FineCollector

Sure, but that's the argument being made. Something happens, people want it, price breaks out from issues around it, so it's a key? I dont think so.

Where do we fall on Marvel Team Up 62, first meeting of Spider-Man and Ms Marvel? Had people looking for it a few months back. Seemingly significant enough to move the needle for some people. Does that make it a key, or is it just a cheap book people were speculating on, just in case? Cosmic Ghost Rider is Punisher, right? Is first Frankencastle a key? Long term demand has to play a part in being called a key, otherwise you can call anything a key. Some Facebook bozo on a live stream tried to sell a 90s Amazing Spiderman as first Black Cat cover. Was he on crack? Try Asm 194. Okay, 3rd cover? No, she was in Spectacular for years. Okay, 3rd time appearing on the cover of ASM? Still no, but I got blocked before I could qualify that for him any further...

I cant picture being without my collection. What am I supposed to do, sell everything and then wait to die?

Buy what you want, not what anyone else wants. Purge anything that means nothing to you, but kept in case you might be able to trade it one day.

Never had it happen to me, but I'd go with "dont care." Some people are just more important than the rest of us. Estate sales around here are hot garbage, so I've never been in danger of getting into a fist fight over funny books at 8am. Anyone have any good stories about someone getting hopping mad and getting thrown out for being a jerk at one of those things?

Morrisburg... take Bank street south until you run out of road!

First flea market visit of the year. There's a regular there who has boxes of books, records, pinback buttons, militaria all kinds of things. Grading and pricing on the comics is a mystery, but found these two that I didn't have to haggle over . Passed on some silver age Atoms at $80-140 for 5.0 shape, low grade JLAs in the late teens at $100 each, low grade Strange Tales at $60-80 each, that kind of thing. You can deal him down to the right price sometimes, but didn't want to spend the time on stuff I didn't need as much.

I wish more people had their website and eBay handle in their profiles. The old timers know each other like that, but I'd like to know who the good sellers and helpful contributors are on the outside.

What else did you pick up?

The fact that there's no JLA or Titans makes this lot sweeter. There's a metric ton of junk JLAs in that era, and I cant think of a Titans issues after 44 that cant be had for a dollar or less. $25 a long for an orderly collection is a gimme, I'd buy it without a second thought. I don't get the hate for Wonder Woman: volume 2 wasnt overproduced, and sells very well around here.

You're right on target. If Super-dude #17, first appearance of Super-Dude's sidekick, is a $3 book and it spikes to $40 due to a movie, I want to understand the monkeys driving the book up to $40.

After watching a certain movie this weekend, I wondered about books that spiked in price due to rumors, but turned out not to be true. I'd like to better understand the buyers who set market prices on comics that spike drastically (and fall). Do any of you have anecdotes about collectors who chase the top market prices, and get burned when the books cool? Do they take their licks and keep buying back in like bad poker players, do they see the light and start buying more sensibly, or do they just quit the hobby entirely? I'm assuming that despite us all having speculation failures in the past, the current market is being driven by novice collectors with dollar signs in their eyes, who dont have as many years invested in the hobby as we do. I'm also assuming that most people buying at top prices have limited funds, that is, they maybe living in mom's basement, but high prices arent being driven by rich oil barons and princes who have unlimited funds to buy whatever they want. Feel free to correct those assumptions if you see fit.

What so many fail to understand is that quantity is quality. Not random boxes of drek, quality is complete, curated runs. Run collectors buy "quality" as well, but we see value in every issue, not just the expensive ones. To me, keys are just expensive run filler. I can't harsh on anyone's decision on how to collect, but I can't understand how anyone can appreciate a box of unrelated keys, just because they're more expensive that the issues around them. Comics are serialized stories, what's the point of owning a story you can't read? That's like owning the steering wheel off a sports car... why bother? I honestly think key collectors are trying to relive a youthful image of their first time in a store with wall books, and that's why so many key collectors are compelled to display their stuff. High price tags shouldn't be a reason to collect, the books are. Shane's problem, as I see it, is that the run had to be in 9.8. Why put an arbitrary limit on your collection that makes it unfeasible to complete? Golden age collectors know the struggle well. Find a copy first. If you don't like it, find a better one later.

Amazing Spidey is generally the gold standard in any era. You lose nothing by having them, someone will always want them. That being said, I keep beating the drum for Black Cat stories in Spectacular Spider-Man. Their whole relationship, gaining her bad luck powers, being hospitalized, their split... no one cares.

I suspect the OP just wanted to gush about how much he loves the Artgerm covers, and is upset he didnt find us a receptive audience! To answer the unspoken question: yes, we're jealous of all of your Artgerm covers. We'll look back on this very thread in 20 years and say "darn, the OP was so smart. I wish I'd bought all those Artgerms before they were four-figure books!" You're well on your way to paying your child's college tuition! Keep it up!

My spare bedroom is the comic room, the guest room is in the basement. A) flood protection for my books B) better climate control for my books C) I don't have to listen to guests snore D) I don't have to listen to guests shag Let's see where this goes!

Rhetorical question: they know they cant put suicide in a Spidey movie, right?

As a midgrade collector, I can say average copies of the non-keys between 1-28 have shown steady growth, while 29-100 havent been this cheap in 20 years. Before this current wave of attention, 5 and 36 were up, but FF fans were happily plugging away at their runs. Now, there are players who will buy the run, flip the major keys, flush the rest. First Diablo or Dragon Man dont seem to count for anything, those get flushed too

Does anyone else think the Naomi hype sounds a lot like Sentry when he came out? Most powerful superhero ever type stuff... Bendis had his mitts in that one too.

Find yourself a Cap 350. Sums up the whole story arc, plus retells the origin of the Red Skull. Nothing that spikes lately is worth what people are paying, but that doesnt stop them.

I'll bet you $100 by PayPal that's Steve Rogers.

You're kidding, right?

I agree with the mob, one active thread per section. Is this worth a vote, or does it look like a landslide?

It must mean something to the modern guys, because I looked, and IDGAF