• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

tortoise

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    6,458

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Journal Entries posted by tortoise

  1. tortoise
    the un-gradeable book, of many grades
    About 10 days ago, I bought a raw ASM 41(1st app of rhino) graded at VF+ for $300.
    I originally intended to submit it to cgc ... eventually, but first I thought I'd see what my fellow boardies thought. I got the book home, scanned it , and posted it in the PGM forum. I personally had the book graded at a solid 8.0. When the grades started coming in I was shocked. Most of the board members thought it was a 7.5, but some even went as low as 6.5. I even called a board friend to ask if I was way off, he agreed it was an 8.0.
    It was now Saturday morning, and I found myself looking at my book and looking at the grades in the thread over, and over again. "There's no way this in any lower then an 8.0" I said to myself. Finally I just said "screw it". I went online and filled out a cgc form. Express, with imaging. After my 10% member discount it wound up costing $106. Now I'm into this book for $406, which is a 9.0 price. I probably should have sent it standard but , I was way too impatient for that. So, I packaged it up, and shipped it out on Saturday hoping it would arrive by Monday. Monday came , and the first thing I did was check my order status. "Received", and now the waiting game begins. Tuesday,"verified". Wednesday,"graded". I stared at the serial number briefly, before clicking to see what my grade was. I had convinced myself that after pumping $400+ into this book, I was going to click the link and see 6.0 cream-off white. I clicked the link..... I was so shocked by the grade I actually thought it was clerical error. I called the same board friend I had called the week before, to ask him how cgc worked, if what I was looking at was just a temp grade, and if it would later be changed. I had never tracked a submission on line before, so this was new to me. He assured me that that was my grade, and that everyone, he and I included , was waaaaay off .
    My ASM 41, that I was sure was a 8.0 with a shot at 8.5, that everyone who graded it had it between 6.5-8.0, that I was so worried that I had invested way too much money into.. was now sitting in a cgc holder with off white to white pages and a universal grade of 9.4. 9.4!!!! I was still skeptical however. "No way was it a 9.4" I said to myself. I started looking at the 9.0s in my collection and deciding whether or not my 41 was better. I was about 50/50.
    It's Thursday now, "shipped". "Hm, It's on it's way" I thought, still feeling skeptical. I really had thought I was going to be getting the wrong copy of ASM 41. Later that night I got an email, it was the image I had requested form cgc.
    I checked my email.. "Wow, it really is a 9.4"
    It finally arrived yesterday, in all its near mint glory. It really does look great in the slab, and while I don't necessarily agree with the grade, I'm definitely not complaining.

    To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  2. tortoise
    .. and how I view it.
    I get a lot of grief for the way I collect. I buy a book, decide I don't want it, and sell it (usually at a loss) a week later. I do that often. I don't really pay attention to the people who criticize me for it. Your free to collect however you want, and so am I. I enjoy the way I collect, and that's all that really matters. It ( the grief) has however, made me pause and think about what I collect, and have collected. When I first started collecting (1990) my grail of grails was "Sleepwalker 1", I had Tons of Predator books, Silver Surfer v3, and McFarlane ASM, but that Sleepwalker 1 always eluded me. My neighbor at the time had a copy of Sleepwalker 1, and we all stared at it like it was a copy of Detective comics 27. For years, I searched for a copy to no avail. I was 7 years old living in New York, so my searching capabilities were limited. To This day, I covet Sleepwalker 1(I have it now) as a personal grail.
    Fast forward to today. I'm 28 living in Arizona, and the books I coveted as a child are the books I refuse to sell. My Sleepwalker 1,Predator 1-4, Batman Vs Predator, Silver Surfer v3 #50 and Amazing Spider-Man 375, are all coveted books to me.
    When I became a "serious" collector Hulk became my focal point, with 340 being my grail. Eventually I would find a copy for $100. It was around Fine, I bought it for $85. and for years I would overpay for crappy books. Around 2002, I was an "adult", I understood the value of a dollar, and changed my collecting habits. I started working on ASM 1-100 Hulk 1-6 X-men 1-66. I got bored with X-men quickly, ASM wouldn't be far behind, but Hulk... Hulk eluded me. In all my years of Comic Shop hopping I hadn't seen many old Hulks. Hulk 1 became my grail.
    What drives me as a Collector..? Nostalgia. Hulk 1-6 became a goal that I hadn't achieved until 2010. In 2010 in the span of a week I was able to purchase Hulk 1-6. Over the course of the next 6 months I would obtain 3 more Hulk # 1s. But I started collecting FF, and I sold all the Hulks. I quickly began to miss having Hulk 1. Prices were going up, and they were getting harder to find. Before Long FF would bore me, and I would got to TOS. 39 quickly became a favorite book of mine. for the next year, I would buy and sell, keeping very little for longer then 3 months. I upgraded my Tos 39, and started building that run before deciding I didn't really like it. Hulk was where I wanted to be. I sold off my TOS run (excluding 39) and started searching for another Hulk 1. I was able to find and purchase a 4.5. Again I find myself working on Hulk 1-6 and now TTA 59-101. But I' thoroughly enjoying it. I fully intend to sell my Hulk 1 (hopefully, sooner than later) to fund an Upgrade. But for right now I'm thrilled with my current copy.
    Throughout the 22 years I've been collecting, I have owned every major silver Key, and to me that holds a lot of value. Today I own quite a few Silver Keys, but none for the sake of having. I own and buy what I like, I sell what I'm bored with. That's how I'm wired. and It's How I most thoroughly enjoy this hobby. To my knowledge there is no mandatory time limit I need to own a book before I sell it. I own it, It's mine, I'll do with it what I want. I've had sellers get angry at me for not keeping the book they sold me long enough and you know what? I'm ok with that.
    -Mark (Tortoise)
    To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.