vaillant

I quite agree, if there are no defects not detectable from the scans, a solid VF++

Mixing the Guardians of the Galaxy with these inconsistent mash-ups they have called "Guardians of the Galaxy" is like trying to dilute oil with water.

WoW! That is lovely… I am still missing it.

This kind of "speculation" can also be seen a sort of "dark side" for the collector and the normal guy (I mean all those which are not dealers by profession): it makes you slip in the frame of mind that you have to buy and sell to earn money mostly to fund your collecting. Regardless of the content, it seems.

Rick prices books mostly according to older Overstreet Guides. I just thought it was wonderful. Well, it would have been MORE wonderful if I grabbed it as a downgrade for mine…

I’ve seen that…

Very true. I am one of those speculators who got back into the mix thanks to these websites. Heyyyyyy, I resemble those remarks. I got back into the hobby in Aug 2013. I thought variants were very cool and bought a lot of them. Now, I still speculate on moderns but I know enough to have Silver, Bronze and a little Copper in my collection and to not buy so many variants. It's all a learning experience. Unfortunately, the "old guard" are pretty uppity when it comes to speculation. Regardless of what people think about how others should spend THEIR OWN money, the hobby is just fine. In fact, some of the new collectors/speculators are the ones buying their Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper so that they can buy that same book in a higher grade (speculation). It's still called speculation. Even "readers" aren't buying books to fold up and put it in their back pocket. Books are read very carefully so as not to cause any, or more, damage, speculating that the book will not decrease in "value". Speculation, Holmes. Partially true, but that is not the proper, original meaning of the word "speculation", which meant study. As long as the term started to involve calculations about income and mere commercial value its own meaning was overshadowed by considerations of convenience and no longer for the love of knowledge as a means of caring. Regardless of how each one of us "feels" about it, what remains important in objects we cherish and/or collect is (in the case of comics) what the artistic value of the stories (or even the art) has given and gives us. If calculations about value help to keep the market healthy, be them welcome, otherwise we are on a slippery slope.

The Guardians of the Galaxy in Marvel Comics Presents is a great series. Well, all of the (not so many) Guardians stories are. And Starhawk is a wonderful character. If you decide to sell the Brother Voodoo run I might be interested. I have never read them and I see they are written by Len Wein. How’s the page quality?

Even if this is the "Copper's Heating/Selling Well on Ebay" thread I was saying it’s a shame they are not known and appreciated. I wasn’t thinking about the value. Also, I was talking of books up to 1991 max. (and so the very early Wolverine, in this case) – most of the following years' productions were just bad. I would not pay $0.50 myself for most of what Marvel published in the 1990s. i have two kids, a big mortgage, and a job that doesn't pay that well (considering where i live). i spend 97% of my waking hours stressed about money and 93% of my dream-time as well. I know, I recall when you talked about it. And I’m sorry about that, also because I have a dear friend which is a lawyer which is in an unfortunate situation. I know you’re joking but sleep quality largely isn’t much helped by tranquilizers. It depends mostly on how you approach sleep.

Even if this is the "Copper's Heating/Selling Well on Ebay" thread I was saying it’s a shame they are not known and appreciated. I wasn’t thinking about the value. Also, I was talking of books up to 1991 max. (and so the very early Wolverine, in this case) – most of the following years' productions were just bad. I would not pay $0.50 myself for most of what Marvel published in the 1990s.

$7? Don't scoff, that's 600% more than I got when I sold this book at a con in June That's really a shame. This book was absolutely smoking hot in 1990-91. Punisher and Wolverine? Together?? Jim Lee??? (Well, ok, not at that point, but still...) Classic cover, the whole 9. Such a shame. Same goes probably for the early Wolverine issues. So loved and appreciated at the time. Or for the New Mutants and X-Factor. Yes, a shame indeed.

It seemed to me that this Fantastic Four #48 had rusty staples, and it ended at over $1400… http://www.ebay.it/itm/262064574029?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

And repeat after me . . . THIS is not Luke Cage. THIS is Luke Cage: I can repeat it ad nauseam, if you like. And I entirely agree on the fact that you have to weight the importance, and base the development, of a character, from its original inception time and place. The characterization of Cage influenced by 1990s movies "Boyz in the Hood" is equally bad. No, wait, the current one is badder – we owe it to Bendis.

Might be, but in the end it did not sell, so I wouldn’t break my head on this.

To everyone surprised by my "reasons properly": yes, that is precisely what I mean. As long as they are things like these "first apperances" they hold very little relevance in the unfolding of the story of the character.

I also got back into it in the early 2000s, after having left the hobby in the mid 1980s. I remember going back into a LCS for the first time again, kind of exploring, asking the owner (laughingly) what I'd missed after all those years. He summed it up with three things: CGC Pedigrees Variants And then he said to me, in so many words, "I'd suggest staying away from the variants". I still feel that was good advice. Unlike you all, instead of restarting I actually stopped after the 2000s. I usually have had shorter "collecting cycles" on this and that thing, and so I wasn’t surprised to see the price changes. Actually, in 2012 certain Golden Age books I would have never thought "in reach" were approachable, the problem came when I decided to go "Ultimate" on the Marvel age… But now the organism is showing the signs of the illness. People should also re-learn to actually READ their comics, they were done for that.

And with good reason! I would SO love to have this one, even if the actual first appearance of the Blot happened on the newspapers. (thumbs u And it actually has a connection with my post: Guido Martina, the creator of Paperinik, was also the first author to pick and re-utilize the Phantom Blot, in "The Blot's Double Mystery", an early classic that Gladstone wisely presented in USA as the very first italian story finally landing there (it’s serialized in the early issues of Mickey & Donald, I believe 6-7-8, IRRC).

They are both great books for their stories, not necessarily for Darkseid which is revealed gradually so they hold importance, but not just for this. All the Fourth World is worth having, maybe Forever People and Mr. Miracle are the less accomplished ones, but still the saga "ends" (is interrupted) with the last issue of Mr. Miracle, where Darkseid "drops in" at the marriage of Scott Free and Big Barda.

Also, I do not know if I already suggested this (for current comics reading), but check Aama by Peeters which has been translated in english: http://www.amazon.com/Aama-Volume-Smell-Warm-Dust/dp/1906838739

I apologize to the OP, but I have to state this: that was not only – or simply – bad writing, but utter idiocy (even bringing back N. Osborn alone). To state that this is a good story "if you are not a diehard Spidey fanboy" is an insult to writers which developed the characters for decades, and also to generations of readers which grow up loving and nurturing its values. And Straczynski should be ashamed to have accepted whatever request Marvel made to him to produce this shameful stupid thing. This also produced absurd and unlikely side effects, like having stories written by good writers (Roger Stern) featuring Norman Osborn, and all that came afterwards.

This is the story: http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL++706-AP

I love these! Speaking of cool things, be sure to check the just released Donald Duck #5 (from IDW): after 46 years (my own age) the first apperance and origin of Paperinik (the Duck Avenger) is presented for the first time to the english-speaking population (and in USA).

I’m not saying it is heating up, or that it will, but it should. Check out Donald Duck #5, the regular cover. After 46 years (my own age) the first apperance and origin of Paperinik (the Duck Avenger) is presented for the first time to the english-speaking population (and in USA). Reference: http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL++706-AP

Not really. If one reasons properly, the only truly important book if you care about the character and her introduction is Ms. Marvel #1.

Needless to say we want to see it!