Shadow

Thanks for doing all this work again this year! Hope everyone has a wonderful New Years!

I'll stick with my list and choose #42 - Spiderman Annuals (My #4 choice!)

My #4 choice is still out there...

Glad you liked them! One of the best parts of the Boards as we can share our appreciation of the hobby with gifts!

I had the good fortune of winning the one from Greggy about 7 years ago. It was all it is cracked up to be!

Opened my gift from Srezvan tonight. Needless to say I was wowed as they were two books on my list and graded to boot! Awesome! Big thank you to Sohrab! Merry Christmas everyone

Smack dab in the middle! No matter, there are plenty of great prizes and rarely disappoint! My list is in though I may peak in on drawing if I get a chance. Merry Christmas everyone!

Tonight's the night...

Mine arrived last week! I sent mine out Monday. It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I love the "time machine" effect, taking me back to my youth and when I thought the world was much simpler. (Late 70's/early 80's lol) Add to that some great art work and storytelling. If you get both aka Claremont & Byrne, the magic really happens.

Theme may be the letter "F"... (Not intentional) The FF #78 looks very nice. May be a 7.0+? What If is a reader. Depending on what the winner likes, I may have more to throw in (pseudo Mystery Box)

I missed last year as I got busy with work and life... didn't check out the Boards for a few months.

To keep the topic "riled up"!

Show is a shadow of it's past self in regards to comic dealers. And having two shows this year depleted it even more. I'm going to go still... but I'm questioning how much longer. Used to be a 2nd tier show with some great dealers like Bob Storms, Dale Roberts...

Congratulations. I'm sure it took time to come to this decision. I'm not there yet in my journey. When/if that day arrives it will be a ton of anxiety... I'm too nostalgic.

Well, here's a drawing I did a few years back. Fits the theme and just watched Werewolf by Night last night...

I'm in! Got busy last year and missed it... not this year!

I bought a few books online about 15 years ago and learned my lesson. Not grades advertised (cover rip should be pretty easy to spot...) Live and learn.

Congratulations! I'm guessing it was a tough decision. I know it will be for me when that day comes. I need to get rid of more of my books from the mid-90's to when I stopped buying new in 2014. Then I second guess myself that they might be worth something someday.... Maybe when Charlton Heston finds them in a cave with Dr. Zaius...

I miss going to used book stores in the late 70's and discovering old comics... Most of the store owners were all about the hardcover and paperback books. Didn't know the value of the comics. My vivid memory is downtown Chicago circa 1980. For a whopping $1.75 I bought JLA #15 (still have it, probably a 7.0) and Captain America #101 (Where wakes the Sleeper? Got rid of it in 1986 during college) My 14 year old self wished he had more money and time to keep digging through the boxes. But mom and dad were not inclined to stay there that long...

So, this weekend I subscribed to GPA Analysis to get a better idea on some of my collection. I still love getting the OSPG and will continue. I started back in 1978 at the age of 12, took a break from 1984 - 1994 for college, marriage, starting a family. 1994 pulled me back in like Al Pacino. Started documenting my collection with Excel in 1994. JLA, X-Men, Conan, Avengers and team ups have always been core. Probably heavier DC than Marvel overall but not heavily skewed. Based on OSPG, DC is 57% vs 43% of overall value. Not the case for the top 76 books (out of 5395) which make up 51% of the overall value using GPA. 59% Marvel and 41% DC of those. OSPG says these books make up 27.6%. So I looked back in my Excel at 1993, 2000 and 2010 for my reference on how many of those 76 books I owned and what they represented as my collection (per OSPG). 1993: 12 books equaled 4.8% of my collection 2000: 34 books equaled 5.7% of my collection 2010: 55 books equaled 10.2% of my collection My wife always wonders why I bother because I won't sell them any time soon. But it's fun for me to look back. Here are some that I bought as a young man prior to college that made the list of 76: X-Men #4 at a 1982 comic show in Toledo for $5. Probably a 3.5. Boy it was a lot of money for this 16 year old to pay for one comic at the time. Captain America #100 (probably a 6.0) for $2 at the Comic Shop in Toledo. Owner had a sale so I bought it off the wall on impulse. Batman #234 and #251 both around VG. Bought at a small booth set up at Franklin Park Mall circa 1979. Maybe spent $3 total. Newstand: New Teen Titans #2, DC Comics Presents #26 and #47... (I don't count X-Men #129 as I didn't officially start collecting X-Men until #138 but my mom bought this one at the Comic Shop for me for Christmas that year. It's only a 9.0 now but she paid the princely sum of $1 for it. lol) Overall, there are 23 X-Men in the 76, followed by 10 JLA and 6 Brave and the Bold Thanks for letting me share. I think this is 18 years being a member here and I've learned so much about the hobby in that time. I've learned how to grade better, what to look for (I've been burned on a couple of touched up books in the past) and who are some rock solid dealers. It was fun to dig into GPA this weekend and work with it. (Wish I could figure how to log some of my books not graded but that would impact the algorithm) Reminded me I have a ton of filler... Now to kick the sentimental collector in me.

It was due to getting convinced to go to this show in 1994 that I got back into collecting comics after a 10 year hiatus. I thought I also remembered this being a big show back in the day. Maybe a 2nd tier? Used to be much larger relating to comics. But it also used to be much smaller for guests and other products. So maybe a sign of the changing times? For me there's still a thrill of the hunt and perusing through long boxes for the deal or the small book that completes a run. Add in immediate gratification. Don't get that from online as easy. That said, if I know people like Bob Storms or Dale Roberts are coming, I check out their websites and ask if they can bring some books. Combo meal I guess. I'm sure I'll go again in October...

6.0 on high end. I'm thinking more like a 5.0 with the issues on bottom spine

I went on Saturday. It's a shadow of it's past at least regarding comic books. I still bought and was thankful that Harley Yee, Lange and Reece were there. My collection tastes are S/A and B/A so hunt might get harder in the coming years. Not the same show without Bob Storms or Dale Roberts to name a few. That said, I got some books to fill holes in the collection.

For me, he’s in the Top 3 artists easy. While I started collecting in 1978, I could see how different his style was to others of his era. RIP