serling1978

5 minutes ago, Jesse-Lee said:

It's funny you say that - I found an outstanding first print of Rage by Richard Bachman (Stephen King's pen name) at a Half Price Books years ago, marked $1 and sitting on the spinner rack. That was my exact plan; I put a $5 bill in my hand, and if they tried to tell me no sale, my (possibly poorly thought-out) plan was to toss the $5 on the counter and run out the door. My logic was that it wouldn't be shoplifting if I paid 5 times asking. I just really, really wanted that book.

Anyway, I got it for the $1 price.

Good plan. How much is said book worth these days? 

3 minutes ago, StillOnly25Cents said:

paper or plastic?

Paper. Doesn't appear to be any restoration. Some creasing though 

2 hours ago, theCapraAegagrus said:

I wouldn't say that. It's an odd statement - to me - to say, "I'll pay GPA/FMV!" Well, no sheesh, if you don't then someone else will.

Oh yeah, if it's worded that way. I was referring to the gap between GPA and FMV recently .   GPA could show a lot less than what's considered FMV (at least in March through May) but as the explosion in prices seems to be leveling out, GPA and FMV may become closer again. 

On 6/2/2021 at 6:08 PM, StillOnly25Cents said:

if you want the bag graded look for a bag grading company

Would a bag grading company grade the bags I brought home from the grocery store last night? I'm hoping for some 9.8s.

The question is a little vague. Are you looking for a certain minimum grade? Are you planning to sell it? Are you trying to ensure it's not restored? 

So many questions. I'm now going to CGC my brain...

To me it means that GPA/FMV is confusing AF in today's market. Used to be sellers were specifically looking for buyers willing to pay GPA. Now it seems like a buyer willing to pay GPA is seen as some kind of trickster? 

I think this is a difficult time for both buyers and sellers.  Hard to know for example if last sale or an IG sale is now the FMV or just a case of crazy market FOMO resulting in overpaying. Buyers don't want to pay based on an unsubstantiated high sale and sellers don't want to use potentially outdated GPA data for the average. 

On 5/25/2021 at 4:57 PM, Motor City Rob said:

For me, it's not even Action #1 or Tec #27. It's a nice high grade Captain America Comics #1. The history behind Captain America and those early Golden Age war covers is something special. 

Agree on Captain America Comics #1 being above AC #1 or Tec #27 for me. Regarding AF15, while it's the top marvel SA grail I don't yet have that I want to own, it's still fairly "common" relatively speaking where I see people posting pics of it all the time. Again, not to diminish AF15 at all. To own that book would be unbelievable to me.

But as far as an ultimate kidney book, it's a tough choice between Captain America Comics #1, Marvel Comics #1, and another book. But I may go with the ultra rare Motion Picture Funnies Weekly from 1939, due to the fact basically no collectors have it. For those who know the significance of this book (without googling) you win a no prize. 

Presents extremely well. Congrats! I'd go with majority and say 4.5 -5.0. 

I went to London and Cambridge on my honeymoon 8 years ago and it was an amazing trip, but I wasn't able to find any shops with a decent selection of back issues. I found a couple that had SOME but the prices were insane. Although, I know the cost of living in London is up there, so it makes sense. 

The best score I got was a small flea market where I found some Avengers UK magazine reprints, a couple bronze age books, and my current copy of ASM 316, which was nothing but a run filler back then. How things change.. 

On 5/13/2021 at 4:25 PM, Chaos_in_Canada said:

TOS47-49, bought from Harley Yee (raw)...decades ago.

That's amazing. Mine can't compete with those grades, but I've got #39-68 and I'm 17 issues away from completing til the end of the run. TOD was really a great series 

On 5/26/2021 at 11:47 PM, alexgross.com said:

and yet a lovely 5.5 sells tonight on CL for 10k less than that 6.0 sold for a week or two ago. makes no sense right now. 

 

I've been trying to follow (I should say DETERMINE) FMV on this book in a low grade for months now and I'm still totally lost. In April two separate 2.5s sold on IG for around $9500 each but I feel like that's not sustainable at that grade. GPA has the high sale on a 2.0 at $5100 and a 2.5 at $6800. So again, I have zero clue on what this book is worth these days. I did buy a CGC 1.8 SS for $6200 that I'm up in the air about keeping or moving on from. I've never been so conflicted about a grail before, but this market is messing with my mind hardcore. 

On 6/28/2020 at 4:12 PM, Ghastly542454 said:

Here’s mine.

How does this only have one like??? Beautiful book! 

If you really want to go full spite... Get it graded and send him a pic of it with a blue label.  You might be able to sell it for more too, depending on the grade. 

However, I will say that naked eye and especially looking at the inside cover certainly don't guarantee there's no CT. When CT is well done there's no bleed through at all (see acrylics).  I used to paint as a hobby and a couple times I played around with amateur CT on beat up drek books. With the right materials and knowledge it can be pretty undetectable. I once did something pretty ridiculous for a flip (back in my hardcore flipping days) and bought an already purple label Vol 1 X-men #1 and did my own CT on it to make it more presentable (the CT that had been previously done was too much for removal and was pretty obvious and the book still had color breaks) and re-submitted the book and got a higher grade and the CT went from a C to  B on the label and I was able to sell for profit. 

But I digress, my original point was that CT, if done well, can be hard to detect sometimes. 

Best of luck with the book

10 hours ago, Greengiant said:

My parents have lived in Myrtle Beach for about 20 years. It has been a challenge to find a store you are looking for down there. The two stores that might come close to that are:

Players Choice, which will have the $1-3 bins but also have toys, retro games but an arcade next door - https://www.playerschoicenmb.com/

Power Comics, more modern stuff but can have some back issues - https://www.powercomicon.com/power-comics

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I suspected finding a really good shop in a highly touristy area would be unlikely.  I'll check at least one of those out on my trip though. 

I bought a JIM 83 in early May after trying to find one for months. I gave in and I at least think I overpaid for a 1.8 but it's hard to say because that book isn't selling enough for GPA to be helpful. But I certainly hope the bubble didn't burst and make my possible slight overpayment into a big one. 

Long term, obviously Jim 83 will keep going up. That goes without saying, even though I just said it. So it also goes with saying. But still I would be bothered deep in my soul if it started to drop off at all right after I bought one 😬

I'll be doing a family trip to Myrtle Beach in a couple weeks and I usually try to hit up a shop or two while traveling. Can anyone recommend some good shops around the area? I'll staying in North Myrtle Beach, but we'll be going back and forth. 

To qualify what I consider to be a "good" shop, it's all about the back issues for me. I like to have a large selection of Silver and Bronze to dig through of all the Marvel series. Ideally I love shops that have cheapo boxes like $1-$3, but I know not all shops do. Only one in my area does that normally. And I don't care about new issues or toys/statues.  

Appreciate any tips. 

2 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

35 cent Variant, Star Wars #4,

 

I didn't know there was anything good to find at half price books anymore. Stopped going to mine years ago. Nice score 

15 hours ago, JohnH19 said:

Yes, that’s a well known variation.

*Retreats to corner to eat away feelings*

On 5/4/2021 at 1:30 AM, JohnH19 said:

I have seen a similar colour variation in the box on ASM 28.

And there are differing shades of green in the top left box and the right side text box on X-MEN #1 . 

Below are two copies I had before selling one. The difference is pretty clear to me. 

4 hours ago, JazzMan said:

There's plenty of bad ones..

This has to take the top spot as worst ever. Considering the significance of the book and how it's now a total eye sore. Completely ruined. 

14 minutes ago, Wall-Crawler said:

My reprint of OSPG 1st edition is before they were published, but my OSPG #12 circa 1982-83 states:

IH #180 1st appearance Wolverine (cameo) NM price: $6.00

IH #181 Wolverine appearance NM price: $16.00

$16? I don't know.... I'd wait around for a deal... 

Saw this on IG and I really hope Stan went rogue and the person getting the sig didn't ask for him to OBLITERATE THE BLACK CAT'S FACE. 

I'm sure there are many other examples like this, but this has to make the top 10 of the worst.