divad

Green is a mixture of yellow and blue. The yellow has faded away leaving the blue. Notice how faded the yellow is in the other areas. Where's Michael (Poverty Row) when you need him? I recall he went through the whole progression of color fading in the restoration thread many moons ago. Someone with actual four-color printing experience.

One thing is clear: There appears to be a strong tendency for owners of HG faded books to think that the cause is otherwise

David, Everyone that has posted here qualifies . . . -d Yep. Anyone can own this book. Buy one, and leave it in your window in direct sunlight for awhile. Watch it turn into this copy. Divad, what grade would you assign this comic in VF this being the major flaw. Certainly no more than a VG, but realistically? I think fading of this magnitude should be viewed as one very Large stain. 3.0 Tops. I'm not really sure how CGC would weigh in - Anyone?

David, Everyone that has posted here qualifies . . . -d

Faded as the day is long . . .

Depending upon several factors: the indicators in the book now (as to staple replacement) such as rust, staining or obvious physical modifications, the matching qualities and condition of the new centerfold, and the condition of the existing staples and/or replacement staples; I believe there is a remote chance that the work could be done (by a professional) such that it would be undetectable. That's a whole lot of "ifs" however. I don't think there would be a grade bump. The Green label alone accounted for the staple replacement and missing centerfold in the original submission.

That all depends on who does the replacement . . .

+1. MTIO 5 should be in the "Bronze That's Going To Explode" thread. Except that that's the joke thread . . .

I'm not entirely sure if it was a transformation of the industry as much as it was a transformation of the marketplace - on this I agree with you 100%. I think the industry lagged behind until mid-2001 - there's a long period of just drek where sales were in the toilet from the late 1990s. Amazing having a print run of under 20,000, things like that. Yeah, I agree with that distinction. Consumers reacting instantly, while publishers and retailers were a lot slower on the uptake. I would put the "Modern Age" starting with Amazing Spider-Man 30, Fantastic Four 60, some of the other reboots that started right around then. Maybe Daredevil 1? There's a completely different feel from Amazing 25 to Amazing 30, for example. Call the period 1993-2000 the "Dark Age", something like that. Terrible art, terrible stories, no sales, etc. etc. etc. I definitely think the era of 1993-XXXX does need a negative connotation to it. I see the turning points of Mid ASM V2, USM #1. Loeb/Lee Batman run as big turning points where stories and art got good again. There was some awesome stuff that came out during that period as well. I guess most of if toward the end of that period, but still.... Off the top of my head: The Invisibles Bone Transmetropolitan Morrison's JLA Starman The Authority Flex Mentallo Renaissance or Early Modern period. Either of these is way too kind . . .

As it should be, too imho. Look at The Abomination fergawdsakes - his first cover appearance on TTA 91 (battling the Hulk) is awesome! Yet #90 gets the $$$

Could we get back on topic? (Instead of providing example after example of why and how the market is changing). Any books heating up?

This is definitely the worst of the bunch . . .

This. (except it's cite not site. )

Ok, ok, but are there any 2nd print Newsstands with Mark Jewelers inserts???

While that is a part of it, over the past couple of years I have seen way more early 20s collectors enter the market and for them the Copper Age keys are the big books tied to their youth. They have jobs now with decent disposable incomes to chase the funny books that are key to them, and it is not BA or SA. If they follow the trend, they will eventually migrate to BA, SA and GA books, but right now CA is what they are most familiar with and that is what they are chasing. It happened with SA back in the day, then BA, so it only makes sense that demographics are impacting the CA market now as well. I think you mean people in their 30s, but I see your point. No, the new early 20s types I see at shows are buying the CA keys, as the people in their 30s (me included) chase the BA/SA/GA keys. They did not grow up reading the books, but when they started reading comics, characters like Deadpool, Venom, Carnage, Harley, etc. were big deals so this is where they initially gravitate towards regarding keys. As those are checked off the list they will follow the same progression that the rest of us did in either going BA to SA to GA or SA to GA as they can afford bigger books. This is correct. The mythos is first established, then the true seeker finds the grail.

That is a total scream. And scary, when you think of how many of these may be actually out there for any post-1975 issue.

The key words here, are of course, "at the moment."

Yep, once again, the classic small photo group shot. "Unread" is analogous to using "natural" in describing food products, it's meaningless.

Yeah, I'll miss this one. It's always nice having a 9.9 on your sales page to bring in viewers and keep the haters at bay.

You are comfortable calling that a 9.6 with those color breaks on the back cover? Quite. Those two ticks are the only defects on the book. It's a sweet copy.

Can't remember if I posted this one already . . . Scott Snyder "The Black Mirror"

The Dark Knight!

Gaiman Rulz