serling1978

Seems unlikely another event like the MCU hype/fomo cycle will happen again to have such a dramatic impact on values. For that reason I imagine prices will continue to correct and maybe even go down over the upcoming years. Sure marvel will come out with more movies and shows, but the excitement and hype won't be the same. More likely burnout will set in (if it hasn't already)

Still slowly adding to my JIM/Thor run. This got me the 2nd Loki to go with my 1st Loki and 1st and 2nd Thor.

Sorry to say, I didn't find anything for my needs. Players choice was cool to browse and the retro arcade next door was awesome. I could have spent hours in there. But as far as comics, they had mostly modern stuff, I didn't find any silver age at all and maybe a couple Bronze age books. Definitely not a place I'd hit if you're looking for older stuff.

This is a reason I'd choose B. A wrap issue has a chance of correction. A torn away piece has a zero chance of being fixed in this situation. In top of that I don't have a big problem with a rolled spine. Much more of an eyesore to me to see a torn piece. At least with the wrap, the comic is all there, it's just rolled.

Noooooo. I really do agree that it's smart for buyers to check their books before buying. To me though there is a line between what is a good idea and where the responsibility lies. The dealer is responsible for what they sell and should take ownership for any undisclosed issues. The buyer shouldn't have to check the books, but because we live in a world where not doing do can result in being ripped off (even unintentionally) it is a good practice.

Thanks for the heavy handed advice. As a buyer, it's not my responsibility to validate the dealer isn't intentionally or unintentionally ripping me off. Is it a good idea to check because they might be? Sure it can help to catch the situation before it's too late. But it's not "on me" to check every comic I buy. It's on the dealer to know what they are selling and disclose it. If we politely disagree that's fine, but you can't convince me otherwise.

I've been burnt by dealers like this at cons more than once in the past. Not on any grails, but on silver age run fillers. For books that are $5-$10 I normally don't take every single one out of the bag, but I've had a number of surprises like detached covers, detached centerfolds, missing pages, ripped out pieces, etc that weren't disclosed. Based on those experiences and what I've heard about this guy, I don't feel all that sorry for him. Not saying he deserved it, but I'm definitely not going to lose any sleep over it.

This pretty much sums it up nicely.

Amen. No fake covers. Once it was slabbed that's what would be staring back at you from inside the case. That would drive me crazy personally.

What book is the cover for? As with the Captain America #2 example, that's a no brainer, but if the book isn't an iconic cover from a grail book then I wouldn't bother grading it.

This discussion has made me realize I must have low standards lol. I think that book presents beautifully. I've never had an issue with Marvel chipping. I had a very similar TTA 27 4.0 that had that nice colors (those browns are tough) with some chipping. I barely even noticed the chipping myself, but again, potential low standards here...

Say it ain't so. I've got an A-Team #1 somewhere in my basement.

Don't underestimate how quickly I can make myself look like a 14 year old comic lover.

Buying silly things like TOS #39, JIM #83, and HUlk #1, instead of putting all of my money into countless mint copies of Kickers inc #1.

Same here when it comes to not using personal money to build my collection. I specifically made it a point to only buy comics using money from flips. And it wasn't even only comic flips. I flipped everything from RV toilets to handicap shower chairs lol.

Amen. The funny thing about flipping for me personally is I'm a recovering flipper myself lol. When I got back into collecting about 12 years ago after a 15 year hiatus I build most or my collection through flipping. I have a huge collection today of many silver/Bronze runs and grails to boot, so I should love flipping I guess, but it seems like even in the last 10 short years it's gone to a new level where the market is more flippers than non flippers. I stopped flipping about 4 years ago once it got to the point where finding deals that left room for profit to make the effort worth it had really started to vanish. So I guess in other words I got too lazy to put in the newly required effort to be an effective flipper.

Dealers who are skilled at finding books at low prices only please. As long as the dealer is good enough to get actual deals then I have no problem. My problem is only if a dealer fails at finding a good price and therefore when they mark up the price to make a profit they are now asking enough above FMV that it's instantly clear its overpriced without even having to check GPA. Sure it doesn't directly effect me in the sense that I can simply not buy the many many many many overpriced books out there, but I still reserve the right to feel annoyed when I see overpriced books flooding the market. To me that's largely a symptom of the seller not having taken the time or having the resources to buy their books at a deal to be able to still make a profit while not overasking.

I haven't bought much the past couple years, but I'm still slowly working on my JIM/Thor collection. I started with the big two (83 and 85) so now just picking up the minor keys like this one when possible.

I wouldn't worry about him sending you back an empty package. I once had someone send me a greeting card mocking me I guess but I was able to use the package dimension/weight info to show ebay it wasn't the item. I've found through the many times I've had people try to scam me on ebay the best thing to do is call ebay right away and get your story documented. This could be used for evil but it seems like they will take whatever you say as gospel and note the account backing up your story for future reps or decisions. If you sold it lower than the FMV as it seems from previous posts then consider this a blessing and sell it for more when you get it back.

Man...I saw the thread title and had some thoughts on Hulk 180/181 but after reading through all 9 pages here and the arguments (started drinking heavily around page 5) I'm just curious about the ownership of these books on each side of the argument. Does ownership of one vs the other sway the person to see that book more favorably? Maybe not conciously. It can be debated to the end of time, but to me just owning all 3 books is the way to go . I'm a Hulk collector so I have them all as part of my Hulk run so if 180 becomes the more desirable/collectable/valuable/insert-other-words-here-able book then I'm ok with that.

I would prefer actors to come to my house and act out ASM 121 and 122. I'll use crayons to create the backgrounds on my walls.

Pandemic, people not going out and having more disposable income, stimulus checks, cyrpto money, Disney streaming new MCU content creating hype and FOMO, new wave of non collectors entering the market... All that stuff and probably some I left out combined to create a temp skyrocket for a lot of actual and non actual key comics and it wasn't sustainable as others have said. If I'm remembering correctly for a time books like DD1 more than doubled in value. Madness....

takes precedent but PM's are fine as well. TTA #27 - $3925 Selling at 90 day GPA (last sale was $4225). Sad to part with, but need to pay off another grail. No returns on slabs. Payment via PayPal only. Payment due within 2 days. $10 priority shipping in the US with sig required. No shipping outside the US.

If you're really excited to own that copy then sure go for it, but if you have doubts, don't get stuck in a book you'll quickly regret once the high of its newness wears off. I made that mistake on a JIM 83 and took a hit when I couldn't stand it anymore and had to upgrade.

Who hasn't lied awake at night and dreamed of retiring on ASM 375? My 401k at work is just an image of ASM 375. Sure my wife left me when she found out, but she'll be back once it's time to cash in.