Randall Dowling

It didn't sell at 36k. They're asking 40k for it now.

I've seen a lot worse books in 7.5 and 8.0 slabs. Nice book for the grade.

Is there something else going on with that book? Because it looks really nice for a 7.5...

Tough call. For story and nostalgia- FF 5, That book is permanently etched in my memory as one of the all time classic comic stories. For practical and financial considerations- X-men 1, First mutants (Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl, Angel, Prof. X), first Magneto, not much more to say. But the story isn't as good as FF 5, IMO.

Wow, Foggy! I was just going to search for this thread and here you brought it to the top. Is it just me or is this title really starting to heat up. It seems like only a year or so ago, you could find multiple slabbed copies of #1 in 9.4, 9.6, 9.8 for sale on eBay. I just looked and there's a CGC 9.8 BIN for $1400 and that's it. And the prices people are asking for later issues raw is pretty impressive. Apparently, this sold for the BIN. I put low to mid grade copies of this issue in multiple packages as a free extra when I sold books to board members. Wow. Glad I bought these when I did!

I remember opening one of our cases of that book and putting them out for sale when it first came out. It was heavily hyped by both Diamond and Capitol City at the time so we ordered heavy, something like 4x the normal number of copies we'd order for Amazing Spider-man. Most retailers did the same.

Sorry to hear this. He was extremely prolific and an very talented writer. He also worked on Star Hawks with Gil Kane which is one of my favorites.

Here's a snapshot of Psycho on the current census. Couldn't quite get the last couple issues in one shot and keep it legible but you get the idea.

Well, sonofagun! That's an impressive spread, Terry!!

Digests are kind of a weird chimera that don't fit well into any category except for themselves. I'd be glad to see their own thread... after I'm through collecting the ones I need.

I like your taste in books, sir.

Well, well, well. After looking for many years for a nice, white, clean copy of this magazine, my ship finally came in! Very pleased with this book! Edit: I got a better photo of the book.

Understatement.

If one is good, two is better!

Your post is completely logical and it makes good sense. But when I comes to multiples of certain books, I can't explain it. It's not a speculation thing. I just feel better having multiple copies. Reminds me of the classic TV ad from my childhood- "Can't get enough of Super Golden Crisp" It's completely irrational. Books like this fall into that category for me (this copy is thanks to an awesome board member):

Already taken.

Anyone that works in system design would tell you that this is a management problem. It's management's job to modify and/or create systems to address these issues and they're clearly not able or willing to do so. It may sound harsh but it's true. Everyday they don't publicly address this and successfully solve the problem, they're damaging the brand.

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating exclusion of posting all these different publications. I'm a big fan of foreign books like Metal Hurlant (have the first 10) or Spirou or cool US publications that aren't comics like Famous Monsters, Men's mags, etc. All of those should be welcome in the magazine section, IMO. My suggestion is just trying to simplify calculating the Top 10 most valuable magazines which is exceptionally difficult. And, FWIW, @jimjum12 I completely agree, Metal Hurlant 1 would fetch a big number in high grade.

Along with Spirit Weeklys and Spirou!

Brisket and fries...

Yeah, it's kind of one of those "I don't know how to define a magazine but I know one when I see it." situations. I do think you have to separate "comic magazines" (having sequential illustration art) from all other magazines even though that kind of shuts out Famous Monsters. You're correct, of course, any of these distinctions eventually leads to an arbitrary decision.

That is weird...

That's a quality line up of creators!

Damn you, Banner!

People can shrug about Mike Zeck and how he feels about this but I guarantee this wasn't a great day for him. Realizing that you sold something for hundreds that became worth millions, even 35 years later, feels bad. Not the reward I'd like to see these creators get for the entertainment they've given to so many. I personally subscribe to the belief that living creators should get a percentage of the sale every time their work sells for a higher price.