thecopperagekids

I can certainly appreciate the awareness brought up in this thread Sean. And I do agree that creating false price points on this book, as well as others like NM 98, is not only frustrating but is terrible for our hobby. I'm actually in shock at the number of shilled items that have been brought up, which is why I almost only exclusively buy (and sell) in a BIN format. I think my frustration lies in his arguments on pages 81- 87 of this thread in regards to who the younger generation really like (the whole top 5 argument etc). His comments almost dismiss HQ as a major character. I thought junkdrawer's bringing instagram numbers were interesting as well. I'd like to see some good writers write HQ though. I tried reading the new series and thought it was awful. Can only hope that Neil Gaiman will do another Batman story and include HQ in it. We can't be sure that auctions are shilled or not, but I do agree that shilling does occur.However,suspected shilled bids or not....if a book sells for $1475 (which a BA 12 9.8 just closed at earlier today/last night) then there is still someone who is willing to pay $1475 for the book. The winning bidder for that auction may have even bid anywhere from $1475 to $1900 but the fact of the matter is it was worth *at least $1475 to him*. There are now 4 slabbed 9.8's on ebay, all with BINS at $1899 to $2050. If I wanted to buy a copy now, I would opt to bid on it and would likely have gotten it for a bit cheaper than the lowest BIN of $1899.....which is exactly what I would do, regardless of wether there was a chance my bid was upped by a possible shill bid.I did actually bid on the last cop[y that closed at $1475 but was outbid a day or so before the auction closed and ....did not want to pay more than $1300-ish for the book. Alternately, I could buy the book outright via BIN for $1899.The former option, if I were to win the auction would (obstensibly) save me money, if I were......more die hard than I am....in the market for a 9.8 slabbed copy. The only time I buy I buy on eBay via BIN is when the seller screws up and lists the book below current market value.Example being a Amazing Spiderman Annual # 1 PGX 5.5, which I caught within the first hour of the book's listing , for $225 via BIN. I listed it, a few months later, and caught $550 for it, within 2-3 days of putting it up for sale via BIN.That is the only sort of situation where I think it makes sense to buy via BIN.Unless you really don;t want to deal with being outbid and do not mind paying a bit of a higher price. .....my a-hem, case study on BIN practices aside......... this is why I suspect this book will soon reach the $2000 mark. The 9.8 copies , put up for auction will continue to drive the realized sold prices of the book up, to the point where BIN's at $1900-$2000 will be the accepted norm. Sheeeeit, based on the current sales data and the asking prices of of 9.8's on ebay now (all of which are direct edition copies), I think newsstand 9.8's will be a solid $2000-$2200 in a couple months.I have not seen a newsstand 9.8 copy for sale in the past 6 months, if not a year. Case in point, last 2 sales via auction for 9.8 direct editions were $1400 a week or so ago, and a sale made at $1475 within the past day.So, the book is holding strong, while gradually increasing in price.

I averaged $500-$1000 in sales per week in that time period on ebay buuuuut 99% of the books I sold on ebay were NOT copper age because: 1) The market for late 80's/90's (now termed Copper Age) had not MATURED yet,as it has now.The whole point of what I've been saying is that copper age keys will grow and be sustainable 15 years from now.especially 9.8 newsstands. Look how many BA 12 newsstands you see in 9.8, that is not a common book.....same for Legends 3 in 9.8 newsstand.There's not many and with the standard economic model of supply vs demand, they will experience sustained, steady (but slow) growth over the next 10-15 years.Not to say that direct edition copper keys in 9.8 won;t be worth good money because I believe they will be, but newsstand in 9.8 will continue to fetch a premium. Newstand variant stuff aside, copper age key books are still affordable in high grade. Example: The chances of finding a unslabbed copy of any particular Marvel/DC silver book at a show in 9.8 potential at a show are slim to none.////////but take a Captain America 298 or any other issue from the Zeck run in 9.8 potential.You can find these sorts of books at shows for a few dollars , on average.If they've been slabbed 9.8's, they're $50 books on ebay. If it is a $50 or so 9.8 slab, I generally put these books in my $5 or $10 boxes at conventions.And they sell.I've had guys blow their loads (not quite literally), from pulling random copper books out of my $10 boxes.A guy in his 30's, around my age (I'm 39) recently plunked down a Chuck Norris # 1 (80's Stra/Marvel) for $10 and was happy as he-doublehockey sticks.He then spent another $50 or so out of my $5 and $10 boxes, on high grade copper books. I spend time and money buying high grade books (this era). anal retentive-esque cataloging the books on the top of the boards;neatly writing out the title , issue #, anything special i.e., the grade, such as.... UNCANNY X-MEN# 267 2nd App GAMBIT VF/NM 9.0 or AVENGERS # 239 DAVID LETTERMAN COVER NM/MT 9.8 I place the book into a gerber M2 , full back , padded with 3 BCW boards so it's a snug fit and presto, THE MAGIC ROUTINE WORKS. If it works now, chances are the prices will only get higher, with time. Copper age collectors are now dudes in their 30's to early 40's, who now have successful careers, homes etc....i.e.spending money to buy the titles they read as kids in the 80's. *****Read into this statement as in 2015 , we now have a new generation of collectors who want to collect/pay good money for the books they had as kids.***** That is KEY in forecasting that copper age willl continue to be a strong part of the comic book hobby/business.As they now have money(oppposed to being broke college kids in 1999 AND factoring in the strong nostalgia factor for their 80-90's childhood comics....the slow but steady pricing trend of heading upwards will continue. This is why you see new Mutants # 87 CGC/CBCS 9.8 slabs selling for $300 now, opposed to the $10 to $20 (on the high end) it sold at, back then.I'm talking about 1999 convention prices, as this book flew in NM for me at shows, at $10 at shows......if I raised it to $20, it'd occasionally sell.I also don't doubt you could buy the same new Mutants 87 off ebay for $5, at the time. Therein lies the reason I didn't bother listing NM 87 on ebay, in 1999. 1) As FlyingDonut pointed out, you could buy at shows and make 100-300% on your investment within 7 days of listing the books.This is in silver and gold books, some bronze. 2) Copper Age books were Modern Age back then, and I was not messing around with selling hot moderns for $5-$10 or so on ebay, when my time was better spent with silver/gold/bronze.Now, my time is better spent buying copper books, because they can be found at shows, shops, craigslist while silver age has gotten much tougher/pricier.I do collect and sell gold thru bronze, just not like I used to because the profit margin is not what it used to be. 3)Because the "Copper Age" market as it is now known did not exist then.For the myriad of reasons I explained above, it sure as eff exists now, and will continue to grow stronger as the market continues to ripen/mature with movies based on the characters. In closing, I do apologize to RockMyAmadues for my somewhat brutish remark of calling the initial post I responded to as "nonsense".I didn;t mean it in the context it was read in.

I may have been off on this one book but all of my other assesments were dead on.I do remember selling a sweet copy of this book for around $30, at a show, during that time period.I probably just got lucky buuut then again, as a rule of thumb, collectors will pay more for virtually any raw book at a show than on ebay for the simple fact that can be sure of what they're buying. I'll also say that it is nigh impossible to accurately gauge market prices fr raw books in 1999 for the very same reason: Collectors don't want to get softly graded books through the mail.Waiting a week after you've paid then winding up with a book that looked better in the scan aaaand then having to send the book back, usually at their own expense.

A year ago Suicide Squad 1 from 1987 was not $25 in NM. It was selling for half that, including shipping. How do I know? Because I bought every decent copy off eBay over the course of a few months. I even made a WTB thread here on the boards and was willing to pay over market price for the book because the all black cover makes it unforgiving when it comes to color breaks. There was no established market price of $25 for that book a year ago, not even close. This was a dollar box book at every show. Legends 3 wasn't even a $25 book a year ago. Hell, the priciest issue from the '87 Suicide Squad run a year ago was 48. There was no consistent demand for the '87 series a year ago. It was mostly irrelevant with a few interested parties occasionally paying a premium price for the Oracle related books (23,48,49) or the first issue, again because of the cover. I bought a slabbed 9.8 copy of Legends 3 off Rich Henn in February for $75. This was a book he had to source; he didn't already have a slabbed copy. I mention that not because I think it was hard for him to find, but because I imagine this bit of extra legwork went into his price. I Suicide Squad # 1 in raw *twice* a year ago, at conventions.A VF/NM for $25 and a solid NM for $30 (or $35). In my area, it was not a book that was commonly available in $1 boxes at shows, either. Note that these 2 sales were both made in person, when the buyer had the chance to hold the book and inspect it in hand.Even with high res scans, buyers will pay more for the same book when they have the chance to make sure they're not getting FN/VF copy.

Tell me what "in grade" meant on eBay in 1999...... I bought 10 copies of Spidey #252 in the spring of 1999...all NM...2-3 9.8s out of the batch since then...$30 shipped. Raw NM.As in plain old NM 9.4, some were potential 9.6's.....no 9.8 candidates. I sold this book around a dozen times in that period,ranging from $25 to $50.Most of the sales I had of that book in NM were in the $30-$40 range.That is pretty much what ASM 252 sold for in that time period, in unslabbed NM. I'm sure that Overstreet market reports would confirm similar sales. I am not talking about getting lucky with one lot on ebay , of 10 copies. I am talking about selling this book individually, either off my wall (presented nicely in a Mylar/full back) at shows or on ebay with high res front+back cover scans. Not a lone outlier sale of 10 copies thrown in a a lot on ebay for 430 shipped. Did the seller provide high res scans of the front and back covers of all 10 copies?...Highly doubt it. Was the auction a BIN that you were lucky enough to click on before someone else?.......I'd think so. When anaylyzing price points, you have to rely on average sales.Certainly not lucky buys off of capitalizing on an insufficiently_thoughtful_person dealer overstock lot. You did not buy this book from 10 seperate dealers, at a price which averaged $3 a book.Even then, shipping would have to be free.Sorry but your assessment of his book commonly trading for $3 in 1999 is woefully inaccurate.Stating that you bought 10 copies of this book in a lot only reinforces my point. I'm not trying to be a but come on man.I posted up plenty to back what I said and you came back with this lone outlier sale of 10 copies in a lot for $30....highlighted by an emoticon, no less. I'm trying to promote intelligent discussion on a particular facet of our hobby, which is good for all parties involved.Posting up one liner non-sequitors tinged with emoticons hardly wins points. Back to the odds of captalizing on an outlier sale of a poorly or otherwise mispresented listing on ebay.... For comparison sake, a little over a year ago I happened on an ebay seller who lists dealer overstock.He had a lot of 10 copies of Suicide Squad # 1 (the 1st 80's series) for $10, plus priority shipping , via buy it now. I caught it just as it was listed and bought the lot immediately.I now have 10 copies (all of which are newsstand edition). I bet I get a least four 9.8's out of that stack, when I get around to sending them in.They are sitting on the top of my bookshelf, waiting to be graded.This was back when CGC 9.8's were selling at $75-$100 for the book in 9.8.....but newsstand with a black cover? I'd call that a $200 book now.BUt I digress.... Now does this mean that back when I bought this lot (12-14 couple months ago) that Suicide Squad 1 was selling for $1 in raw NM (or better)? 'EFF NO....it does not. A year ago, raw NM copies were going for around $25.I can tell you that because I have been tracking the sales of that book on ebay and what dealers have it listed at, when i am at conventions.I also have casually asked convention dealers what they get for that book.As I do with any book which interests me, which is key in having a better understanding of being to accurately gauge market value. First hand, I sold 2 raw NM-ish direct edition copies at shows.......Ron Bruce's 2014 Asbury Park show I sold a raw VF/NM for $25 and at his White Plains 2014 show I sold a NM-ish for $30 or $35.I have sold copies of that book in VG to FN+ at least 5 times, out of my $10 boxes, over the past year and a half. All that means is that if you look hard enough and happen to get very lucky to boot, you can find someone on ebay who doesn't know what they have (or does not care) and buy it for peanuts due to human negligence and lack of insight on the most basic of marketing approaches.And yeah, ASM 252 was a key book back in 1999 and putting 10 copies of a key book is far from the norm, when the book had to guide for at least $20 a piece in NM- back in 1999. I don't know what the Overstreet Guide had the book listed at in 1999 but I am guessing it is at around $25 which would be a far cry from your report of $3.

Yes, that would work as a means of irrefutable data, for the sake of proving one's points. I would do that, but my memory of that time period is pretty good and I remember what I sold my books for back then.My sales were not on the high end of the bell curve, either.I didn't price gouge hot books.At least not excessive, anyway as I knew it would come back and bite me hard, in the long run. At the very least, I've got the ball rolling and I'm always interested in participating in thoughtful discussion on our hobby and the shifting marketplace......I think it's fun. I've laid down what I sold the books for so I'm throwing the gauntlet down for someone else to challenge with Overstreet reports or their own anecdotes, as long as they back them with more than one line assertions that everything could be had for $5.

Nonsense.....with all due respect. Before you retroactively offer up an all encompassing market evaluation, you have to cite where you are getting your figures. Copper keys were not "practically worthless" and not obtainable in the late 90's/early 2000's for $5. I was setting up at comic shows in the northeast and ebay regularly at that time.The demand was there.Right around 2000 is when I stopped doing shows and ebay, not resuming either intil 2009 so I am sure of my numbers, in the year 2000. I live in the northeast, which is where pretty much all of the printing took place in that time period so regional convention prices tended to be higher in the west,specifically the midwest.That said, the prices noted below, are on the low end. A couple numbers which I sold some of the books at in raw are..... ASM 252...solid $25 in NM.....Where are you getting $3 from? ASM 300 $50-$100, raw VF to NM. Not $25. Batman Dark Knight 1-4 set. This set sold for $50 in VF/NM, whenever I had it. New Mutants 87 for $5? I routinely sold this book for $20 in NM.New Mutants 98 was going for around $25-50 in VF to NM. That's just a couple of the books........ If anything you said was even remotely true, convention attendees really lost out by not being more tech savvy. I know I wish I had started using eBay before 2004. Then again, the reason I didn't is that I didn't have much money to spend and I can't really regret how I did spend my money. In the year 2000 (not to quote Conan O'brien) people will still spend mo' money in conventions than on eBay.. This statement still holds true today.. Technology or not I'm not making numbers up. My intention with sharing those numbers is to say that the copper market isn't a bubble,just as the bronze market wasn't a bubble back in 1999/2000. A fine example is by citing those numbers ....AND...comparing the sustained growth of the bronze age market to the copper age market. I don't like the idea of the copper market being pigeonhled as a bubble market so I'm speaking up.This is the same kind of talk that was slung around back in the late 90's when formerly obscurre bronze age books ( gothic romance, horror and so on) were selling at prices which some thought were astronomical. I distinctly remember how much House Of Mystery 179 (first horror format w/a classic Wrightson cover) going from a $20 book in NM to a $150 book in NM (raw) , after Overstreet's Comic Book Marketplace published a focus on 70's horror books.People protested bronze books like this as being a viable part of our hobby visrtually enmasse, mostly dudes I talked to at comic shows and in my shop (as I had a shop at that time)..... citing they were nothing more than a fad driven bubble and meanwhile, I was scouring for these types of books and selling them damn near immediately, at exponential percentages. The market proved those naysayers to be wrong, just as the market will invariably show again with sustained growth on copper age key books, in 10-15 years from now. Yes, the sales figured I cited above were sales that I made myself, some 15 years ago.I had those books multiple times and sold them for those prices when I brought them to shows or listed them on ebay. At that time, I listed everything I sold on ebay with no minimum bids + no reserve (charged $3 for boxed priority shipping) and those books I mentioned sold strongly. The "copper bubble"of that time period was the "bronze bubble".I mainly dealt in silver and gold books back then, because that is what I could buy on a steady basis and then sell on ebay without fail within 7 day auction time frame. Averaging a sale of $40-100 on each listing( 1 book), doubling my investment after fees, I shied away from listing books which wouldn't sell for at least $40 so most of my sales were silver,gold and a smattering of bronze as I dealt only in raw books and unslabbed coppers weren't $40 or more, except for keys in grade. I invariably got what I wanted/expected 95% of the time as you could expect to put a GD copy of X-Men 5 or a Haunt of Fear 15 in GD and get around full guide for either one i.e. ebay wasn't over run with massive amounts of dreck so no reserve auctions got more attention from collectors. Not the case now, that is why BIN is so polular with sellers because they know they will more than likely get screwed in auction style..... Actually, one bronze age key I distinctly remember selling was a Hulk 181 ( a raw VF) which I bought from Mike Carbanaro at a show.I put it on eBay and it sold for $360.I still remember that sale today, strangely enough. I think I paid 1/2 Overstreet for it off of Mike.He had a stack of VF copies at that show) and Mike was a hell of a good salesman, and still is, I would have bought more but I simply didn't have the cash on me, at the time. The highest bidder was Bob Storms, who paid me for the book in person.I brought it with me at an old Philly show I used to set up back then, at his request.I remember Bob being super impressed with my grading, he talked about how soft ebay sellers were on average.Pretty cool guy. Anyway, this post is rife with digressions but I get a kick out of thinking what prices were like back then for bronze keys and what they're like now....after all of the comic movies came into being, as that is largely what has driven the prices of bronze keys up.This relates to copper books very succinctly. We will see the same thing with copper keys, over the long term.I'd bet a testicle on it. Especially slabbed newsstand copper keys in 9.8.

Nonsense.....with all due respect. Before you retroactively offer up an all encompassing market evaluation, you have to cite where you are getting your figures. Copper keys were not "practically worthless" and not obtainable in the late 90's/early 2000's for $5. I was setting up at comic shows in the northeast and ebay regularly at that time.The demand was there.Right around 2000 is when I stopped doing shows and ebay, not resuming either intil 2009 so I am sure of my numbers, in the year 2000. I live in the northeast, which is where pretty much all of the printing took place in that time period so regional convention prices tended to be higher in the west,specifically the midwest.That said, the prices noted below, are on the low end. A couple numbers which I sold some of the books at in raw are..... ASM 252...solid $25 in NM.....Where are you getting $3 from? ASM 300 $50-$100, raw VF to NM. Not $25. Batman Dark Knight 1-4 set. This set sold for $50 in VF/NM, whenever I had it. New Mutants 87 for $5? I routinely sold this book for $20 in NM.New Mutants 98 was going for around $25-50 in VF to NM. That's just a couple of the books........

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Just be mindful, two of the sales you think went in the '$1600 range' did not. This one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151546971810 Which shows as ending at $1600 was actually sold at a best offer of $1400 And this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141466670430 Which shows as ending at $1650 was actually sold at a best offer of $1300 The only sale to reach over $1600 was in October: http://www.ebay.com/itm/311150248804 Thanks, that's what I get for using a "smart" phone to double check my numbers... That still leave us with an outlier sale of $1690 for a 9.8, back in October, which is before (I believe) the news on her officially being casted in the Suicide Squad movie was released.

GPA can be slow on the uptake as it has solf for more than $1400. Actually, I got different results on my cell than on my laptop. *Three* 9.8 copies have sold in the $1600 range, per ebay completed/sold auction search. A 9.8 BA 12 paired with a 9.4 Harley Quinn 1994 1 shot (black Alex Ross cover, 1st print) sold for $2,0,50 The 1994 1-shot , slabbed in 9.4 trades for around $150-200. So, that sale can be viewed as $1850 to $1900 for a BA 12 in 9.8. Keep in mind that alot of these auctions on ebay sometimes will have people whom are friends with the seller or the seller has more then one name to try and jack the price up on this or any item, just so they can make more money on the item.... its sad but it's the truth. so the real value is kind of hard to get. Yes, I am aware of sketchy eBay users and I agree they do jack prices up via manipulating perceived demand with shilling and so on. But the fact remains that the highest bidders re paying the prices so they must believe a book is worth their high bid and that in turn, sets the going market price as realized sale prices are just that. If I had a copy of this book in my possesion, I would not put it up for less than $2000.If I were to put it out on my wall at a convention or over the board, I would not accept less than $1800.(figuring eBay would hit me up for about a 10% vig on a sale of $2000, leaving me with $1800).

Thanks for calling me out on that, I was going by memory. I just checked to confirm what I posted earlier and I was way off the mark.About a week and a half ago, there were only 3 copies in 9.8 on eBay.All were listed via BIN's at $1600(or $1650) for 1 and the other 2 were a bit over $2000, that was what tripped me up. 9.8 slabs are *selling* around $1200-$1400 on average with a lone sale of $1690: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-Adventures-1992-1st-Series-12-CGC-9-8-0235918008-/311150248804?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item4872000364 Anyway, I'm curious to see how this book fares over the next couple of months.I suspect it'll start reaching near the $2000 mark for 9.8 with white pages fairly soon, and then drop off a bit. Over the long term, with the distinct possibility of Harley becoming a recurring movie character ( Viola Davis is in talks to sign a deal for playing Amanda Conner in 5 movies so that's a good hint that Harley will be getting screen time in multiple movies) I think this book may very well be trading steadily at around $2000.Of course, this is just my opinion.

Bat Adv 12 CGC 9.8 white pages http://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-Adventures-12-CGC-9-8-1st-Harley-Quinn-Suicide-Squad-Movie-/141546795507?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item20f4d8b1f3 This auction should be a pretty decent indication of the current value of this book.I know that there was a CGC 9.8 /white pages which sold for $2,050 and the other more recent sales are around $1,700. I just placed a bid of $1,300 and was outbid, with 5 days to go.That's as much as I can realistically figure on putting out on a 9.8 slab as I know I can always blow it out for $1600 quickly and recoup my costs, if need be......but I have to wonder what the closing bid will be.

I noticed the opposite since I started the use of Mylar instead of SRP. If you go back to the 1st one I did you can see a dramatic difference in shine. It was so shiny one boardy called it un-natural. Now that I am using cooler temps its not as dramatic but still comes out with a nice natural shine to it. If you go too hot you can lose color. Methinks the technical term for what you're doing with using Mylar to " add shine" is called "REGLOSSING" i.e. RESTORATION. I'd suggest using parchment paper.If the books you "add shine" to are submitted, you'll end up with Restored labels as what you are doing is chemical transfer. Edit: Didn't mean that in a dickheaded tone, just wanted to clarify that. I sure hope he already learned that sometime in the last 5 years. Ah, I hadn't noticed this thread was that old.

I noticed the opposite since I started the use of Mylar instead of SRP. If you go back to the 1st one I did you can see a dramatic difference in shine. It was so shiny one boardy called it un-natural. Now that I am using cooler temps its not as dramatic but still comes out with a nice natural shine to it. If you go too hot you can lose color. Methinks the technical term for what you're doing with using Mylar to " add shine" is called "REGLOSSING" i.e. RESTORATION. I'd suggest using parchment paper.If the books you "add shine" to are submitted, you'll end up with Restored labels as what you are doing is chemical transfer. Edit: Didn't mean that in a dickheaded tone, just wanted to clarify that.

Are you al insufficiently_thoughtful_persons? Come on now, how can you all not be intimately familiar with what constitutes a grade of NM++? I think NM++ would be somewhere between NM+ 9.6 and NM/MT 9.8. Although, perhaps a numerical grade isn't fitting to a grade of NM++, at all. I think NM++ or perhaps the more truthful moniker of LMRASITPHHIBCACGC/CBCSSP ++ would be a more fitting category. Although I think that Lemme Reel a Sucker In To Pay High End Bell Curve Around CGC/CBCS Slabbed Price PLUS PLUS (++) may be insulting to potential buyer's. That said, one can hardly blame a certain member for choosing to opt for grading his books at NM++ *groan*

Yes....what do I care.But really, I am in no rush to submit these books so it's whatever. Also, I posted that I was going by memory alone and hadn;t seen the books in a month or so but yeah, I think 1 or 2 of those copies I have may in fact press out and then grade as a 9.9.I'll have to look at them to be sure if2 of them were that sweet but I am fairly sure 1 of them would fetch a CGC 9.9. This has all gotten weird pretty fast though , and the point of my original thoughts on this subject has been entirely overlooked in favor of the "betting lines" I regrettably opened. To reinterate, my point was that seasoned collectors, whom I would have to think are regular posters on this board, who have been grading books for decades, can very well assign a 9.9 grade to a modern age book. Of course,a 9.9 grade is quite rare, which is not a fact I am disputing. At all. My contention is that a collector worth his/her salt should be able to grade a book and if a book rates a 9.9, call it what it is. FTR, I would never be so foolish as to try to sell a raw book as a 9.9, that is why I think this all got thrown out of whack with this Divad character being referenced.I want no part of that conversation, at all.

Who said anything about calling a raw book a 9.9 and selling it on eBay? That would either be a huge headache or a waste of a nice profit margin.Likely both. A raw "9.9" book on eBay wouldn't fetch jack balls, in relation to a graded 9.9 so if I were to sell such a book, I would surely have it graded before putting it up on eBay. Anyway....cheers to the other 2 posters who said they came across raw 9.9's and would grade them as such. I realize that I may be new to posting on this board and I mean the following with all due respect but come on, now. *** Y'all muthaphuckaz be trippin'. *** Or whatever the kids are saying, these days.

Ugh. Seriously, die hard collectors who have been grading books on their own accord for what I would presumably say is at least 25 years for each of the board members who have replied to this....should be able to confidently assign ANY grade to a modern age book.That was my original point. I was using all that DS # 1 conjecture as an anecdote but YES, I will back what I said with a $100 bet.There is a chance that I could be wrong, of course but nonetheless, I stand behind my grading. My original post noted that I had not looked at the books in a while and they needed to be pressed, in order to fetch a 9.9....at least 1 of them should get a 9.9, possibly 2. After I press them and there is no trace of any indentation and if they look 9.9 to me.Then yes, I'll put my $100 where my mouth is. " Originally Posted By: CopperAgeKids Horse poo. I don't know what book you're referring to WRT the 9.9 comment but nonetheless, I am able to grade a raw copper book at a 9.9.I am confident in my ability to discern the subtle difference(s) between a 9.8 and a 9.9, just as a seasoned collector should be able to. I have 4 ridiculously sharp copies of Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme # 1 that I plan on submitting to CGC.It's been about a month since I looked at them but IIRC, I think I pegged 2 copies as clocking in at 9.8 and 2 copies at 9.9....after they were to be pressed. All 4 copies have a defect that keeps them from hitting 9.8 or higher; about a one inch square of writing indentations.I am going to press these books out before sending them in and hell, I'd wager an easy $100 that 2 of the 4 come back as 9.9. "

I will post my results but I have about 50 other books to have graded, before these 4 and I'm not in a rush as the DS movie won't be out for a while. Apparent hilarity of my posting aside, my point was that if you KNOW how to grade CONSERVATIVELY and can do so without bias........ you should not feel skittish about assigning a 9.9 grade to a book.

Horse poo. I don't know what book you're referring to WRT the 9.9 comment but nonetheless, I am able to grade a raw copper book at a 9.9.I am confident in my ability to discern the subtle difference(s) between a 9.8 and a 9.9, just as a seasoned collector should be able to. I have 4 ridiculously sharp copies of Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme # 1 that I plan on submitting to CGC.It's been about a month since I looked at them but IIRC, I think I pegged 2 copies as clocking in at 9.8 and 2 copies at 9.9....after they were to be pressed. All 4 copies have a defect that keeps them from hitting 9.8 or higher; about a one inch square of writing indentations.I am going to press these books out before sending them in and hell, I'd wager an easy $100 that 2 of the 4 come back as 9.9.

I should have pulled the trigger on that Doc Strange: Into Shambala VF+ for $74.99 shipped, it sold within a day of it being posted. If it was a board member who bought it, please PM me for my offer.

My apologies for my poor usage of the qoute function in the post below, but if you overlook my asinine usage of qoutes..... My point that Doctor Strange : Into Shambala is selling briskly is quite a valid assessment of the current demand for the book.

An average of two sales per week (on eBay) over the past two months? You might want to get a new dictionary. Oh, and people are dumb. At least the people who've been sitting on unmovable MGN for the last three decades are happy. You are overlooking the fact there have not been many copies listed on ebay AT ALL in the past 2 months and the copies that have been listed, have ALL sold quickly , at fairly impressive prices. Case in point being the mid grade copy that sold at $100 via Buy it now (the auction I linked to in my last post and for further evidence, see the post made by the board member LazyBoy below......he sold a copy at $69.99...WITHIN THREE HOURS of listing it. That seems like a viable definition of the term "selling briskly" to me Also of note is that there are only 2 copies on eBay now.One copy is a MID GRADE book, looks to be around a FN, at best a FN+....the seller is asking over $200.Now that is too high for a mid grade copy, so I'm not surprised it has not sold yet. I just checked and a raw copy , which the seller descibed as VF/NM 9.0 was listed today at $79.99.Judging by the multiple high resolution scans , it actually does look like a solid VF/NM. I doubt that copy will go unsold at that price.... I put one on ebay that I had purchased for $10 and it sold within three hours on a Buy it now at $69.99. - there havn't been a lot of copies made available for sale on ebay. An average of two sales per week (on eBay) over the past two months? You might want to get a new dictionary. Oh, and people are dumb. At least the people who've been sitting on unmovable MGN for the last three decades are happy.

Doctor Strange : Into Shambala is selling pretty damn briskly. For those who don't know, this book has been said to serve as the storyline for the upcoming Doctor Strange movie.... Here's what looks to be nothing better than a FN 6.0 , which moved at $100 on eBay. I think getting this copy in genuine high grade ,unlike the "unread high grade" condition touted by the eBay seller below, will yield a very nice return.Hell, even a mid grade copy moved at a hundred. Regarding the difficulty in high grade, I say this because it is a oversized graphic novel with a thick card stock black cover.These sorts of covers are tough in grade due to marring/light abrasion/color loss of the black cardstock cover and corner denting, which is more common in oversized graphic novels than comics. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Doctor-Strange-Into-Shamballa-Marvel-1986-Green-DeMatties-Dr-Strange-/201247047017?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2edb423d69&nma=true&si=1gSiHZ4orxO0VwePSO0mFHEweHY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557