SOTIcollector

I am a huge fan of two mil Mylites. https://www.egerber.com Crystal clear, flexible like a standard comic bag, and acid free.

Hi, Andy, I think you may have inadvertently posted the incorrect back cover photo. That looks like an ASM back cover (#42 perhaps). But I understand the question you're asking. It's important to distinguish between two types of imperfections that comics can have: spine roll, and miswrap. When a spine is rolled, typically due to storage under less-than-optimal conditions, the pages get fanned out because the book's spine is shifted from where it started out. When your FF57 was new, it probably didn't have those pages sticking out along the right side (pronounced at the top right edge, but absent from the bottom right edge). That's likely to be spine roll. A miswrap is when the cover is stapled in a way such that the spine of the cover printing doesn't align with the printed spine of the comic, where the front cover image meets the back cover. On the books you pictured, there's probably a staple going through the "comics group" in the box in the upper left corner of the comic. A miswrap happened at the printing plant, and is not something that happened to the book later in its life. A press can fix a spine roll, so that the pages align well. I have seen cases where press can "fix" a miswrap, so that the image on the cover presents fully, and the comic is folded where the cover SHOULD have been folded, rather than where the comic actually was folded. This isn't actually restoring the comic to its former glory, but giving it a brand new spine location that it never had when it was new. Doing this would result in the staples being somewhere other than the spine, and the pages in the front half of the book would not be even with the pages in the back half of the book. In the case of your FF57, the staples would end up in the front cover rather than on the spine. I personally wouldn't recommend trying to "fix" a miswrap this way, but I'd be curious as to what others with experience addressing miswraps may have to say. It's important also to recognize that pressing involves a lot of human effort. An inexperienced presser can make a comic worse than it was to start with. Even an experienced presser can make mistakes. because they're human. And when pressing involves more than just squishing the comic exactly as it is, the paper is gets stressed. There's a danger that staples could pop, or other imperfections could be introduced. So to answer your question of "would it cause any stress or damage to the spine", the answer is "it could." Best of luck, whatever becomes of your book.

Absolutely!

One of the toughest early Valiants. I'm down to my last few, but have 9.4, 9.6, and 9.8 available at the moment. Chaos Effect Alpha Red CEAR CGC 9.6 PLUS Chaos Effect Action Pack | eBay

From my perspective, as somebody who goes to a show looking for comic books rather than toys, games, Funko Junko or any such anciallary stuff, it was a great show. Easy to get to, easy, free parking, easy and timely admission for people who bought the VIP package. I could have easily gotten a Jim Shooter signature if I wanted to wait in a not-very-long line for one. As far as Covid precautions go, you can't do much better than a huge arena with very high ceilings and lots of space. I even picked up another book for my collection of 1948-49 Marvels with anti-Wertham editorals. Oddly enough, the pictures above of the Terry's Comics booth were taken while I was at Terry's booth, just before I bought that book from him. I'm looking forward to the next show!

Oh, and the magazine has one more pre-comics comic book connection. The advertising manager was a character by the name of Leverett S. Gleason.

I came across something today that I thought was really cool. In 1931, Vince Alascia the inker would have been 17 years old. Just about the right age to be reading this "Open Road" magazine for boys. And in 1931, somebody named Vincent Alascia from NYC received honorable mention in this art contest. The pieces fit, IMHO, but I'm no expert. Do you know more about Vince than what I learned in a few minutes of Googling? It seems likely the contest winner and the inker are one and the same, but I'd love to know what you think.

It would be a huge surprise if any of the comics are in gem mint condition. When comics are brand new and fresh from the manufacturer, very few can ever attain a grade of gem mint. Typically 9.8 is the best one can reasonably expect. If something has been in its original shipping box for nearly 3 decades, it is highly likely that many copies would have indentations, waviness or other issues just from the box they were stored in. Depending on the storage conditions, the page quality could have suffered. Inspect the books very carefully before you ship them in, and send only the best of the best. Here are some steps you may want to take. Step one: pick out the 20 best books that you can find. Step two: post a representative of that batch, with high-resolution pictures, in the PGM forum. Let the experts here give their opinions of how it will grade. Step 3a(optional): identify whether the books would benefit from a press. Pressing can improve defects such as non-color breaking creases. However, other defects that break the color will not be improved by a price. Step three: Use the knowledge you have learned from the grading of that one to come up with your best guess of the grades on the rest of the batch. Step four: Check actual sales prices for the book, in the grades you are anticipating. Can you make enough money to make it worth your while after the submission fees, pressing fees if applicable, shipping, and fees for a sales platforms (such as eBay)? If you are happy with the anticipated return on your investment, then send in your first batch of 10 to 20 of them for grading. Keep in mind that if you’re dealing with hundreds of books, and you want to get full price for them, it will probably take much more than your lifetime to sell them all. With a quantity like you are describing, you will probably want to sell many of the books at wholesale. That would require taking a significant percentage (50%+) off of “fair market value” to convince people to buy. Also keep in mind that selling a lot of them at once can have a very negative impact on the market price. That is why you probably would not want to grade more than 10 or 20 of them at a time. Grade some, and then when you have sold those, grade some more. Best of luck!

Sorry for the delay in responding! One lot is yours!

ask yourself questions questions. Do you personally like the books? Is the price worth it to you? if the answers to both questions are yes, then buy them.

Given that these go for about a buck apiece new (according to my exhaustive two-minutes of Googling), I was hoping somebody would have a use for these used ones at a fraction of that. If there are no takers, I'll shut this down and try elsewhere. If all else fails, they'll go out with the trash, but I'm really hoping somebody has a use for them.

Here's a cheap way to identify the books in your longboxes of unslabbed books. White plastic title dividers. But not just ANY white plastic title dividers. VINTAGE title dividers. These were used in a comic shop in the mid-1990's. They show signs of aging (some have yellowed) and wear. These are well used, and some are a bit dusty. Some are pre-printed with the names of series you probably don't collect (Heathcliff, one?); others were never pre-printed, but have titles written on them in marker or printed laser labels on them. What these need is a new home (yours!) and your labels. Back when I used these, I would print Avery 5160 mailing labels for them. With mailing labels, it's easy to customize the tabs on these dividers using logos or whatever font or images you want. These things are heavy, but I can fit 125 of them in a flat rate Priority Mail box. Your price for 125 dividers is just $26.50 via PayPal, shipped anywhere in the US including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam or the US Virgin Islands. If you're in the Springfield, MA area, you could save $15.50 per lot with a local pickup, meaning you'd get these for less than a dime apiece. Sorry, no returns because shipping is so expensive. Photos coming momentarily. The comics in the photos are NOT for sale and are NOT included in this lot. They are in the photos just to give you an idea of size. These dividers are great for bagged/boarded books, but are far too short for slabbed books. I have two lots available, first , first served. Just let me know if you want one or both lots.

Awesome book! LOVE IT!

Congrats to the buyer and seller! Awesome book!

In my experience, they are not split at the spines nor glued. They are typically trimmed on 3 sides, though. Previously-bound books that I’ve encountered have many holes along the spine from the binding.

The short answer is “no.” A miswrap like that is common on comics. In fact, that one isn’t actually very severe compared to many others that I have seen. Frequently collectors who are new to comics expect that production defects will make the comics more valuable. That may be because of their knowledge of some other collectibles: People who don’t collect anything at all have probably heard of the Inverted Jenny postage stamp, estimated to be worth more than $1 million because of a misprint. Coins with errors on them are known to be worth more. However, there is an important distinction between different types of collectibles. Coins, currency, and stamps all go through rigorous quality checks before they are released. This makes errors exceedingly rare, and they are very much sought out by collectors. Comics, on the other hand, have quality checks that are nowhere near as strict as the quality checks for those other items. Comics commonly have errors in coloring or wrapping or cutting. Comic collectors typically want their comics to look the best they can. If asked to choose between a comic with a perfectly wrapped cover, and a comic with a miswrapped cover, at least 99 out of 100 collectors would take the one with a better wrap. Therefore, a miswrap is not viewed as being worth more in the marketplace. Quite the contrary, a production defect that decreases the visual appeal of a book will typically make it less desirable, and can devalue it. The only defect that I can think of that typically increases the value of a comic is when the comic has multiple covers. That is something that adds value, and some collectors seek out. Those collectors will pay more for a comic with multiple covers.

While re-reading the 1955 US Senate report on comics and juvenile delinquency, I came across my answer. It appears that it was common for entire books to be returned in their entirety. "The newsdealer is charged for the entire contents of the bundle he receives. However, the newsdealer may return the comic books, if they remain unsold, as in the case of other items, and receive credit. The Wholesaler may route the returns to other dealers. When it is finally determined that certain returns are not salable, the wholesaler returns them to the distributor, for use in his accounting with the publisher, returning either the comic books themselves or their covers. There is also a practice in the industry of putting groups of returned comics books into thicker books, and reissuing them under a new title and cover for a sale price of 25 cents."

It's been a while since I've offered one like this. Here's a grail for somebody who wants the ultimate SOTI experience. Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Fredric Wertham, first edition, first print, first state (with bibliography!) The dust jacket has some paper loss at the head and tail of the spine, edge wear, and two small closed tears on the FC. The book is very tight and clean. Unmarked with the following exceptions. There is one stamp inside the FC and another on the front free end paper. There's a yellowish stain on the "how to hurt people" illustration page. There is tape residue in one place on the front cover and one on the back cover. All 16 illustration pages are present. And more importantly, the bibliography page, pp. 399-400, is present. $995 shipped in the US. This is available for immediate shipment in the US. I may be able to make arrangements for shipping outside the US, but you should know that 1) I use only shipping methods that will allow me to insure this for its full value, so shipping is likely to be expensive. 2) I won't be able to offer international shipping until April 26th. If shipping outside the US still interests you, let's discuss. Cash is king, but I'll consider trades as well. My primary wants are slabbed SOTI books and anything else related to SOTI. I can sometimes be tempted with other GA books, art, and oddities, though. in thread trumps all. Photos to come momentarily. For more information about which edition of this book is which, check out my SOTI website. Seduction of the Innocent Editions (lostsoti.org)

Thanks for the pickup!

PM incoming

Sorry, not this time.

I have offered it in the past. Typically there's much less interest in it than in SOTI. Are you looking for one? I may well have a spare.