VintageComics

Nom noms modified.

I don't think there's anyone who hasn't.

There was an uproar back then as well. The market just wasn't as big as it is today so the uproar is louder. They're not going to reverse their decision so people can just decide whether they want to pay for a membership to have access to notes or not. We all wanted our comics to be more valuable but this is what happens when the value becomes big enough: the hobby changes.

I appreciate your concern. It was just an inside joke between js and me but it's hard to tell these days because there has been so much animosity and noise on the boards.

Fair enough. More corporate bondage. Just like an Apple device, I guess. I'm not commenting on whether it's worse or better, it's just corporate branding that's responsible for it over all. Well, CGC does talk to it's dealer base (largest submitters) looking for feedback. I think most companies care what their largest customers have to say about their products. And I'm guessing that the largest submitters are the largest sales sites (like auction houses) and it probably is easier to get consistent prices when the products are more consistent looking. The same logic was used when they took stuff off the labels like 'rusty staples' off the labels 15=20 years ago. For those that don't realize it, this sort of thing happened once already. It's just more streamlining. I have no idea for sure so I'm just spit balling.

Just as an FYI, this is an inside joke and I had nothing to do with this new change. But I can understand why they did it. Corporate products look better when they are more homogamous and slick. And it's also for the same reason they also removed several 'label notes' from the labels 15 years ago when they revamped the labels. They don't want one book looking worse or better than the other in the same grade. Finally, it removes visual clutter. Again, more homogenous and slick. The positive is that grading notes are available for free to everyone now.

When my neighbor down the street who is now a high school teacher apologized at the reunion, he singled out comics as one of the reasons. Not that he hated comics. He probably just picked on me because I was a nerd. You're probably right, it was probably my personality that got me bullied. But I was in introvert because I was immersed in comics and other things I liked and not being popular. You were a jock and popular. It's hard to imagine you can relate to my POV.

Some of my bullies, who I went to school with from grade 1 - 12 apologized to me for bullying me at a high school reunion 30 years later and even said it was related to my love for comics. Two of them are high school teachers now. Take that Karma, biznatches.

I think the hobby has been mainstream for a while now. People no longer get bullied and beat up for being comic nerds anymore like I was when I was a kid. It's a badge of honor now. When it went mainstream is up for debate, but I'd say the MCU had the most to do with it, starting with the success of Iron Man in 2008. Before then it was still a bit of a counter culture thing, but after 2008 the MCU took off, and price records started being broken price wise fairly regularly. We had an AF #15 9.4 sell for $200K which was a big eye opener, shortly after that an Action #1 CGC 6.0 sold for $320K, etc. Before that things still moved relatively slowly.

I can't answer that. I have no idea what tomorrow brings. Will people pay more for Newsstands 10 years from now? Will Peds still get price bumps? Will a $5MIL book be worth $10MIL in a decade? I don't know. Over a year ago I thought this new price structure was temporary but it has longer legs than many of us thought it would so it may be here for a while or even to stay.

Nods fortified.

About 10 years ago I made the argument that expensive comics were becoming artifacts. We're well past that point now. Artifacts are much more desirable when they come with provenance. That's the reasoning. And now that we're in a realm where comics are expensive enough to fake, like fine art provenance will mean even more. BTW, I found an original owner WDC&S collection from the 50's and 60s about 12 years ago. It was cool as heck. Nobody wanted them.

Times change. People's perceptions change. The hobby changes. There's certainly no disadvantage to owning a pedigree and there likely is an advantage. And as prices continue to rise more and more focus on pedigree (not 'comic pedigree' but it's lineage) becomes more important. People are still paying premiums for Church copies. I don't think it's because of the backstory, I think it's because it's a piece of the greatest comic collection every assembled and preserved. I think those two reasons are the reasons people pay more for pedigree copies.

They have been known to hold funds depending on dollar accounts and your activity, so if it's a large dollar amount and you haven't used Paypal in some time that might be a factor. I'd call them. Lots of things can be resolved by speaking to a human rather than just an algorithm.

Should Cadbury reveal their secret of how they get the Caramel in the Caramilk bar?

One of reasons I argued 15 years ago (along with Borock) that a blue label for all books rather than a purple label would be more beneficial over all was that it would FORCE people to understand restoration better. I was labelled all sorts of nasty things for suggesting that, including that I was only looking to line my own pockets. Anybody with half a brain and a mild understanding of history can understand how the purple label has OVER stigmatized restored books, leaving this big gaps in value. Anyway, I don't care personally. I'm just saying that if the comic collecting world REALLY cared about saving these books from having resto removed they'd take it upon themselves to educated themselves better and pay more for them rather than leave the value gap and make them so appealing for people who remove the resto. It's simple economics. The loophole I was talking about was the value gap I was similarly talking about above, with restored books. If collectors truly preferred 'virgin', unpressed copies then they should pay more for them and remove the financial incentive that pressers have to buy them and press them. Again, it's simple economics. In BOTH cases above, if collectors paid more for the books with hidden potential, those upgrade markets wouldn't exist.

For sure, but even pre-pandemic, I asked what it would take to part with an Action #1 9.0 and the reply was (paraphrasing it) "why would they do it for any number"?

More likely the purple label Mile Highs have a little more color touch and/or glue than permits a blue label. I'd be sending it in for removal, that's for sure. As a general rule, if the CT or glue does not improve the grade, it's counted as a defect and factored into the grade. If it improves the grade, it goes into a purple label. I feel the same way and have argued for years (decades) that more education about restoration would remove this loophole and buyers would feel more comfortable paying stronger prices for restored books - or closer to the value these books would be worth should they be 'un-restored'. The same with pressed books. If collectors were conditioned to recognized unpressed books and pay more for their originality (ie closer to their potentially improved grades) you'd remove the loophole that creates the pressing industry. It's just economics and as long as people don't want to pony up there are a few who will use those loopholes for profit.

Something to remember, though is that if people with really big money don't need to sell they often won't sell until they see a bigger offer so they just hold indefinitely if they won't turn a profit. Like, what will it take for Hariri to part with the Action #1's? It's tough enough to make an offer to part with the best book in the hobby, but how much would it take if the guy never needs the money? There's all sorts of buyers and collectors. A year ago I thought we were going to see a flash upwards and a steep drop after, but almost 2 years in now I'm not so sure and some other guys I've spoken to seem to feel the same, that this is more or less the new baseline and things are not going back to the way they were generally speaking.

I don't think it's a secret that there are lots of new people coming in, but then there always has been. As the dollar values grows so does the type of people noticing them.

Last year was a year like no other in the hobby and I think most people will agree to that. It was a 'coming of age' of sorts for the hobby. Lots of books changed hands, there were lots of people that moved around in the hobby and it's one for the history books. And that's all I'll say.

Without going into details, I brokered the deal from the beginning and made it happen.

Nope. I wouldn't be Vintage if I updated my phone.

Yep.

At some point but it's private for now at the buyer's request.