Roger66

Hulk 181 VG/F - take per PM Thanks Ed Unrestored. Shanna MVS is good. Staples at centerfold and cover are solid, No hidden defects

FF48 cgc 3.5 take per PM

I've always thought and expected the WTB posts were more lax and all about the inviting of private messaging as in "hey I have that book in a VG or I know a dealer, who has a copy etc" and not about public monitoring-educating so far as telling someone how vague or how specific their post need-ought to be. Just move-on IMO if you don't like how the WTB is posted. my 2-cents “If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you.”― Harlan Ellison

CGC 4.0 CBCS 4.5 PGX 5.5 so you have options

Ummm.. a BAT#1 you say - that is an obvious major exception to our discussion and I would certainly not pass that up cover cleaned, missing back-cover in a blue, purple or raw. There is no hit there regardless of its' encasing with so very few around and so many major high-rollers in play.

I prefer the open & shut nature of the CGC purple labels as opposed to an interpretive dance of sorts with a CBCS label I don't even want to read a label if it is purple because I am passing. The color schematic is about immediately separating 2 very different types of comics wherein many collectors just don't want to even bother with a restored book. When scrolling through eBay, IG or looking at comics on a wall at a convention - just the ease of quickly viewing and ignoring CGC purple labels is a bonus. I guess we can agree to disagree but as a consumer I prefer CGC's format.

More and more of my fellow collectors embrace restoration esp. since that might be the only way one can ever afford say a Cap #1 or an under 10 issue of Action Comics for ex. Perhaps I am old school or just in a very distinct foreign school where I avoid incomplete comics, signatures on covers, detached covers, trimming, CT etc - I do 100% respect this crazy hobby with all its' niches & expanding diversities. I am grateful not everyone thinks or acts on comics like I do for obvious reasons. Back to CBCS - the company had a window of opportunity IMO to be more competitive with CGC but in their desire to attract a wider consumer audience I think they sacrificed quality control for quantity control. My 2-cents.

I 100% agree. No offense but I loathe restored books and avoid them like the plague . I recognize, however, that I may be in a distinct & shrinking minority but that is how I feel. The immediate recognition that CGC provides with a restored label is just another reason why I don't & won't submit books to CBCS. Minimizing the 'stigma' that CBCS labels offers you is IMO another way of saying 'take advantage of the less sophisticated buyers.' Restored is restored and the label needs to speak it loud & clear - stick with CGC. My 2-cents.

Lee is a stand-out individual, who is very kind, considerate, knowledgeable and professional. I vouch for him 100%. A credit to the Boards and our hobby. Roger

With 12,606 copies currently on the CGC census - this book is readily available and quite common in most grades. That above sale price at the CL auction was perhaps $500 under GPA and a nice pick-up for the winner. Neither a blip nor things to come when you have so-so-so many copies for sale / auction every day it seems - just a missed opportunity for you (assuming you could have won IT at the next increment). My 2-cents.

Indeed this is nothing like we have ever experienced before- in the past there was simply the gradual rise of prices.. the ability to sit, wait and speculate and also not feel the pressure of "I must buy now or pay more later." In the end today's mob is just soooo huge surrounding these key books with many individuals seeking and in fact receiving online posting bragging rights over for example paying say 12K for an incomplete Hulk #1, which looks like your dog chewed on for a year. The echo-chamber along with the infusion of new blood, which has no real perspective point or historical understanding of the hobby - is a perfect storm of prices rising more and then plateauing but likely never ever cratering (but for the stupid variants and incredibly common moderns, which I personally value at 10 cents on the dollar at best ) My 2-cents

This Buffett quote sums it up well - so far as investing in comics right now - prices are very high today - that is the optimism noted below “The most common cause of low prices is pessimism—some times pervasive, some times specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism but because we like the prices it produces. It’s optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.” wb

Amazing Spider-Man 129 1st Punisher - taker & shaker per PM

As long as there is new rich-blood in this hobby - i.e. bit-coin crowd, plain-vanilla investors looking to park their money as well as good old market manipulation via shill bidding, collusion and that sort - I see these Bronze-key upper grades in 9.8 going up and also coming down all in one quarter - just depends on which way the wind blows or how the hammer happens to fall that day at auction. I personally find it problematic when individuals try and predict comics with analytics. I strongly believe this hobby does not lend itself to data analysis but to strong intuition and plain old common-sense (both lacking IMO with most comic collectors following the siren's call only ). How else can you explain a guy eagerly paying 2k for a common key today that he passed up at $600 a year ago? Even these discussion threads as well as all those repetitive "What's Hot in comics this month?" videos are all in my opinion echo-chambers constantly propping up individuals opinions about what to buy and how much to spend. This hobby is very insular with a tremendous amount of 'cause and effect' where one sale at times can move a mountain of buyers or one brief movie announcement can cause a huge ripple effect. Like lemmings many collectors eagerly rush to the investment cliff as long as the popcorn-crowd around them remains thick and their tiny legs can carry them into the that promising abyss. My 2-cents.

Unless you're buried with your prized possessions like King Tut, you cannot hold your comics forever - indeed 'life moves on' true regret, however, remains the 2 young cartoonists from Cleveland who sold the rights to their creation (Superman) for $130.00 in 1938.

Rumors, innuendo, market manipulation, shill bidding, flipping, lying about resto-removal, greed, avarice, colluding, over-pricing, over-grading, overhyping, bragging - it is indeed the best of times and the worst of times to be a comic collector -

GSX1 is a very common book that just happened to get caught up in the craziness of those could not afford an X-MEN 1 - .. yes the top tier graded copies remain solid but with so-so-so many copies in lower grades available this book like a lot of common bronze keys is highly influenced by even the slightest downward trends. If collectors as a whole stopped having short-term fixations on price changes from month to month - we might see less swings and more solid but incremental increases but that is like saying if people acted rationally as a whole and not like a mob etc... - never going to happen.. indeed most markets are all about perception and not reality based especially when it comes to something like a collectible. - my 2-cents “Greed pulls people in, and fear pushes them out.”― Naved Abdali

Common-sense dictate that any potential buyer esp. on a big ticketed item must be prepared to pay within say 24 to 48 hour max upon receipt of your invoice. Personally when I list something expensive (say over 2k) I will indicate unless agreed upon before hand any 'take' requires payment in full within 24 hours of invoice-receipt . Years ago I had a particular thorny problem with a particular Boardie, who despite our 'friendship' and agreed-upon payment terms required renegotiations or extensions over & over - all while he continued to buy from others here on a weekly basis. It was aggravating if not insulting. The lesson I learned is just be very clear if not firm from the get-go and don't let "friends" with insatiable comic appetites take advantage of your generosity.

Until and unless you actually cash out during your lifetime on your book you won't know if you've overpaid or not - the huge difference, however, between today's escalating prices and years past is that it intuitively feels like a balloon is developing now with IG being a continuous never-ending echo-chamber . As entry level prices on blue chippers become increasingly prohibitive for the vast majorly - there becomes a much smaller class of collectors, who can afford to own such a big book and in turn might get turned off by the hobby . I know as I write this I could never start collecting keys now like I did not so long ago and thus I wouldn't even be involved with comics if I were starting off. Prices were insanely high earlier this year and have plateaued since on a lot of keys - I think that trend continues but for the occasional spikes when a movie is announced. In the end it really isn't fun to collect keys unless your wallet is deep as opposed to owning a slew of keys already - in which case you can post your keys online with bragging rights and statements like "I paid this ... look at me." . my 2-cents

Rules: NO PL/HOS members! "I'll take it" in thread supersedes any negotiations in PM or emails. Payment: PayPal goods & services or check if I know you well enough Shipping: I ship USPS Priority mail. No charge for shipping as long as within the continental USA otherwise PM me first. Refunds: There will be no refunds since book is graded by CGC - case is mint. Any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out. Trade considerations: Hulk 181 (CGC blue or raw if unrestored), ASM 129, DD1, WBN32 and I love Silver-Age DC keys too... PM me with your offerings. I can add cash if need be as can you if short. My buy it now price is $---------------- or best offer. Thank you - Roger History: Per prior owner book was submitted raw without pressing in 2018 - you can see a small non-color breaking bend on the top left FC corner. PM me with any questions or need of more photos.

Take BOTH Strange Tales #110 & FF #52 per PM. thank you -

I am not sure where to begin with this open-question but it begs questions first - such as: 1) what is your budget each month or are you just looking for a few books only? 2) What is your collecting niche? 3) are you collecting for your own personal collection or are you planning on speculating, investing and-or flipping books? 4) do you really understand GPA and how it is but one-spoke in the valuation-wheel of comics and certainly shouldn't be the end-all? 5) Do you understand price-compression and market manipulation in comics and how GPA is often wrong if not manipulated at times? 6) Finally markets are typically about perception and comics are no different and no one can definitively answer your question here, thus observing, understanding, being perceptive and ultimately intuition are your best tools in your bat-belt etc etc etc - my 2-cents

With super duper common keys like DD168 - you will always find prices all over the place - it also called compression. The reasons are honestly quite obvious such as with copies constantly popping up for sale almost every day if not hour - you have buyers, who don't do any research, never heard of GPA - let alone don't care - and they pay the asking price and are happy. For an observer if not haunter of the market place, who sits and waits like a vulture to leap on a great price - it can be frustrating if not confusing. my 2-cents. “When enough people believe that prices will keep rising forever, a bubble starts.”― Naved Abdali

WONDER WOMAN 1984 was painful to watch - like having teeth pulled without the gas. 50 minutes into it - I had a knee-jerk reaction to save my brain cells and turn it off. Since the 1st one with Gal was wonderful and remains one of the best hero movies IMO - I had my expectations quite high for the next movie of hers. WW84 remains an insulting piece of trash - I blame it on the -script and plot, which was written as if in a coma. my 2-cents.