VintageComics

Has the OP been back at all since the thread was started?

To be fair, it's one of my favorite places in the US for many reasons including the weather, music scene and the vibe. It really is. But like any big city, you just need to be aware as any big city has lots of crazy in it, and probably moreso now than a few years ago. But you live in the best climate and area in North America, for sure. LA does genuinely have it all where you can ski, go to the beach or the desert, all within a few hours from each other.

You have no idea where @lizards2 lives. He probably has one of those tied to his mail box at the end of his driveway to greet the mailman every morning.

You're usually wrong, but today you're more wrong than usual. Yeah, let's just throw out an Action #1 in high grade, just to 'test the market' The Superman #1 that just sold was a 7.0 and it went for $2.6MIL and there are several nicer copies both graded and in private collections. The nicest Action #1 and Detective #27's would eclipse ANY AF#15 sale by MULTIPLES. That's an accepted fact among probably ALL seasoned collectors and dealers. The Dentist's books are priceless but I'd bet at Auction last year they'd break $10MIL easy. Even the 2nd nicest copies would eclipse that AF #15 sale. The Action #1s were close several years ago at $3.2 / $3.5 MIL or whatever they went for and they'd go for well over that now. Maybe double? Triple? And then you have Cap #1 9.8, Marvel #1 (likely a 9.8), Superman #1, etc. You guys need to reel it in a bit. Yes, AF #15 is super cool. I love SA Marvels but I think the helicopter mentality is addictive and people don't know when to stop. Most seasoned guys can guess a range but whatever a top AF #15 sells for the top GA books will go for well over that range if not multiples, every time. That's a no brainer. Every time. In fact, if an AF #15 sets a baseline, you can now guarantee that a top GA key WILL sell for more as the GA guys will just use that AF #15 as a multiplier to figure out what the top GA books should be worth. That's the reality.

I actually started a new T shirt line. Maybe we should get a pic of you in that Buffalo hat. I have a new T shirt idea.

The first time I ever stepped foot on Sunset Blvd was on a Friday night, NYE weekend many years ago. I was walking down the street, eyes wide open and just taking in the vibe. It was like everything I'd ever read in those 80's rock magazines. As I walked up toward La Cienega and Sunset, I saw a black Bentley come around the corner onto Sunset heading East, at full throttle. Now, I grew up in the auto industry and those suckers are FAST! The Bentley went around traffic (very common on a Friday night on Sunset during normal times) and took the middle lane, heading into the East like a scalded cat. Not a few seconds later, there is a cop car chasing the Bentley in hot pursuit. Lights blaring, sirens screaming. He was having trouble keeping up with the Bentley. That was my 1st intro to West Hollywood.

I didn't say it was a call to action. I said you spoke with your actions rather than words.

As someone who spends lots of time in LA, the crime and homeless problem is off the charts. In one month, there were 3 serious shootings or attempted shootings within a few city blocks of my hotel. One guy walked into the Saddle Ranch (a famous Tik Toker / Influencer hang out) with a rifle one night. A few weeks later several blocks on Fountain St at La Cienega were taped off with multiple shootings. ----------------------------------- There were also 3 massive car accidents in the space of a few weeks within a few city blocks on Sunset. One car rolled down a hill into the side of a hotel from next to the Riot House and crossed Sunset. The fact that it went across Sunset and didn't get T boned was a miracle. Another flipped upside down across from Tower records. The 3rd was a doozy. A woman mounted the sidewalk in front of a hotel just 10 minutes after I walked past, took out a carbon fiber street pole, dragged it 20 feet, dropped it in front of the hotel and then hit a palm tree down the street. She then ran out and ran away. You can't describe some of the crazy you see in that town, and it seems to be getting worse. Car slammed into the side of a hotel. Car upside down on Sunset. The pole dragged by the Range Rover. The pylon on the back left of the pic is where she hit it and dragged it from. Had I been there 10 minutes later, she'd have dragged me with the pole. I was walking where that pedestrian in the photo is. I did get the Pink Floyd poster from the top of the pole.

@VintageComics 😍

Found a scan of this one! Marvel Super-Heroes #12 CGC 9.2 OW Asking $900 (shipping included)

No, really. I am currently not paying a cent. I love people when people speak with actions.

Because costs on everything have gone up. Including comics. We're not seeing moderate price increases. The percentage is massive when you factor in the surge in prices AND how much they are raking in charging percentages FMV of books, which is something we've never seen before. And don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It's capitalism. I've never complained about CGC's pricing even though I may not have liked it. I have complained about their turnaround times but the workaround was capitalism again. Just spend more and choose a higher tier. ------------------------------ We have a family here in town that does what hedge fund companies do. They find hidden value in properties and buy them. They'll look at total revenue on the property, look at what rents 'could or should be' in those places, then they buy the properties and raise the rents to the max on unsuspecting consumers. What they do is not illegal but it is painful. Some rents double or even triple. I remember over the years defending CGC from people who accused them as being in a conflict of interest for charging a percentage of FMV value on grading books. I tried to explain that they weren't charging as much as they could be charging and most balked at me. Well, here we are.

No. Not the entire hobby. Try buying a raw AF #15 in high grade and paying FMV. If somehow, slabbed books were to be outlawed in some fictional realty the entire market would collapse for any book that needed a certified grade on it to sell. Nope. Prices don't go down generally speaking in a field like this. This isn't oil in a barrel. Remember when airlines temporarily raised prices to compensate for rising fuel prices.

What Blackstone saw was a cash cow that CGC didn't see. It's actually a brilliant move. People will continue to pay for their crack addictions and Blackstone will charge whatever they can. Their market evaluation of the company saw missing revenue everywhere and CGC didn't capitalize on it, partly because it was collectors working there rather than hedge fund owners. I think many people from the last two decades who accused CGC of over charging are probably going to rethink their pasts posts very differently moving forward.

Air isnt free either.😂 That is true as well. There is nothing free anymore and if there is, it's not free for long. Opportunism is everywhere.

Oh yeah? Why do you think CGC has raised prices on grading twice in a year and now collects fees for every undervalued book that is submitted?

It's not a thread . Thread craps are when someone does something to dissuade a sale in someone's selling thread. I always welcome good discourse! None of the books I sold are on that list. It is true though. The 1st 'million dollar sale' was the AF #15 CGC 9.6 a decade ago. Since then, MANY books have passed that threshold.

The word 'likely' is an interesting word. There is NO WAY an AF #15 is more valuable than some of the top GA keys. Now, the most valuable SA book? For sure.

There's MOST likely 1000's (and maybe 10,000's) of copies sitting raw out there. Why is an 80 year old book a relic but a 60 year book isn't? That makes no sense. You DO realize that in the year 2000, the big GA keys were 60 year books, the same age that AF #15 is now. They're less common than 1963 Marvels but they are not rare by any stretch of the imagination. You don't have to exaggerate the rarity of AF #15 to make it desirable. It's a very desirable book, and demand is outstripping supply but you can't make the argument that it's rare. It's just being held by collectors.

In the GA forum many consider a Superman #1 to possibly be the 3rd most valuable comic, and you can't even buy a bird cage liner copy for under $100K, I just offered a CGC 3.5 for 3/4 million from a client and there was moderate interest from a few customers. Tell me again how AF #15 is number 3?

Thanks. I just got back into comics.

I spent a year without even going into the GA forum once and the MAJORITY of my sales are SA and BA. Maybe 5% of my sales are GA. You're wrong again.

My website got attacked by malware 2 years ago near the start of the pandemic because the software was old and had vulnerabilities and I didn't want to spend the money during the pandemic to redo it. I also spent most of this year on the road and so now that I'm home I'm actually working on a new site as we speak. To me it's a matter of etiquette more than anything else. It's the difference between spelling 'ur' and 'your' or "yru" and why are you" The fact that you're arguing that grade doesn't matter when someone posts a 'want to buy' is ridiculous to me but hey, not everyone has to agree with you or me. Everyone's opinion seems to be split. But I think my domain is way cooler than yours.

I'll take the under. If a 1.0 or a 2.0 become a $100K book in, say, the next 10 years I think the world is burning well before that. It would take severe hyperinflation for that to happen and in that case, the economy is done and nobody will care about comics. I don't see how anyone can compare a common book like AF #15 to Tex #27 and Action #1.

You're right, we should just have a bunch of WTB posts stating "I'm looking for comics. Does anyone have any for sale?" Then we can really work at selling them some books.