MCJ

Impressive research, etanick! Until I saw your list, I didn't realize just how many transactions ComicLink was capturing for this Key...

I've bid on comics he's offered before, but I had a bad experience when he initially failed to disclose a water stain on the back cover of what appeared to be (and was described as) a high grade copy of Journey Into Mystery #86. Fortunately, a sharp eyed bidder noticed the stain (it was pretty small) and asked about it, which to his credit he posted in the Q&A section. An originally undisclosed water stain would have brought that book down to a fine/fine+ worth much less...Looking at the link to the thread from when he appeared on the boards, he appeared to post in the wrong forums several times in a disingenuous guerrilla marketing campaign...I've never seen someone become persona non grata so fast. He seems to specialize in selling raw comics, doesn't venture a grade to avoid liability. Look at the photos carefully and proceed with caution is my advice. Buy raw and risk getting a raw deal Ultimately, a few anecdotes about people that have sold books to collectors_comics and then later the copies look much better, though apparently unpressed, does suggest Photoshop manipulation. You can go to the aggregation sites to see which comic auctions have the most watchers, and the collectors_comics books tend to trend very high, because they tend to look terrific (isn't Photoshop great?)...Shady indeed.

I’ve begun to get discouraged in my grail quest... If anything, my attempts to acquire higher grade Journey Into Mystery reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in that instead of a horse to ride, I just have two coconut shells to clip clop together, like the poor squire on the left: No one needs another FDQ to complain when they lose in an auction, am I right? I’ve decided to limit myself to just 2 books to bid on for the rest of the year. One of which I’ve already placed what I consider to be a significant leading bid, and the other coming up for auction soon. If I lose one or both, I won’t complain, just place myself in a cooling off period. You can guess which two books I'm talking about... Collecting JIM and SA Thor is rather competitive, I've discovered. Life would be much easier if I were collecting Millie the Model instead...

Remember the 9.6 white pages copy of #85 that sold for $25,250 in ComicLink's May focused auction? (How can I forget? Underbidder is becoming my middle name...) A 9.4 white pages copy recently sold at Pristine Comics' site for $16,500, down from the $20K the last copy sold for from Pedigree. The change at the top of the census making its' presence felt, perhaps? JIM #85 CGC 9.4 white This irks me, because Pristine Comics is practically in my back yard, and I didn't know Darren had it for sale I didn't see the result in GPA, so he either doesn't report to it --or it just happened. I just let my GPA subscription lapse, can someone check to see if this sale shows up? Congrats to the new owner, I'm jealous...

When I saw that copy of JIM #85 I was glad I wasn't drinking tea at the moment, as I would have likely spit it all over my laptop...Trimmed on all 3 sides, huh? Once again, I have to applaud you for keeping copies like this out of bijoubaby's and robojo's hands. Despite at least one report to eBay (cough), bijou's still marketing the 9.2 with color touch as a "Journey Into Mystery #85 Vol 1 Grade 9.6 No Reserve!" Entreaties made to him to mail in the label to the CGC to maintain the accuracy of the census have fallen on deaf ears. Impossible! Sigh... Anyway, happy thoughts. Those are some sweet books, y'all! So who has a sweet copy of #86 for us to fawn over? UPDATE: The restored 9.2 sold for $960 + $5.95 s/h on 6/23/11...Restoration removal candidate, there. I hope the label gets sent in...

I agree, Marvel chipping can have a severe detrimental effect (witness the 5.5 sales result above as a prime example). Some factors appear to be more heavily weighted than others amongst collectors. Some people can't stand date stamps or grease pencil marks, or cover mis-wraps, but Marvel chipping and page quality seem to be the most heavily weighted factors. Should we take a poll? I'm sure there are several polls already on this...

Ah, one of Bob's? for only 21 to 22K one of them could be yours! The prices of Jim #83 have increased markedly, though I noticed in GPA that 4.0 and 4.5 copies are really close together. I'll hold out for an 8.5 or better, and I suppose most of us would attempt to buy a 9.0 if we could. Price action for JIM 83: An ow/w 5.0 sold for $3200 May 9th on eBay. Clink results from 5/25: 9.0 ow/w $52,102 4.0 ow/w $2,701 5.0 ow/w $3,201 5.5 ow/w (Marvel chipping) $3,433, 3.5 ow/w $1792.50 6/12/11. Contrast those results with an 8.5 ow/w which sold for $18,700 4/2010 & a 9.0 sold on Highgrade comics (Bob's site) for $19,000, but probably in 2008 or '09. (Bob Storms' sales gallery could use some dates for context ) No one forgets the Twin Cities 8.5 white pages copy which sold last month for $28,680...Another 8.5 sold in March for $26,500 (pq unknown)... Given that GPA doesn't always capture the registry numbers, I couldn't verify why the 4.0s which recently sold for more than the 4.5s and the 5.0s that also sold for more than the 5.5s, but I assume those results are mostly due to page quality issues. I know, page quality is only part of the story--e.g. cover mis-wraps do look fugly Without that depth of reporting, and the fact that not all sales results are reported to the GPA anyway, some manual tracking is required.

Your 8.0 copy is fantastic! After some deliberation (and a brief mourning period), I sent off my 7.0 & 4.0 copies of JIM 83 to ComicLink this morning in order to pay my bills. I'm really going to miss this one: White pages And to think that I'd briefly clawed my way up to #19 on the registry listing! That and $5 can buy me a cup of coffee... My goal is to buy an ow/w or white 8.5 copy of #83, but that's a crazy dream for now (or a Roth decimator)... UPDATE: The Powers That Be at ComicLink listed my 7.0 & 4.0 copies of #83 (and one of my 6.5 copies of #85) for sale in the July Focused auction starting 7/14

I don't want to veer into politics, or I'll risk getting censured by The Powers That Be Sharp-minded readers will remember that Hero Journey Into Mystery has had Communist issues before, 84 & 87, and according to Overstreet, pre-hero issue #80 was an "anti-communist propaganda story." Marvel, and before that Timely and Atlas, have certainly had war themed issues, and I have no doubt some were controversial! They tended to be more subtle, in later years, than Cap punching out Hitler...And DC has had their share, too, but (imo) Marvel took more risks, such as Iron Man 128 with the Tony Stark alcoholism issue, the ASM #96-#98 drug issues not approved by the CCA, etc. than DC did during the Silver and Bronze Age (anyone else miss Epic Illustrated?) and perhaps DC's Vertigo line was in reaction to that. I read Epic Comics' Alien Legion as a teen, but that was coming out in '83, the Reagan/Thatcher era, and I didn't perceive their exploits as a call to arms. Military SF is not necessarily pro-war...Or is it? (Cue the dramatic music) "Dum-dum-dummm..." Probably not an appropriate forum. my apologies for going OT.

Your copy's nicer than mine. Although Kirby's art was very dynamic as usual (nice touch having the soldier loading the mortar backwards in the heat of battle), I had mixed feelings about this issue when I first read it, around the time the first Iraq war broke out. Particularly one of the panels on page 8 bothered me: Thor: "I see helicopters on patrol--searching for the hidden guerillas! But, they are so few, and the communist foe is so many--and so cunning!" Some context, this issue came out around June 1965, and I noticed there were some enthusiastic letters in response in later issues' letter pages, and I wondered then, as now, if Stan's apparent advocacy for the Vietnam war helped convince anyone to enlist? Certainly not the only time Marvel's had a controversial story line, but this issue's my least favorite example of Stan Lee's writing...

Hmmm. The reviewer never read Head Games apparently. So theories are that Fox wanted to continue courting J.J. Abrams and/or they were overextended with producing Terra Nova... I predict J.J.'s involvement with Alcatraz will wane and Terra Nova will be hit or miss in the ratings. At least we're dealing with different Fox executives than the sub-geniuses that not only aired Firefly out of order, but aired the 2 part pilot episode Last...

Unfortunately, eBay seems ambivalent about bijoubaby's efforts to deceive buyers...Sigh. Meanwhile on to happier things. Is anyone else drooling over the copy of JIM #83 in the current Comiclink auction? JIM #83 7.5 white pages I should hold out for a higher grade copy. The kind that make me look at my car and consider selling it... Bob Storms has (2) 8.0 copies that almost bring a tear to my eye. Too bad we're not born with 4 kidneys... JIM 83 8.0 ow pages

I'm still a fan, but the outlook is grim...

They struck the sets. Ouch. Apparently the fat lady has sung.

Stunning book. Killer spine, gloss, looks like it still has that "wooble" in the pages its so fresh. What does it grade out at? That is gorgeous!!! I can't wait to find out what it grades. Wow. That AV 1 is an absolute BEAST! Definitely the sort of book I'd be afraid to handle if I ever saw it in person. That spine is amazing, and has very high cover gloss. I do believe if I saw this book in person I would go weak at the knees.../nerd swoon

Well, I think I know where the restored 9.2 copy of #85 went: The infamous bijoubaby appears to have cracked the slab and is now marketing it as a 9.6 on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120737557453&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123#ht_500wt_1020 I like this disclaimer: "Returns are accepted if I've significantly misrepresented the item." Representing a PLOD 9.2 as an admittedly color touched 9.6 counts, doesn't it? Sigh. I applaud those of you (trmoore54 for example) that proactively buy the PLODs to keep them out of the hands of sellers like this one. I sent this message via eBay: "This appears to be the same color touched 9.2 that went unsold on Comiclink. Will you include the CGC label for the buyer, to maintain the accuracy of the census? The auction title is misleading, to say the least. You might want to change it to mention it's a PLOD..." bijoubaby's response: He doesn't deny the copy's origin. If a few people begin to believe the listing, this could get ugly...He might get away with it.

My Twin Cities copy (#85) is fairly bright, too. Never a bad thing I agonized for hours over submitting a bid over $260 on the #102 given that I'd lost out 3 times in a row on anything higher grade, and decided against it. It would have been a futile effort as it turns out . Oy! Time to keep my powder dry, as it were, and sell some items to build up a war chest for the chance that another nice book comes along. There's always something...A high grade copy of #83 or a mid grade copy of AF #15 are effectively off the table for me until at least next year (If ever). Then there's that nagging urge to join the Avengers #1 & #4 club. If I can't afford to go blue, go purple? Bah, humbug!

Yeah, the sales thread is hazardous to my pocketbook...I think we are seeing a combination of a market adjustment and a pedigree bump. The Twin Cities ow/w 7.5 copy of #103 went for $334.60. Very strong results for both books. Of course, given 103's relative rarity in the higher grades that could just reflect a few bidders' frustrations at missing out on anything higher recently.

121 has 12 in 9.6 and 24 in 9.4 I see... Paradoxically, a PLOD 9.4 copy of #84 is going begging on eBay, lowered from $5,000 to $4,000 with no offers. No love for a top census copy if it's purple... The PLOD 9.2 copy of #85 apparently went unsold after 6 months on ComicLink, even though it was only listed for $3000. I flirted with the idea of buying that one and having the color touch removed, but that would have been a risky proposition.

If those weren't there on the PC copy, it would grade out as a 9.6-9.8, imo, and be completely unaffordable as a result... I dream of owning 9.4 copies someday, but to each their own. The one copy of JIM that's relatively easy to acquire in 9.4 is #124, with 50 copies in the census (and 24 in 9.6!) which indicates to me that there must have been a warehouse find at some point. There are only 7 copies of 116 in the census, with 2 higher, last time I checked. Last 9.4 sold for $1,434, and with white page quality and the well regarded pedigree I expect this to go for north of $1,500. Out of my league. Speaking of pedigrees, did anyone else notice the 9.0 Twin Cities copy of #102 just sell on Heritage for a record $358.50? 9.0's have been stuck around $260 for years, so I don't know if that qualifies as a pedigree bump or just a normal market correction. At least 2 bidders really wanted it

Yeah, 108's my favorite, but 89's up there, too. I've yet to own a copy of 89 Someday, though...

I received my purchase safe and sound, really well packaged. Smooth transaction, and good communication.

Yeah, that copy really stands out. Very bright #108...

You could say that I've been on a mission... Now will those results shake loose more high grade copies into the marketplace? As for research, you should see one of the most recent posts on the Showcase #22 thread, it is very detailed, in some cases even down to which boardie owns which copy!

Well, the JIM section of the May Comiclink auction is over at last. Strong results, particularly for Journey Into Mystery #83: 9.0 ow/w: $52,102 (last sale: $39,500 in March, highest sale: $42,055 3/2/11) 5.5 ow/w (Marvel chipping): $3,433 (strong price, last sale $2,599 in March) 5.0 ow/w $3,200, most recent sale eBay ow/w 5/9/11 $3,200, highest sale $3450 also in May) 4.0 ow/w $2,701 (strong price, given that 4.5s go for around $2,100) Only $25,250 for the 9.6 JIM 85. I'm not objective about that one. I bid early and often, but I stopped at $24,750...I get to keep my Roth IRA intact Congratulations to the winners!