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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.

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.

San Diego 2014 (Part 1) I lucked out this year and got tickets for SDCC during the early registration today. Last year I had trouble logging on and was only able to buy a Sunday ticket. I wasn't going to travel across the country for only Sunday, but I kept the ticket so I'd qualify for early registration this year (I think they're plugging that loophole in the future so only actual attendees from the prior year can qualify for the early registration the next year). The waiting room opened at 10am eastern. I got in around 1145. It didn't matter when you got into the waiting room. And this waiting room approach did a good job of keeping everyone from logging in at the same time and clogging the system. At noon they closed the waiting room, and then randomly put everyone in line to buy tickets. Within 30 minutes 4 day + preview night were gone. Around an hour in they posted messages saying Saturday was almost sold out. I finally got in after 90 minutes, and was able to buy Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday tickets. I'm not sure how many days I'll actually go. I'd love to go all 4 days, but life is busy with 4 kids. Right now I'm thinking just Thursday and Friday. And of course now I've got to deal with the pain of getting a hotel room (I'll write about that later after the hotel lottery as Part 2). Honestly I think WW Chicago is a better con for buying comics. But San Diego is Mecca for us, right? So since I'm lucky enough to have tickets I'm gonna go.

Back at WW Chicago this past summer, I commissioned a Lady Mechanika sketch from Jamie Tyndall. Jamie recently finished it, on one of my last Gen-13 blanks. I'm really happy with it, you can tell he put a lot of effort into it, and it has his trademarked Tyndall detail. I was going to just have Jamie ship it to me, but then his wife Marilyn said Jamie was going to be at a con this weekend (I guess the Dallas Sci-Fi Expo) and he could drop it off at CGC if I wanted. Hmmm ... I've bought a few yellow labels, but never submitted anything myself. I don't know, to me the process seems complicated. But the way Marilyn explained it, it sounded easy. Jamie would give the book to Desert Wind. DW would contact me for billing, and then take care of submitting to CGC. I decided to go for it. So now my book is on its way to CGC. I'm not exactly sure how much this will cost since I haven't spoken to DW yet. But from their website, Desert Wind charges $36 for Modern, plus $25 shipping back to me. With Jamie's commission that's a total of $161. To be honest I was having second thoughts last night about the cost of this SS submission, but after figuring it out that cost seems pretty reasonable. I have a small collection of Gen-13 sketch covers. Other than this Tyndall, all of them are raw. Below are a few of them. It flashed through my mind of trying to get them graded. Maybe at cons the artists would authenticate their work to CGC. But someone at the Signature Room said CGC will not do this for sketches done in the past (?). Ah well, maybe I'll just yellow label ones I get in the future (I have a few more Gen-13 blanks and I'm always on the lookout for more).

I've been traveling for work lately. Last week I was in SF and went to Lee's Comics (I talked about this above). This week I'm in NYC staying at a hotel in Times Square. It snowed yesterday and the roads were slushing, but that didn't stop me from visiting a great comic book store, Midtown Comics. If you're ever around Times Square you have to visit this store. It's just a few blocks south of Bubba Gump Shrimp and where they drop the ball. It's on two floors with huge displays of new, recent and old comics, books, manga, toys; it's like a convention in a store. Midtown does a lot of cover exclusives. Browsing what they have on sale is always a highlight for me when I visit this store. I really enjoy visiting comic stores when I'm in different cities, but I admit I usually don't buy much there. For the most part stores sell everything at retail (and higher than FMV on back issues), and I know I can get most things at substantial discounts at conventions, eBay, these boards, etc. But I always like to buy something when I visit a store. So I got a few comics and this Midtown Walking Dead Magazine:

I won a few and lost a few this past Sunday. Keeping track of my bids and Best Offers was a welcome distraction from the Broncos getting pounded by the Seahawks. Was that a boring Superbowl or what? Anyway, I often check out the Heritage Sunday auctions, but hardly ever bid and rarely ever win. I can't stand their high buyer premiums. Ok, I know people will say just factor that into the price you're willing to pay. But it's been my experience that, because of the high buyer premium, the hammer price ends up higher than it would otherwise. In other words, it's hard to get a good deal on the Heritage auctions. Even winning a $1 auction is a bad deal because they tack on a minimum buyer's premium (like $14). So I check out the Heritage Sundays mostly for 2 things. First is the original art. I've had luck a couple of times getting interesting pieces for a decent price. This summer I won this auction for an original paperback cover. The other thing I watch out for on the Heritage Sundays are restored comics. There's such a bias against restored comics that you sometimes can get a good deal. This past weekend I managed to win this Green Lantern 40 in CGC 6.5 SA. The restoration was the kind I mind the least "small color touch on cover." With the buyer's premium I got it for $76 (my high bid was a couple of bucks more). This book has been on my want list for a while. Boardie Garlanda recently wrote about it http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7395364#Post7395364 GL 40 has the origin of the multiverse, the basis for all the crisis stories. The CGC label says "Crisis begins." I think Overstreet has a better description: "Origin of Infinite Earths." It's a minor key I guess, but it's a cornerstone for a lot of DC storylines and history. It should be part of any DC Silver Age key collection (so go rush out now and buy it and get the GPA average up!). So let me walk you through my thinking about how much to bid on this book. Again, I got it for $76 all-in (not including shipping, which I personally never include in my go/no-go decisions). GPA in the same grade has this at $76 -- the same as my buy price. For universal, GPA has it in 6.5 at $175. Overstreet has it at $92 in VG. Ebay has a ton of copies for sale. The graded copies run higher than GPA. There are a few interesting raw copies for sale, but after grading you're probably at GPA or higher. So I input all that information and the computer in my head said "Bid $78." It's so hard to price out restored comics. I didn't think I'd win this at $78, so I'm really happy with it. Something else I consider when bidding is the price of grading. Let's say I bought this comic raw. I'd have to use the Value tier to grade it. So if you back out the CGC grading fee of $25, my high bid was really $52. This book in Fine+ is a steal at that price. I know a lot of collectors are against restored comics. I have a short term and long term response to that. Short term, personally I'm not able to readily spot slight color touch on the cover. I know others can (or say they can), but alas I do not have that super power. So, I could buy a raw copy, grade it, and then end up with the same CGC 6.5 SA. That's why I don't mind getting SAs where the only restoration is a little color touch. My long term answer applies not just to color touch but to all restoration. I think the bias against restoration will eventually end. Maybe not for modern or common bronze/silver, but certainly for silver keys (maybe bronze too) and for golden age. This is just my opinion, but it's based on how restoration is viewed among other collectibles, notably fine art where a good restoration job increases the value of the piece. Anyway, thanks for reading.

I'm not a big collector of animation art, but these two pieces I had to have. I have 3 daughters, and when they were young they loved the Powerpuff Girls. I found this piece at the SD con in the early 2000s. I think it was around $500. At the time, and to this day, I have no idea if that was a good price. The dealer said hand-drawn PowerPuff cells are rare because they moved to CGI. I remember calling my wife and asking her if I should buy it. She told me to go for it! And I really wanted it, it reminded me of my 3 girls and how we used to hang out when they were young. So I bought it. The next one is from Kiki's Delivery Service. Again, I got this one because of my kids, they love the movies by Hayao Miyazaki. I got this one also at the SDCC, in 2012. Honestly I can't remember how much I paid. Maybe around $450? Once again I don't know if that was a good price. My goal is to eventually have a cell from all of the Miyazaki movies. BTW, notice how the PPGs piece has glare, and the Kiki doesn't? I think it's because for the Kiki piece I paid extra for non-glare archival glass, whereas for the PP piece I'm still using the frame that I bought it in. The extra cost isn't too much and definitely worth it.

Hi Ogami, I got the wood shelves from Ikea. It's their Gorm line. I also use their Ivar shelves. They both work great (and aren't too expensive), you can make the shelves any height you want. The Gorm shelves are about 1.5 feet deep, and I use them to display my Star Trek and Star Wars toys. The first shelf is about 4.5 feet off the ground. Underneath I store long boxes (3 boxes high). I use drawer boxes on the bottom two rows so I don't have to move boxes as often (getting too old for that unfortunately). I got the Cerebus toy a million years ago, mail order from Aardvark-Vanaheim. Probably Cerebus was under issue 100 at the time. I lost the black vest somewhere along the way. You see them on sale every now and then on Ebay.

Happy to report this submission was checked in (Verified) as of 1/28, the day after I mailed it via Fed Ex next day. We'll see how fast this goes ...

Lee's Comics on El Camino Real My job brings me out to SF a few times a year, and I used to always hit Lee's Comics on El Camino Real. Life got busier and I stopped going, and I haven't been for over 10 years (or more?). But today my meeting ended early, and I was only 15 minutes away (by Google Maps), so I thought why not? Smaller than I remembered (did they renovate over the last decade?), but still a great store. I picked up the first 3 RASL's TPBs for only $5 each, bought a 100 pack of acid free magazine boards, the 3 most recent Walking Dead comics at cover price, and the Official Walking Dead magazine. Now I definitely have enough to keep me busy on the plane home tomorrow (along with a pile of work too). Way back when, I used to go to a Chinese restaurant right next to Lee's, kind of a fast food place like what you see in malls. I'd eat lunch there, and then spend an hour or so in the store. Now, there's a Chinese restaurant on either side of Lee's, but I don't think they're the same place -- these places are more sit down order from the menu kind of places, and I know I'll never have time for that on my biz trips. Ah well, that experience will have to remain a fond memory.

Something I really enjoy is thinking of different ways to display my collection. Most of my comics are in long boxes, but parts i like to display in my comic book room. I really like the Morning Glories series. I have almost a complete run. I like it so much I also collect the TPBs and the deluxe hardcovers. Most of my comics are raw but I have a few CGCs, including the #1s. Recently I've begun using 3 tier clear magazine holders to display favorite comics. You can get them on Amazon for under $15 each. Here's what they look like empty: I use two of them to display my Morning Glories #1s and books: You can also get holders that have a single compartment. I use them to display similar comics. I really like this issue of Secrets of Sinister House, so i use the holders to display my small collection.

This weekend on ebay I won a great auction! Bone Hardcover Set Volume 1-9 and Rose, all 1st printings! And for only $100 including shipping! I was the only bidder, which proves ebay is still great if you have a little luck. I already have 1-3, so I'll try to sell them to further reduce the net price. Best deal I've gotten in a while.

Protectors of My Comic Book Room I have a lot of valuable stuff in my comic book room, so I've spared no expense at protecting it. No less than Space Ghost, Mouse Guard and Herobear are guarding the entrance of my vault. If the villain somehow gets passed that formidable trio, then he has to deal with my Number 1 bruiser. Yes, you see right, it's the killer in the grey bunny suit: So villains and scoundrels, you've been warned!

Thanks SW3D, I've got my fingers crossed!

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) Here are the first 2 comics (I got both on ComicConnect):

More on the January ComicLink Auction I wrote above about how I lost out on the first two comics on my hit list, Spidey 3 and Avengers 1. Last night I managed to win the third comic on this month's want list, Cerebus #4. This was the last issue I needed to complete my Cerebus run of 1-300. For some reason, #4 doesn't come up for sale often. I won it for $130 (my max bid was the current GPA of $180). There was a run of high grade Cerebus this month. I decided to bid on some others to upgrade. I managed to win #5, upgrading to 9.6 from 5.5. I got #5 for $72, My max bid was $107, about 25% under GPA. I also got #7 for the bargain price of $48, upgrading to 9.6 from 8.0. My max bid was $88, a touch under GPA.

I managed to win this one last night on C-Link. I placed my final bid and went to sleep, and then checked it first thing. This one has the first appearance of the Watcher. A nice looking book (C-Link graded it as 4.0 VG) but not sure if in good enough shape to send off to CGC.

I can see how that could be terrifying, but Star Trek never explored a major infiltration by the Borg. Also, in Star Trek you're got phasers and force fields. With the WD it's often just knives and hand-to-hand, very scary.

Lost out on the second comic on my hit list, Avengers #1 in CGC 6.0 SP. Like the Spidey, it was restored but only a little color touch on the cover. About 90 minutes before the end, the bid was $1108. GPA unrestored is about $3000, and restored around $1400. I was undecided on what to bid, maybe $1500. But then at 45 minutes out the bid jumped to $1650. That was too rich for me. It finally ended at $1950. Wow .... Anyway, I did pick this one up, Avengers #5. GPA is all over the place, ranging $71 - $143. I got it for $92, a fair price I think, and now I can check it off my list. Now I'm down to 23 issues to complete my "original Marvels" collection.

Here we go with the January ComicLink auction. I have tracking bids on a couple dozen books, but there are 3 that I really want. The first was Amazing Spider-man 3 (first Doc Ock,), graded CGC 6.0 SA (Restoration includes: small amount of color touch on cover.) This is my favorite type of restored comic, only some color touch on the cover. GPA has unrestored 6.0 at about $1200, and 6.0 SA at about $600. I typically try to pay only up to VG raw, which at Overstreet is $634. I decided to bid $700, with 15 minutes to go. Immediately I was outbid, and the next bid was $800. I was tempted because the book is really nice with only minimal restoration, but in the end I decided to let it go. I think I can do better than $800, as I think Doc Ock has peaked (no new Doc Ock movies on the horizon). Anyway, the book sold at $856. IMHO, this is the extreme end of what the book is worth. FMV is always hard to figure out for restored books, but I don't think this was a deal. I don't feel disappointed at losing this one, and now I have a little more to bid on my #2 book.