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jeffreyk

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Posts posted by jeffreyk

    Showcase #4 Club

    in Silver Age Comic Books

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Terry E. Gibbs said:

    Not hard to find but hard to find at a price where you don't just walk away. So few copies, that a lot of dealers /collectors over the years who have bought well, or have plenty of cash just put a price on and park it. A 5.5 on thios would almost be high grade, as so few over it around. Very nice copy, and thank you for sharing.

    That is true.  A lot of dealers and collectors want a ton of money for one.  I just feel this book is due to a spike soon.  We shall see!

    Silver age comics that are heating up

    in Silver Age Comic Books

    Posted

    37 minutes ago, Sweet Lou 14 said:

    I think I'm an example of this kind of collector -- I set out in 2017 to assemble CGC-certified high-grade runs of pretty much the entire Marvel Silver Age and Bronze Age catalog.  It was a very daunting project but I have enjoyed it immensely.  And I am very, very happy to say that I have come very close to completing my goal.  So I'm not in a total panic about current prices and I'm willing to be patient because I did something pretty smart (if I do say so myself) in the last year or so -- for several books that I hadn't found in my target grade, I got in at a grade I could be happy with so at least I could say the runs are complete.

    So to take two titles as examples ...

    Amazing Spider-Man

    I bought an AF 15 5.0 in 2017, which in hindsight was really not a good time to buy.  But my copy has no Marvel chipping -- I believe it truly qualifies as a "nice" 5.0.  I'm pretty sure it's more or less flat since I bought it, but I haven't been watching prices actively.  I sometimes toy with the idea of upgrading to 6.0.

    My #1 is a 7.5, I think about getting up to 8.0.  I don't think I would mind the money it would cost to make that move, but I'm also fine standing pat.

    My goal was to have #2 through #5 in 9.0 ... but #2 is really tough to find.  Very glad I grabbed an 8.0 that I'm happy with -- the rest are 9.0.

    My original goal was for #6 through #10 in 9.0 as well, and I reached that goal.  But then I got a bit more ambitious and picked up #6, 8, and 10 in 9.4.  I haven't found #7 and #9 and I imagine those would cost dearly in 9.4 ... so again I will pick and choose and be willing to stand pat if prices are too crazy.

    #11 is a beast in high grade -- I was smart enough to get an 8.0 which is tough enough to find.  Would love a 9.4 and would "settle" for a 9.0 but only if the price is right.

    The target for #12-100 is 9.4, and I filled that in with just one exception, #13 which I have in 9.0.  Again, very glad I "settled" there.  I also have a wish to upgrade my #24 which is 9.4 CR/OW, the only book in the run that isn't at least OW/W.  But even before this crazy run-up, copies I went after at auction were selling for what I thought were ridiculous prices so I have laid off.  On the other hand, for a long time I had a 9.0 WP copy of #28 and was really stubborn about refusing to pay the price for a 9.4, until I just went ahead and did it.  It was painful but I'm glad in retrospect.

    (Side note, I fantasize about a perfectly centered 9.6 WP copy of #50 but forget it, I don't need that headache.)

    For #101-150, I have had 9.4 for a while.  Last year I decided to go after 9.6 WP, and I am extremely happy that I landed most of the keys (e.g. #121, 122, and 129) before things went nuts.  In the case of #129 I sold my 9.4 for 2/3 of what I paid for my 9.6 which I consider an excellent ratio -- I always worry the ratio will be 2:1 rather than the 3:2 I was able to pull off.  However, #101 is still sitting out there and I am firmly committed to holding off on this one -- frankly I am not a believer in Morbius as a character and I'm just going to sit tight for a while.

    I've had #151-200 in 9.6 WP for a while.  I gave some thought to going up to 9.8 WP, but I abandoned the idea.  Not worth it IMHO.  I thought about making an exception for #194 and then my OCD wouldn't allow it.  lol

    For #201-400, my original strategy was keys only (#238, 252, 265, all the McFarlanes, and 361) in 9.6 or 9.8 WP.  But then I just went ahead and got all 200 issues in 9.8 WP.  I remember well the days when I bought my #300 for $2,000 -- at the time this book was regarded as a truly "stable" commodity with a more or less fixed price.  I sure am glad I'm not trying to buy one now!

    The annuals follow a similar pattern:  #1 in 9.0, #2-7 in 9.4, #8-13 in 9.6, and #14-28 in 9.8.  I don't imagine myself realistically upgrading the #1.  My #9 is still 9.4 and I would like a 9.6, but again I see stupid prices and I walk away because this is simply not an important book.

    Fantastic Four

    Similar to my ASM run, here's the deal in a nutshell.

    #1 is a really nice 7.0.  I'd had the chance to buy an 8.0 a year earlier and I passed because the price was "too high" -- I would have been setting a new GPA high had I bought it.  Looking back, that was a miss.

    For #2-10, the goal is 9.0.  I have all of them in grade except for #3 and #4 in 8.0.  Very glad I got those 8.0s, and still interested in upgrading.  I thought recently about trying to get #6-10 in 9.4, but watched some auctions and decided the prices were more than I wanted to pay.  I feel good about standing pat.

    For #11-115, the goal is 9.4, and I'm finished with three exceptions in 9.0:  #11, #18, and #32.  #11 is a very tough book and I originally settled for 8.0 but then upgraded to 9.0 successfully.  #18 sometimes shows up in 9.4 but always with bad PQ.  I have no idea why #32 is so hard to find but I only very recently grabbed the 9.0 off MyComicShop just to say I was done with the run.

    I recently decided to upgrade my 20-cent issues across a whole bunch of titles, including FF, to 9.6 WP.  So I have a little quest going to upgrade #116-154 and it's gone well.  Yes, these books are selling for more than they used to and yes, there are some highly annoying eBay sellers trying to gouge Bronze Age collectors on books that let's face it are truly unremarkable.  But I pick my spots and I stay patient.

    Finally, I have Annual #1 in 8.5 and Annual #2 in 9.0, plus Annual #3-12 in 9.4.  I would like to upgrade those annuals (at least get #1 up to 9.0) but they don't come around often and who knows what kind of prices people will ask for given that one has Namor and the other has Doom.  But we'll see.

    That is probably WAAAAAY more information than you wanted but, just to contribute to this conversation with as much as I can bring to it, I thought I would share.  Hope that provides some interesting perspective from one collector.

    I really enjoyed reading this.  It reminded me of my quest to obtain Amazing Spiderman 1 through 50!