Buzzetta

So he just relisted a book he does not have in hand yet. It is the same copy just won from SparkleCity. I will offer my losing bid. I looked at both copies before I posted the link and they are the same. It does not show up in your link but it does show up when you do a search. The seller is reputable. He may have purchased it as inventory with the possibility to make $500 off the book. However, annoying that he does not have it in hand. I have done business with them so I will not call them out on it. I would like to continue doing business with them as I still need a few more books.

So he just relisted a book he does not have in hand yet. It is the same copy just won from SparkleCity. I will offer my losing bid.

I can't argue against the insanity, but here's some other hammer prices on ASMs in 9.9 from this year: #239 3,501 (ComicLink) #275 1,351 (ComicLink) #298 1,532 (ComicLink) #300 6,101 (ComicLink) #312 825 (eBay) #319 1,226 (eBay) #323 1,136 (eBay) Well here is where the debate starts... I paid $60 for a copy of Amazing Spider-man 303 in a 9.8 earlier this year. Is a 9.9 of that copy really worth about $800-1000 more? How about an ASM #252 at CGC 9.8 for about $250. There are quite a few on eBay right now at this price. Is a 9.9 really worth $5,400 more? Apparently it was worth it to the buyer. But why not buy an AF #15 instead? Ah well, shan't hate on those uber-HG Spidey collectors. To each his/her own. I agree with you on that point However, I am still trying to figure out the exponential curve on a 9.8 to a 9.9 in relation to a 9.0 to a 9.2 or a 9.6 to a 9.8.

I can't argue against the insanity, but here's some other hammer prices on ASMs in 9.9 from this year: #239 3,501 (ComicLink) #275 1,351 (ComicLink) #298 1,532 (ComicLink) #300 6,101 (ComicLink) #312 825 (eBay) #319 1,226 (eBay) #323 1,136 (eBay) Well here is where the debate starts... I paid $60 for a copy of Amazing Spider-man 303 in a 9.8 earlier this year. Is a 9.9 of that copy really worth about $800-1000 more? How about an ASM #252 at CGC 9.8 for about $250. There are quite a few on eBay right now at this price. Is a 9.9 really worth $5,400 more? Absolutely not...

Secret Wars 8 came out 7 months after Amazing Spider-man 252 allowing readers six months to realize how cool the black costume was? Many more were saved?

I can't argue against the insanity, but here's some other hammer prices on ASMs in 9.9 from this year: #239 3,501 (ComicLink) #275 1,351 (ComicLink) #298 1,532 (ComicLink) #300 6,101 (ComicLink) #312 825 (eBay) #319 1,226 (eBay) #323 1,136 (eBay) Well here is where the debate starts... I paid $60 for a copy of Amazing Spider-man 303 in a 9.8 earlier this year. Is a 9.9 of that copy really worth about $800-1000 more?

Thank you... I actually like the looks of that 5.0. It is on my radar. It would be on mine, too, but the rust on the staples has migrated to the cover, so I'll pass. Didn't notice that... Thanks for pointing out. I briefly looked for it in the catalog and was pleased it did not have the foxing that the 6.5 copy had.

Between Heritage and Sparklecity auctions closing on Sundays, it looks like it I want to actually sell my under-copies of my books that I should allow my auctions to end on Saturday... Too many auctions are closing on Sundays these days to remain competitive.

Thank you... I actually like the looks of that 5.0. It is on my radar.

Sparklecity is now carrying books by reputation... check out X-Men 142 in a 9.8. Sparklecity's copy is currently at just above $200. Another seller has a BIN at around $175 that also includes free shipping that is just sitting there.

I actually read it this afternoon... Interesting twist on Victor Fries...

I bid on that up until the end. I refused to go higher than $2000 (I went $1985 just to see if the guy before was going higher than $2000) on that. I will take a slightly lower grade when the time comes. On to other things...

Book I am VERY interested in... but I may hold off as I have my eye on a whale... Or I may say to heck with it and try and take both home.

I think it was cheaper when taking a break from a paper involved going to the bar. When I attended college immediately after high school, there were plenty of distractions from getting work done. There were the girls, the bars, the girls and the bars. When I went back for a masters, there were plenty of distractions of getting work done. There were the girls, the bars and the work from my day job and the work from my day job. Now that I find myself wrapping up the first 12 credits of another program to acquire the ability to advance my career, (if I should so choose) the biggest distraction is the internet and collection building. Mind you, that this is not putting me into poverty or even what I would call a financial strain. For the most part of it all, it is buying things that I would have eventually bought anyway as a means to assembling my collection. The problem (if one were to even call it that) is that I am doing it rapidly. I find myself sitting in front of a computer at almost every waking hour away from work in order to complete paper after paper, designing and rehearsing presentations as well as doing research on top of the take home work that I have from my regular job. Whenever I want to take a break though, I do not have the luxury of spending a few hours in absentia from my responsibilities. The easiest thing is to run a few searches on eBay and look through the selling forum. Distraction created, another book down, back to writing. Sigh... I will soon enter the internship phase... Luckily I can fit two Phish shows into my schedule before that starts. I can only imagine how those of you with families handle it... I tip my hat to those of you that do. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I saw the other post regarding the Captain America auctions that were offered a couple of months ago. When I saw the preview for the auction, one of the items I had coveted was the Cosmic Cube but that seemed a bit ridiculous to spend my money on something like that when I could throw those hard earned dollars towards comic books. Thanks to google and youtube... The Cube will eventually be mine as soon as I have a free weekend... Enjoy for anyone else that wants one.

This is good to know as it reinforces my understandings of how it works as a buyer and a seller. Every now and then I am willing to roll the dice if it looks like a deal. A couple of years ago I had bought three (non CGC) slabbed books consisting of Hulk 180, 181, and 182 in a 8.0, 7.0 and 8.0 respectively for a little over $400 from a seller with 0 feedback. I had figured that I would be protected in a worst case scenario. Yes I received the books and was happy with that one too. The only one I am unwilling to roll the dice on is anything over a few thousand... So far I will only trust Comiclink, Metropolis or any of the big dealers or Con purchases for something like that.

Thanks to all of you. On quick question though... this was basically a gamble for me as I could not see the book clearly due to his pictures. I basically trusted the assigned numeric grade. If I had received the book and found that the case had been tampered with or some other kind of shenanigans... up to what dollar amount was I protected? Would I have been covered up to the full $1000?

Very Good Yeah Bro, nice books! Kinda cool to see some moderns thrown into the pictures! Thanks!

Absolutely It seems that all the Valiant Keys are taking a slight jump and I wanted to pick up a few of my favorites before they climb to a price that is no longer worth chasing. So far: Solar Man of the Atom 10, 11 Magnus Robot Fighter 1, 12 Shadowman 1, 8 Turok 1 X-O Manowar 1 Eternal Warrior 1 (Gold), 5 All of them are in 9.8's except for the EW Gold in a 9.4 and the Solar 10 in a 9.6. This stuff is getting trickier to find in the 9.8's as so many were eventually dumped into discount bins after Acclaim shut down. Still trying to get ahold of a EW#4 in a 9.8 at a reasonable price.

Showed up on my doorstep today... While working on the Spidey collection... I got a little distracted this week...

Book arrived this afternoon: I do not have a legal sized scanner so the pics from the iPhone were coming out better than the scans. The mark above the point on the "B" in "Batman" is a printing mark as are the dots of yellow mist by the "N". There is a right side ding as noted. However on the left side, the spine better than what the fuzzy pics revealed on eBay. The bottom edge does show a couple of marks on the bottom right edge. I have a Neal Adams SS copy waiting to be graded in Sarasota so if I make a run at another AF15 then I may consider selling it down the road to raise some cash. For now though, I am happy to add it to the collection.

I have been a bit busy the last few weeks... Closing in on finishing this set and then after that I may upgrade a couple of them: This is what I have picked up: The two moderns were thrown in as I have been looking for a 9.8 of issue 441 (Final Issue before they renumbered) for awhile and and waited for a cheap 9.8 of the first Iron Spider costume... A few more to go...

I mostly collect Spider-man but about seven years ago I sold my Batman collection to pay off the college loan. (181 to what was then current) I always regretted selling a few of them and this one was sorely missed. For the few issues that I will buy back, I want issues that are in a higher grade than the ones I sold. Thank you to the well wishes on the score. The seller shipped it out this morning and I will post a better picture of it when I receive the book.

Ha - Did I do "good" ? It was a book I always wanted back after I sold my Batman collection about seven years ago. I figured that $1000 wasn't a bad price in consideration of what people are asking for on a 9.4.

Ah, so that was you I bought it from you?