Gatsby77

No. I've never owned a Cerebus # 1 (although I considered a mid-grade copy back around 1990 once). And I don't own Tomb of Dracula # 1 now, but in the past, I've owned copies in the CGC 6.5, 9.0 & 9.4. It's a phenomenal book. Putting aside that (as you've said), I'm comfortable paying $2k for a comic but have never paid more than $3k for one: I'd pick a CGC 9.4 copy of Tomb of Dracula # 1 for $2,000-$2,300 over a CGC 6.5 copy of Cerebus # 1 for $5,000 any day of the week. Honestly, 9.4 Dracula 1s are 40% the cost of 6.5 Cerebus 1s - it makes sense why it'd be more widely collected despite being leagues more common. Why Dracula? 1) Bias towards high grade. 9.4s generally appreciate faster than mid-grade, regardless of rarity. 2) This is the first issue of a *major* Marvel bronze title - 10 years, 75 issues - and part of the trio of major gothic horror books (alongside Ghost Rider & Werewolf by Night) - I love all three titles - honestly, they define Marvel Bronze for me more than any of the superhero books. 3) First appearance of Marvel Dracula. Sure - not on the level of Blade (yet), but, like Star Wars 1, still a major book. 4) Quality - arguably one of the best (and most consistent) titles of the 1970s, full stop. Neal Adams cover, and the whole run features arguably Colan's best work. Plus, it's well-written, often-times hilarious. In issue 10, he's kicking it on a cruise ship with a bunch of idiotic Hollywood directors ("effeminate fops") and vapid wannabe starlets whom he can't stand in part because he's decided if he has to kill some folks to live, humanity won't miss these folks. TL/DR: the whole ToD run is under-rated, and I think once the comic book movie bubble bursts (3 years or less), we'll see a "return to basics" among Silver, Bronze & Copper keys. And ToD # 1 is definitely one of them.

I think Elizabeth Olsen deserved the Lead Actress win. Overall, I thought Mare of Easttown was a better *show* but Olsen's acting - especially episode-to-episode, was phenomenal. It's a credit to the streaming services not only that they cleaned up but also that the "Outstanding Limited our Anthology Series" was more competitive than the regular "Drama" category. Honestly, choosing a "best" among Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit), Olsen (WandaVision), Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You) and Winslet (Mare of Easttown) is really tough. The silver lining? It doesn't matter that the other three didn't win - their respective performances made each of them a star.

This. I hate to say it, as I love Cerebus # 1 (despite Wolverine being my favorite childhood character). What was true 5 years ago (when I thought Cerebus # 1 was/should be worth more than Hulk 181, grade for grade - while it was actually only true for 8.0+) is not true today. Ditto - despite their obscurity are not Scooby Doo # 1 ($.35) and Iron Fist # 14 ($.35) both still top 5 Bronze books? But neither would be safe long-term bets. Scooby-Doo because it's not his first comic series (although the Gold Key # 1 is close to a top-tier Bronze book in its own right), and because the character itself is in decline. And Sabretooth? Great character, great book - but destined to remain 2nd-3rd tier (a la ASM # 101 - not even rising to TOD # 10 level).

Another thing I like about this chart (and a defense of the "average grade" whose math was questioned in the other thread): By showing the average cost of an average CGC grade for the book, you basically get a quick-and-dirty calculation for the entry level cost of the book for a CGC investor - that's also realistic. Example: Where should I put $900? From an investment perspective, isn't that the whole point? From the looks of it, $900 would get you: ASM # 300 - 9.0 Batman Adventures # 12 - 9.0 Primer # 2 - 9.0 Special Marvel Edition # 15 - 9.0 X-Men # 101 - 8.0 ASM # 101 - 6.5-7.0 Iron Man # 55 - 7.5 ASM # 31 - 6.5 Superman # 16 - 5.5 From the list above, where would you put your money?

Suggestion for the next iteration (unless I'm just not seeing it): The ability to break it out into ages. Example: I got crucified a few years ago here for suggesting Star Wars # 1 was a major Bronze Age key. Typical arguments against were it didn't count because it wasn't superhero, wasn't part of normal Marvel continuity (neither is Conan) and/or that it was an adaptation - not an original property (never mind that the comic book came out before the movie, ultimately sold ~1 million copies through various printing and was literally credited with saving Marvel Comics from bankruptcy). Meanwhile, my argument hinged largely on your market cap one - that the only reason the $.30 cover wasn't a $500 book in CGC 9.4 was it was stupid common. Esp. vs. such rare-in-high grade books as Marvel Spotlight 5, Green Lantern 76 and House of Secrets 92. Today, it's a $500 book in CGC 9.2 and a $5,000 book in CGC 9.8 - despite being widely available in grade - the ASM 300 of its day. I feel like your chart helps validate my argument, as it shows Star Wars # 1's market cap is actually above that of such traditional Bronze Age keys as: ASM 101 Iron Fist 14 Iron Man 55 Green Lantern 76 Cerebus # 1

Nah - he's just remembering that Barbra Streisand is his stepmother.

u mad, bro?

Yes - and the Transformers films made billions. Doesn't mean they were good. You might have misunderstood my reply - you claimed above that many folks (presumably myself included) who predicted both Venom and Joker would bomb at the box office somehow clammed up with their criticisms once the films did well financially. Nope - my vocal criticisms continued, largely because the films (once I finally saw them) were just as as their premises and trailers made them appear. A turd wrapped in a golden wrapper is still a turd.

Agreed. This was basically an off-brand Bloodshot film, but smarter - and much better than the Vin Diesel Bloodshot film we actually got. It was written by Leigh Whannell, who - as a writer - hasn't missed yet.

*Raises hand* The first Venom was hot garbage, as was Joker. (Neither, However, was as bad as the first Suicide Squad film or BvS.) Also - nobody asked for a non-R-rated Venom/Carnage film - makes about as much sense as the PG-13 Die Hard. 30+ years ago Verhoeven’s first cut of Robocop was rated NC-17 for violence. And now we’ve got a PG-13 Carnage film?

This looks worse than the first one - and that's saying something. Also - the timing is odd. So it comes out Oct. 1, only to be curb stomped by No Time to Die the week following? Think someone mentioned earlier that maybe it ties to Far From Home and therefore had to come out before then. Otherwise, why not just push this to January? That - plus the many news articles pushing the rumored post-credits scene, seem the only reason to keep the release date. Sigh...I'll probably watch it Thanksgiving weekend via Redbox, if only out of loyalty to my middle school self, who had the foresight to buy half a dozen copies of ASM 361 the week of release.

Fair point. I have complete high-grade sets of Gold Key Manus & Doctor Solar. Fairly early on I learned to memorize the covers because there’s no issue number visible on the outside. CGC even mixed up a few of my Magnus books once, mislabeling the actual issues.

Dark Horse Star Wars. I mean, I get that aside from Dark Horse Presents, self-contained minis were their thing. But...it got ridiculous. I was too young to collect the Marvel run and elated when the books restarted with Dark Empire # 1. I continued to collect through Dark Empire II, Tales of the Jedi (plus the Dark Horse Comics preview in 7-9), Droids, etc. Ultimately amassed a full short box of various Dark Horse Star Wars (circa 1992-2000) before liquidating all of it in 2004 - and you couldn't give them away. I think my Dark Empire sets sold for $9 per via eBay; most of the rest didn't sell at all and ended up being wholesaled alongside ~80 issues of Savage Sword of Conan at auction for ~$.18 apiece.

Why tho? Robin Lord Taylor's portrayal of a young Cobblepot in Gotham was *by far* the best part of that show. Maybe the thought is if they can actually get Farrell to sign, they'd have the next Peaky Blinders on their hands.

Just watched the first episode. Solid...but I don't see this blowing up Walking Dead-style. Granted, it's been a decade since I've read the books, and honestly I only read issues 1-40 or so, and then # 60 (which I felt was a huge letdown). Really like the cast so far - especially the portrayals of 355 & Yorick (who is written just as immature as he was in the first comic arc, although a bit more selfish / dickish - which worked for me). We've also got Olivia Thirbly as Hero - with some deeper characterization in the first hour here than she got in the first 20+ issues. And Diane Lane as his mom, playing a Nancy Pelosi analogue, albeit younger. Smartest thing this episode did? Start the day before - so we get to know many of the principal characters a bit before the actual event - not just 20 minutes or so before. B+ - I'm interested to see how this unfolds. Honestly, the biggest letdown from episode 1 is that it's playing on Hulu rather than a platform like Netflix, where it'd likely get more eyeballs. What did y'all think?

But that's just it. You're not paying for a fractional share of the book - you're paying for a derivative - an abstraction - of it. Rally Rd.'s fine print states that holding the shares gives you no legal right to the underlying asset (in this case, the comic book) itself. So it's purely about finance - and there are far better ways to invest than to overpay by 20% on day 1. Further, whether you want to "own that fraction forever," it's not your choice. A few pages back you yourself noted that most Rally Rd. shareholders vote to sell early - after -- what was it? a 14% gain? -- and in less than 365 days, so you get killed on taxes. I understand you're arguing for *the concept* - not specifically for Rally Rd. - but theirs is the model at hand, and it's deeply flawed.

This. As I noted in one of the other threads more than a year ago, over-paying by 20% is over-paying by 20%, whether it’s $120 for a $100 book or $120k for a $100k book. And, as Bob Storms noted, when he splits a purchase with a partner, he puts them in at the wholesale rate, not retail, let alone retail+20%.

Nah - when a single poster makes up 20% of all posts in a thread, and makes multiple threads about it, it's a different animal. And (apologies for quoting myself a full year later, but): None of this is as solid an investment plan as Comic Book Coin...backed by... Avengers Annual # 7. (Still one of the best threads here ever):

Or...it could be because the first thread hyping Rally Rd. went 20+ pages before being locked - with you being the near-singular cheerleader there. And the recent action over the past year has been in the 2nd primary hype thread, in Comics General. Quick - strike while the iron is hot - start one in Silver!

+1. I've only paid more than $2,000 for a comic book 4x in my life, and only once have I taken time payments. The book was a CGC 4.0 copy of Startling # 10 (first appearance of the Fighting Yank), bought from Heritage back in 2013. I basically paid $700 / month over 3 months for the book. I would have been both irate and litigious if Heritage had backed out on the deal mid-way through, even if they paid me back more than I'd pay in. Why? It's a legitimately rare book and was a grail for me at the time. There were (then) just 8 unrestored copies on the census; today (8 years later) there are just 15. Was it a great investment? No - as @sfcityduckpointed out pages back it's appreciated far less than nearly any Silver Age key precisely because (in addition to the obscurity of the character) it's not liquid - the book itself is so rare that it trades hands - in any condition - only once every 2-3 years or so. Last sale of the book in 4.0 was last December for $3,450 - a mere 60% gain over 7 years - and just a 22% total gain over that period once you subtract Heritage's fees and the Capital Gains tax. Why would I be so pissed if someone reneged partway through? Because it wasn't about the money - it was about my owning the book itself. What would I pay for fractional ownership of the same book? Zero. No - that's a lie. I paid $12 once for a coverless copy, a few months before I bought that 4.0.

? I've done none of those things. I did, however, do the other things I've noted. I brought them up because my experience was directly relevant to the issue at hand - and you're still wrong in your assertion that Disney magically dictates how long individual movies run in theaters. That's not how it works.

Fair. Expecting kids -- or even adult collectors -- to buy these prior to the film's release is akin to expecting folks to buy Star Lord action figures 4-6 months before the release of the first Guardians film. Nobody - not even most comic collectors - cares about Shang-Chi. However, if the film is good, and successful, maybe that will change in a month or so.

Nah. Crazy Stupid Love.

Sheesh - the first two 20+ page Rally Rd. threads get locked so now we've got a third one? And good call, sfcityduck, on the above example. I actually used precisely that $.35 Star Wars # 1 example months ago in one of the other threads - in part because, at the time, the last comp. sale was on C-link, and not reflected on GPA. In fact, I'm not certain Rally Rd. itself wasn't the C-link buyer, setting it up for fractional resale (I could check the securities paperwork to verify that either way but I'm too lazy.

U mad, bro?