Westy Steve

Check this out. Pocket Guide to China U.S. Army 1942 CGC 5.5 (White Pages) | eBay I also saw some comic book-related slabbed pocket books. The nose of the camel is now under the tent. Someone should send in a Dell Dimer to see what happens on your next submission. Steve

Awesome. Let's just say that the seller didn't update his webpage for about 18 months then. Yeah, that's still "cold" by todays standards. Or is it? Digging the Batman. The late gold/early silver (so maybe that's "electrum" age) Batman and Superman books don't get enough respect.

Oh my God! That's the one! I haven't seen that since I was in Jr. High! I only had a dim memory of it. It's so cool to see that again! What issue is that from?

Not meaning to answer every post, but I was looking at that yesterday. Back when I was picking up low grade Avengers for less than a McDonald's worker's salary, I remember thinking that book seemed unobtainable...in the same league as Showcase 4. My memory might be faulty, but yeah...I'm in total agreement. Need to find a shop that will allow me to put one on layway...soon as I pay off my current book. FWIW, here's my most recent "cold" purchase (just paid it off). Issue #1 is out of sight for me, price-wise, but still considered "cold". Issue #2 is getting extremely expensive. But issue #3 seems cheap considering it's his 3rd appearance (or maybe 4th if he was in a cross-over I'm not aware of). They were still treating him like Frankenstein's Monster...he'd turn into the Hulk only at night, which I find charmingly different. Plus it's got a rocket ship on the cover, which I've always liked after falling in love with the cover of Speed Carter Spaceman #1. This is the seller's photo, but what I liked about this book is the colors seem to pop...could be creative photo editing by the seller. Can't wait to get it in the mail.

Hadn't thought of that. I remember in the comics, Ultron kept coming back. I guess all of the villians do, but he'd always come back in interesting ways. I recall one issue where a kid was in a junk yard kicking a can. Then the drawing zoomed in on the "can" and it was Ultron's head. Great stuff.

Cool book!

Feel free to show pictures of the cold book you recently bought.

Do both

Look at coin collecting. U.S. coins. If you consider comics to be an "unhealthy" collecting environment, then coins should have been buried long ago. Yet, other than stratification and a flight to quality, they still keep going. Just like with coins, most of the guys in this forum will buy comics until they die. So you have at least that long to even start to worry about it. Regarding selling your comics to diversify. Imagine if a financial planner told Bill Gates in the 1980s that most of his fortune was tied to one stock, so he needed to sell off most of them to buy some mutual funds. Diversifying is how you play it safe. Focusing is how you get rich (or go broke). Choose a path.

Dang, I should have offered you $2K for your number 2 before you had a chance to look it up. I used to have a #2, and (like a dumb azz) sold it. The #2 has climbed significantly...possibly just in sympathy of the #1...they often do that. Of course, I wade around in the shallow end of the pool...never going much higher than VG. Avengers #2 sounds interesting...I'll take a look at it. Regarding Sgt Fury...I was kind of surprised how much the 1st issue moved though. It used to be fairly cheap. I should have snagged one of those, but I could fill a book with my dumb decisions. Hence my not wanting to get "whip sawed" by jumping in and watching it all reverse.

Heh, I just bought a Hulk 3 because of its beautiful color, its early Marvel pizzazz and because it's "cold". Looking for more stuff like that. FWIW, my interest in "cold" isn't so much about finding a good opportunity as it is about not losing its value when (if) the overall comic market cools down. TBH, I've watched a bunch of my formerly cold comics get hot and I sold them, and now I'm regretting that and trying to rebuild my collection. I need books that will deliver me from temptation and still be interesting.

Edit: I edited this thread. People are reluctant to list cold books because they are chasing them. So instead, why don't you show the "cold" book you recently bought? So I keep reading the forum for Silver Age comics that are heating up, and using it to figure out what NOT to buy. Unless the "heat" is extremely recent, in which case I sometimes buy things because of FOMO if it's a book on my long want list anyway. Remember Journey into Mystery #118? First Destroyer? Today it seems to have ONLY a 20% to 50% premium over every JIM from its era right now, even though it's the first appearance of a movie "villian" (machine?). I want to be careful not to buy a comic now, only to have it go all JIM 118 on me, slowly leaking like the tire on my wife's SUV (yeah, I gotta get that fixed). So what are the "cold" or "cooling" books? (I'm talking more about out of favor books here). Maybe unspoiled by the cinematic universe, or they had their turn on the Marvel/DC CMU merry go 'round and the ride has stopped. I know there has been a lot of talk about DC keys being cheap, and I believe that's accurate. (Not my picture, but it's available for sale at a fair price at a popular auction site)

And it's sold...thru a CAF offer.

I'm seeing an influx of collectors that I describe as "those kids on their cell phones using the Robinhood App to purchase Tesla and Bitcoin". I see them in my other collecting interests too...not just comics. I wouldn't characterize them as "gamblers" per se, but they are more like "buy it because it's moving" investors. They don't consider the fundamentals (i.e., Tesla is now worth more than all of the other car companies combined), but instead only focus on momentum. Essentially, they are focusing only on the Demand side of the equation, with no regard to supply (e.g., there are a lot of Spidey #300s out there). So my response is to be a contrarian, and focus on buying things that are rarer (and perhaps on the fringe of being a key).

Longtime member here, but never sold artwork on this forum. It's been hiding in my closet for more than 10 years and it needs someone who will appreciate it. This piece checks a lot of boxes. It's an anniversary issue. It's Conan, and it's as close to a D&D dungeon crawl as it gets. He's leading a party with Red Sonja and others. My terms are: Paypal or money order (held until cleared). U.S. Sales only. Shipping is included in the price. Issue 200 Conan the Barbarian page. Val Semeik art. Price: $500. First "I'll take it" get's it.

Exactly. Don’t get me wrong Spidey 300 has Mary Jane in a négligée. I’m definitely a fan of the book but it just doesn’t make sense for me to buy books like that right now. And I think people are spending all their money chasing a few books and leaving bargains in their wake.

Thanks. Hope it's priced fairly

Yes in my photographs there is a slight shadow in the bottom of the pictures. My house has crappy lighting. My terms are I accept PayPal only. US sales only. I might be talked into Canada sales if you pay a bit extra for the time and trouble and have a good reputation. Shipping is included in my price for US sales . First “I’ll take it” wins. Your private counter offer is not considered a win unless I acknowledge acceptance. One book. I honestly don’t know how to grade it. I think it’s a 6.5. I could see an argument for slightly higher or slightly lower than that. There is a chip out in the top right side of the cover. I believe this book was pressed and I think whoever did it did a decent job. Book is very supple. Page color is probably off-white. (revised) $450 shipped

After many years of collecting mostly Bronze Age and later books, I've returned to collecting Silver Age for the dumbest of all reasons: Because now it seems to be more affordable than the demand driven books in the 9.0 and higher grades. And don't even get me started on the wonderful non-key silver age books out there....they seem cheap.

Thanks. I'll be saving my receipts!

Would you consider updating your original post to provide a simple summary? Was the law passed?

Hi, I'm trying to read through this thread to figure out if this bill did pass. So based on this comment it did? And changes take effect in the 2022 tax year? Or will I get a tax hit for the stuff I sold/am selling this year (2021)? Thanks, Steve

Tracking down one of these at a fair price was harder than I thought it would be.

Everything. Everything is heating up.