vaillant

the desire of a non-boardie..probably. Considered we are on the CGC boards? Well, I just think these are "ideal grades", nothing to do with the professional grading in the end, which I appreciate.

They do look great, and I am very envious that you have multiple copies… and I am still missing #34, dang!

Yes, but the sense was unaltered either way: it does really matter to distinguish between markets, that’s how I’ve read it.

I have to correct you: 98% of italian collectors would not want a slabbed book. In fact, there is a friend of mine that has said that if I get involved in trying to introduce pro-grading in Italy, he would stop actively collecting. I know it’s a provocation, but it gives you a good picture. As for the poster and stickers, I believe they are historically important and for many kids they gave additional "magic" to the comics, but personally I would go after just a few issues which are tied to strong personal experiences, especially considered they are now so expensive. I am still undecided if I should keep my Defenders posters (I have all three of them, both from ASE, Hulk e i Difensori and I Difensori), and I think I might end up giving them away. I gave away my italian ASM #31 which included a super-cool Ant-Man poster, so I raised some money to buy 1930s and 1940s italian comics, but I somehow miss it (I never attached it to a wall, it was pristine mint).

Inversely, I think they should have never "invented" grades like 9.8/9.9/10 – especially the last two, are "ideal" grades. The maximum grade should tend to 10, but more or less should be treated the same way. Most 9.6-9.8 would satisfy any desire of a "perfect" copy, IMO.

It should be labeled incomplete, but if collectors care very little about it (as it happens here, 90% of collectors do not care for posters of stickers) from a practical point of view it becames a matter of preference – you should always remember collecting markets are very different. Federico applies his reasoning across boards, so to speak, because he also collects in original language, but most italians really aren’t after the stickers and posters. :shrug:

As Federico said, the ink above and below the book are not, like with US editions, "distributor’s spray", but rather they indicate the book was returned from the newsstands. I usually do not care about it, but here it affects the value as most people do not like the ink. Strictly speaking "manifesto" translates as poster, they are equivalent words in Italian, but as Federico said, the early posters were larger in size (4x the size of a book) while the late 1970s one were just 2x the size of the book. Always stapled, unlike the first ones which were just inserted in the books.

Aside from the very slightly miswrap, your #67 looks like it has excellent cover paper quality, which is not common at all. To be honest, one of the things I care more about is a good quality of the interiors printing, and that often makes very difficult to choose between copies. I already showed my two #67, and I have two #65 but luckily I found a copy of #64 which meets both requirements. 29dukedog is right: I decided to go for a #48 now that people are distracted…

I’ve yet to use them effectively, the only time I posted it did not help because I was looking for a pair of GA books which are obviously scarcer than average…

I am not familiar with Corno print runs, but if you take the average print runs for popular comics in Italy in the 1970s, most were huge. Our leading Disney title, Topolino, reached one million copies (for Italy alone), so I guess the Corno books, which were very popular, had pretty high print runs in proportion.

It has great centering. I love my copy (and the cover is crazy white) but it’s a bit miswrapped. My second copy has a great wrap but has some small water staining on the rop right. This made me undecided on which one I should keep, but given #65-67 are among my favorite issues, I have kept both for now.

#66 is a milestone: great story, great cover, and a lot tougher to find in grade than the second part of the story in #67. (thumbs u I bought my first #3 in 2002-2003 for about $220, now hard to find a decent GDVG/VG- for less than $400-500. And that was one of the issues which did not spike.

I guess there is a good number of people irritated by the price spike on #46 (not to mention #45)…

Andrew, Matthew, there’s been an ongoing discussion on the italian forum where I participate recently about how the posters and stickers were distributed. I did not bookmark the discussion, but roughly there were three periods: in the first one (this one) the posters were just paired with the books and distributed within the book, loose, and stickers were stapled in the inside pages. In the second period they were polybagged, and in the third both stickers and posters were stapled, but stickers were between the cover and the first wrap (like in Matthew’s Dracula ASE above). So, to answer Andrew's question, I don’t know how CGC or CBCS would handle this specific case… in fact the poster is part of the book, but was not physically attached to it. Same goes for the polybagged period. To attempt an answer for Slim Pickins: first, these were by no means "micro print runs". Italian print runs were always pretty huge when a main publisher was involved, and Corno, except for its final years, was a big publisher. These books are not scarce by any means. In grade, maybe, but not in general. As far as potential resell value goes, I believe the best thing is to pick books in nice grade, letting aside the presence of stickers and posters. The resell value holds in both cases, it’s just different. For example, the Uomo Ragno I picked for Matt above, is a 15-20 Euro book without the stickers, but with them is a 80 Euro book. But this is a less sought after one. The ones for which the posters are effectively scarcer (one coming to mind is ASE #28, corresponding to Defenders #4, which had a Ghost Rider poster and a sticker), can go for a lot, but not having a Guide and the americans' precision here it’s a bit of a gamble. Also, here in Italy, although technically "incomplete", the books without the stickers and posters are the norm, and they are considered complete regardless. The posters and stickers are a "plus" and most collectors do not care about them. If you want, Andrew, I can just ask my friend dealer if it happens he finds a decent copy of #1 and then we can see about the poster. I would not worry about the poster for the value: a Uomo Ragno #1 is always in demand, with or without the poster.

That is a very interesting story – thanks for pointing it out! (It eluded me, as when I looked at FF I was mostly considering the Unknown Soldier stories). There are a lot of interesting WW2 stories in "minor" publishers titles: I would also love to know which are the best stories from DC and Timely books – I mean in terms of originality. Not being in the public domain, and not having any hardcover, I haven’t been able to read any. Four Favorites is definitely a very interesting title… I must add #9 to my list. In #8, however, there is a pretty disturbing Unknown Soldier story involving Japanese villains and "freaks".

Thanks, I seemed to get that Shield TV series was set in a more "realistic" way, i.e. without much slant on powers et al (I am thinking of what I have read of the "Deathlok" they have used, for example), so it‘s quite a surprise to hear this. It is, but #41 is not a key after all – I believe he will surely have other opportunities even if he wants a high grade copy.

Completely agree. The right casting and nailing the fx for the hair takes them 75 percent of the way towards selling this movie in the trailers. Problem is that in most cases today the quality of a movie, even of an "action" movie, is almost measured in how surprising or spectacular are the special effects, and in finding a "good" actor alone (whatever that means). This is something which can work with "throwaway" entertainment (but even then I doubt so). The lasting value of a movie (as of any other form of narrative) ultimately lies in the story, and how this affects the characters. BTW, I am not interested in Marvel movies at all, I was speaking in general.

The new Jimmi Linguinii listens to opera music alone – no longer that rap mess…

Yup, I see that Qualified is used both for the stamp missing and for the married page. Strictly speaking, marriage is "restoration" so maybe it would make more sense to treat it as such, but I am not complaining, as far as colors go I prefer Green to Purple, just in case…

Medusa has objectively been one of the characters which were developed more and more in depth, considering as early as the early 1970s she also was a temporary member of the Fantastic Four (written by Gerry Conway). These are just great stories, they show a big maturation in the characters and are dramatic and insightful at the same time. Even if one is put off the ingenuities/fault spots in storylines highlighted by Rodan, the 1974 Inhumans original series was very good as well. Hey, #41 is not THAT essential (and also has not-so-stellar inking), so cheer up budsbundy.

P.S. L’Uomo Ragno #1 is also the first italian appearance of Dr. Strange.

Andrew, I can try to find one for you if you want, but with the poster it will be very expensive. This is a copy I managed to find for Tim, without the poster. I obtained it from a dealer that is my friend for around 100 Euro, but it usually goes for more (at least 150 Euro) in decent grade. The poster looks like this, and can be very expensive. This is a copy on eBay.it priced at 700 Euro, which I guess it’s pretty crazy and of course it’s still there. I can ask to my friend dealer if you want, I also know the poster has been reprinted so maybe you could settle with an original and the reprinted poster? PM me if you want me to ask him.

This one looks like a reprint to me, it's just too White. You’re right, it does (as we also know how scarce it is). So in the end they may have reprinted just these two. Do you have it in hand or just the picture?

My "opinion" is that taste does not constitute a valid argument per se. As much "crazy stuff" as you call it, they have imagined in the Marvel age, as I said Black Bolt limitation has probably more to it than being just an "inability to speak" (due to its power). It is an inability to communicate, his limit is strictly related to his power and role – that’s all it forms his personal value as a character, so in my opinion you can’t discard it by simply saying "it’s boring": that is not an opinion, it’s merely taste. I can say that I don’t like certain (many) current comics, and I can argument to death the reason for which I don’t consider them valid artistic products, but I think we should always try to say more than just "I like it" and "I don’t like it" – that’s what I meant, nothing personal. @Bronx: I would like to upgrade my #46 but honestly it is already out of reach for me. Not all people loving Marvel comics are willing to spend hundreds on each and every book of the run. :shrug: Which is the "Agent of Shield" storyline? By "modern version" are you referring to something specific? The new Ms. Marvel is also an Inhuman, and I think it will be a core title for what Marvel is intentioned to do, regardless. The last issues featured Medusa and Lockjaw. I quite like the title, and now it has some Fantastic Four tint to it…

I honestly could not care less for slabbed books but I had to tell you I just love that Windsor McCay Uncle Sam illustration. Just wonderful…