It looks like the book is pressed hard against the right edge. IN any case, contact CGC and get this reholdered, hopefully retaining the grade. OR, if you don't feel like dealing with all of this, get your money back, return it now. 

Already working hard on the second option.

2 minutes ago, faster friends said:

Not much

So still a 7.0 or do you think it would drop down to a 6.5?

Trying to figure out if a "missing" piece is allowed in this grade.