joe_collector

We were watching the Diff'rent Strokes S2 DVDs the kids got for Christmas and in one episode Arnold has to go to the doctor for a checkup and he's given an old Gold Key UFO comic to read - I guess the Doc couldn't afford any *real* comics.

A little high on the top, ain't it? This book has to have been a warehouse find, as I have a pile of HG copies and keep seeing it pop up everywhere, like Avengers 102. But even so, a CGC 9.9 is pretty crazy. Overall registration is pretty good on this issue, and most of mine are close to perfect, like this:

From my experience, Harvey 6 is a real bugger and I think that CGC copy is greggy's and I have no clue where he found it.

Watch it, the stripe wore off mine.

Exactly my point.

Because CGC is a monopoly and they don't need the extra hassle. You can bet that if there were multiple (quality) competitors in the field, that CGC would be actively promoting their Holiday Gift Card program every chance they got. But monopolies don't have to do that, we *must* come to them anyway.

I totally agree. Whenever I get a GC invariably it's at the place where item X I want is the most expensive. With cash or Vanilla MC that is never an issue.

Later on, after the DM officially ramped up, Whitman would include the odd issue (I have a few here) but I've never found any from the pre-DM printings of 1976-78. I don't think anyone has, and it's very likely that when Whitman was the source pre-79, they didn't want to get into 52-page books printed specifically for them (weight, cost) but when Marvel was pumping out 200K-300K per issue to the DM anyway, why not?

I have no idea if CGC corrected this or not, but that's not the Stranger. You get a No-Prize for that one, Joe! Jakar's impersonation of the Stranger even had yours truly fooled. Hey, I go back to the days when people actually *read* comics and didn't just treat them like pork bellies.

I have no idea if CGC corrected this or not, but that's not the Stranger.

Considering it started in early-2009, I assume it'll be here for a little while longer. Translation: Bill S doesn't give a rat's behind what anyone thinks, as evidenced by the reprehensible sketch and his treatment of paying customers and fans.

What's so funny about this is that most people know that comic book artists have the responsibility level of a dead snail and would die of a heart attack at a *real* job, yet the fanboys continue to throw money at them. And yes, what Bill S did was uncalled for, as is what Golden pulled, but we all know these "artistes" have the brain stem of a bedpan and the ethics of a Mafia kingpin, so break the cycle of abuse and DO NOT SEND THESE TOOLS ANY MORE MONEY!!!

With an attitude like this, I'm sure you'll have no problem keeping a large percentage of us away from your sales threads.

You need to see the special "Afro Variant" of that book.

Yeah, that image just leaps off the cover.

Ummm, where exactly have you been the last few years?

Hey, enough with the insults - not everyone can artificially create HG books in their basement like you. And BTW, even though you keep repeating the same "pay up you poor poverty-stricken suckas!" comments over and and over, price has virtually nothing to do with it in my case. The VCC is a great example - previously I could snag most of the high-grade PF books, but lately, I PM right at the beginning and they're usually ALL gone. The cost doesn't matter, as I'd easily pay the asking price, but I just don't have the time to waste fighting the other Johnny-Come-Lately's for the books. Plus, it's much cooler to collect something non-mainstream, then pick these PF books up when the market cools down.

Again, I'm not looking to make a mint on these books or find undervalued copies to speculate or invest in. I'm just looking for "unwanted Bronze" that has nostalgic value. I was at a small show a few months ago, and bought a pile of high-grade PPSSM's from the 20's into the 30's for 50-cents each. These are pretty well dead issues, but I remember them with fondness, especially the Clone Saga bookends, which incidentally were some of the last comics I bought in my "kid phase". I also bought a pile of similar MTU's and FF's for a buck a piece, and had a blast re-reading them. Filled some gaps in the collection, and no one was fighting me for MTU 72 or FF 188. No one is going to get rich on these, but I sure appreciate owning them - there are lots of books like this, ~NM warehouse copies of 30-35 cent books that virtually no one buys.

The point is, that I think a LOT of BA books are cool, so I can move around at will and not lose anything.

How? There are a TON of 20-35-cent books out there, with huge pockets of books with little or no demand. A great example are the Li'l Kids books, especially the later Calvin issues - in the late-90's/early-2000's I used to search EBay regularly for them and bought a ton - low grade, mid grade, high grade, if it had Calvin in the title I was looking for it. From my years collecting, and seeing tons of Li'l Kids books, I just *knew* that the Calvin books were pretty rare, at least compared to other Marvels of the same era, so it was fun being one of the only fools searching for these books - I won lots for opening bid, so it was a pretty weak market. Then Li'l Kids started becoming more popular and the "scarce in high-grade" Calvin books began gaining some momentum, so I just moved on to something else. I haven't looked lately, but they're probably dead again, right? Might be time to pick up a few more.

Hardly, and it's exactly like I said - I "buy where they ain't". It's really not about the money or competition, but a feeling of exclusivity and being part of a niche market - once it explodes and the GP joins in, I'm gone. If masses of rubes, specs and Johnny-Come-Lately's are flooding an area I collect in, I just move to another niche market - I'm not a fanboy, I'm not an anal completist, and I couldn't care less what I'm buying as long as it's 20-35-cents and I like it.

Because almost all my collecting life, I've gone by one motto (while sticking to BA books, obviously): Buy where they ain't I've done very well by that, and since it's *also* turned out to be a lot of fun, I will continue to follow it. I think it also comes down to me hating to be a "Johnny-Come-Lately" follower-type, and I'd rather blaze my own trails and find my own niche. Currently I am looking for XXX, YYY and , but don't tell anyone.

Hardly, and I guess since you sold most of your PF books off, you're not looking much either. I find dealers and collectors using the term regularly, lots of books online using it to hype their sales, and the frequency of seeing "Picture Frame book" in eBay/dealer/consignment listings has increased exponentially. If that isn't "going mainstream" then I don't know what is.

It's not really the prices, but the fact that these books have "gone mainstream" and it seems that every Tom Dik and Harry are trying to get a set. Kind of like music - once an alternative band goes mainstream, it changes how you view them going forward.

You know what's funny about these Picture Frame books? Back in 1996-2003 or so, when there was only a few maniacs running after these, and we hadn't even agreed on a term for them (let alone have it be a virtually universally-accepted one like PF) it was a lot of fun to collect these books. But now that they've "gone mainstream" I haven't bought any in a while, and my interest is fading daily.