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Running out of Room in the Comic Book Room! Usually I manage to stay current with organizing and filing my comics away. But the last year or so has been a challenge. Part of it has been life getting busier with kids getting older. A big part of it, though, is running out of space in my comic book room. There are a bunch of things I'd like to display (CGC and raw books) but I'm just about out of room. I'm pretty good at organizing and making room for stuff. In fact, that's something I like doing. But I've just about reached the capacity of my comic book room. Here are 2 pictures of books in my comic book room I want to display: It's worse than that though. Below is my "organizing area" outside my comic book room (in the basement). This is where I put all my mylar and boards for easy access. The long boxes contain books I need to file in my comic book room. I store them in alphanumeric order here, and then about once a year file them in my collection long boxes. I haven't actually done this for about 2 years, so I've got 4 long boxes to file (3 on the table and 1 on the floor), plus a short box of magazines. From experience, I know it'll take about a weekend to file all these books. The problem is, I never have a whole weekend, just an hour here and there. So maybe I'll get them all filed by the summer, assuming I can get over my procrastination.

Morning Glories Morning Glories is one of my favorite current comics. It's described as "Morning Glory Academy is one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country, but behind it's hallowed doors something sinister and deadly lurks. When six brilliant but troubled new students arrive, they find themselves trapped and desperately seeking answers in a place where nothing is what it seems to be! Described by writer Nick Spencer as Runaways meets Lost." Creators: Nick Spencer, Joe Eisma, Rodin Esquejo." That description only touches the surface. I'd call it Breakfast Club meets The City on the Edge of Forever. I'm not a big collector of original art. I guess I'd call myself an opportunistic collector. When something pops up that I like for a good price, I'll go for it. This cover came up for sale on eBay a couple months ago, the Rodin Esquejo cover of Morning Glories #5. It's one of my favorites but as I said I'm not an OA collector. But I thought, what the heck. The opening bid was low for a cover, but then it was only the opening bid (with about 2 weeks to go). I put in a bid for the opening bid. I didn't even use bidnapper, that's how low I thought my chance of winning was. As the 2 weeks passed, there were no other bids. I still didn't think I'd win, as most people bid at the last moment. I resisted the temptation to up my bid using bidnapper. But I won it! I can only assume I happened to be looking when no one else was. The seller was the agent for Rodin Esquejo. We exchanged a few emails. I asked if he had any other MG covers for sale. He said he did. So this is where collecting madness sparks up. For a moment I thought about trying to collect EVERY MG cover. Or maybe just the covers of 1-10 (with the variants). That's the problem with collecting. It can be addictive, obsessive. The best way to deal with it is cut it off at the start. So after just a couple emails with Rodin's agent, I paid for the cover and just left it at that. A couple weeks ago I picked up this sketch of Jade by interior artist Joe Eisma. It was cheap so I bid for it. It's just a sketch so won't start a slippery slope towards obsession, but it looks good next to the cover of #6.

More Valkyrie and Dave Stevens So I'm still psyched over this first appearance of Valkyrie I bought at Baltimore (the Airboy Val, not Defenders). I became interested in Valkyrie and Airboy from the First series. There's an overlap of that Airboy series and Valkyrie with my Dave Stevens registry set. So, to compare, here's DS's version of Valkyrie. This cover is clearly a homage to the original Valkyrie appearance. But see how in DS's version Airboy has his hand on Val's leg, foreshadowing of Val's importance to Airboy. Dave Stevens was the master.

All the Captains! Okay, this is cool! I won this on eBay, a Star Trek 40th Anniversary 11x14 Captains photo signed by all five Enterprise Captains: William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Scott Bakula, Avery Brooks and Kate Mulgrew. This edition was limited to 100. But here's the thing. The eBay seller had a bunch of these, and put one up for sale about every 2 weeks. The first ones sold for a lot. They got cheaper over time. I decided to set a max price for myself. Whenever the seller offered a new one, I entered by high bid into bidnapper. For a couple months I lost. I started getting worried, because I wanted one of these and I didn't know how many the seller had to offer. Finally though I won one (at my max bid). I'm glad I did, because lately I haven't seen these for sale from the seller (although I don't know if the seller is just taking a break to let the market recover). I've purchased from this seller a number of times so I'm confident the signatures are authentic. Also, this seller gives a certificate of authenticity that includes a picture of the actor signing the item. Maybe not as sure proof as CGC, but close to it!

Latest CGC Grades Part 2 - Valkyrie, Terry and the Pirates and a sought after GGA Hey Brandon, Fiction House is definitely a fun company to collect, enjoy your shopping through Gerber's books. Fortunately I've been able to avoid the collecting bug of trying to collect complete runs (good thing as that'd probably bankrupt me!). Instead I collect by cover and artist. Anyway, back to the books I recently got back from CGC. I also picked up these books in Baltimore. The first is a major grail for me, the 1st appearance of Valkyrie. I know I sound like a broken record, but I cannot believe I got this in Baltimore. First, because it was there on a dealer's wall. Second, because of the condition. Third, because of the price. For me, this was probably my biggest pickup this summer (including both Baltimore and SDCC). I also picked up these 2 fun Terry and the Pirates books. The cover of #22 is a hoot! Finally, this True Life Secrets #23. It's not rare, you can find it on eBay right now. But always a little too expensive for me. So I was big time surprised when it was hanging on a dealer's wall in Baltimore, especially since this dealer seemed to sell mostly bronze and silver. And, when I asked to see the book, the dealer took 25% off the (just a touch too high) price before I even made an offer. Okay, I am a cheapskate, but I didn't try to negotiate a lower price. So ends my story of my latest CGC submissions. At this moment I have nothing pending at CGC, other than 2 SS books submitted for me by kaholo in the Alfred Trujilo sketch op. I do have a few modern books I want to submit. But I'm struggling ... do I submit fast track? Or wait for a con with on-site? Or save money and submit regular? I'm thinking the latter (since I have no cons on my horizon, regretfully) and maybe I'll finally do what others have suggested and submit a few books every month or two so once you get going it's like Christmas every month (and you get around the frustration of the long wait times).

Latest CGC Grades Part 2 - The 100, Archies and Greg Reese Hibou and Brandon Shepherd - Thanks! And Brandon -- Great to see your start of a continuous journal, I look forward to reading it. I started out with individual journal entries like you and others, but eventually I decided to create this continuous journal. For me it's like a history of my collecting life, and I like having it all in one place. But that's just me, I enjoy reading all the journals here (and in fact I mostly keep to the journal area, I rarely venture into the jungle of the General area). I just got back from a vacation. My wife can sit around a pool / beach forever and enjoy the relaxing and books on her kindle. I get bored. So I've learned to load up my iPad mini with TV shows. On our trips the last 2 years, I watched big chunks of the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. This year -- last week -- I watched the 1st season and the beginning of the 2nd of The 100. This is a great show! It's on iTunes and on Wednesday on the CW. Okay, back to comics. At Baltimore I picked up a few Golden Age Archies. I graded the ones shown below. I guess these qualify as GGA, but given their innocence (they're Archies after all) they are definitely their own category of good girl art. I also bought these comics from Greg Reese. Greg is one of those national dealers I really enjoy working with. Great stock, fair prices, friendly, mature, no drama. In contrast to Greg, there are some dealers out there -- not alot, but a few -- who come across as you're "privileged" to be shopping in their area. At a recent con, I picked out 2 comics and asked the price. He said $100. That was more than I was willing to pay, so I asked the price on the comic I was more interested in. He said "95." Okay, fine. They're his comics, he can price them however he wants. What bothered me is he smiled at his buddies and they laughed. What is this, high school? What did I do? I smiled politely. Carefully put the comics back where I found them. Kept my wallet in my pocket and left his booth. I saw him again in Baltimore. This time -- as I usually do -- I passed right by.

Latest CGC Grades Part 2 - Golden Age Good Girl Art Continuing with the 2nd Value invoice I submitted at the Baltimore comicon ... Fighting Yank 21 has the classic Schomburg cover. I got it for a really good price in Baltimore. I was actually shocked when I saw the sticker price (at how low it was), and then the dealer took off more when I put together a small pile of books. I was very happy to get 3.0 on this one. The next comic is Wartime Romances #1 with a great Matt Baker cover. Again, I got it for an incredible price -- Baltimore has turned into one of my favorite cons! I struggled over whether to grade it, because the St. John stories are almost always interesting. If I had to do it over again I might just have put the comic into my 3 ring Matt Baker binder (where I keep comics in 3 ring mylar sleeves). I got this Planet Comics #66 from Greg Reese. Planet Comics is one of my favorite Fiction House titles, and #66 is one of my favorite covers. Baltimore was just an amazing con, I picked up so many grails!

October ComicLink -- Suzie! Here are my last wins from this month's ComicLink auction, 2 Suzie comics. Earlier I wrote about picking up Suzie 51 and 56. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7287580&fpart=27 Then this month a few Suzies were offered on CLink. I won these 2 (#53 and 59) for under $100, which to me is an amazing pickup for comics that came out during WW2. I've fleetingly considered trying to get graded copies of the entire title. Suzie (issues 49-100) is in the registry with 2 sets. comixcroz is the leader by a wide margin, and his set is cool to browse with images and descriptions of his comics. http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=88767 I'll probably go ahead and start a set, but I'll never compete for the top spot. comixcroz has that locked up, and I'm not in the market for higher grade copies. But it's a fun title to collect, especially the Al Fagaly covers, #49 - #69.

October ComicLink -- Mixed Feelings About Win So here's something I won last night, ASM #4. This is a major key of course. In addition to being the 4th issue of Spider-man's 1st title, it's the first appearance of both Sandman and Betty Brant. This copy has minor restoration. I don't mind restoration and I've come to the realization I'll probably have to go with either beat up copies or restored copies for the last issues I need for my Original Marvels collection, unless I want to spend a fortune (which I don't). Given that choice, usually I'll go with the restored copies. This particular ASM #4 is not the best looking copy. Just proves all CGC 3.0s aren't the same. For example, the 3.0s of GI Combat 87 and Star Spangled War #84 that I show here at this link, or the 3.5 Startling Terror Tales #10 above, are better looking than this Spider-man. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7287580&fpart=27 I bought the ASM #4 just to check it off my list, and it was cheap. I won it for only $173, which is a pretty amazing price for the first Sandman / Betty (I'm pretty confident I could flip it for more). But I only reluctantly hit the bid button; it was one of those books I could go either way on (whether I won or lost the auction). I'm glad to have it, it fills that hole, now I only need 14 issues to complete my Original Marvels collection. But it has alot of rough edges, and that's one of those flaws that bugs me. Anyway, here it is:

Very cool thread, thanks

October ComicLink -- Another Win Bidding this month on CLink didn't seem as intense as last month. I haven't done any kind of detailed analysis, that's just my feeling from watching the auctions. Still, of my couple dozen tracking bids, I was out of the running on all of them pretty fast. I got the FF #2. I also won this one, Startling Terror Tales #10. I've always liked this LB Cole cover. Also, the message on the large gravestone, and then the smaller that says "The Story Starts." Creeeepy! Only 3.5, but a very solid, nice looking book (IMHO). I almost didn't up my tracking bid last night, not thinking I had a chance. I had to go to dinner so I wouldn't be around when the auction closed -- so I wouldn't be able to snipe at the end. Some people have a moral adverse reaction to sniping. My position is, you snooze you lose. Anyway, since I wasn't willing to pay alot, and since I couldn't snipe, I didn't think I had a chance of winning. Then I thought, what the heck. I put in the next highest bid (which was the most I was willing to pay), and then went to dinner. I didn't think I had a chance to win, as the other bidders only had to top my bid by $10 (the next increment). But to my pleasant surprise, I won it. Just proves you don't have to snipe to win auctions. I guess for me, sniping gives me the feeling I have some control over the outcome of auctions, which of course is completely not true since it all depends on what others are willing to pay.

October ComicLink Win I'm in the middle of posting about my latest CGC invoice, but here's an interlude to talk about this month's ComicLink auction. I'm really excited because I picked up a major book for my Original Marvel collection. As I've mentioned before, my Original Marvels collection is my goal to get complete runs of ASM, Avengers, Cap, DD, FF, Hulk and Iron Man. These were my favorite titles growing up. I like other Silver Marvel titles (like Thor and X-Men) and I collect them (I'm really close to getting a full run of the Thor issues, not counting Journey Into Mystery), but I don't consider those titles as part of my Original Marvels collection. So in this month's October CLink auction I won FF #2. It's a restored 4.0. I know many people abhor restored comics, but I don't mind especially if it's a defect that bothers me less. Trimming and water damage, dirty comics, that REALLY bothers me. But a little color touch on the cover? That doesn't bother me. Something else that doesn't bother me is subscription creases. It's a personal thing, but those defects don't bother me. So in my mind, this FF #2 CGC 4.0 R (slight color touch) is just a shade less in desirability than a universal 4.0 (okay, maybe a couple shades). It's a nice looking book, and I got it for about half GPA. For expensive books like this, I'll take that. I just need 15 more books to complete my Original Marvels collection. But they are the most expensive, including ASM 2-4 and FF 1, 3 and 5. But yes, I'm open to restored comics that present well, have defects I can live with, and are substantial discounts over universal GPA (especially since for early Silver I think GPA is low, in light of eBay prices).

Latest CGC Grades Part 2 - a few keys More books from my most recent CGC Value submission ... I did not expect to get a key like this at Baltimore, Journey into Mystery 85, the first appearances of Loki and Odin. JIM is a treasure trove of first appearances and I've tried (unsuccessfully) to pick up a JIM 85 on eBay for a couple years. The dealer (who it turns out lives just a couple miles from me) estimated the grade at 3.0, and it came back at exactly that. Whew! At 3.0 I got it for a pretty good price. I was afraid it would come in lower, because of the fragile spine and some chipping (under 2.5 would have been a financial disaster). I was sweating bullets on this one, I'm really happy it came in at 3.0. What made me buy it though was the clean cover (other than the edges). It's one of those books you wouldn't project at better than 3.0 because of it's flaws, but it's still a nice looking book. The next book is DD #1. This is my reader copy, I upgraded to a restored 5.0 last year at Chicago (the book has in my opinion the least offensive kind of restoration, some color touch). I decided to grade the book solely for the money. I have no plans to sell it, but I have it in my back pocket if I need it for a trade. I was really happy with CGC 2.0 given the chunk out of the upper right corner. I got this book, Hawkman #1, at the San Diego comic con. I knew it had a coupon cut out (the cut out takes a piece out of the last panel but you can still see all the dialogue) but decided to submit it just to see what it would get. Not bad for $25! The last book is Adventure 283. I love this kind of key, the first Phantom Zone. A minor key I guess, but critical to the story of the DC universe. How cool is that!

Latest CGC Grades Part 2 - Baltimore Comicon In Baltimore last month I submitted 2 Value invoices. I wrote about the 1st invoice in postings above. Now I'll write about some of the books from the 2nd invoice. This is another DC war book, Our Army At War 168, the 1st Unknown Soldier. This is #44 on the War Correspondents top 50 list. The next one up is Space Ghost #1. I have alot of fond memories watching Space Ghost on Saturday mornings. What's cool is 25 years later, my kids watched Space Ghost on DVD and really liked it. I'm showing the back cover of this book too because the full pager of Space Ghost is so cool. I've always liked this book, Crime Reporter #1. I've watched a few copies on eBay, always too expensive for me. I finally found a nice looking copy for a price I was willing to pay in Baltimore. What a great con for buying comics! When I compare my experiences this year at San Diego versus Baltimore ... well there's no comparison. I hope I'll be able to go back to Baltimore next year. It's kind of bad timing for me as it's always right after the kids go back to school, but hopefully I'll at least be able to go for a day or two.

Latest CGC Grades - Good Girl Art So I graded a few GA GGA comics with my latest Value submission. This first one is a classic Betty & Veronica cover, and an upgrade over what I already had in my collection (a CGC 3.0). I got it from a boardie. I knew this copy was better than what I already had, but still I was pleasantly surprised to get 6.0. I've had Brenda Starr on my want list for a while. They are expensive at cons. This is the first one I've managed to get, I won it on eBay. I got it for a good price, it was one of those auctions on eBay where (I think) I was one of the few shopping at the time. Finally, here's a classic cover by LB Cole. There's actually a 2nd print out there, and I wasn't sure if this was the 1st or 2nd print. I was relieved not to see a 2nd print notation from CGC!

Latest CGC Grades - Matt Baker On my latest submission I submitted two golden age comics with Matt Baker covers. Baker and Dave Stevens are my favorite good girl artists, although I have some other favorites like Renee, Cole, and Lubbers (from the GA) and Benitez, Franchesco and Broomall (modern). I think you see a lot of Baker, Renee and Cole in Stevens, just like you see a lot of those artists in maybe the most popular good girl artist today, J. Scott Campbell. I keep my Baker and Stevens collection in binders, with the comics in 3-ring mylar sleeves bought from Bill Cole. For support I also include an acid free board in the sleeves. As far as I can tell, only Bill Cole sells these binder sleeves. Otherwise I buy most of my other mylar direct from E. Gerber. By the way, I love the Hot Flips guys, and when at cons I throw a lot of business their way … like, a lot – someday I’ll wise up and bring mylar with me to save money (but probably not, I’m not that forward thinking). But for the money, E. Gerber is the least expensive I’ve found for mylar. Having said that, it frustrates me that E. Gerber does not allow you to order over the Internet – you have to call them. Anyway, back to the binders. I like them because they are a great way to display comics, take little space, and provide easy access if you want to read them. I know others here shun putting comics in binder sleeves because of the potential damage to comics. And listen, if I had a high grade comic I wouldn’t use them either. But otherwise, all is good. To avoid damage, you have to be – as Han Solo would say – real careful like. So right now I’m going through this thing, about whether or not I should CGC my Bakers. In a moment of CGC and financial weakness, I graded these 2 comics, but I’m leaning towards putting others in the binder instead of grading, so they’ll still be available to read. The only exception would be higher grade comics (like 6.0 or above), which neither of these are. At the same time, being graded greatly increases their re-sale or trade value … so yes, I go back and forth on this. And also, here's a Bill Ward cover I got graded in this submission:

Latest CGC Grades -- Marvel Keys I also submitted a couple of Marvel keys on my most recent Value invoice. The first was Iron Man 55, the first appearance of Thanos and Drax the Destroyer. This copy was from my collection. I have a complete run of IM and bought this copy years ago for $2. I only decided to grade it because of the crazy money being paid for this comic. I have no current plans to sell it but I'd be willing to trade it if the right deal comes along (I'd then fill in the hole in my Iron Man run with a low grade reading copy). Recently I've been mining my collection for similar keys that I can grade and then use in trade. For example, I have most of the X-Men keys from the 80s and 90s, just because I was buying them off the stands during that time. Unfortunately, they're not in the best condition, I'd be shocked if they made it to 9.0 (other than a couple of exceptions). I've always been more focused on filling holes and completing runs than getting the best copies. To this day I'd rather walk out of a con with an armful of mid-grade comics than a single high grade trophy. The second comic is Journey into Mystery 102. This is my favorite kind of key, with first appearances of important complimentary characters. This comic has the first appearance of Balder and Sif, two of my favorite characters from among the Thor ensemble.

Latest CGC Grades -- DC War For the last few years, the Overstreet Price guide has included the "War Report" by a group of uber collections self named the War Correspondents. There's a lot of great things in this article, including their list of the top 50 Silver and Bronze war comics. Here's their list from 2014: Right now my DC Big Five collection is in 2 long boxes. At cons I pick up copies when I can from the dollar boxes. Not high grade but alot of fun to read! I also have a few keys, and my latest CGC Value submission included 2 from the top 50. The first one is #3, GI Combat 87, the 1st appearance of the Haunted Tank. This one has been on my want list for a while. I managed to pick up an affordable copy earlier this year from a boardie. Only CGC 3.0 (no surprise there), but I think it presents better than 3.0. The second book is #15 on the War Correspondents' list, Star Spangled War #84, the first Mademoiselle Marie. I bought this for my collection years ago at the SDCC (back when they actually sold comics). At the time it was to check it off my want list. For the past few years I've tried to upgrade. They don't often come up for sale in any grade. So I decided to go ahead and grade this copy. My thinking is when I finally have a chance to upgrade, having this copy graded will make it easier to sell. I also graded another DC war comic, Star Spangled #85, another Mlle. Marie cover. There are only about 5 or 6 MM covers in Star Spangled. They're tough to get in high grade. All DC war is that way, you have to remember these comics were well read. Dale Roberts had a nice comic at this year's SDCC (okay, I guess they do still sell some comics there). He wouldn't come off his price and I don't blame him, you don't see them often. I was really happy with the 6.5 grade.

My 2 fast track Value invoices advanced to Shipped/Safe today. So about 5 weeks for Value FT, I think that's pretty good turnaround. As for the grades ... well, as with every one of my submissions to date, I had mixed results. For the most part what I got was in the range of what I thought I'd get. The biggest issue I'm grappling with is, what should the criteria be for books I chose to grade? As I was looking at the grades today for these 2 Value invoices, I was scratching my head on a few of the books -- why did I decide to grade these books? Maybe I need to put together a point system like I've seen others on the board doing. Anyway, I'll post pics once I get the books from CGC. Thanks for reading.

Matt Baker Weekend This weeked was great for inexpensive Matt Baker pickups. I've decided it's impossible to try to put together a collection of high grade Baker covers. The supply isn't there, and when high grades do appear on the market they fetch high prices. The few high grade raws on eBay right now -- and these are maybe 7.0s, not 8.0s or 9.0s -- are all over $500. My criteria for buying is whether the cover presents well, irrespective of the other flaws in the book. I haven't decided if I'm going to CGC these comics. Given the price even for low grade copies, it's doubtful I'll ever get reading copies. Most of these comics are fun to read so that argues against grading. I guess I'll decide once I start putting together my next Value submission.

Still Waiting for my 2 Value Invoices So I'm at exactly 1 month since submitting my 2 latest Value invoices. They've sat at Graded for just under a week. Within the next week or two they'll move to Shipped (hopefully) and I'll be able to see the grades. In the meantime it's interesting and nerve wracking to watch CGC fill in the Key Comments. They go back and forth, from what's clearly preliminary to what looks near final, and then back to preliminary. Huh? The most I'm worried about is Our Army at War 78, which is the first Nurses issue. Will the CGC label include that key notation? The things comic collectors stress about. In the meantime, here are a few books I've picked up lately. Here's one I got for my Dave Stevens set (80 points!). It came up on eBay for BIN $50!!! I put the !!! because that's way underpriced for a Bettie Page / Dave Stevens cover / CGC 9.8. The seller also allowed Best Offer. Being the cheapskate I am, I thought about offering $40. But then I thought, am I crazy? I hit BIN and counted myself very lucky. I love Jeff Smith's Bone. In a way, Rasl is just as good. Number 3 is one of my favorite covers of the serious. I saw this SS on sale months ago. But it was only 9.4, and while the price was fair, the $10+ shipping cost pushed it passed what I was willing to pay. I watched it for months, hoping the seller would reduce the price. But to be fair I knew the seller didn't have much room -- this was an under $30 book. Finally, I decided to send the seller an email. I asked if he could use a less expensive shipping method (I didn't need insurance or tracking, again it was an under $30 book). Well, that's all it took, we were able to quickly agree on a price, so now this book is finally part of my collection (where it should be!). Finally, there's this, an SS book with an Alfred Tujillo cover (also signed by his co-creator and lovely wife, Cara Nicole aka AZ Powergirl). I'm interested in Alfred as I'm in his sketch op. The sketch op has taken a while but hopefully with the heroic efforts of kaholo1256 (who stepped in for the original facilitator) we'll have our books soon. I'm interested to read this book, the tease on the back cover has me intrigued. I'll be placing an order soon at their website http://183degree.storenvy.com/collections/183593-books-and-magazines

Very cool milestone, congrats!

Will I look? Yes I will! My 2 Value submissions shifted over to Graded a couple of days ago, about 4 weeks after submitting in Baltimore. So hopefully it'll advance to Shipped next week. Will I look before I get the books? Absolutely! I don't have the will power as others on these boards to wait until the books arrive. In the meantime, here are a couple of books I picked up lately, Suzie #51 off eBay, #56 off these boards. I got #56 from the boardie first. He also had #51 for sale raw, but it sold before I saw his post. BUT, I'd seen #51 on eBay and had been watching it for a while. The seller had it BIN for more than I wanted to pay, but allowed offers too. Having won #56, I decided to make an offer on #51 that was about the same what I paid for #56. Why not? I was surprised when the seller accepted my offer! Just proves you never know. It doesn't hurt to make a low offer, the worst that happens is the seller says no.

Which Copy Would you Buy? This journal article is about 2 books that were offered at the same time on eBay and the recent C-Link auction. I think both books are major keys and undervalued. The first is Conan 23, which is the first appearance of Red Sonja. This month C-Link offered 2 copies, CGC 9.2 and 9.6: Conan 23 CGC 9.2 GPA $73 - $101 Sold for $93 Conan 23 CGC 9.6 GPA $163-$257 Sold for $185 This book is on my want list but not a major want; I didn't want to pay too much for it. I think the sweet spot in terms of value is CGC 9.4. GPA is $98-$150. At the time of the C-Link auction, there was a 9.4 on eBay with an opening bid of $100. There were only a couple days left and no bids yet (the eBay auction closed just after the C-Link auction). I decided to bid the minimum of $100 to see what would happen. I figured I'd lose, but I wasn't in a hurry to buy this book, with eBay there's always tomorrow (and with C--Link, next month). But I won at my bid of $100. So which copy would you rather have, CGC 9.2 at $93 or CGC 9.4 at $100? That's pretty clear, for an extra $7 I think everyone takes the CGC 9.4. I guess the harder decision is do you go for the 9.6 at $185 or the 9.4 at $100? I guess it depends on how high a grade you want for this book. For me I'm happy with the 9.4 as I didn't want to spend too much for this particular comic. But, I think the person who won the 9.6 got a good deal. I admit I'm a little envious, but looking back I wouldn't want to spend the extra $85. Also, I know if I had gotten in a bidding war the book would have probably ended at over $200 (closer to GPA at $257), making it not so great a deal. Here's the 9.4 I won on eBay: The second book is X-Men 14. This is the first appearance of the Senitnels. Given the recent movie, I'm surprised it doesn't go for more. C-Link was offering a CGC 5.0. GPA is $98-$125. The book sold for $89 in the C-Link auction so the buyer got a pretty good deal relative to GPA. Early on I put in a tracking bid, but I wanted a nicer copy than 5.0. Like with the Conan 23, eBay had a CGC 6.5 of X-Men 14 for auction, closing just after the C-Link auction. GPA at CGC 6.5 is $150-$204. Again, I put in a bid of the minimum $150. I was the only bidder again, and won. What would you rather have, CGC 5.0 for $89 or CGC 6.5 for $150? I have no regrets for going after the 6.5 as I wanted a higher grade copy, but I can definitely see the value of getting a nice copy of the 1st Sentinels for under GPA at only $89. Here's the 6.5 I won on eBay:

Mostly Striking Out in the September ComicLink Auction I mentioned above how my biggest want in the recent C-Link auction was also something I thought no one else wanted. Well, I was wrong! Here's the book I wanted, Marvel Tales 98. This comic has no historical value. It's the reprint of ASM #121, the issue where Gwen Stacy dies. From a comic collecting point of view, it does have value because there are only four 9.8s. In fact, there are only 12 copies graded total. The low number of copies graded makes sense, because who would want to grade a reprint? But I've wanted the comic, to add to my Gwen Stacy collection. Clearly, at least one other person had the same idea, because I didn't win it. I thought I'd be able to pick it up cheap, somewhere from $50-$60. Leading into the last week, I had the top bid of around $35. Then a couple days before it shot up. As bidding closed, I struggled whether to increase my bid. At that point it was over $100. This was crazy, it's a reprint! The thing is, Gwen Stacy is hot right now because of the recent movie. Raw high grade copies are going for $50. I decided to bite the bullet and increase my bid. I went up to $121. I thought that was fitting. I entered my bid and went to sleep. It was one of those auctions where I did and didn't want to win. Well, I didn't win. The winning bid was the next increment at $131. So what do I do now, should I try to buy a raw copy? Not sure. I'd like to have a copy somewhere from 9.4 - 9.8, but it's not that big a deal, I'm in no rush. Maybe I'll wait for Gwen Stacy to cool down. After all, it's only a reprint. Something else I didn't win was this Star Spangled War with a Mlle Marie cover. This copy went for silly money, $420. I mean, that's madness. A 6.0 recently sold for $260. Twice the money for half a point? True, Mlle Marie covers are hard to find in higher grades -- all DC war is like that, most copies are well read -- but $420 for 6.5 is crazy money. (I won a couple of 5.5s earlier this year -- here are pics: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8080548&fpart=14) I did win 3 Walking Dead minor keys in 9.8. Nothing special, but at least I didn't go away empty handed.