John E.

Felix, I've really enjoyed both podcasts...and the accompanying video. I hang on every word. Nice hint about having Steve on as a guest...but I hope Rich joins in, too. It's funny that Mandel said that he'd buy art by the inches while others bought by the trunk full; At Big Wow, Rich was telling me that he was one of those guys filling his trunk with comic art it was so cheap.

I can speak a little about personalizations. I had a college professor who collected signed first edition books who told me go ahead and get a personalization because it doesn't affect the value. Flash forward 15 years I noticed non-personalized books were ending with higher bids on eBay than personalized books. Now this is for contemporary books. So think about it this way: if a first edition Catcher in the Rye came your way at a great price that was signed and personalized to "Bob," would you turn it down because of that, assuming there was no other one on the market? I wouldn't. But relating to comic art sketches. I purchased a Bruce Timm sketch off the original owner in which the sketch was personalized. This didn't discourage me from buying it. Plus, I resold it at a premium a few months later. The personalization didn't seem to discourage that buyer either. Why? Because it's Bruce Timm! Bottomline: If someone wants the piece, I don't think the personalization matters. But if there are a thousand pieces like it out there, I think the personalization might fetch a lower price. But I believe someone in the future will enjoy the piece regardless of personalization. Hope that gives you some perspective.

signed by Gerry Conway, Stan Lee and John Romita I don't know why I haven't called this The Punisher War Journal. This is a 7.5 signed by Gerry Conway, Stan Lee, and John Romita. I bought this from the same eBay seller who sold me the Giant-Sized Spider-Man #4 Signature Series and for a good price too. I never thought I get a triple signed copy so soon. It's a shame that this book is only worth 23 points on the registry. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

by Mike Zeck I absolutely love this cover. When I started collecting again a few years ago, Secret Wars #8 was one of the first wall books I bought. Some time ago I lost a bid on a SW#8, CGC SS 9.4, with a similar Mike Zeck head sketch. I thought I'd never see another one pop up on eBay. About a month later, this one did. Sure it's "only" a 9.0, but these books look better than their grade (and with white pages!). I snatched this one up through the seller's relatively high "Buy It Now" price within hours of posting. I paid that price only because I had eBay Bucks that were for such an opportunity. There hasn't been another one like this on auction since. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Giant-Size Spider-Man #4, SS CGC 8.5 For weeks, I had in my eBay watch list a lot of three Spider-Man books, all CGC SS by Gerry Conway. I didn't care much about the other two, but I just had to have this one: Giant-Size Spider-Man #4, signed by Gerry Conway, CGC 8.5. Although the lot was reasonably priced, the total is still a chunk of change, for me at least. This past August, I scored a table at the San Jose Toy Show. To my surprise, I turned a profit just nickel-and-diming some toys and 90s comics. Although I already had enough money in my PayPal account to pay for this lot, the extra money allowed me to buy the lot without regret and with the intention of re-selling the other two slabs to make up the money. So the next day, on my birthday, I made the purchase. I've yet to sell the other two books, but plan to at the next toy show. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Signed by Thomas Jane This arrived after nearly 4 months, which is later than stated on the form, but earlier by half from the rumors I've heard. This is my first SS I've done myself. Got it done at Big Wow in San Jose, CA in May 2013. Jane was supposed to be at last year's show, but didn't make it. He was scheduled to be here this year so I brought this just in case. I bought one of his own comic sfrom him at his table (he was sharing with Tim Bradstreet) and signed it without hesitation. It really inspired me to find a CGC witness and have him sign this ACE edition I brought along. I'm so glad I did. I have some regrets not seeking a signature from Humberto Ramos who was also at the show, but it's kind of nice to only have Thomas Jane's signature. This is my second Spider-Man/Punisher SS acquisition. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.