spreads

What I have seen or know about: 5-7 #1 blacks 13 #2 blacks 4 #3 blacks 4 #3 Yellows 2 #2 Yellows 4-5 #1 Yellows The rest are much more common. I would even remove the Number 1 yellow, it seems to be more common than a few others (Red #2). And with a total list of 150 (plus any aps), it's somewhat manageable to track each book. Just to be clear, these are tracked sales, not a census, correct?

I would like to see a running log of the top five rarest (Blacks 1,2 and 3, Yellow 2 and 3) books. I don't know how many Black number 1s have been sold...I want to say around 10, but this is just a guess.

You guys in Toronto hardly get any snow.

Wow, they didn't want anything for that? I would have left a TH, or LCBO gift card in their mailbox...

It's good the book arrived, because you took tremendous risk going outside ebay. But how is that book a 9.0+? No idea, I haven't gone in depth with the grading process. To me I would say its around a 8.5. But I will not or cannot say anything for sure. I am not good at that kind of thing. Do I think it's worth the price I paid....well, depends on how rare these actually turn out to be. If these 3 plus the other few I know of turn out to be the only ones, well its totally worth it. If all the other 99 show up...then no, I want a better copy You tell me With migrating rust and all the damage you can see, that is a 6.0-6.5 There you have it...not great, but what can you do :shrug: Return it because the guy couldn't be bothered to state that it had rust, which any non-comic person, even my mom, could figure out is not a good thing....? It's not worth what you paid for it with rusty staples, regardless of how rare. Rust is destructive; once it starts, it is difficult to stop, and impossible to reverse. , I am going to return it just so someone else can have it, or worse, have it kept in that climate so its totally worthless? No, I'll take care of it, try to find another. You basically have no recourse. You can ship it back to the guy for a refund that might never happen...

Here ya go chief! (*Note, my comments quickly turn inflammatory after his second email about 'getting what I deserve', but this dialogue should be good for a few laughs). Why was this auction ended early? I got a "buy it now offer" way above my expectations. I had bascially 3 bidders, two seemed serious. One of them made the offer. Why didn't you make a bid? If I bring out another one would you make a "buy it now" offer? I only use snipe bids on ebay auctions. Are you talking about bringing out a different one than you just ended? I'm confused, do you have more than the three copies? Guess you answered your own question. If you cannot come forward and make a proper offer and choose to bid at the end of an auction, then you got what you deserve. I guess snipes are beyond your comprehension, it is a bid. And thank you for confirming what I already suspected; you're clearly dishonest. You blatantly circumvent the rules of eBay, and out-an-out lie regarding condition. If you truly believe this book is an 8.5-9+, you're either very uninformed, or very crooked. I guess you took a break from running the carnival games at the local fair, to rip people off online. You're ignorance is beyond reproach. My wife is currently in the hospital and I cannot continue to babysit auctions and whiners like yourself. I took a price from the highest bidder. I understand what snipe bids are, I understand they are legal on eBay. I find them to be dishonest, just as you find myself to be dishonest. I am sorry you didn't get a chance to bid or took the time to contact me for an offer. Good day to you. How are snipes dishonest? It's a bid, the time placed has no relevance. You should learn some basic understanding of markets and how they work. I really find it amusing how you manipulate ebay to gain exposure of this book, and then go off ebay to avoid paying all fees the website generated, meanwhile the buyer assumes all risk involved in the transaction. Well done, Barnum! Clearly you have no financial integrity. One final thought of discourse; my girlfriend is in her final year of residency in psychiatry, if you'd like I can negotiate a structured-deal for your mental conditions. Think of the royalty streams if you become part of a case study? I have no need to explain myself to you or anyone else. Most crooks plead the fifth, I understand. Putting the words "buy it now" and "offer" together is really dischordant to me. and I was content to think: he's an old guy... never used ebay before... doesn't understand how it works... not really surprised. maybe he legitimately thought that offers made in a private message on ebay are valid bids and that he could end the auction at any time by accepting one of these offers. but when he acknowledges snipe bids as bidding "at the end of an auction" really strikes a nerve... like maybe he really does know enough about how ebay works that he purposefully circumvented the system. Unless the term "snipe bid" is also used in conventional auctions. ... or maybe he just knows how to use google. what a disappointing end to that... even if i didn't have any hope of purchasing these books for what they were going for. garage/attic finds are exciting to me and the messages with the seller y'all shared has really soured this one. The whole experience has been tainted for sure. Instead of a celebration similar to RMA's find, or Jen's collection, we're left with a seller that manipulated a few die-hards fans as best as he could.

eBay/Paypal are a nasty, nasty, vicious set of corporations that hide behind an army of lawyers and contradictory "policy." I long for the day when they go down in flames. Nasty places. Sadly, because of that army of lawyers, they've eliminated pretty much all competition. Sigh. And McDonald's recently came out and suggested their employees apply for food stamps in lieu of higher wages. I find it incredulous they would have the audacity to publicize taxpayer-subsidized corporate profits. Does that mean I can go in there and steal some food, or damage their property?

It's good the book arrived, because you took tremendous risk going outside ebay. But how is that book a 9.0+?

Here ya go chief! (*Note, my comments quickly turn inflammatory after his second email about 'getting what I deserve', but this dialogue should be good for a few laughs). Why was this auction ended early? I got a "buy it now offer" way above my expectations. I had bascially 3 bidders, two seemed serious. One of them made the offer. Why didn't you make a bid? If I bring out another one would you make a "buy it now" offer? I only use snipe bids on ebay auctions. Are you talking about bringing out a different one than you just ended? I'm confused, do you have more than the three copies? Guess you answered your own question. If you cannot come forward and make a proper offer and choose to bid at the end of an auction, then you got what you deserve. I guess snipes are beyond your comprehension, it is a bid. And thank you for confirming what I already suspected; you're clearly dishonest. You blatantly circumvent the rules of eBay, and out-an-out lie regarding condition. If you truly believe this book is an 8.5-9+, you're either very uninformed, or very crooked. I guess you took a break from running the carnival games at the local fair, to rip people off online. You're ignorance is beyond reproach. My wife is currently in the hospital and I cannot continue to babysit auctions and whiners like yourself. I took a price from the highest bidder. I understand what snipe bids are, I understand they are legal on eBay. I find them to be dishonest, just as you find myself to be dishonest. I am sorry you didn't get a chance to bid or took the time to contact me for an offer. Good day to you. How are snipes dishonest? It's a bid, the time placed has no relevance. You should learn some basic understanding of markets and how they work. I really find it amusing how you manipulate ebay to gain exposure of this book, and then go off ebay to avoid paying all fees the website generated, meanwhile the buyer assumes all risk involved in the transaction. Well done, Barnum! Clearly you have no financial integrity. One final thought of discourse; my girlfriend is in her final year of residency in psychiatry, if you'd like I can negotiate a structured-deal for your mental conditions. Think of the royalty streams if you become part of a case study? I have no need to explain myself to you or anyone else. Most crooks plead the fifth, I understand. The guy is a 73 year old man....defiantly not in good taste... Maybe in hindsight, but when I asked if there were other copies (his comment was somewhat confusing), he responded with 'you get what you deserve'. That comment really hit a nerve, and I wasn't going to back-down.

Here ya go chief! (*Note, my comments quickly turn inflammatory after his second email about 'getting what I deserve', but this dialogue should be good for a few laughs). Why was this auction ended early? I got a "buy it now offer" way above my expectations. I had bascially 3 bidders, two seemed serious. One of them made the offer. Why didn't you make a bid? If I bring out another one would you make a "buy it now" offer? I only use snipe bids on ebay auctions. Are you talking about bringing out a different one than you just ended? I'm confused, do you have more than the three copies? Guess you answered your own question. If you cannot come forward and make a proper offer and choose to bid at the end of an auction, then you got what you deserve. I guess snipes are beyond your comprehension, it is a bid. And thank you for confirming what I already suspected; you're clearly dishonest. You blatantly circumvent the rules of eBay, and out-an-out lie regarding condition. If you truly believe this book is an 8.5-9+, you're either very uninformed, or very crooked. I guess you took a break from running the carnival games at the local fair, to rip people off online. You're ignorance is beyond reproach. My wife is currently in the hospital and I cannot continue to babysit auctions and whiners like yourself. I took a price from the highest bidder. I understand what snipe bids are, I understand they are legal on eBay. I find them to be dishonest, just as you find myself to be dishonest. I am sorry you didn't get a chance to bid or took the time to contact me for an offer. Good day to you. How are snipes dishonest? It's a bid, the time placed has no relevance. You should learn some basic understanding of markets and how they work. I really find it amusing how you manipulate ebay to gain exposure of this book, and then go off ebay to avoid paying all fees the website generated, meanwhile the buyer assumes all risk involved in the transaction. Well done, Barnum! Clearly you have no financial integrity. One final thought of discourse; my girlfriend is in her final year of residency in psychiatry, if you'd like I can negotiate a structured-deal for your mental conditions. Think of the royalty streams if you become part of a case study? I have no need to explain myself to you or anyone else. Most crooks plead the fifth, I understand.

Actual, genuine greed. Cheating everyone else of the ability to win the item by taking an offer outside the system is hardly "moral." He cheated all the potential bidders, himself, and eBay. He cheated the bidders because they all thought the listing would run, fair and square, to the end. He cheated himself because he has no idea what it would have sold for (and it's not like he had any money into ANY of these.) And he cheated eBay by using their system without paying their fees. The eyeballs that "made the offer he couldn't refuse" became those eyeballs because of eBay...and yet, now eBay doesn't see a dime? Theft. Again...HARDLY a moral decision. What a tool. I couldn't have said it better myself. Speaking of morals, the seller finds snipe bids immoral. Haha.

Who wants to hear my email correspondence with the seller? It's quite entertaining....

Didn't ebay have a cut-off time when auctions could no longer be pulled? I don't know if the ebay police actually monitor auctions to see if they get re-listed. I think you are allowed to pull an auction if the highest bidder makes a deal or more than 12 hours is left. I dunno, never sold on eBay I think 'no longer for sale' means the item isn't available, not, use ebay as a selling venue to gain exposure, then find out where your target buyers are, and then solicit bids against each-other with threats to close the auction early (which is nearly over) thereby manipulating the selling price. Great deal for the seller. The buyer assumes all risk that the seller might not even ship the book in an off-board transaction. And the seller also skirts the ebay fees that generated the bulk of the interest in the book.

Didn't ebay have a cut-off time when auctions could no longer be pulled? I don't know if the ebay police actually monitor auctions to see if they get re-listed.

Looks like the last one got pulled.

I'm the purchaser of #81... just arrived in the mail yesterday and it is about 10 times better looking in person. Those pics were truly awful. I'm gonna send it out for pressing, after that I think it'll receive a pretty solid grade. What kind of shipping did you use? To receive an item on the third business day after the auction closed is crazy.

I'm the purchaser of #81... just arrived in the mail yesterday and it is about 10 times better looking in person. Those pics were truly awful. I'm gonna send it out for pressing, after that I think it'll receive a pretty solid grade. The image(s) I saw it looked like someone sat on them. I don't know how you press out massive creases that crumple the book...

That is awesome! We should have some fun with this guy...

Two weeks ago I mentioned I was going to an estate auction that had a picture of some comics, and one of mention - ASM#3. I had never seen an estate auction with comics, so I was pretty interested, and thought I may be able to get it cheap. When I get there, it turns out they had way more comics than were mentioned on the website; the auctioneers did keep four books off to the side to sell first - ASM#3, Tales of Suspense 52, Avengers 8 and Journey into Mystery 89. Here's a picture of table 1 containing most of the comics (the group of four was at the end of the comics, right before a display case of coins). There was also a second table, running along this one, and both tables were in the middle of the auction hall - prime location for the old folks to rummage through. There was a good few hours before the comics would auction off, so I took off for a bit after researching some buy points on some of the other books I hadn't seen before. I also came back and chatted with an older guy (the white-haired guy in the first photo), and he was pretty frank about what he wanted, and what he collected. He even pointed out on the second table - which I thought was all junk - they had an Astro Boy#1. He ended up winning that for $7.50, and because he told myself and another guy about this book I had no clue about, I thought he should get it cheap...while the auction went on, as some of the other comic guys talked, we cringed as dozens of bystanders came and went past the comics, pawning all-over-them like horny 15 year olds. I know the auction hall probably thought the comics weren't in the best of shape (some of them were actually F/F+), but you would think the staff would be more careful handling them. Right before they started the comics, the coins were sold. Here's a pic of the table where the coins were... "Hey we need to make room for the coins", so a staffer hurdles the books down the table like he's tossing halibut in a fish market...I'm watching this, like ahhhh but can't help to laugh a bit. The coins also attracted the blue-hairs, and they flooded around that comic table, elbows and hands deep into the books. It was actually ol' whitey that went over to the table and place the four keys under a stack of lesser books....Finally 1 p.m! At this point I'm hoping this mess is quick, I had hockey in an hour and was 25 minutes away. We get down to brass tacks, and I realize how quick the books escalate/sold. I had a price of $300 for the ASM, and that was my final bid, Whitey ended up snagging it for $325, but I have a feeling he was prepared to go higher. He was also the big spender, I believe shelling out $200 or so for each journey into mystery and tales of suspense 52. I can't help but think where the prices might go if there were more than 5/6 people involved... I did manage to get in and buy some books; I found some keys, although some of them are really beat up. I got MRF#1, Silver Surfer 50 (back cover missing), Avengers 53, Tales of Suspense 51, a few Batmans, some sgt rock books, Jimmy Olsen 34, a few other books. It was a lot of fun overall, even bidding for the $2 books.

Be patient, they are out there...but don't hold your breath on high-grade copies, which makes that set of 12 that much more impressive.

to be fair, how many known copies of the #3 Yellow are out there? Just from this thread alone, we know there are 11 verifiable copies of #2 Black -- and at one point, RMA was sitting on 10 of them (pretty sure he's sold/traded a couple). but until these yellows popped up, the only #3 Yellow we've seen was ibeforej's (in her very lovely framed set of all 12). now, don't take me wrong here... I'm not trying to take anything away from RMA... he know's what something is worth and where to set his prices. i'm just saying that the #3 Yellows are probably more rare, even if they had a larger print run... and at the same price point, I'm not surprised they're moving quicker. It was chance occurrence he had such a large stack, just like this seller finding three copies. And he's been slowly selling them, I'm quite confident once they're gone the supply of them will dry up. Look at how often the rest (excluding blue) of the #2s show often? The second yellow is very seldom seen, and you could make a case the number 2 red is as rare as the number 3. I've definitely seen more number 3 reds, than number 2s. I came very close to buying extras of RMA's blacks, especially when they were going unsold at $450. I think I low-balled him a few offers in the $250 range. Wisely, he rejected.

Dude, not just an attic, his FATHERS attic. I have spoken to him on the phone. He said he was 73 years old. I totally believe it. I dunno how old his father was....but man, talk about bizarre. I appreciate the seller revised his listing, there is zero chance that book was a 9.0 or greater. Just checked up on it, #81 is gone for $400 it looks like. I was hoping to get another one to trade a black or something with, but I think its going to be way too rich for my blood. I am just happy I got one at all. I find it odd people are willing to shell out $400+ for one of these in a heartbeat, when RMA's #2 blacks went unbid multiple times at $450.

Did this same seller have those as well? He mentions other items in his listing...

Dude, not just an attic, his FATHERS attic. I have spoken to him on the phone. He said he was 73 years old. I totally believe it. I dunno how old his father was....but man, talk about bizarre. I appreciate the seller revised his listing, there is zero chance that book was a 9.0 or greater.

Have you been ignoring the other posts in this thread?