rjpb

TERROR TALES Dec 1935 G/VG lt. tan pages - still supple, no flaking. Decent spine, with 1" front cover split at bottom. 2" tear back Logo and back cover are a little dirty. $195

WEIRD TALES March 1936 VG lt. tan to cream pages. Fine appearance at first, but spine is severely faded. Pages are darkening at edges but still supple. Forest J. Ackerman signature on content page. Unverified, but looks like his. Classic Brundage whipping cover. Conan story. $350

NEW DETECTIVE March 1941 G/VG ow pages Looks nicer, but staples are so rusty they've largely disintegrated. No water staining, must have just been humidity. Nice page quality. Spine is solid but glue is weak at top, and cover is starting to pull away. Small hole punch above title on cover. A couple one inch tears on back cover. First issue of title. Cool skeleton cover. $100

A FEW PULPS AND A SCARCE MEN'S MAG. JUST AVAILABLE THROUGH SUNDAY 5 PM PST. Pulp interest on the boards seems a little low compared to ebay, but I've sold a few here, and always willing to give the boards first crack. in thread rules. Returnable in 14 days for any reason. $7 shipping in US, free over $500. At cost elsewhere. No HOSers or probies. Paypal, zelle, check or M.O. Need a couple weeks to pay? - no problem, I'll hold the books for you. Unfortunately I must collect sales tax from buyers in California. I will invoice when I have zip code. I will discount tax against shipping costs. No sales tax on sales outside California. SPICY DETECTIVE August 1941 VG+ cr-ow pages 2" tear in back cover near spine. Spine is in nice shape. $275

Until you get to the super high grades, the top end of FMV for one grade generally seems to overlap with the bottom end of the next. That copy certainly looks like at least a 7.0, and has white pages as well. If I were looking for a keeper, and not hunting for a bargain copy, I could see paying towards the top end of 6.5 FMV, even if there might be a less appealing 7.0 available for the same or a little less.

After getting back into comics in the mid 80s, I went to the LCS nearly every week for nearly 30 years. I wasn't a big purchaser, two or three books a week on average, some weeks more, some weeks none, but it added up. When I had to start reminding myself to read them after purchase, I knew it was time to stop. I'm sure there s still new stuff out there I could enjoy, but not enough to make a routine of it anymore. I buy a few GN a year now; whatever Brubaker is putting out, and newly printed material by old faves like Kim Deitch, Peter Bagge and Jaques Tardi to name a few, but I'm pretty much done with pamphlets. I've sold most of the floppies I purchased since the 80s, and a number of trades and hardbacks as well.

Not being a huge SW fan I was unaware of the reused material in SW 42 until now, but being that it's a the first four color standard size appearance of BF in the long running and popular series appealing to both American SW fans and Marvel Bronze/copper age collectors, I can see why it is in greater demand than MSS. #16. Cap had appeared in over 100 different comics prior to AV 4, but I guess the ret-conned Silver Age "origin" of Cap's arrival in the Marvel Age always made this issue feel more special than the Torch stumbling into an amnesiac Subby in FF 4, which is arguably a more important book, as it is the first Marvel to acknowledge the Golden Age history of their universe.

Smart. Superhero movies will remain popular as they are designed to take maximum advantage of special effects laden action sequences, but they have probably lost their specialness now that they are so ubiquitous, but what do I know, I tend to get bored with "tentpole" movies in general. Whenever I see reviews mentioning "adrenaline" and "thrill ride" when describing the positives of a film, I read it to mean recycled plots, obvious outcomes, and zero character development. Horror though, is a genre audiences never get tired of, and there is probably going to be a lot of audience interest in the sort of tormented monsters Marvel specialized in.

Yep. At least a 10 in the corner looks kind of impressive to a neophyte collector or casual fan, like getting 100% on a test. It's still label chasing, but one can pretend it's the finest that could possibly exist, the pinnacle of grade collecting. Outside the label chasing community, a 9.9 doesn't look anymore special than a 9.8, just as getting a 99 on test isn't really anymore impressive than getting a 98, or a 96 for that matter.

I don't collect this stuff, so I can be more amused than annoyed by the sudden jump in value of books that hadn't been considered important a few months before. Some of it I understand, like FF 52, where a former B lister, whose first appearance was arguably under appreciated for a long time, catches fire as the character shows an ability to sustain greater fandom. The stuff that seems like a joke, are the first appearances of minor villains and supporting characters who get their brief day in the sun in a movie or TV show, causing a 10 fold jump in a matter of months for these issues, which will undoubtably be unsustainable, and cause a case of "Whiplash" to those who bought at the top before they plummet. A close equivalent in Golden Age, is when the collecting community decides that a book with an cool cover, but not one that had historically been considered "classic", is now worthy of that designation, and the book multiplies in value practically overnight. Silver Age collectors should get ready for that, as well as classic battle covers jumping even higher, as first appearance keys become super-expensive and collectors gravitate towards books that look cool, regardless of the contents.

Not my thing, so I'll guess I'll never understand the excitement over a 9.9 book relative to a 9.6. You're talking about flaws which are barely perceptible without a magnifying glass, and sometimes overlooking production related flaws which don't impact grade, but are more esthetically noticeable. With bronze and later books, the uber-grades are basically creating an illusion of scarcity that didn't really exist before CGC. No one was going to pay $1000 for the mintyest copy of a book that was regularly available in NM for $100. Even the most obsessive mint freaks probably wouldn't have gone more than double.

If there is one part of this hobby that could end up crashing hard, it's the nosebleed prices paid for 9.9 copies of books that are fairly common in 9.8. I don't follow this market closely (barely at all), but am I wrong in getting the sense that such books have a history of frequently having a negative ROI after a record price is paid. It seems in other areas of the collecting market, there is an increased awareness that HGC isn't always the nicest looking copy, but not when it comes to this type of nonsense.

I'll start things off. $300 ASM #5 $150 Fight 18 $150 Thrilling #65

CLOSED

Just one book tonight. in thread rules. Check, m.o. Zelle or Paypal. 7 day return, but shipping costs will be deducted from refund. No HOSers or probies. $15 shipping in U.S. At cost internationally Need a week or so to get payment together, no problem, I'll hold the book for you. Purchases shipped to California address must pay sales tax, but shipping will be on me. ALL TOP #9 CGC 5.0 CR-OW PAGES $400

It is one of the weaker covers of the red frame era, though I don't know if that has any impact on the surviving copies. As you say, Lovecraft collectors just don't want to let it go. In my limited experience Lovecraft fans tend to be a bit more obsessive than say Howard fans.

Good question. Maybe they came from print over runs.

You can deduct your initial cost and all fees when declaring income from selling comics, there are even spaces for it on the schedule C. I keep a record of what I pay for everything, and trust me, the IRS is so understaffed that they won't be knocking on your door asking you to show a receipt for each book. Business income is still largely taxed on the honor system for sole proprietorships. The odds of anyone getting a complete and thorough audit asking to justify their expenses to the dollar is pretty slim, just don't be stupid. Unreported income is seen as tax evasion, disallowed deductions are generally seen as not criminally motivated.

Thanks, just the sort of informed opinion I was looking for. I've noticed the common designation of "Near Fine" used by some pulp sellers for fairly decent copies they seem reluctant to give the special weight of a FN grade to, which I take to mean roughly the same thing as VG/F or FN- in comic parlance.

Along with foxing, transfer stains, and production defects.

Yeah, not a fan of front cover dust shadows. Every time I see a bigger one on a book in better than 6.0, I think "bad grading". I know CGC doesn't consider eye-appeal in their grades, but buyers do when considering a purchase. I can't how many times I've clicked the GPA link in a Heritage auction and seen a low price on a given grade, and then clicked on Heritage's archives and seen the book in question and thought, "yeah, that's an ugly 3.5" or something to that effect. Conversely books with superior eye appeal for the grade frequently go for a premium. That's what makes me laugh about CVA. They will point to the high price for a stickered copy, as if the sticker adds value, but really it sold for more because anyone can see it's an attractive copy for the grade.

I wasn't really being serious, though if one were to create such a futures market it would probably have to be in more frequently traded books, like higher grade bronze and copper keys, but of course even here, there would be opportunity for market manipulation.

So if you were to purchase 51% of all existing shares, could you take controlling interest in the comic, or are these all non-voting shares? Next up is a comic futures market where you can offer to buy or sell a comic for a set price at future date. No actual trading of comics need happen, you just settle up based on 12 month GPA average at that date.

Registered mail is not an option on ebay, which is also a drag if you want to insure an expensive book. A 3K book will cost you about $24 more to send trough regular insured priority than insured registered mail. You could purchase RM postage through USPS and then enter the tracking number on ebay, but as you say, it appears to void seller protections if you don't buy postage through them.

Dust shadow would have no impact at this grade level, but 3" tear will. Safe 2.0, maybe 2.5 as it does appear to be more like a 4.0 otherwise.