Roger66

I have seen 3.0 X-MEN 1s that look much nicer just based on FC eye appeal than some 5.0s . Thus you buy the book not the grade more often than not. This also explains the odd price compression you find on GPA (below 5.0) with these fairly-common and accessible highly desirable keys, which have covers that can fade. You have to know what you like-covet and what your budget calls for and if it is a display book in your PC - might as well go for the sexier looking copy.

Action Comics 64 VG-

I call these sales car-crashes . Someone shockingly overpays for some varied reasons a) they don't like eBay where you could have easily purchased a much nicer looking 4.5 copy cheaper at that time and still can b) they are flush with bitcoin money and just like spending it uninformed and wildly c) a bit of a & b plus the winner is naïve. or maybe d) shill bidders working in conjunction if not conspiracy. To quote these very odd sales as anything other than anomalies and to infer or think they are the trend or a precedent of things to come is IMO a disservice to the community, very wrong and just a total misperception of the comic key marketplace. Solid intuition is the partial key to success in this hobby along with a realistic historical sense that if you buy something hot based upon a freak sale(s) - you better be prepared for it to go cold down the road. My 2 cents.

As a young lad of say 12 I liked the finer lines of Adams and later on Byrne and Perez over that of Ditko and Kirby by a large measure. It wasn't until a decades long hiatus when I returned to this now insane hobby that I also understood and found deeper appreciation for Ditko and Kirby.

My favorite artist too. I started collecting around 1978. I remember early on thinking any comics drawn by Neal Adams were head & shoulders superior to other artists and I thus coveted anything drawn by him (with great exceptions to say Bernie Wrightson, Barry Smith, John Byrne, George Perez, Steranko ...). He was a creative genius with an amazing eye for detail and action/drama and his takes on say Deadman, Green Arrow and of course Batman helped define my many hours of reading pleasure as a youth. R.I.P to one of the greats.

The Batman like Dune reminded me of a beautiful looking sumptuous pastry behind thick glass . However, once I bit into it - it was all empty calories if not fat-free. Yes the movie was visually stunning, the actors very well cast and their acting high-caliber. Yet the slow plodding narrative and plot was thin on intrigue and lacking in gravitas. I found myself bored at several points and this Batman felt like it was another very paler reiteration of Nolan's Batman. In the end I did not walk away from this movie with any sense of indulgence, new insights or inspiration but simply the sense that I wasted 3 hours of my time.

Thank you everyone for your input and help so far. What bothers me at this point in time is I asked David to please consider a third party to mediate - someone we both know and respected on the Boards (and that covers a solid handful) but David immediately refused. His passionate belief that I am to be held fully accountable for 2 books that were very possibly damaged by a third party after leaving his hands perhaps a year ago should bear more scrutiny. I know David to be a good guy but his decision to accuse me of "gross misrepresentation" in public without even the slightest consideration that the books could very well have been damaged by the pressing (CV4) and whoever or whatever detached the cover on the Baker after it admittedly left his hands not detached and then find himself further disappointed by auction results - all the while expecting what he unwaveringly determined as "full compensation" from me - is just troublesome in my book. Plus I believe this could have been better handled privately with some sense of earnestness but for David's steadfast refusal to consider even an iota of fault on his or another involved party's end. And if we should mediate - what about the potential damages to my reputation esp if David should be determined fully at fault by a third party of our choosing?

Yes - I believe I do have some degree of obligation (more moral and ethical here btw) to David but not even close to what he has expressed I owe him to make him whole. I look at the Boards and the small pool of solid collectors I've dealt with here over time as friends if not good acquaintances. I am disheartened by all of this (and of course not as upset as David) but I do believe he may bear some degree of responsibility here so far as it appears 2 books were damaged once they left his hands and other factors I have expressed.

David - I respectfully disagree. I addressed this just now and I would ask anyone to moderate our disagreement by fully hearing each of us out. Best, Roger

Hello, Here is my initial response. I never agreed to pay David $2,800.00 to recoup his stated loss here, however, I trust him that this is the dollar amount he believes will make him whole from what turned out to be a unbalanced trade that was in-fact concluded in February of 2021 - over 13 months ago. What truly concerns me in addition to the age of this trade and the late notices that followed (he 1st texted me about the CV4's post press & CGC grade in September - over 6 months after receipt of the book) - was what followed on his end after he received my raw books, which I believe(d) were in fact the grades I gave them and which I assumed David agreed with upon his initial inspection prior to his submitting them and his sending off the CV4 for a press. What I don't like about this situation is that one book (the Baker) despite its' cover hanging on was in fact acknowledged as still hanging on when David received it and mailed it to CGC - thus it was damaged by a third party. What I also don't like is that the CV4, which I believe David agreed with my grade-call despite any reservations - was how it was possibly pressed - yes it came back a low 6.0 but was it pressed badly (?) and damaged I have to earnestly wonder... here are the grader notes provided to me by David that stated "multiple tiny hole spine - wear spine." I remember no tiny holes in the spine when I had it in hand - none. David then auctioned one or more of these books to recoup money at the end of 2021 and when he advised me of the final hammer prices - we both agreed that the prices seemed too low. Regarding the Fighting Yank, which was a CGC graded book - I don't think it was cracked and re-graded as expected on his end because if memory serves me correct I saw it on Superworld's site at a price less than we both initially valued it at at the start of the trade. I am sorry about how this trade turned out for David and I did offer to buy some of his existing raw comics at prices I would never ordinarily pay for them just to help him recoup some money but that did not work out because his asking prices were just too high for me. I like David very much (I still do despite this) and our past history prior to this trade was stellar. If you don't know David - he is a wonderful individual. I am more than willing to have a 3rd party on the Boards moderate this privately and see what his or her opinion is too. There is more I can and will add but I will start with this - I did not misrepresent the raw grades (and I am sure David knows that) and 2 of my raw books may have in fact been damaged by a third party after they left David's hand. Is that my burden to bear? Thank you. Sincerely yours, Roger

I would like to participate. I am in.

Agreed but this the curse of DC movies.. its' as if the directors of many DC films watch the successful Marvel movies and then decide to do the opposite ...

I saw that posting. It was drool-a-licious

Hands down Captain Carrot is the way to go - I recommend buying 1,000 copies of his 1st app. at $10 each now.. guaranteed to triple your value in 5 or 15 years - better then ASM, Brainiac or even Squirrel Girl...

Showcase 4 was always an impossible grail for me to imagine owning when I started collecting in the very early 1980s. It seemed prohibitively expensive then and just within my reach when I started collecting 8+ years ago after a very long hiatus from this now insane hobby. It just never made sense to me why this seminal key wasn't worth more than the market & lemming infused prices dictated - likely due to the lack of sale's volumes esp. in higher grades and the DC stigma. Right now with the explosion of AF15 and Hulk 1 and FF1 and the overall sharp appreciation of these true-blue vintage iconic keys - I predict this scarce population book will be worth at minimum in a blue CGC label at least 15K+ a point within 2 to 3 years. Regardless I am happy to possess a copy.

7.0

5.0

Would you say that same logic applies to buying a house?

Well said - I also remember hemming and hawing not so many years ago over a FF#1 CGC blue 5.0 white pager with a $6,750.00 price tag at a NY Big Apple comic con. It sat there for both days and then at the last hour on Sunday I picked it up and yet felt I might have overpaid for it - and we know how this story ended...

Comics IMO are a unicorn when it comes to collectibles because of the childhood importance of many of these characters, the longevity of this hobby, the constant new blood that enters the market, the movie and media involvement and the limited quantities of many keys in comparison to their high demand. I keep thinking how Wolverine's 1st app. is going to be 50 years old in a couple of years. The aspect of this hobby I caution against are the fools who pay 1,000's of dollars for moderns and variants - money that intuitively feels incredibly wasteful - oh well time will tell and not our present pontifications on the subject. my 2-cents

I made an offer on it for $999,999.99 but he let it expire.

I agree in part - I guess I am looking at this not as a rookie or even a sophomore collector. I am looking at this like a long-time collector, who when I go to a comic con - I know which 1 or 2 dealers to avoid and which ones I can spend hours with discussing prices and ultimately purchasing from. Thus the incessant almost cycadean-like chatter of overpriced comics on eBay etc - I simply am blind too at this point and don't get me started on some of those overpriced live sales on IG.

For me personally the best references for valuing comics - esp. ones that have a sufficient population are as follows: 1) My intuition 2) Final auction sales on eBay, HA, CL etc 3) GPA 4) IG to some extent - esp consigners I trust There are just way too many sellers, who cannot grade, don't know the value of a comic and are simply fishing for fools - that I give their listings zero attention.

I never understood why its worth discussing what some third party chooses to sell their comics at or better yet how individuals choose to spend their own money. One man's $65 steak is another man's just as good Big Mac and another man's $150 bottle of wine is another man's just as good $12 bottle of wine. To each his own - substituting your values for someone else's let alone calling attention to what someone prices a comic on eBay is simply a waste of time and more a reflection of you then the other guy. my 2 cents

Take ASM129 cgc 7.5 per PM