Westy Steve

So I can see a problem with domestic tranquility if you use option C but then flip the book. Second question is what point in time do you evaluate the book. Like how do you decide when to sell?

Anyone? Mods are happy now.

This book had a very light subscription crease and a corresponding bend. Bought this year’s ago because it otherwise looks so great. But my presser did a good job with it. How about a cover grade? The back is nicer than the front.

Ugh. OK I’ll edit the thread. I wasn’t trying to do more than three books. I guess I’ll just subtract the book from this thread and start another one. So, do you have a grade opinion on these?

This book looks like it suffered one heck of an impact. But my presser did a great job with that. How do you think it grades now?

I’ve got ONE books here. I’m not that good at grading higher grade stuff so I’m wondering about this Conan 24. Also do I have a second book but it poofed

I'll give you a counter argument. I'm in my mid-50's (probably like most of us), and I have teenage girls. Once in a while I try I'll try to get them to watch some of the old fantasy/science fiction movies that I grew up with that are now classics and highly regarded. Their response is that "they seem terrible and dated". My response to them is always the same: "It's all we had". Back in the day, there weren't a lot of outlets for the (sometimes closet) fantasy lover. While the early FF seems campy, they were pulling together the elements of science fiction and human drama, but it was up to the reader's imagination and desperation for something good to fill in the gaps. It's all they had.

Ok, on the one hand you want more clarification than the bullet point synopsis in my first post. But in your next sentence, you're saying not to post here. Which do you want? This is a GENERAL posting area, is it not? What's the order of "General"? Further, my post is clearly marked as Scammer Alert and gives the names...you didn't even have to open the thread to be warned unless you wanted more info. FYI: A guy is scamming people through the Want to Buy ads...thereby bypassing the sales area completely and never putting up a reportable post...this won't help sellers much. I'd rather err on the side of breaking etiquette to protect the people. But I'm not sure I did since this is a general area.

Trying to post it where more people will see it so it will help more people.

Heh, I got him to give me a postal address. Enjoy:

Here are the facts: I posted a want to buy ad for a NM Conan 58. Was contacted by Andrew37. He told me he wasn't in the U.S., so he couldn't buy the book, so he as passing on a lead to me. Interestingly, his member name won't let me email him now. But he told me his friend, Hayden Lewis had the book for sale. Hayden sent me a picture of the book...complete with a water mark that says "mycomicshop". I wrote back and asked him if it was the actual book for sale and he told me "yes".

Thanks all

I’d appreciate some help with a numerical grade estimate. Assume that I’ll press the book. TIA.

True. But I think that 25 years ago (Yikes!), there were much less collectors than there are today chasing books. Another factor is how the internet affects things. I remember when you practically couldn't get an AF15 unless you went to a big show, and maybe you could find one in a grade that fit your budget and collecting style. If you go back far enough in time, you could pick up some amazing golden age keys at a large convention because there were so few collectors and large conventions...(this was before my time). I do remember trying to find an affordable Batman 47 back in the day. Took me a long, long, time to get one that met my not-so-rigid criteria. Today I can have one in an instant if I have the funds. This brings in the concept of "internet rare", and it's impact which is a whole 'nother ball of wax. The ratio between collectors vs. books has to be reconciled.

After really taking my time getting through college (Wasn't the best student but by God...I had fun!), I graduated in 1992. After I started making money, but before I got married in 1995, I really ramped up my spending on books. I was a regular at the big shows in Florida, carrying trade bait in a briefcase, and buying key books that I'd kill to have today. Back then, I remember the sheer reverence I felt for some of the early Golden Age books. I'm talking about the Early Actions, Detectives, and Marvels with the Human Torch covers. Despite my decent salary, those books were still the deep end of the pool that I couldn't wade in and I was buying silver and bronze age keys of characters I could identify with. And of course, over time, those really early Golden age books got even more ridiculouslyrexpensive...my window to purchase them began to close, but I was distracted with other stuff and wasn't grabbing them. I envied the guys who did and felt those books were cool but somewhat esoteric.. I figured out something though...in the early to mid 1990's, those earlier golden age books were 55+ years old. I considered them super old. Now I find myself gravitating toward early Silver Age material. They seem so interesting relative to their cost. I'm not really grabbing first appearances (too expensive and maybe a little bit bubbly), but the early books give the flavor of the clunky/wierdness of the early days of those characters. I'm enjoying buying them. Then i realized, the silver age books I'm collecting are around 55+ years old. So in a way I've become like the collectors that I marveled at...and maybe my collecting interests are esoteric by today's standards. Or perhaps more refined? And the "kids" collecting their first Gambit and first Carnage appearances are much like I used to be. It's likely that in the long run, they could be making wise choices, though I do remember watching markets slow down once in a whil. Funny how the wheel turns like that.

Got mine done at around 10PM. I only had one book though and already had a membership.

I’m trying to wrap my brain around the last few comments. The spine on this book is comparable to a VG or a Fine book. It’s in good shape structurally. And I was under the impression that when you press a crease you change it from a valley or a ridge to a flat area and in the process you are drawing the “painted” areas closer together making the White area thinner.

I hear you. But when I use go collect I look at the most recent sales in low grades to calculate a price per point. In today’s market there’s no sense in using 2020 data just because it corresponds to the numerical grade on the slab. Some quick ratio calculations are prudent. Look at the price activity for 0.5 for that issue. Granted, weird stuff happens at the bottom of the grading scale but it gives you a flavor.

I love giants. I had this idea of trying to collect prehero giant monsters in fine or better. They are rarer than people think above VG.

Seller's photo. (scan?) Bought this one and I'm waiting for it in the mail. What attracted me to it? Simple...I've been looking at JIM books for a while, and I didn't remember seeing this one. And it seemed cheap. So I checked go collect and it confirmed my suspicion that these don't sell very often (or at least the sales aren't tracked). Maybe it was low distribution (I mean...if they can say that with Conan #3, why not?) Anyway, absolutely NOTHING happens in this issue at all. But it's early Marvel and the cover is classic.

Thanks for the info...Not to bias anyone's response, but I'm looking at it the same way...the book is unlikely to drop a grade with a clean and press. It's hard to gauge the potential increase in value, but I think you're under estimating it. Your estimate that a drop to 1.8 would be $200 is about right as I'm seeing ask prices above $1,000 per point. I would think that the (approximately) $1,000 per point applies to the upside also, so a 0.5 point bump would increase the value of the book by $500, which is part of the reason I'm doing this...not to sell it, but rather to have a more valuable book that my heirs can sell (though all bets are off if the market gets just stupid with Skrull mania). Also, I'd like a more modern case and I'd like the book cleaned and pressed for better eye appeal....but is it worth the risk?

Side my side slab comparison

Hey guys, I got this in the mail today. I don’t have buyers remorse but I noticed that the book didn’t look as bright yellow as the pictures seem to portray it. A few points. One is I can tell the book was never pressed. Second I’m wondering if the cleaning might brighten the colors a little bit? And third this seems to be the darkest blue/gray? shaded CGC plastic case I have ever seen. I’m just wondering if maybe the case itself got sun faded or something? Seems like it’s not nearly as clear as it should be based on how the edges look. Am I right? so should I send this off to have it clean pressed and re-graded? Obviously I risk the book coming back at a lower grade but in your opinion do you think it would come back as a lower grade with work done to it? If you had to lay odds up on that, what would they be? Am I taking a big chance here or is this a no brainer?This would be a big decision for me so I really would appreciate your input.

One way to spot restoration is look for how fresh the edge of the cover is compared to the paper or other edges of the cover. Paper oxidizes. Suppose that a book was trimmed yesterday, but only on the top. Then you'd expect the trim cut to expose fresh(er) paper on the top of the book compared to the sides and the bottom. This doesn't work with an old trim, or if they trim everywhere, but it's one more tool in your toolkit.

OK I swear I read half this thread and I’m trying to find the answer to a question. If I fill out the online submission form today, but I press them using my local guy and then send my books 3 weeks from now and they are received a few days later (But not logged into their system for a few weeks after that), Do I get the old pricing? Has anybody called and asked CGC the specific question?