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I can absolutely see all of those things happening... (I mean, there's a reason they call them "dealers," right?)

It occurred to me this morning that the only books I've ever posted here have been Amazing Spider-man issues. I don't want you guys to think that I'm just an ASM collector posing as a picture frame aficionado. Actually, there was probably a kernel of truth to that when I first started visiting this thread. I mean, I was definitely pre-disposed to the PFs — Bronze Age books are my favorites and I love a Gil Kane cover — but I had never specifically sought them out. Over the past couple of years, however, this group has really kindled my love for these books and that has started showing up in my collecting habits. First, I found myself starting to focus other titles I already collected on their picture frame years. Thor is a book I've been low-key upgrading for awhile, but when I started I was focused on the issues around 235-250, the ones I was buying off the rack as a kid. Now I find myself gravitating to issues 193-206. I've only picked up one issue of Thor lately, and it was this one: More surprisingly, I recently picked up a book from a title I don't even collect just because of its picture frame cover! My goal is to re-focus on my ASM gaps for the rest of the year, but now I know I've truly caught the PF bug.

Thanks, Barton. I was very happy to pick it up!

After spending most of last year working to upgrade some of my Marvel Bronze Age keys, I'm back to filling runs, and that means Spidey picture frames! Coming into the year, I had six Amazing Spider-man picture frames left to upgrade: numbers 107, 108, 110, 113, 114, and 115. (You can count me in the camp that considers issues 113 and 115 to be bona-fide picture frames, even if they do play around with the concept.) I just added this book to my collection, so I'm one down: As a kid, I spent way too much time looking at this cover and tracing my finger over the action lines. I wanted to be able to play out what was happening in my mind. As Spider-man is coming down, the giant chauffeur's fist is behind him, but as he springs back up, the fist is in front. After much thought, I decided that Spidey must have tucked his legs as he hit the ground so his assailant swung over him. He performs a similar stunt inside the book, sans costume, as he battles the hulking Vietnamese religious fanatic in a dark hallway. I love every page of the Romita art in this issue. The issue is also notable as the first appearance of Sha Shan, although she won't get a name until ASM 109. Sha Shan would go on to experience many future traumas in the Marvel universe including being drafted into a cult, falling under the influence of the Man-Beast, and worst of all, dating Flash Thompson. At this point, we're only two months away from ASM 110, which would be Stan Lee's last book as the monthly writer on Spider-man. (He had tried previously to hand-off to Roy Thomas with issue 101, but there was a flag on the play and he had to retake possession with issue 105.)

That video immediately changed my impression of the owner and made me really empathize with him. In the OP video, he seemed pretty chipper but kept going on about how many display cases had been damaged. All I could think was "Really? You're bummed about the display cases?" That would be like me getting my collection stolen and grousing about all the bags and boards I lost. When I saw the second video and he was choked up talking about the books he lost and his personal connection to them, my heart immediately went out to the guy. He wasn't just some disinterested docent; those were his books! I really hope he gets everything back, and I actually think his chances are good. Maybe not the She-Hulks, but if those thieving dummies try to move a Captain America #1 with a "Bonnetts Book Store" stamp they will quickly find their room and board furnished by the Elkhart police.

America's flag is on the moon. Way worse than getting your frisbee stuck on the roof...

If your OCD is less than mine, I've got some good news for you. CGC doesn't consider DD 162 to be part of the Miller set, since it was a fill-in issue by Michael Fleisher and Steve Ditko. If you purchase that book, you won't be able to put it in the set because CGC doesn't have a slot for it. So now you only need three books to complete the set! Congratulations! If, on the other hand, skipping an issue causes you to grind your teeth, as it did me, you're back to needing 162 whether you can put it in the set or not.

Congratulations on getting your 158! It's a great feeling to finally catch a book you've been chasing for awhile. I'm right there with you tonight. After losing multiple, multiple auctions over the last five years, I finally scored a copy of 163 in 9.8 tonight. That's another tough book in the run. According to GPA, three copies sold in 2021 and two copies sold in 2014. Every other year since 2004 has seen either 1 or 0 copies for sale. Frankly (no pun intended), I was sick of fighting over that book.

That’s a good one to win!

I bought this book a million years ago (approximately) when I first began upgrading my collection. Wish I had bought many more Silver Age Spideys back then, but I couldn't resist the Bronze Age books I grew up with.

I'm pretty sure all cats are rare variants. That is The Commissioner. He is one of the more endearing psychopaths you will ever meet.

And there you have it. That was the stupid post I was concerned would show up multiple times.

My uncle has struggled with Dark Phoenix Syndrome for over two decades now. Every Thanksgiving by the end of the meal he’s all, “I AM FIRE MADE FLESH!!” and, “I AM THE DARK JOY OF DESTRUCTION!!” Also, his politics aren’t great.

I know that "laughing out loud" is a thing that people say online, but I genuinely guffawed at this.

I typed up a stupid post, hit Submit Reply and it vanished in a puff of smoke. Grudgingly, because it was a stupid post to begin with, I re-typed it and hit Submit Reply. Same story i feel certain that sometime within the next twelve hours, both posts will suddenly appear and I will look doubly stupid for writing something stupid and then posting it twice. CGC, why you gotta do me like that?

I'm going to risk going off-topic in my own thread because it's the weekend again and I just unearthed my Star Wars plastic cups from 1977. Since Marvel was publishing the first Star Wars comics at this time, and since these cups feature comic-style art, I'm going to declare these "comic book-adjacent" and say they are fair game to talk about. These were branded "Koolee," which was apparently QuikTrip's answer to the Slurpee. I'm assuming they were also imprinted with logos for a bunch of other convenient store chains just like the Marvel cups. @01TheDude mentioned earlier that the plastic in the Marvel cups wouldn't be long for this world, and I thought, "Mine seem sturdy enough," but I really get it after handling these. I washed them carefully in the sink today and felt like I was working with egg shells. The plastic is really thin. Since I've got to pack these up for a move, I'm totally stealing TheDude's trick of cushioning them inside bigger plastic stadium cups I don't care about. I've got 9 of the 20. Apparently I didn't like Koolees as well as Slurpees.

Shopping at a knock-off 7-11 is very on-brand for me.

A few do, but many only say things like "Copyright 1975 by Marvel Comics Group" and many also have "Made in U.S.A."

I had packed these up earlier today, but this is interesting enough that I unpacked them again. (My wife rolled her eyes at me, but she knew what she was getting into thirty years ago.) I've got 19 of the cups, and all are the small size. Here are my stacks (cat for scale). The cups don't have any non-Marvel branding (e.g., 7-11 logos, etc.), as seen on the Hulk cup here: Here are two photos of the Spidey cup, one focusing on the copyright line. The cups I have are: The Amazing Spider-man Black Panther Captain America Daredevil Dr. Strange and Dormammu Falcon The Human Torch The Incredible Hulk The Invisible Girl Iron Man Luke Cage, Power Man The Mighty Thor Mister Fantastic Ms Marvel Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu The Silver Surfer and Mephisto The Spider-woman Sub-Mariner and Dr. Doom The Thing

Awesome! Thanks, Artboy! BTW, I really enjoyed seeing your incredible 7-11-style commissions while researching this earlier today. Amazing stuff! Another thing I noticed about my cups as I was packing them up is that none actually had the 7-11 logo, which I am used to seeing. Maybe another first printing thing?

Thanks for answering the call anyway!

We're gearing up for a home renovation that will require us to move ourselves and all of our belongings out of the house for ~6 months. The bad news is that I have almost 50 years worth of collectibles squirreled away in this house — some of them intentionally hidden over the years to surprise myself in retirement. (Years ago I learned that that zoo keepers hide treats for the animals to keep them on their toes -- they call it "enrichment" -- and I thought, "That's a heII of an idea. I'm in!") The good news is that I'm getting my enrichment early as I unearth these treasures that I had kind of forgotten about. Today I was packing up my old Marvel 7-11 Slurpee cups from the 70s and I noticed something I'd never seen before. There was a pretty big error on my Carol Danvers cup: As you can see, on Earth 711 Ms Marvel has Spider-woman's secret identity and origin. I figured Marvel and 7-11 must have seen the error after the cups were printed, gasped in horror, and collectively said, "Eh, it's a Slurpee cup. Close enough." However, just for kicks I searched on eBay to see if I could find another one and found a seller with a corrected version. Anybody know the story on this? Was the error version widespread or do I have a gen-you-whine oddity on my hands? I searched the boards but couldn't find a thread on this (doesn't mean there aren't 20). I'll start by summoning the 7-11 panel of experts (near as I can tell...) @Artboy99 @boomtown @01TheDude @MR. Pontoon @DeadOne

To your point, most of the 9.6 copies of the book I have seen online look nicer than the 9.8s. While I agree that grading is subjective and the difference between the 9.6 and a 9.8 may have just been the grader having a good/bad day, I tell myself that I might see more flaws on the 9.6 if I had the book in hand.

I was one of the crazies battling for that book. There are only 13 in 9.8 and most I've seen either have OW/W pages, bad centering, or both. That is without question the most gorgeous copy I've seen of ASM 106. I think I cast the penultimate bid on the book but when the lead bidder came back AGAIN, I simply couldn't cross the psychological barrier of $10k before the Buyer's Premium. Congrats to the winner for adding a gorgeous book to his collection and for having the steely nerves to ride that rocket all the way up to $11,400! (I didn't get the book, but on the bright side, I will probably stay married another year. )

Howdy, @Yorick. I'm what is known as an "unpaid consultant." (In other words, a busybody.) I feel your pain, buddy. I truly do. Still, nothing beats the kick of seeing a nice run of high-grade books in a set with no open slots...