Mr. Zipper

Brett is the guy to the left in this photo from his Biz Facebook page:

I do know who he is, but I do not "know" him beyond chatting with him at shows and making some modest purchases. Brett is the dealer at the Albany shows immediately to the left when you walk into the main room. He typically has a pretty decent display with lots of slabs.

A press may help the eye appeal, but given the heavy staining, I doubt the grade would ever go above 4.0/4.5.

That is foxing stains, not surface dirt... so it's doubtful dry cleaning would do much. A solvent bath would likely remove it, but then you are talking about "restoration."

Thanks, Jon!

Thanks, Mike. I miss our lunches at the Albany Comic Con!!

I did a CGC Box Opening video on the Hulk #1. Check it out...

I'm pleasantly surprised to see so many run collectors (or "completionists" ) I thought this style of collecting was going the way of the Dodo. As a Gen X, when I started collecting, completing runs was the most popular collecting style, so it is much more ingrained in me than "chasing hot books" style.

Good news. Best wishes for continued progress.

Yep. It came 30 minutes after I spent $150.

Is that a long vertical crease parallel to the spine edge?

8.0

7.0 / 7.5

Will anyone pay a few hundred extra for CGC to say it's a 1.5? In my view, as long as the Marvel Value Stamp is not missing and the book is complete, it is what it is and the slabbing adds no value. With very few exceptions, I wouldn't pay an extra penny for a low grade book in a slab. Just my 2 cents.

Agree. This is a reader copy at best. Unless I look from the perspective of a CGC shareholder, I don’t see the benefit of slabbing.

Thanks. It’s good to be seen. Hope all is well.

Really nice eye appeal, but the fuzzy blunting to the spine ends and handful of spine creases will keep it in 8.0 range.

Pic is a bit too far away, but based on the spine creases I can see... 7.5/8.0 max.

I've seen numerous listings from this seller. The fingerprints are there and the location is close. I would avoid.

With a piece that large out of the cover, I think you are looking at a 1.5... 1.8 max.

Not sure if that is spine roll as much as "stacking curl." I think 4.5 is in the ballpark.

Yes... the holofoil image of Turok -- or whatever the hell you call it -- is glued to the cover.

Interesting concept, but I don't subscribe to the notion that keys are defined strictly by value. Value is too fluid. Is Action 1 any more of a "key" now than it was 40 years ago when it was within the financial means of an average person? (Sure it was relatively expensive then, but compared to average income, much more affordable.) Because a previously undistinguished book features a character that appears in a movie and suddenly spikes in value, is it really a "key"? I see "key" as being more of a result of consistent demand over time. Not sure how you'd measure that though. That's above my pay grade.

ASM 129 was a "key" before the term was as diluted and as meaningless as it is today. In the 70s and 80s a super popular character. When I was in school in the 80s, ALL comic collectors wanted a copy of ASM 129. It was highly desirable for 35 years when the talking raccoon and the Guardians were an unfunny joke languishing in quarter boxes. Now the first appearance of even the most meaningless characters is referred to as a "key." ASM 129 actually deserves the title.

Agree. As long as the tanning isn't brittle, they may have slightly undergraded it.