VintageComics

Roosters are pretty tough little buggers so I expect you'll do OK should you meet up with a monkey.

Well, I've been talking about the Chinese 'Year Of The Monkey' for some time now, and this week is no exception. Picture a monkey being in control of everything. Picture a black and white comedy, where everyone is asleep and a monkey is driving the car. Everything is random and unexpected. Not that I'm big on horoscopes, but I have found some commonalities with them. According to my Chinese horoscope (I'm Year Of The Dog), the Dog and the Monkey do not get along very well and although the year will be difficult to navigate, with work and lots of attention it should be OK. And that has been my experience all year. No matter how 'hands on' an approach I take in any situation, if something has an opportunity to fall sideways it will take the plunge. These threads about Chip and his past are the new thing tipping sideways today. As most of you know, I'm big on trying to see the bright side of someone's life no matter what their history, and I think most will agree that sometimes I'm this way to a fault. I was bullied as a kid (mostly for being a comic geek) and so now as an adult I get immediately defensive for an 'underdog' because I assume that they are being bullied. This sometimes prevents me from seeing things realistically. Sometimes that's a blessing and sometimes it can be a curse, although in the grand scheme of things I do believe everything works out for the best regardless, including negative things. That's my experience. You guys may also know Chip has been selling stuff on consignment for many board members including me (some who have piped up in these threads although you may not know who they are, specifically). After selling lots of items for me, I've never had a negative dealing with Chip so far. I don't know whether others have or not since he's been on this forum. That's not to say that there is not a history previous to this forum and that there are issues at work that need to be considered. Everyone has a skeleton. And so where I stand is that yesterday I sent a decent sized short box of books to Chip out of my personal collection to sell on consignment for me in an effort to help him out. This also helps me out greatly because at the moment slabbed books are a bit of a grey area due to problems developing with CGC's new holder. So what do I do upon learning about this new info about Chip's past? I'm in a quandary because the books are out of my hands and en route. Do I trust Chip with the books? There is a decent dollar amount there but I have never had an issue with Chip before. Do I let the auctions ride knowing that because of today's unfolding events that many people may not bid, affecting auction prices of my own books? Do I stop the shipment and redirect and find another venue to sell my books? I could have sold them on the forums myself. They're mostly all decent things that people will want. It would just take a little time. Year Of The Monkey indeed. Personally, I don't think I will have any problems with Chip selling the books for me. My gut tells me to just carry on as planned. I guess it's just me trying to help someone find 'the good' even though it might cost me something in the end. Life doesn't always give us a 'best case' scenario. Sometimes, what's best for everyone is not always best for you personally. And so here we are.

That book was already auctioned in Feb.

The cardboard around the item you are protecting needs to be larger than the item you are protecting. I get mine pre-cut by a local cardboard company.

Yup!

I appreciate the apology. Just to be clear, it was more of a misunderstanding between Randy and I than anything else. I posted the words 'team derail' in the title of my thread as I closed the thread, but it was really meant in humor and not to antagonize anyone. It's a throwback term that used to get used a lot on these boards when pressing threads were heated. Anyhow, glad we cleared that up. Let's Go Raptors!

not sure if insulting the company that is providing a free service for you to sell your books at no cost to you is such a great idea. I get that you aren't happy with the new slabs but really turdslab? Also insulting 3 board members in the same post, wowsers I guess I need to update my sales rules to on Greggy while I make money Hector, I agree completely. Our hosts do a lot of live and let live on their own company site. This is remarkable in an age of hyper corporate conformity and group think. I try to imagine other big businesses running an open website on these terms for any other product and its hard to come up with examples that would compare. You guys need to re-read this and Roy's sales threads. There is not so subtle shade being directed at Roy (NOT CGC) for selling a book that was also listed on Ebay. And can we talk about the grade A person_too_unaware_of_social_graces comment made by Columbia Comics in Roy's sales thread? Despicable. I had a buddy notify me about this conversation. I don't understand why some people get their knickers in a twist by the most innocuous things but here I am defending myself again. I always thought Comeaux and I were cool with each other but maybe I rubbed him the wrong way at some point. My apologies if I did. It's a Holiday weekend up here in Canada and I've been busy all weekend, but something came up and I decided to quickly put the books up for sale on a whim while I had a moment. I had the books listed on Facebook as well as on eBay but I completely forgot that I had them on eBay and after editing Facebook to accommodate the chat forum rules. It was an honest mistake, which sometimes happens. It's a busy life and I have 6 teenage kids, coach two soccer teams, etc, etc. Apologies if anyone was offended by my double listing the books. I listed the Hulk #181 CGC 9.4 as a CGC 9.4 that I thought was a 9.5 looking book. the guy I bought the book from (Foolkiller) also thought it had a shot at 9.6. So either two transparent, reputable, long term board members who know how to grade and have a lot to offer to this chat forum are fibbing or we really both believe it's a very nice 9.4 comic with a shot at 9.6. If you talk to CGC graders, even they will use the term '9.5' or whatever mid grade you are talking about, because the reality is that some books are actually nice for the grade. This brings us round to the point that even CGC grading is subjective and on any given day a good looking book that receives a given grade one day could upgrade on another day. Anyhow, regardless of who someone has an issue with, I just wish if someone had a problem they'd go to the person directly to clear it up before making some sort of big debacle out of it as that is the way most problems are amicably resolved.

It was always like this until the movie speculator crowd entered. Marvel #1 was for many years the most valuable book in the hobby. After the Batman movie craze in the late 1980's that changed. I still think ultimately it's number #3 after Action #1 and Tec #27 regardless of what the numbers say.

In my 40 years of collecting, I've never like that cover. I've always been put off by the color Blue/Green they used. It's funny how the blue in Cap #1 is one of the things I really love about it. The rest of the Caps are VERY VERY red, so maybe it's the comparison that sets the blue apart. I do feel the blue adds to the "patriotic" feel of Cap #1. I should qualify my post. I don't like the Green on the Nazi uniforms. I also don't like how the book looks faded, which is often. Not many look very sharp and bright. With Marvel #1 there are some differences with color strike on the reds (which sometimes look orange) but the palette over all is more appealing to me. That, and I've lusted a Marvel #1 since I was a young teenager. Never felt that way about Cap #1.

In my 40 years of collecting, I've never like that cover. I've always been put off by the color Blue/Green they used.

The question was 'which would you prefer' not which would others prefer. Cap #1 became a more valuable book due to his use in the movies and external speculation, but not a more important one. Actually, the Disney / Marvel universe is centered around Stark Industries. The technology, the shield, the Avengers - all Stark. I actually thought that the Super Soldier serum was in some way as referenced in an earlier movie but I can't remember for sure.

If both books were valued the same it would be no contest. I think appeal increases as value increases. Not for everyone, but for many (and Mitch).

This is the only correct answer for a Timely lover.

Always liked Marvel #1 more. Still do.

I was the under-bidder. I went to my absolute maximum for that book and someone else wanted it more. I was involved because it's a pedigree copy and wouldn't go near that price for a non-pedigree 9.2, personally. Why? A beautiful book is a beautiful book. Because in most instances a 9.2/9.4/9.6 pedigree book is superior in every way to a non pedigree book in the same grade. Sometimes it's cover gloss, sometimes the suppleness of the paper but mostly the state of preservation in a pedigree book is superior to a generic book, AND that's not always represented in its technical/structural grade. Jim There is also the back story which draws in some bidders. Ped books may not always fetch more but many people are willing to pay more for them (as Rob stated) and their anecdotal evidence is good enough for me.

No, it's not the all-time high in the grade. But it is well above the recent trend. The recent high is $11,000 and there's been another 9.2 sitting unsold at Metro at $11,000 for a few months. Everything else is lower by a fair bit. GPA 9.2 sales over the past few years (back to that outlier GPA high) look like this 2015 (3) $11,000Hi $8,500Lo 2014 (7) $10,000Hi $7,300Lo 2013 (2) $7,522Hi $6,550Lo 2012 (6) $8,801Hi $6,591Lo 2011 (4) $12,100Hi $5,150Lo Nearly 12,000 is well above the recent trend. Which, I knew, since I follow this book pretty closely. I bid aggressively, but not "win at all costs" aggressively. The 2011 sale was double the low from that year. Crazy result which is probably why it still hasn't been reached since. As for "buy the book not the label..." if it includes ignoring the pedigree status of the book (which it seems like it does), I'll have to respectfully decline your advice. I like pedigree books! I have fun chasing them! It makes the hobby fun for me. If you think it's dumb, duly noted. I've been here a long time, I've heard the same thing about pedigrees from a lot of people And really, for what it's worth, I was "buying the book" here as my goal for my DD collection is 9.4+ Thing is, I know how fresh the Don and Maggie Thompson books are. I own a bunch of them. So... I bid on this book. It's a much nicer looking copy than many 9.4s because of the preservation. You won't win this argument. Don't waste your energy. Rob's points are all spot on. DD #1 had it's highs taken out in 2010-2011 (can't remember which) when 3 different CGC 9.6 copies hit the market within 2 months. That was enough to drop prices and scare people off until the Netflix series brought bidders back into the bidding pool again.

What was the dust up?

Serial number stayed the same between old and new labels. It was probably just a reholder.

oopsie.

Jo, it was a store up in Washington state that had a walk in collection find (I believe) that was Baker heavy and consisted of some VERY nice copies. Happened a couple of years ago. It came to be dubbed the 6th St. collection. Glad you cleared that up. Did I screw it up?

Jo, it was a store up in Washington state that had a walk in collection find (I believe) that was Baker heavy and consisted of some VERY nice copies. Happened a couple of years ago. It came to be dubbed the 6th St. collection.

Is he actively looking for an interior or happy to just have the cover (which is in great condition!)? If he's looking to eventually put together a complete copy, this certainly would get him well down the path. We've talked about it (and to me personally, it's a 'no-brainer') but I think part of the problem is that people don't feel comfotable assigning value to pieces, which is fair. Not everyone understands the market. My interior was previously sold but the original buyer traded it into another, better book (there was no buyer regret), so I've since relisted it and raised the price on it. I've already had offers for more than it sold a month ago I really think that someone will cherish it. Just needs to go to the right person.

Been around a couple of years, I think. Or close to it.

You're not alone!