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Carnegie Deli NYC

I'm in NYC on business, and yesterday I had lunch at the famous Carnegie Deli just south of Central Park. I had to share some pictures. This is their Woody Allen, a sandwich piled high with corned beef and pastrami.

Not realizing how big the sandwich was, I also ordered these onion rings. This is their regular order and they're big enough to feed my family! But I was there by myself so as you can imagine I did not come close to eating everything.

Gwen Stacy by Tim Sale

So I'm really envious about all the posts on Megacon. Sounds like it was a great con. I went to 2 or 3 Megacons but that was a while ago. I thought about taking my 14 yo daughter to Megacon this year, as she's into anime and manga and Megacon from what I hear has a good mix of both comics and Japanese stuff. But couldn't do it this year, too many conflicts with school and kid activities.

My convention schedule this year is probably 2: WW Philadelphia and SDCC. I'm really excited about Philly. I'm hoping to do a photo op with Lauren Cohan as I've become a big Walking Dead fan. I'm not sure what I'm doing about SDCC. I was lucky enough to get 4 day tickets (no preview night unfortunately) but I might only be able to go a couple days.

Anyway, despite my con-challenged schedule, my comic quest continues! I picked up this original art this weekend, from a boardie who was offering it on eBay. I'm a big Gwen Stacy fan, and Tim Sale does a very elegant Gwen.

Sale really captures the Stan Lee Gwen -- what Gwen would look like in her 20s if she'd survived the fall. So much better than all the busty Gwens on eBay, where the artists feel the need to add a spider web someplace in the drawing because, duh, otherwise it wouldn't be Gwen. Really? For Gwen all you need is the headband.

I first saw this book in WW Chicago back in the summer. I loved the cover but the raw price was $20-$25. I decided to wait and forgot about it.

Then a couple of weeks ago I found this one on ebay. I put in a low bid and won it for $22, less than the raw price in Chicago. So the lesson is, you can get a lot more for the same money if you're patient. Easier said than done, but certainly something to strive to.

Latest CGC Invoice #6 - 1st Lana Lang

As a keys collector I love 1st appearances. Serious key collections need the 1st apperances of major characters (i.e., the major keys). That can vary by the age you collect, genre, etc. Oftentimes, at least for me, it's the keys of supporting characters I like the most, like Tales of Suspense 45 that has Pepper and Happy.

I'm really proud of this one, Superboy 10 with the 1st appearance of Lana Lang. Lana's not a major character like Lois, but alot of the Superboy/Superman mythos depends on Lana. So is this a major or minor key? There's no definitive list. I think most would call it a minor key, which is a good thing as that makes it possible to get it for a reasonable price. (On the other hand, TOS 45 is pretty expensive now because of Pepper's and Happy's major roles in the Iron Man movies.)

I don't remember how much I bought this comic for. I got it a few years ago at the SDCC. Usually I'm pretty good at recording that information but I just checked my database AND I DIDN'T EVEN CHECK OFF I HAD IT!!!

As an aside, I don't know what's going on with my scanner. I have the old HP legal size scanner, I bought it used off eBay last summer. Lately the exposure has been out of whack. I think I need to search around for better scanner software.

Latest CGC Invoice #5 - Amazing Spider-Man 300

I struggled over whether to submit this one. One reason was because I read somewhere it's the most CGC'd book. The census says there's 8423 graded copies at this moment.

I also hesitated because of the condition. I bought it off the stands when it came out. Since then it's been stored in either a plastic bag or mylite, but with no board. There are some stress lines along the spine (non color breaking) and I was concerned about getting a grade in the low 9s.

But I needed another comic to make the 15 comic minimum for the Value tier, so I went ahead and graded it.

I was very happy and surprised wihen it came back 9.6! There are 1742 copies in this grade so definitely not rare. Still, it's cool to have a high grade copy. Also, the price difference on this book between 9.6 and, say, 9.2 can be hundreds of dollars. GPA shows 9.6 at around $350 and 9.2 at $180. But a check on the web shows 9.6s being offered for more, over $500. I haven't been watching this book (since I already had it) so I don't know the actual FMV. Anyway, it's always fun to see your books worth something, even if you have no intention to ever sell.

Latest CGC Invoice #4 - First Black Canary cover

I also got this one from Comic Connect in November, Flash 92. I'm a collector of keys. This is the first cover and solo story of Black Canary. (Also on my list are All Star 38 and 41, her first appearance and when she joins JSA.) This is one of those books that if I'm ever gonna get it, it'd have to be a low grade book -- otherwise it'd be too expensive and I'm not so into the book I'd be willing to spend serious FF#1 type money. I decided to go for this one, because it shows pretty well and with the restoration and low grade I'd a chance at getting it for what I was willing to pay.

The bidding was pretty active. I was hoping to get it for around $400. When the bidding went higher -- and I have a love/hate relationship with CConnect's extra time feature (where they add time to the auction if bids come in late) -- I had to decide whether to go over my budget. I finally decided to go for it, because I didn't know when I'd see a low grade nice looking copy again.

I finally won it for $595. Ouch!

Sometimes when I look back at a purchase and I think about whether I paid too much, I ask myself if I would've paid that much if I'd found the book at a con. Here, I think I would have. I paid alot, but if I saw this on Harley's wall at SDCC or Chicago (or wherever) I probably would have been willing to go $595.

About C-Connect's grade. They advertised it at 6.0 with the following restoration note: "Taken from a bound volume, moderate resoration, spine and staple replacement, color touch f/c"

You can tell just by looking at the cover this is no 6.0! So I'm not sure what C-Connect was thinking. Still, I'm okay with the grade. I was hoping it'd come in a little higher than 1.8, but honestly this book's been though alot. Good- seems fair. At most I'd give it GD+ (2.5). Whatever, I'm okay with the grade.

Latest CGC Invoice #3: Flash "jitterbug" cover

Received my CGC shipment today. It always seems to take forever to get graded, and then things happen fast.

I submitted 15 comics and of the group this is my favorite, All Flash Quarterly 25. I won this on ComicConnect in the September 2013 auction. It was one of those comics that as soon as I saw it I had to have it. I ended up paying $440; more than I wanted, but I'm very happy to have it.

Comic Connect advertised it as no restoration and VF 8.0. It came back at 7.5 (no restoration) so I'm really happy with both the comic and ComicConnect.

Buyer's Remorse

 

I won this on eBay recently and just received it, Amazing Spider-Man #6 the first appearance and origin of the Lizard. The seller advertised the grade as "Grade: Apparent NM- 9.2 (Color Touch on the Cover, Trimmed)"

 

I think the seller over graded. I think it would be lucky to get 8.5, 7.5 is more likely. But I don't hold that against the seller, I could tell that from the picture, and I'd be happy frankly with 7.0. The seller also disclosed the restoration. So, I think it was a fair listing.

 

But after getting the book I'm having buyer's remorse. The trimming is more extensive than I thought, about a quarter inch along the bottom and right side.

 

I bought it for $435. My highest bid was actually higher (I think around $500). The rule of thumb I use on restored comics is to try not to pay more than the raw unrestored VG for a restored book. The Overstreet VG price for ASM #6 is $358, but I think that's low. So at the time I thought my bid was fair; not a steal but fair.

 

But now a couple weeks later I think I overpaid. It's so hard to tell with restored books. You can get a better looking comic, but it's so hard to guessimate the FMV.

 

Oh well. I plan on submitting to CGC, maybe I'll feel better if I see it with a 7.0 or better grade (even with a purple label).

 

I'm kinda bummed right now for another reason too. I won an auction for Lady Mechanika Long Beach #0 CGC 9.8 for a great price, a book I need for my set, and the USPS sent it into the abyss. It looks like the seller sent it to the right address, but it did not arrive (even though the tracking says it was delivered -- but the idiotic USPS website only says it was delivered, it doesn't identify the address it was delivered to!). Hopefully it will turn up Monday, but right now I'm anxious about getting it.

 

 

Latest CGC Invoice #2: More buyer's remorse

So I haven't received the books from my latest CGC shipment yet, but I've looked at the grades. The grade on this one reminded me of how bad a deal I made on this book. I like the book but I paid way too much.

CGC gave this one 5.5 SA, with the note: Restoration includes: small amount of color touch on cover. (ALL 3 EDGES TRIMMED.)

I few points on this:

* The amount of restoration didn't surprise me, the seller gave me notice. What surprised me is the SA rating. I'm surprised with some much restoration (especially the trimmed pages) you can still get a "slight" rating.

* I was hoping for at least 7.0 but I based that solely on the nice looking cover. I didn't study the inside. Also, there are stress marks on the spine that don't show up well in the picture. So I'm not too surprised by the 5.5.

* I paid way too much at $435. With grading, the total cost was about $460. GPA has this in 5.5 (no restoration) at $550. There's a 5.5 (SA - trimming) at $213. The only way this would have been a good buy if it had graded higher. At 7.0 I would have broken even. Above 7.0 I would have come out ahead. Of course, there are other metrics I can use to make myself feel better. I like the comic, it's more than good enough to check this issue off my want list. But I'll regret this buy for a while.

Submitting My Next CGC Invoice (and the purpose of grading)

 

I'm packing up my next CGC invoice to send out on Monday. I've been acquiring and picking the comics for the last 3 or 4 months. It always comes down to, which comics should you grade and which should you leave raw? And the the more fundamental question, what's the purpose of grading anyway?

 

For me there's 3 reasons:

 

(1) I grade for the purpose of increasing my comics' value and making it easier to sell them. I don't plan on selling my collection, but you never know when you'll need cash. And when you need it, you might not have time to submit to CGC. So by grading, it's kind of like putting something aside for a rainy day.

 

I plan on leaving my collection to my kids (hopefully that will be decades in the future). They don't collect comics. I've told them it's 100% okay with me if they sell the collection. I want my kids to be able to easily sell the higher value comics for FMV, and grading them will help them do that.

 

(2) I grade keys and great covers because the CGC holder is an attractive and impressive frame. I'm mostly a collector of runs, but I collect keys and covers too. These comics are great art, and I like having them out on display. To me, the CGC holder is the best frame for comics.

 

(3) I grade comics that mean something to me. There are some comics that aren't worth anything, that might not have the best covers, but their stories had an impact on me.

 

Anyway, here are the comics in my next CGC submission:

 

 

1. All Flash 25 (jitterbug cover)

2. Flash Comics 92 (Black Canary cover)

3. Superboy 10 (1st Lana Lang)

4. Strange Tales 135 (1st Shield & Hydra)

5. DC Superstars 17 (1st Huntress)

6. Amazing Spider-Man 6 (1st Lizard)

7. Amazing Spider-Man 7

8. Amazing Spider-Man 11

9. Amazing Spider-Man 15 (1st Kraven)

10. Amazing Spider-Man 300

11. Batman 232 (1st Ra’s Al Ghul)

12. Action Comics 267 (1st appearance of Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Invisible Kid)

13. Action Comics 276 (a bonanza of Legion firsts: 1st appearance of Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl, Bouncing Boy, Sun Boy, Brainiac 5 and Shrinking Violet)

14. Action Comics 285 (great Superman & Supergirl cover)

15. Fantastic Four 18 (1st Super-Skrull)

 

Latest CGC Invoice #1

Almost 2 months later the status finally changed to Shipped! (Yeah, I get it, 2 months is nothing, but I'm old and delayed gratification is so 1990s.) How were the grades? Some winners and losers and lessons learned. Ah well. I'll post details once I get them.

On a related topic, c-connect never got my paypal payment for last month. We worked it out, but now it'll take longer to get the comics, which means my next CGC invoice will be delayed. Ah well ... 1st world problems ...

Anyway, in one bit of good news, I won this one on eBay last night -- for only $18! For a Matt Baker cover from 1962!

At the moment I'm eating sushi and watching Frozen with my wife and kids, AND I'm posting here. How's that for multi-tasking?

Won one more last night on eBay, this Mopsy. I've been slowly buying this St. John GGA humor title. The prices are all over the place, sometimes the hammer prices are really high (although high for this title is over $100, not thousands). I got this one for $56, a little less than my max of $60.

The comic I really wanted was Richie Rich #1 PGX 3.5. I hoped to steal it since it was PGX. I had $375 on Bidnapper but it finished at around $550. Probably still a good buy for the winner. I had planned to send it to CGC, from the front cover it looked to be at least 3.5.

Thanks Hibou. Also, gotta say that Action in your signature truly has a great cover.

One win on this Sunday, this Manhunt #1 that I bought today from a boardie for a fair price. I ALWAYS check out the Marketplace on the left side of the screen. I've gotten so many good buys from there.

What a great cover! Can't wait to read it. Then it's off to CGC in my next invoice. I have a few eBay and Heritage auctions going on tonight but don't expect to win any of them (although there's one book in particular I'd love to win).

Sunday's a great night! Good for auctions, and Walking Dead in an hour!

I won 2 SS sketch covers recently on eBay. Having shopped for a while, I know there's a minimum on these graded sketch covers. After all, you’ve got to add the artist’s fee, the cost of grading, the faciliator’s fee and the seller’s profit. And the minimum is around $150 IMHO.

I got these books for about $80 each, and I’ve gotten others for well under $150. I think that shows that it’s tough to make money on the SS sketch covers, except for well-known and high demand artists. That’s not to say it’s not worth it to get commissions for your own collection (especially if the artist is flexible with what you’re looking for), but the resale market is tough. As a seller I think you’re lucky to get your money back

Having said all of that, I think I got lucky on these 2 books. These are nice looking renditions of Emma Frost. My favorite is Bill Dinh’s, but Fleecs’s is really nice too. I think they should have gone for at least $100-$125. Sometimes it’s a matter of you’re shopping on eBay when others aren’t .

On another topic, I’m dying to get the grades of my last CGC invoice! It seems like the Status has been stuck on Graded forever (it’s been about 2 weeks). Maybe Monday …

Olivia De Berardinis

One of my favorite pin-up artists is Olivia De Berardinis. Here's a bio from the internet:

Recognized as the most famous living female pin-up artist, Olivia De Berardinis has been celebrated as the greatest since Alberto Vargas. De Berardinis — or “Olivia,” as fans call her — modestly describes herself as a “painter of women” in her biography. But she’s been creating art for decades, from her early-’70s life as a New York City loft-dwelling waitress/artist to her current post as Playboy’s artist in residence. Olivia has captured some of pop culture’s notable (and at times controversial) muses, including burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, comedian Margaret Cho, and rocker Courtney Love. However, her most iconic covergirl is ‘50s pin-up icon Bettie Page, who Olivia transformed into a sensual teacher, French maid, and mermaid, among others. Olivia continues to publish books and calendars, all paying tribute to the legions of women inspiring her.

A few years ago I met Oliva at the SDCC and was lucky enough to pick up a few pieces. This one is by far my favorite, a period piece Olivia painted based on a photograph taken at the time. A little risque but not too over the top, it's the first thing you see when you walk into my comic book room.

Dave Stevens (and why did I do that?)

I picked up a couple of comics with Dave Stevens covers recently on eBay. This one, Shadow and Doc Savage #1, I already had in 9.6 that I got on eBay about a year ago for $35. It's a classic Stevens cover, but why I bought this 9.8 I don't know. The seller had it for $100 BIN, which is about the going price I think. I put in a best offer of $65, thinking he would counter. But he accepted! That's when I started thinking, why did I do this?

I felt a little better when I shopped the seller's other offerings. He had this Crossfire Dave Stevens cover on sale. I wanted this because I've always loved the Marilyn Monroe cover and didn't have it even in raw. We finally agreed on $41. So the average price of the 2 comics is about $50 and that makes me feel better about the pair. Still not sure what I'm going to do with the 9.6 Shadow comic. (And I won't be upgrading the Crossfire 9.6 ... I think ...)

Meshuggah, I agree above copper and older, I'm not so concerned with grades. I prefer 6.0 but I'll go lower if the cover has good eye appeal.

My Alfred Trujillo cover commission is done and on its way to CGC! This was my first try at a sketch opp, and unlike others I've read about over in the Signature Room, this one went really smoothly. It was also a very reasonable $160 all-in (including blank, grading and shipping). Kudos to TheMightyJohn for putting this together, and thanks to Alfred for such a great cover! More sketches from this opp are here: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7059652&fpart=1

Here it is, a risque Black Canary pulling up her boots:

The sketch is a homage to this Batgirl cover:

I won this on eBay a couple of weeks ago, the Adi Granov variant of Uncanny Avengers #1. I'm a fan of Granov's cover art. I'm also a fan of the Scarlet Witch, and this is one of the best SW covers. This is reflected in prices, although they're variable. Right now they range from $30 to $100 on eBay, all raw. The raw price doesn't seem to drop below $30.

I'm pretty anal about modern CGCs, and typically won't go below 9.8, which an exception of 9.6 here and there. This one at 9.4 is the lowest graded CGC modern in my collection.

But it was on eBay for a starting bid of $24.99. With FREE shipping. There were no bids. So I put in a bid of $25 to see what would happen. I figured I could always crack it out, so it would be like picking up the book raw on the cheap. If I bought it raw, I could just as easily end up with the same 9.4 grade or lower (by the way, it's easy to see why this got a 9.4, as there's a slight non-color breaking bend on the right side of the cover -- it could be fixed with pressing but I don't think it's worth the trouble and cost).

I won it for $25! I've decided not to crack it open, because I like how comics look in the CGC holder.

I've written how I'm not a big fan of the Heritage Sunday auctions, given the high buyer commission. But I usually browse each week, and lately I've gotten some good stuff. At last week's auction I picked up Famous Crimes 3, a book I've wanted for a while. A very solid copy with a lot of cover appeal. There's something going on with the color in the F, but otherwise the colors look bright and sharp. Even with the Heritage buyer's fee, I got it for a bargain, only $76. I wonder to what extent this month's Comic Link auction (with a lot of desirable comics being offered) is having on hammer prices in other auctions, like Heritage and ComicConnect.

Very impressive books!

I've thought about collecting ECs but I've got too many wants already on my list. I've decided to just target a few covers I really like and to then complete my set of the old Cochran book reprints.

The wings covers are silly - pretty girls in short dresses and high heels balancing on airplane wings - but I collect them too! Auction prices seem pretty steady in higher grade (cgc 7+), hard to get any deals, I tend to go for vg+ raw.

I not so funny story. I love Mechanica and the two were both at ECCC 2 years ago. I bought a limited edition Tshirt with the Lady in front of the Space Needle. To make a long story short I had 3 simultaneous strokes and went to the emergency and the nurse cut my shirt off. I was truly not in my head and I said..."I want my shirt back...It is a collectible.

Well, as you may assume, I never saw that lovely shirt again

So sorry to hear that, but the part about the t-shirt is something to remember!

ComicConnect January 2014 Auction - Part 2 (WOW!)

An amazing auction this month! I feel like I'm the only person bidding (I'm okay with that!).

Got this Superboy 171, first Aquaboy, for $25! Grading by itself is $25.

This great Supergirl cover for only $23, less than the cost of grading.

This Power Girl for $21 and Red Sonja Tan Negative Cover for $28, and a couple of Wonder Woman comics each for $21:

ComicConnect January 2014 Auction

Great deals this month! Picked up mid-grade Adventure 306 for only $35. This one has the 1st appearance of the Legion of Substitute Heroes and fits in my collection of getting graded copies of Legion 1st appearances.

Also won Green Lantern 21 for just $33, the 1st appearance of Dr. Polaris. You have to figure the sellers used the Value track to grade at $25 per, so I got these minor keys for just a little more than the cost of grading. Collecting is really fun if you're not focused on just really high grades!

Original Marvels Collection - Revisited

I wrote above about how I'm trying to complete full runs of what I call the "original Marvels" titles: Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Cap, DD, FF, Hulk and Iron Man. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7287580&fpart=3

I’ve been working on this for over 20 years, and I'm hoping to finish in the next 2-3 years. On Sunday I won 2 auctions on eBay. I don't know why it is but it seems like a lot of auctions I'm interested in end on Sunday.

I'm getting down to the expensive ones. I've been looking for this one for a while, Avengers 9. Overstreet has its FN price at $144 (GPA at $225), but prices seem to run higher on eBay since it's the first appearance of Wonder Man. This one has a lot of eye appeal, but because it's (literally) rough around the edges (especially down the spine), I managed to get it for a good price.

The second is Amazing Spider-man 9. Overstreet has it at $360 in Fine. That's low for the 1st appearance of Electro. It's hard to convince sellers to sell at that price at FN. GPA is more accurate I think at $680 at CGC 6.0. But that's way more than I wanted to pay. Again, this copy has rough edges so I was able to get it for a reasonable price, but it still has a nice cover IMHO. I put in what I thought were aggressive bids and didn't think I'd win either book, so I was ecstatic to get both.

Now I'm just 20 issues away from completing my Original Marvels collection. But the Overstreet price at Fine is over $32,000! I'm hoping to snag nice looking books with defects I can live with, but otherwise look Fine. We'll see. Honestly I think it's a buyer's market for these early Marvels. That's not to say the books are cheap, but there's enough volume that with luck you can get good deals.

A lazy Sunday afternoon watching the Olympics and getting ready for (unfortunately) another business trip. This is the third consecutive week of traveling, way more than usual. Being away from home quickly gets old. This week is particularly bad because I won't be able to watch Walking Dead at home. I and two of my kids have really gotten into it lately, so it's a major bummer not being able to watch it with them. Ah well, a lost bonding opportunity. Not exactly the Brady Bunch, but as kids get older you take what you can get.

Eating is about the only thing I look forward to when traveling. So time for more food pics! Here's beef tartar from Bourbon Steak a couple of weeks ago in SF. They serve it deconstructed:

Then the waiter does his thing tableside. The finished dish looks like this. It's really great with a sturdy red wine.

Bourbon Steak also has a delicious side dish of fried padrón peppers and prosciutto. Almost as good as tapas in Barcelona.