John Grumbledook

Ok, now nobody can be embarrassed by their “ugly” copy

So about 8 years ago I bought some comics from someone on craigslist. Maybe 40 long boxes or so for about $400. Mostly 90s drek, but some 70s, 80s, and 00s stuff as well. He was an amateur dealer whose girlfriend demanded he make space in their apartment before she moved in. So I took my Volvo station wagon, folded down the seats, and crammed these boxes in. I kind of went through it looking for anything of obvious value or some titles I collected, but mostly it was stuff I didnt really care for so away the boxes went into various closets to be moved around occasionally when I needed to move stuff around. Fast forward 8 years, and what a difference that time makes. I was encouraging my teenage son to sell stuff on eBay for his Boy Scout entrepreneurship badge and volunteered my forgotten drek. But after multiple marvel and DC movies and shows a lot of the stuff I considered junk, or at least not of interest to me, is showing up in these boxes. A lot of first appearances of minor characters whose popularity has really taken off. Moon Knight 1 West Coast Avengers with white vision first squirrel girl what if Jane foster found Thors hammer TWO copies of Marvel Team up 1 morbius 1 2nd appearance of deadpool she hulk 1 spider woman 1 wonder man 1 lobo 1 spawn 1 and so on and so forth....its been really fun going through all of these boxes and collating and inventorying all these books that I considered near worthless last decade. its almost like inheriting a nice little collection.

As a long time collector, most of my comics are in the same bags and boards they have been in since the 80s. I recently have been doing an inventory of 20 long boxes worth and am taking them all out of their old, yellowed bags and want to replace them with new clear bags and white boards. What these days is considered the gold standard in bags and boards? for low value, mid value, and high value comics? I remember for my low value Id use the cheap plastic bags that weren't really that clear and glossy, for higher Id either use mylar or the stiff plastic ones. And boards I just used acid free boards (or as a kid just cut up posterboard for projects - my old What Ifs still have cardboard I cut for them). Thanks in advance, I googled this but got a lot of different answers, so wanted to go to the experts. Cost is kind of an issue since there are a lot of books as well, but it costs what it costs I guess. I also assume the long and short boxes you get on amazon are good, I got some and have no issue with them.

I have a general policy about buying anything with a "hide-a-way" detachable crotch. buy it.

I was always under the impression (i think I read or heard somewhere) that Alfred was based on the yearbook photo of someone they went to school with? As a kid, that faced freaked me out and I still remember one nightmare featuring it. I couldve sworn he was standing right next to my bed when i woke up. And that was at age 5 before I ever read Mad (loved it in 4th gradeish time) but had seen it a few times in parents tpbs.

when did sea monkeys come about? or was that a bronze age offer?

the really valuable book is the first appearance of Smurfette.

I will post some covers, Im currently going through each one - counting pages (and reading the stories) then putting them in mylars. some nice time stamps on some too.

I just got a nice original owner collection of Fiction House comics. 63 issues of Jumbo, Fight, Jungle and Wings. Great GGA collection. about half are in nice shape with intact spines, page quality is a bit dark, but the covers present nicely. same story as always. Old lady is going to throw away her deceased husbands comics (and old school porn newsletters apparently) but decides to sell them cheap to a book dealer. Book dealer sells them at a profit, but still cheap since he doesnt feel like dealing with funny books. Unfortunately somebody bought the Planet Comics before I got to them. But still a nice will to fill out my budding GA collection.

youre correct, now i just buy what i feel id like. im hoping one day the market will be less harsh on restored comics. but then again, it doesnt matter since i never end up selling any of these comics anyway.

sort of...that AF15 was claimed no resto, but was trimmed. i returned for a full refund, then bought a nice 7.0 restored AF15 from a boardie - for much less than the undisclosed trimmed 5.0 havent made quite as obvious a mistake again....blame it on being a newbie. although now im focusing on golden age, so try to be more careful.

I liked his cameo in the Simpsons, when he was cramming the Thing into the batmobile and desperately trying to change into the Hulk "broken...or made better."

found a copy on sale at ebay that may be just as bad. check out his asking price! http://www.ebay.com/itm/160861104957?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 pretty optimistic

I went to an "estate sale" today and mentioned I collected comics. The lady got excited and said she had some comics in the safe. I got excited... until she came back with three ratty 15 cent comics. Action and detective. the flea market stickers had $2 on them...I think she bought them for $1.75 too much. I said no thinks, and bought some old Wii games for my 3 year old, and a monkey wrench just to buy something with heft.

maybe my beer goggles will make it look like a solid 3.5

I think i may own the worst complete copy in the club. Looks better in the pic. tape along entire spine, faded color. But its better than not being in the club at all, right?

I think i may hold the dubious distinction of roughest complete copy of Showcase 22. Cover detached, but rest of book intact and solidly attached to staples. Looks like someone used the cover as sandpaper though, and set their coffee mug down on it. But its mine and I loves it.

I go to about 4-6 garage sales in my area every saturday after Tball, just hoping to unearth that once in a lifetime find, or at least a couple of cheap GA or SA issues. I was about to give up, since 99.98% of what ive seen for sale is junk (i make sure to come away from a days worth of looking with at least a $1-5 toy for my son, so he loves coming along), and also, the high heat and humidity of houston makes it extremely unlikely that any low quality paper comics would survive. until i read about this stunning collection found in the houston area: http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Man-s-childhood-comic-collection-fetches-3-5M-3347485.php so there is hope. if there are no comics on display i always ask if they have them. yesterday one woman said yes, but theyre not for sale, theyre antiques and im holding on to them. i begged and begged her to at least let me look at them. she said come back and leave a note on her truck. although its likely what she means by antique might mean bronze age. its amazing how many peopel on craigslist post ad for "antique" or "vintage" comics, and theyre 20 years old. doesnt hurt to keep sifting through the rubbish though.

got a lot of fantastic four #3,5,6,9,10,11,12,15,16...have most of these, but like having 12 finally, and an extra #5. average grade is good, great deal for a thousand bucks. love buying from individuals.

i saw a baseball card tin i wanted, when i looked inside i found this - signed by kerry wood and kevin tapani. definitely worth the $1

my first cgc submission. i knew it was going to get a purple label, but was pleasantly surprised by the 6.5 and the moderate ( i was expecting extensive) will probably be putting up on ebay soon if anyone is interested

i just bought a fantastic four #1 on ebay....it looked good online - maybe at least a 4 or 5, and the buy it now was 2600.....but as we all know it was too good to be true. it was hard for me to spot restoration, but cgc caught it. color retouch, spine split sealed, staples replaced, tears sealed...basically the book was completely taken apart, retouched, and put back together. on the plus side, it graded a 6.5 - and even better, "only" moderate (a). so still a good deal id say. at least break even. probably put it up for sale, i saw a 6.0 go on ebay for over 6K, and the proceeds will go towards a blue label. i wouldnt mind restored copies so much, if everyone else didnt hate them so much along with their PLOD.