MCJ

Yeah, I really didn't think I was going to win the TC copy. (My secret max was over 20% higher than the hammer price.) My theory is that I wasn't the only one having lag issues during the Heritage auction, and I benefited from having placed my bids prior to the lot hitting the live floor of the auction... Maybe I can trade up to a 9.0 or 9.2 if a copy hits the market, but the owners have been loathe to give them up. I can't blame them... 9.4 and 9.6 are realistically out of reach at this point. That's when I'd begin asking myself, "who needs a Roth IRA, anyway?" (Raises hand--I'm 41) Both copies sport white pages. It's going to be hard to choose the keeper. Now I have 2 copies of JIM 83 & 5 of 85. How'd that happen?

White pages

Thanks. I haven't received it yet from Heritage...I'd like to be able to compare it to the other 8.5 in my collection side by side. Patience is a virtue...

My lone pedigree book thus far:

Putting together a pre-hero set of Journey Into Mystery would be a real labor of love. My hat's off to those collectors.

Now there's something you don't see every day. On this side of the Pond, anyway...

Cool, now I can say that I've seen a 9.0 with a chip. You're a gentleman and a scholar, Bob. That ST 107 has an amazing spine, and great corners, to go with the white pages. Nice pickup! I suspect that the minor spine stress on my copy of JIM 85, combined with the chip, are too high of a barrier to surmount to receive a 9.0 grade upon resubmission. Pity.

No way around it. So far, at least 11 copies from my JIM run have been upgraded, including the 115 to the first ever 9.8. Speaking of your legendary JIM/Thor run, Bob, you had some of those issues for a long time, such as the Mass. copy of #85 since around '94? I have an 8.5 copy that's very similar to that one, with a smaller Marvel chip, that probably prevents it from being a candidate for a resubmission to get a 9.0, even if it were pressed. I've come across several cgc 9.0 books with "Marvel pre-chipping" (chipped, but still attached), but I have not found any examples thus far of a 9.0 with a chip. An optimistic collector would term those as "affordability chips."

Just checked GPA and the Census...no recorded sales of any book above 8.5...only one book in 8.5 recorded sold in Feb of this year for $2746 ( seems like a deal!)... BLUE LABEL CENSUS 2 in 9.4 1 in 9.2 2 in 9.0 5 in 8.5 8 in 8.0 Now that's a tough book!! I listed my old 8.0 on Comiclink years ago at what I thought was a strong price (I think it was about $2100 or so) and someone BINd it within hours. I found out just recently that it was a board member of ours. Truly is an impossible book, especially with decent pages and white cover stock. Many copies seem to have tanning and darker pages. Did anyone notice the Plod 9.4 Journey Into Mystery #84 on eBay still hasn't received any offers (original list price $5000) so they've lowered it down to $4000? If the restoration could be removed, it might have sold some time ago, but that married cover kills the dream of possible conversion to a high grade Blue label... http://cgi.ebay.com/Journey-Into-Mystery-84-CGC-9-4-Purple-Label-/310308271663?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483fd0762f#ht_1495wt_1141

Some hope. I left the snarky comment there about why I thought it should go to Syfy...The most similar show was their Lost Room miniseries, but you probably remember how they aired the Dresden Files episodes out of order, which reminded many people how Fox aired Firefly eps out of order... I'm depressed now, I need a hug... A Scifi miniseries on the other hand, with each volume consisting of one miniseries sequence...Hmmm, not the first time I wish I had "Oprah money."

Speaking of fresh colors! This copy looks like it just came off the newsstand. Nice pickup...

Both unexpected wins from the last Heritage auction:

Vote for which Fox pilot gets picked up for series (Locke & Key currently leading): http://tvovermind.zap2it.com/fox/fox-20112012-pilot-season-dramas-hope-cut/50683 Will it do any good? The poll keeps track of your vote, so we can't vote 1000 times to skew the voting (ahem) Still in the lead, 136 votes at 51.91% of the total, about double that of J.J. Abrams' "Alcatraz." (Shouldn't he be concentrating on Fringe?)

So congratulations are due to the winner of that book today, certainly. The buyer of that 8.5 white pages copy of 83 did well, too.

I think I'll have to be patient pursuing a copy of #84. I offered Darren $2000 for the old label ow/w copy that he has listed everywhere :: and he came back with a counter-bid of $2800, which is more of an 8.5 price. It's assumed that anyone buying an old label will get it pressed, I imagine. I should have made the offer directly on his site to cut out the middleman (Pedigree), but we were too far apart, anyway. JIM 84 & JIM 91 appear to be really tough in grade, and those that have them are loathe to give them up. Last recorded sale of a 9.0 #84 was 2002 on Heritage?! http://comics.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=12061&Lot_No=31222 I imagine some have traded hands privately or otherwise not been recorded by GPA. I had figured some would shake loose in the movie hype, but they'd be hard to replace.

When it came to the Journey Into Mystery lots, most of the action was over via internet bidding the day prior to hitting the live auction floor. I felt glad I'm not trying to complete a run of high grade ASM--some of those lots reached dizzying heights. The 8.5 w copy of #83 went for less than I expected, but the 8.5 ow/w copy of #84 for a new record GPA price. I shudder to think what this could mean for 8.5s or 9.0s going forward. Time to edit that copy from my want list :: Some strong results, particularly on the high tier books, of course. That copy of #86, for example. How'd everybody do in the Heritage auction? Anyone go to NYC to bid in person? I won one of the TC lots, to my great surprise. A brief moment of elation followed by "Uh oh, I won..." I foresee a sales thread in my future...

I admire your technique of scaring away other bidders in advance Jimbo, but you should change that 4 to a higher figure, methinks...A 4's not scary enough. Meanwhile, did anyone else notice that the 8.5 copy of #84 is already at a GPA high (when you include the buyer's premium) with about 4 days left to go in the auction? My tracking bid didn't last long on that one. Now I'm just a spectator, I don't want to influence the bidding by speculating on how high it will go. I'll envy the eventual winner...

Dale seemed to know about the story behind the new 9.6 (see the thread a few pages back), and I suspect he can tell us more, but he stayed mum after I waxed so enthusiastically. That copy had me looking over my Roth to see if I should take an early distribution, but it won't go cheaply, since the 9.4 Canadian owner copy sold for $20,000. Could it go for more than the 9.0 copy of #83 in the same auction? I won't pull the trigger on that one, or even the tasty 9.4 copy of 102 in the same auction. Too costly for one of my limited means. Maybe next year...

At $100,000, the 9.4 did not meet the seller's reserve, so it remains unsold.

I'd like to see both of those copies, though I'd most likely just kick the tires too, as getting either would entail liquidating part of my Roth If anything, the Dahlberg books on Heritage right now could become a disappearing pedigree, as doubtless some of the buyers will remove them from encapsulation and get them pressed in an attempt to get an upgrade. I wonder if sending in the old labels with the newly pressed copies would allow them to retain the pedigree status, with a new registration #, upon resubmission? I think that's a very expensive gamble. I really want to upgrade to an 8.5 copy of #83, but it looks like that ship may have sailed! Another copy of #83, cgc 7.5 white pages hit $8,900 on eBay in January and failed to meet reserve, so I'm thinking that's another case where a change of venue might have yielded a better price. An old label 7.5 ow/w version sold for $9200 on Comicconnect in 8/2008. Just to poke holes in my argument, a similar copy sold 9/2008 for $9,996.50 on eBay, which had started at $1 with no reserve! How refreshing! My newly encapsulated copies of #83 (4.0) and #85 (6.5) on their way back from the CGC were not pressed beforehand, and I regret it, but that's small potatoes compared to the bidders that bid up the 8.0 above $28k to have a shot at 8.5 or 9.0. Will the 8.5 on offer now get bid up to a 9.0's price using the same logic? Perhaps Heritage should move their offices to Las Vegas...

Did anyone notice that the ow/w 8.0 copy of #83 just sold for $28,574 on Clink? An 8.5 just sold for $26,500 last month...Last week, an old-label 8.0 ow/w only hit $12,600 on eBay and didn't make the seller's reserve... If a sales thread on the boards didn't pan out, eBay really isn't the way to go for those 5 & 6-figure books, imo...Not that I have any 5 or 6 figure books myself, but I'm just trying to wrap my head around why the old label copy stalled while the new label w/the same pq soared: Bidder confidence. I'm thinking a change of venue might be worth it when selling, even if the fees are much higher for the seller. At least the buyer can have more confidence when buying through the other auction houses. Waiting to receive a comic through Comiclink, for example, is tortuous as the seller mails it to them, they inspect, then mail it on to the buyer, but at least you know you're going to receive it.

Yeah, the writing on the cover of the (9.0) Suscha News JIM Annual 1 kept me from bidding on it, the 9.2 TC could go for double that It would be interesting to see a poll on what board members value the most and the least when seeking to acquire a given copy for their collection. Centering? Page Quality? Census rarity? Writing on the cover, Marvel chipping, and cover miswraps affect the value by what percentage, etc... Myself, I'm becoming more appreciative of page quality and centering...Thoughts?

Good point. Not "pressable," given the creases. Still, the copy would be worth submission to the CGC.

I appreciate the #85, of course, but the 118 & 119, too. What was the consensus on the PGM thread for the #85, 7.0 to 7.5? The production creases decrease the eye appeal, but that's better than having grease pencil or pen marks/date stamps, imo. (I wonder if pressing the book could help with the fc/bc stains? I'm going to guess not much).

Nicely centered with great page quality!