serling1978

Sorry if this is an obvious question, wondering if a book is already signed and CGC didn't witness it do they have any kind of service to verify the sig? I've got an Avengers 1 signed by Stan that came with a certificate from the dealer that the signature was witnessed, but obviously I could take that card and put it with any Avengers 1 that had Stan's name written on it. I see on Pawn Stars all the time how an expert swings on by and verifies celebrity sigs in about 30 seconds (I'm saying this tongue in cheek, "live ink" seems to be his main criteria) so can CGC also verify?

I have a number of books that I bought slabbed so I do keep them that way since it's already done. But I do like raw books for a couple reasons. I like to read them (more than once), I like to look at the art, see the old ads, smell the paper (nothing weird about that right?). Basically I just like to have access to the full book and reprints aren't the same to me. I started collecting as a teen in the early 90s before CGC was even a thing. So I guess I have that older mentality from previous generations about what I enjoy about collecting. Not against grading at all but I do like em raw

Just curious about everyone's thoughts on seller responsibility when it comes to grading. A couple months ago I sold a raw asm14 and the potential buyer asked a bunch of questions about if it was restored and I answered completely honestly and said I bought it raw and with it being over 50 years old there was no way I could guarantee it wasn't restored. He ended up winning the auction and immediately sent it to be graded. In my mind I was a little concerned he might be immediately grading it to keep the return window open if it was restored. It turned out it got a good grade and was not restored (he was nice enough to message me back) but it just made me wonder, if you're selling a raw book would you accept a return if it came back restored? Personally I feel like if a buyer gets the raw book from me in the mail and chooses to get it graded then at that point he owns it and had chosen to keep it and get his book graded. If on the other hand he gets it and with his own eyeballs says hey this looks restored then that is valid for a return. But in my mind if the buyer has it in hand and can't tell it's restored then it's not reasonable to think I should have known. If that makes sense. I Know a lot of people here sell on eBay, so what are your policies and do you state the policy in the listing?

Haha agreed. Adds a little something to my beat up copy. It's too bad nobody else has found any amateur dialogue in theirs yet. Still holding out hope someone will, there have got to be more out there

One trick I came up with that worked pretty well on an X-Men#4 with deep trace lines was to take a pencil with a hard eraser and use the eraser to "pound out" the trace lines. I'm being serious, even though this probably sounds ridiculous. To do this I opened up the cover on a table and laid it flat and held the pencil with the eraser side facing down and firmly but gently tapped along the lines to start to push them back out (it takes a little practice to know the right amount of pressure to use, I tested on worthless books). After doing that in multiple short rounds and checking the front cover to see my progress I eventually got to the point where I could barely see the lines with the naked eye. At that point I pressed the book and I could no longer see them. The amount of success probably varies by book, but in this case it worked well. I never had another good candidate to try it again though. But it's obviously at least somewhat risky. You don't want to go buckwild and punch a hole through the cover. I only came up with this method because pressing alone made little difference due to how deep the tracing dents were. If the trace lines are deep enough that you can easily feel them like brail on the inside of the cover then you probably have a situation like I had.

I don't know if a collector has to be specialized to be in the market for a pence priced book. To each their own, but personally I find them interchangeable as far as collectability. Same print run, just a different price plate was used at the end. Not enough of a difference to me to matter.

It also helps to say "@@WOW!!" In the title of all your listings. That way anyone who views the auction is forced to become excited and bid irrationally.

Agree with others that X-Men 1 has been undervalued for a long time. It's the first appearance of many huge characters, one of Marvel's most recognizable teams, and a long lasting villian. Not to mention the introduction of mutants into the comic world (any mutant aliens from the 50s aside). I don't see it taking a nose dive from where it's at now. If anything it will continue to climb for a while before eventually getting too crazy and peaking and then will drop off a little. But I can't imagine it dropping below where it's at now. And I've never been wrong about anything in my entire life 🤨

I definitely would never trust an eBay grab bag auction. At least none that I've ever seen. Now and then as a goof I'll message one of those sellers asking what checks and balances there are to keep them honest and actually include the giant keys from the pics in the blind bags. None of them ever have a good answer, other than to blindly trust them. I'd rather buy a CGC 4.0 AF15 FOR $5K from a Russian seller with 0 feedback. One of these times it will pan out...😥

Haha my brains are now in the bucket (I'm assuming that's what I got it for).

That must be it. Those are surely the words of Stan himself 😆

Haha I know what you mean. I've def got love for well loved books too

Just read my copy of ASM 45 last night and discovered the final page had blank speech bubbles that they left blank so the kid who bought it could write in their own text. Whoever owned my copy made Spider-Man say "I'll send you my bill later suckers" which I find pretty good for someone who I assume was a kid in the 60s. For all of you who have a copy, are the bubbles still blank? If not what was written in them?

Found some very questionable dark hairs in an ASM the other day. Years ago I found some creative child had drawn mustaches on many of the characters on the interior pages of a copy of Hulk 180 I picked up. I just chose to assume it was a rare mustache variant.

Thank you for saying this. Collectors who don't read their books blow my mind. I read a comic from my collection every night in bed before passing out. Currently reading my ASM run. Have read from #2 through 43 over the past few months. Over the past couple years I've read most of the first 100 Savage Sword of issues, most of the original Defenders run, the first 130 or so Iron Man, the first 160 or so Avengers, X-Men 94 through 250 and other stuff I can't remember at the moment. Of course I love sitting and staring at the covers, don't get me wrong, but reading the books is the best part.

This is some amazing info on pence. I've never understood collectors poo poo'ing pence copies as if they're the same as an Italian black and white reprint made years later or something. I'm happy to have a pence ASM 3 and Avengers 3.

Some of my favorite series in my collection are the ones with no hype and no skyrocketing values. Like Savage Sword of Conan for instance. No movie hype for Conan (although I do love Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer from the 80s). Just great art and stories. I feel the same way about Master of Kung Fu, although I recently heard there is movie hype for even that now (never thought that would happen), but already having the full run helps to not have to deal with over inflated prices.

A dollar??? Slow down there Rockefeller. I need comics I can buy for a PENNY and flip for millions. Penny stocks, penny slots, penny comics. My future is bright.

That's what I was seeing too back when I stopped going. The "collectible comics" box that had stuff insanely priced. It was good while the good times lasted though. Got a lot of filler for a bunch of the big runs I still have like ASM, Captain Marvel, X-Men, Avengers, etc

Just wondering if there are still any "good" half price books locations out there. I started collecting as a teen in the early 90s and took about 20 years off before starting again 8 years ago at age 33. I got back into collecting by finding some cheap bronze and silver books at HPB and it took off from there. At the time there were 3 HPB locations I would hit up multiple times a week and I could find a steady stream of Bronze age goodness for 25 cents, 50 cents, and $1 each and sometimes silver age for $1. Over the course of a couple years they seemed to change their mindset and started putting even $5 value books in the "collectors area" often for more than the actual value. Now 8 years later I don't go to HPB at all anymore and get all my books at shows or online. Are there any HPB locations out there in the US left that still offer Bronze at least for $1? I don't need the filler anymore but I was just reminiscing so I'm curious about other's experiences

Good creative list. Talking strange tales I would add in annual 2. It's an underrated book in my opinion (considering it's a very early Spidey appearance and his first crossover) and a good read. I like how on the cover Spidey doesn't even have the spider symbol on his chest.

Congrats. I'm about 10 issues away from a run of the first 130 myself. Of all the series I collect this one will always be my favorite because of the stories and artwork.

Amen. I'd say the same for Ernie Chan. Loved his art in Savage Sword. I still read those 70s and 80s mags all the time.

Unfortunately not. I saw it a couple months ago I think. Now I'm wondering if I'm crazy . Seems like it would have to be restored

Makes sense. Maybe I'm just misremembering. I'll def leave the book as is. Thanks again